Christopher Smith sits down with Jackson Steger, the Founding Director of Network School, for a deep conversation about intentional community building, urban design, and the future of startup societies.

Jackson shares how Network School went from a three-month popup experiment to a thriving long-term community in Forest City, Malaysia — growing from 100 people to over 256 residents, with a roadmap toward scaling intentional living, subcultures, education, and multi-layered ecosystems. He explains why contribution, momentum, and shared purpose are essential ingredients for any community that wants to endure, and how culture becomes the foundation on which cities are truly built.

The conversation explores the realities of designing social infrastructure, the importance of predictable collisions and shared rituals, lessons from Prospera and global jurisdictions, and why environments with high density, trust, and diversity of skill sets produce more innovation. Chris and Jackson also dive into family, childhood development, physical spaces, long-term thinking, governance, and why property rights encoded in technology will define the next century.

From The Quantus Podcast – Network School Series (September 2025)

Recorded Sept 2025 inside the Quantus popup studio at Network School, Forest City, Malaysia.

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Chapters

00:00 — Property rights, wealth preservation & the purpose of Quantus

02:00 — Meeting Jackson & the mission behind Network School

04:00 — Scaling from 100 to 256 residents & building momentum

06:00 — Subcultures, Layer-2 communities & social infrastructure

08:00 — Long-term thinking, trust & why people stay

12:00 — Education, families & designing better learning environments

16:00 — Physical space, nature & the value of safe community

20:00 — Lessons from Prospera & global jurisdiction experiments

24:00 — Regulatory arbitrage, mobility & the rise of digital nations

28:00 — Commerce, contribution & creating sustainable cities

From The Quantus Podcast – Network School Series (Oct 2025)

🎥 The Quantus Podcast — Network School Series (Sept 2025)
Network School brings together remote workers, digital nomads, creators, personal trainers, self-improvers, event organizers, and engineers — all collaborating to build themselves up while building the next generation of startup societies. Founded by Balaji Srinivasan — https://x.com/balajis

📍 Recorded Sept 2025 in the Quantus popup studio at Network School, Forest City.