Topic 01
The Net Fulfillment Framework
Memory dividends, time buckets, and the go-go / slow-go / no-go years — the core architecture of Die With Zero, delivered as a working operator's framework for optimizing a life rather than a balance sheet.
Keynotes · Podcasts · Conferences · Universities
Bill Perkins — Speaking + Media
Bill speaks to executives, financial-independence communities, universities, and conferences worldwide on net fulfillment over net worth — translating two decades of energy-trading and hedge-fund experience into a stage-ready playbook on memory dividends, time buckets, and the cost of saving too much.
Speaker Bio
The “Last Cowboy” on stage.
Called the “Last Cowboy” of hedge funds by the Wall Street Journal, Bill Perkins is one of the most successful energy traders of his generation. He is founder and principal at Skylar Capital Management, a U.S. natural-gas hedge fund; co-founder of SkyFi (consumer-grade satellite imagery); and co-founder and president of SynMax (geospatial AI for energy and maritime markets).
Off the trading floor, Bill is a high-stakes professional poker player, a film producer, and a philanthropist. His book Die With Zero (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020) has been translated into 25 languages and is one of the most-discussed personal-finance books of the decade. On stage he brings the same operator's voice the book is written in — the trader who looked around at wealthy peers not spending their money and decided to write down what was actually wrong.
Keynote Topics
Six talks Bill is currently delivering live.
Each topic can be tailored to the audience — wealth-management firms, financial-independence communities, MBA programs, energy conferences, or executive offsites. Length: 30, 45, or 60 minutes plus Q&A.
Topic 02
Contrarian Wealth: Why Saving Too Much Is the Bigger Risk
The case against the autopilot trap. Why over-saving is its own form of financial mismanagement — and the specific decisions that turn diligent savers into people who subsidize their own corpse.
Topic 03
Inside Energy Markets — Lessons from the Trading Floor
A field report from one of the most volatile markets on Earth. What U.S. natural-gas trading taught Bill about position sizing, conviction, and the difference between being early and being wrong — and how those lessons translate to any operator's career.
Topic 04
The Last Cowboy's Risk Playbook
Barbell strategies, asymmetric bets, and the trader's edge. How to structure a portfolio — and a life — around bounded downside and uncapped upside, the way a hedge-fund book is built.
Topic 05
Living the Philosophy: Family, Travel, and the Time Bucket Mindset
The personal version. How Bill actually applies Die With Zero to his own calendar — daughters, travel, philanthropy, and the experiences he refuses to defer. A talk for audiences who want the philosophy in production, not in theory.
Topic 06
Building Outside Your Lane — From the Trading Floor to Geospatial AI
The story of SynMax and SkyFi: how a working hedge-fund manager ended up co-founding a satellite-analytics platform used by analysts, regulators, and traders. A talk for technology, energy, and venture audiences on what it takes to ship outside your lane.
As Featured In
Recent press.
Bill is regularly interviewed on the philosophy of Die With Zero and the markets behind Skylar Capital Management. A non-exhaustive selection.
See /press/ for the full press archive.
Speaker Reel
Watch Bill on stage.
A 2023 talk on Die With Zero — the full keynote, no edits. Use it as a representative sample of stage presence, pacing, and Q&A.
Past Appearances
Where Bill has shown up — verified, linkable.
A real list — every entry below links to a public source. Grouped into podcasts and live keynotes.
Podcasts
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The Tim Ferriss Show
Bill Perkins on Die With Zero
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Modern Wisdom · Episode #642
“How Much Of Your Money To Spend Before You Die”
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The Peter Attia Drive · Episode #237
“Optimizing life for maximum fulfillment | Bill Perkins”
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All the Hacks · Episode #91
“Die With Zero: Net Fulfillment Over Net Worth with Bill Perkins”
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Mad Fientist Financial Independence Podcast
“Bill Perkins — Memory Dividends, Time Buckets, and Maximizing Net Fulfillment”
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Journey to Launch · Episode #262
“Die With Zero & Get All You Can From Your Money and Your Life w/ Bill Perkins”
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Your Money Guide on the Side
“How to Die With Zero | Bill Perkins”
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Win Make Give · 15 Point Plan
“Die With Zero — Interview With Author Bill Perkins”
Live Keynotes
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Bigelow Forum 2024 — 15th Annual
Featured keynote speaker (~100 entrepreneurial owner-managers and spouses)
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Rice University · Jones Graduate School of Business
“A Conversation with Bill Perkins” — Dean Peter Rodriguez
More from Bill
Keep exploring.
About the Author
Bill Perkins
Hedge-fund manager, founder of SkyFi and SynMax, professional poker player, and author of Die With Zero. The full operator bio.
Read the full bioReader Reviews
What readers say
Thousands of Goodreads and Amazon ratings, and a deep set of long-form reader reviews — the community pulse on Die With Zero.
See reader reviewsPress Kit
Recent press
Wall Street Journal, Fortune, CNBC, Bloomberg, and Iowa Magazine — interviews, profiles, and quotables from the 2026 press cycle.
Open the press kit