High agency people take ownership of their environment instead of being owned by it. Naval describes them as the magnetic force that drives Silicon Valley.
“Children are high-agency. They go get what they want.” When kids see something they want, they grab it. No hesitation. No self-doubt. This is agency in its raw form—before the world teaches them learned helplessness.
But society systematically kills this instinct. “They’re born naturally agentic and willful, but a lot of child raising can beat that out of them by essentially domesticating them.” Naval would rather have “wild animals and wolves than have well-trained dogs” because domestication destroys freedom and creates wrong incentive structures.
High agency reveals itself through movement. “No one was born here. They all moved here. They moved here because they wanted to be where the other smart kids were and because they wanted to be high agency.” Silicon Valley attracts people who recognize talent through judgment and believe change is possible. This creates a compounding network of optimism.
The proof lies in ownership stakes. “Every brilliant person I met in Silicon Valley 20 years ago, every single one, the young brilliant ones, every single one is successful.” These self-educated readers understood that agency compounds over decades through rapid iteration. You try, fail, adjust, try again. Each cycle builds confidence that you can shape outcomes.
High agency people don’t seek permission. They don’t externalize blame. They move toward what they want while others get lost in endless discussion. Naval treats this as the difference between builders and talkers—between people who create leverage and people who get leveraged.