He was actually introducing the format of the book, i.e. it started with Ulbricht being arrested for running Silk Road, then jumped back to the beginning of the story. Of course it’s a common structure especially for nonfiction, but I enjoyed the meta-ness of it.

Tangentially related: I recently read American Kingpin, a book about Ross Ulbricht. The author starts by saying something like, “My mother had an unusual way of reading books. She would read the end first, then go back and start from the beginning. She enjoyed piecing together how the story got from A to B.” I realized that spoilers have never bothered me, for the same reason.

I share mine with about a dozen friends and family, and some have offered to pay me. I didn’t think about it being illegal (although, of course it is) but the reason I wouldn’t charge is that I don’t want anyone having expectations about it working. It’s worked smoothly for about a year, and if it breaks I’ll fix it on my own time.