He graduated from Harvey Mudd College in 1998, and went on to Stanford University to obtain his master's degree in computer science.

[10] Friedman was executive director of The Seasteading Institute, founded in 2008, with a half-million-dollar donation from venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

[11] The institute's mission is "to establish permanent, autonomous ocean communities to enable experimentation and innovation with diverse social, political, and legal systems".

Through The Seasteading Institute, Friedman was able to start the Ephemerisle festival in 2009, aided by TSI's James Hogan as event organizer and Chicken John Rinaldi as chief builder.

[19] On July 31, 2011, Friedman stepped down from the position as executive director of The Seasteading Institute, but remained chairman of the board.