Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 132

Do You Really Know Bill Gates? The Myth of Entrepreneur as Risk-Taker

Photo: Laughing Squid/Scott Beale

Before I had to establish my no-blurb/no-review policy for books due to volume (picture: one day's mail), I received an e-mail from Rick Smith, the founding CEO of the World 50, one of the most exclusive senior executive networking companies on the planet, with members and contributors like Bono, Francis Ford Coppola, and Phil Knight…

He was interested in having me look at his new book Leap, and I suggested he send it along with the understanding that I might ...

7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat

Photo: Eduardo Amorim

I've invited Dr. Michael Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades, two of my favorite bariatric (obesity treatment) doctors in the US and the first to introduce insulin resistance to the mainstream, to explain the facts and benefits of increased saturated fat intake…

The sub-headings are mine, and a few edits have been made for space and context. Please see Dr. Michael Eades' references and responses to questions in the comments.

Mid-Section Fat Loss: Problem Solved?

A couple of...

Random Episode 5: The Bloody, Filthy Travel Edition

This is a short Random episode — 10:30 — and easily the most disgusting to date. I also think it's the funniest. Imagine Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations if he didn't need to edit for cable.

This episode has some educational bits, but it's focus is on enjoying the not-always-so-smooth experience of travel.

Not for the faint of heart.

From Glenn:

The following video segment is a continuation of the randomly shot randomian-thought random show project with Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose. This time, we

How to Respond to Criticism – Learning from Dr. King

(Photo: Africa Within)

Total read time (bolded sections) = 5 minutes

Total read time (all) = 40 minutes

I am embarrassed to tell you that, up until three weeks ago, I had never read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham City Jail. It is, without a doubt, one of the best case studies in how to deal with criticism I've ever come across.

Much like the historic Declaration of Independence (4-minute read time) and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (30-second read time), not much

Random 4: Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose on Y-Combinator, Language Learning and More

This pre-China trip includes the below:

- Personal experiences with Y-Combinator, demo days, and pitching new ideas through avenues like YC.

- Five things you can do as a new startup to get your ideas, app, or product in front of influencers.

- Tweaking your website: per-user metrics, cost per acquisition, lifetime value of the customer, etc..

- The iPhone 3GS, talking some about the new updates and then a short comparison with the Palm Pre.

- Learning new languages and reactivating old ones (in this

Google Website Optimizer Case Study: Daily Burn, 20%+ Improvement

This post will show exactly how one start-up improved their homepage conversion rate (visitor to sign-up flow) more than 20%, then 16% again, with a few simple changes and Google Website Optimizer.

Once reading this, you will know more about split-testing than 90%+ of the consultants who get paid to do it…

There are a few advanced concepts, but don't be intimidated; just use what you can and ignore the rest.

—

Along with Founders Fund (Dave McClure), Garrett Camp (CEO, StumbleUpon), and others, I

Dean Kamen – Don't Tell Me It's Impossible

Roger Bannister broke the mythical 4-minute mile barrier in 1954. (Source: Guardian UK)

Dean Kamen is no stranger to innovation.

He's also no stranger to doubters and skeptics. People said the Segway was impossible, but Kamen disagreed, and he was right.

"Don't tell me it's impossible," he says, "tell me you can't do it." "Tell me it's never been done. Because the only real laws in this world–the only things we really know–are the two postulates of relativity, the three laws of Newton, the

Design Competition: Want to Design My Next Cover?

(Photo: monkeyc.net)

If there is one thing I've learned from this blog, it's that the readers here — that's you — have some stellar ideas and skills.

For the next book, tentatively titled "Becoming Superhuman", I would therefore love to invite any designers out there to throw their hat in the ring for the cover design.

This is a 7-day competition, and the clock is already ticking…

The last book is now in 35 languages, and I'm hoping the next book will be much bigger. I'll be firing all cylinders

Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes

(Photo: Dustin Diaz)

How much more could you get done if you completed all of your required reading in 1/3 or 1/5 the time?

Increasing reading speed is a process of controlling fine motor movement—period.

This post is a condensed overview of principles I taught to undergraduates at Princeton University in 1998 at a seminar called the "PX Project". The below was written several years ago, so it's worded like Ivy-Leaguer pompous-ass prose, but the results are substantial. In fact, while on an airp

The Big Question: Are You Better Than Yesterday?

Big goals? Learn to think small. (Photo: H. Koppdelaney)

The following is a guest post from Chad Fowler, CTO of InfoEther, Inc.

He spends much of his time solving hard problems for customers in the Ruby computer language. He is also co-organizer of RubyConf and RailsConf, where I first met him in person.

Our second meeting was in Boulder, where he was kind enough to use his musical background and natural language experience (Hindi, among others) to teach a knuckle-dragger (me) the primitive b