Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 61
February 28, 2019
Graham Duncan — Talent Is the Best Asset Class (#362)
Photo by Heidi Gutman/CNBC
“Everyone’s genius is right next to their dysfunction.” — Graham Duncan
Graham Duncan (@GrahamDuncanNYC) is the co-founder of East Rock Capital, a multi-family office investment firm that manages $2 billion for a small number of families and their charitable foundations.
Before starting East Rock 14 years ago, Graham worked at two other investment firms and started his career by co-founding an independent Wall Street research firm. Graham graduated from Yale with a B.A. in ethics, politics, and economics. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as co-chair of the SOHN Conference Foundation, which funds pediatric cancer research.
Josh Waitzkin, the chess prodigy who served as the basis for the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, calls Graham “the tip of the spear in the realms of talent tracking and judgment of human potential in high stakes mental arenas.”
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, or on your favorite podcast platform.
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #362: Graham Duncan — Talent Is The Best Asset Class
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/05f4cbf7-d2ef-4250-9eeb-513086c93e9f.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Would you like to hear another episode with an investor who understands the value of quality time? — Check out my conversation with Peter Mallouk, in which we discuss illiquidity as a feature rather than a bug, when the risk of being out of the market is greater than the risk of being in, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download.):
#356: Peter Mallouk — Exploring the Worlds of Investing, Assets, and Quality of Lifehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/5a534877-430d-43dd-88ae-b701cc068127.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.
With a community of more than 575 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally so you can build relationships that really matter and drive your business objectives forward. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. Why spray and pray with your marketing dollars when you can be surgical? To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!
This podcast is also brought to you by 99designs, the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Its creative process has become the go-to solution for businesses, agencies, and individuals, and I have used it for years to help with display advertising and illustrations and to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca. Whether your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99designs.
You can work with multiple designers at once to get a bunch of different ideas, or hire the perfect designer for your project based based on their style and industry specialization. It’s simple to review concepts and leave feedback so you’ll end up with a design that you’re happy with. Now 99designs also offers custom video and will match you with the right video professional to help you explain your product, spotlight a service, and bring your brand to life. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Graham Duncan:
Website | Twitter | East Rock Capital
Yale University
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome by Gill Corkindale, Harvard Business Review
Mental Model: Feedback Loops, My Investing Life
Goldman Sachs
6 Reasons Why Your Baby Might Be Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), UnityPoint Health
Memento
The Science of Success by David Dobbs, The Atlantic
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. Aron
Looking Back: Creative Genius in Classical Music by Dean Keith Simonton, The British Psychological Society
Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss
The Further Reaches of Adult Development by Robert Kegan, The RSA
The Work of Byron Katie
A Mind at Home with Itself: How Asking Four Questions Can Free Your Mind, Open Your Heart, and Turn Your World Around by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell
Sweetgreen
Tesla
Portfolio Manager (PM), Investopedia
Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Investopedia
Citadel
Why Investors Should Have Known Tesla’s SolarCity Acquisition Was a Bad Business Decision by Travis Hoium, The Motley Fool
The Aspirational Investor: Taming the Markets to Achieve Your Life’s Goals by Ashvin Chhabra
Renaissance Technologies
The Quants Run Wall Street Now by Gregory Zuckerman and Bradley Hope, The Wall Street Journal
Jim Simons, the Numbers King by D.T. Max, The New Yorker
Institute for Advanced Study
Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright
Chicago Bulls
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle
Pixar
Navy SEALs
The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower — and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels
Hollywood Shadows by Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker
The Wim Hof Method
Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James Carse
Breakfast at the Victory: The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience by James Carse
The Play’s the Thing: A Nashville Theologian Considers the Genius of James P. Carse by David Dark, Chapter 16
Jocko Podcast
Y Combinator
The Playing Field by Graham Duncan, Medium
This is Water by David Foster Wallace
Greg McKeown — How to Master Essentialism, The Tim Ferriss Show
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
River of Well-Being by Bill Bray
Who Really Said “Learn the Rules Like a Pro so You Can Break Them Like an Artist?” Y Combinator
The Big Short
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
The Entropic Brain: A Theory of Conscious States Informed by Neuroimaging Research with Psychedelic Drugs by Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Robert Leech, Peter J. Hellyer, and Murray Shanahan, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Marginal Revolution
Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist by Tyler Cowen
Managing Procrastination, Predicting the Future, and Finding Happiness — Tim Urban, The Tim Ferriss Show
The Tail End by Tim Urban, Wait But Why
The 90-Year Life Calendar
10% Happier by Dan Harris
Waking Up by Sam Harris
The Roots of Mindfulness: How a Group of Jews Turned a Buddhist Spiritual Practice into a Distinctly American Phenomenon — and a Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry by Michelle Goldberg, Tablet
The Waking Up Course: A Lesson on Gratitude by Sam Harris, Waking Up
Welcome to the Party by Jeff Warren, 10% Happier (For free access to a dozen of Jeff Warren’s guided meditations, including “Welcome to the Party,” visit the special link 10percenthappier.com/welcome to download the 10% Happier app and unlock the content.))
“There Isn’t Time — so Brief Is Life — for Bickerings, Apologies, Heartburnings, Callings to Account. There Is Only Time for Loving — and but an Instant, so to Speak, for That.” by Mark Twain, Letter to Clara Spaulding, 20 August 1886
The Sohn Conference Foundation
SHOW NOTES
I think of Graham as far more than an investor. How does he describe what he does? [05:35]
Absent the systems and frameworks he’s honed over time, what made Graham a good talent hunter at the tender age of 24? [10:12]
What constitutes taste when Graham is scouting for talent these days? [13:05]
Upon meeting someone, how does Graham stress-test whether or not someone is “commercial” in the way they balance aggression and integrity? [15:57]
One high-signal question Graham has found particularly useful when trying to determine the quality of anyone from a trader to an OB/GYN. [19:12]
When interviewing a potential candidate, how does Graham vet their given references? [22:00]
On approaching the reference process with curiosity rather than an attempt to catch anyone with a “gotcha.” [25:32]
Why does mutual friend Josh Waitzkin call Graham The Wild Gardener? [29:41]
How does Graham deal with contradictory perspectives — when the data is telling him one thing and his gut is telling him another? [31:30]
What does Graham do to familiarize himself with the way people underwrite their mental models (besides nearly beheading them)? [33:52]
Graham talks about his role as an investment coach, of sorts, and how he picks the best “players” for the game at hand. [35:17]
What other patterns has Graham noticed in the successful talent he’s ended up selecting? [36:47]
In what way have others helped Graham surface his hidden assumptions, and how might a coach do the same for others? [41:34]
An example of when Graham’s “grip” has been a bit too tight around his own beliefs. [44:38]
What Byron Katie has taught us about articulating the opposite of such beliefs — and having a mindful lunch. [46:14]
When evaluating a team, how does Graham think about each person developing the ability to look at the opposite versus hiring to end up at that optimal mixture? [50:45]
How might someone train to more clearly see disconfirming evidence — and roll with the punches when their instincts lead them toward regrettable decisions? [54:04]
What books does Graham gift to others most often? [58:56]
An aside about Wim Hof and Josh Waitzkin embracing “the other side of pain” to get the most out of life. [1:02:31]
How does James Carse’s distinction of finite and infinite games apply to finance, and how would Graham test a potential teammate for compatible sensibility? [1:06:12]
How likely would it be for Graham to invest in a Jocko Willink project? [1:10:45]
Different people have different ways of sniffing around direct questions. Here are a few examples. [1:11:43]
Graham explains what this Kwame Appiah quote means to him: “In life the challenge is not so much to figure out how best to play the game; the challenge is to figure out what game you’re playing.” [1:13:42]
Going by David Foster Wallace’s famous commencement speech, what’s your water? Podcasting helps me see mine. [1:16:17]
Graham’s take on Greg McKeown’s Essentialism. [1:17:50]
How Graham sees careers as a river (with a nod of thanks to neuroscientists Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson’s model of well-being). [1:18:57]
Toward which bank do the top one percent in any given field swim? What if that field is financial markets? What if that field is writing fiction novels? [1:21:54]
The differences between millionaires, billionaires, cultural billionaires, and time billionaires. [1:26:25]
An idea for how Tim Urban might allow for personalization of his 90-year-life calendar. [1:28:55]
Are you more concerned about the length of your life or its width? [1:30:10]
Life changes Graham and I have both made as a direct result of reading Tim Urban’s “The Long Tail” piece at Wait But Why. [1:31:05]
How does Graham try to appreciate the width of his life? [1:32:43]
Aside from the aforementioned Kwame Appiah quote, what might Graham put on his billboard? [1:36:12]
The power to be found in treating negative feelings like welcome party guests. [1:37:07]
Parting thoughts from Mark Twain and Graham. [1:39:09]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Josh Waitzkin
David Tepper
Chris Fussell
Stan McChrystal
Tobias L¸tke
Kyle Maynard
Susan Cain
Elaine Aron
Dean Simonton
Johann Sebastian Bach
Warren Buffett
William Shakespeare
Wayne Gretzky
John Arnold
Richard Feynman
Carolyn Coughlin
Bob Kegan
Byron Katie
Charlie Munger
Elon Musk
Ashvin Chhabra
Jim Simons
Dave Logan
Phil Jackson
Daniel Coyle
Phil Stutz
Barry Michels
Dana Goodyear
Wim Hof
Laird Hamilton
James Carse
Jocko Willink
Paul Graham
Sam Altman
Ray Dalio
Kwame Appiah
David Foster Wallace
Greg McKeown
Dan Siegel
Steve Jobs
Pablo Picasso
Mike Burry
Christian Bale
Robert M. Pirsig
Rachel Cusk
Karl Ove KnausgÂrd
Robin Carhart-Harris
Tyler Cowen
Rupert Murdoch
Tim Urban
Matt Mullenweg
Dan Harris
Sam Harris
Jack Kornfield
Joseph Goldstein
Sharon Salzberg
Gretchen Rubin
Muneeb Ali
Pierre Chardin
Mark Twain
Graham Duncan — Talent Is The Best Asset Class (#362)
Photo by Heidi Gutman/CNBC
“Everyone’s genius is right next to their dysfunction.” — Graham Duncan
Graham Duncan (@GrahamDuncanNYC) is the co-founder of East Rock Capital, a multi-family office investment firm that manages $2 billion for a small number of families and their charitable foundations.
Before starting East Rock 14 years ago, Graham worked at two other investment firms and started his career by co-founding an independent Wall Street research firm. Graham graduated from Yale with a B.A. in ethics, politics, and economics. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as co-chair of the SOHN Conference Foundation, which funds pediatric cancer research.
Josh Waitzkin, the chess prodigy who served as the basis for the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, calls Graham “the tip of the spear in the realms of talent tracking and judgment of human potential in high stakes mental arenas.”
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #362: Graham Duncan — Talent Is The Best Asset Class
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/05f4cbf7-d2ef-4250-9eeb-513086c93e9f.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Would you like to hear another episode with an investor who understands the value of quality time? — Check out my conversation with Peter Mallouk, in which we discuss illiquidity as a feature rather than a bug, when the risk of being out of the market is greater than the risk of being in, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download.):
#356: Peter Mallouk — Exploring the Worlds of Investing, Assets, and Quality of Lifehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/5a534877-430d-43dd-88ae-b701cc068127.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.
With a community of more than 575 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally so you can build relationships that really matter and drive your business objectives forward. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. Why spray and pray with your marketing dollars when you can be surgical? To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!
This podcast is also brought to you by 99designs, the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Its creative process has become the go-to solution for businesses, agencies, and individuals, and I have used it for years to help with display advertising and illustrations and to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca. Whether your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99designs.
You can work with multiple designers at once to get a bunch of different ideas, or hire the perfect designer for your project based based on their style and industry specialization. It’s simple to review concepts and leave feedback so you’ll end up with a design that you’re happy with. Now 99designs also offers custom video and will match you with the right video professional to help you explain your product, spotlight a service, and bring your brand to life. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Graham Duncan:
Website | Twitter | East Rock Capital
Yale University
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome by Gill Corkindale, Harvard Business Review
Mental Model: Feedback Loops, My Investing Life
Goldman Sachs
6 Reasons Why Your Baby Might Be Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), UnityPoint Health
Memento
The Science of Success by David Dobbs, The Atlantic
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. Aron
Looking Back: Creative Genius in Classical Music by Dean Keith Simonton, The British Psychological Society
Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss
The Further Reaches of Adult Development by Robert Kegan, The RSA
The Work of Byron Katie
A Mind at Home with Itself: How Asking Four Questions Can Free Your Mind, Open Your Heart, and Turn Your World Around by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell
Sweetgreen
Tesla
Portfolio Manager (PM), Investopedia
Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Investopedia
Citadel
Why Investors Should Have Known Tesla’s SolarCity Acquisition Was a Bad Business Decision by Travis Hoium, The Motley Fool
The Aspirational Investor: Taming the Markets to Achieve Your Life’s Goals by Ashvin Chhabra
Renaissance Technologies
The Quants Run Wall Street Now by Gregory Zuckerman and Bradley Hope, The Wall Street Journal
Jim Simons, the Numbers King by D.T. Max, The New Yorker
Institute for Advanced Study
Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright
Chicago Bulls
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle
Pixar
Navy SEALs
The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower — and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels
Hollywood Shadows by Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker
The Wim Hof Method
Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James Carse
Breakfast at the Victory: The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience by James Carse
The Play’s the Thing: A Nashville Theologian Considers the Genius of James P. Carse by David Dark, Chapter 16
Jocko Podcast
Y Combinator
The Playing Field by Graham Duncan, Medium
This is Water by David Foster Wallace
Greg McKeown — How to Master Essentialism, The Tim Ferriss Show
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
River of Well-Being by Bill Bray
Who Really Said “Learn the Rules Like a Pro so You Can Break Them Like an Artist?” Y Combinator
The Big Short
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
The Entropic Brain: A Theory of Conscious States Informed by Neuroimaging Research with Psychedelic Drugs by Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Robert Leech, Peter J. Hellyer, and Murray Shanahan, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Marginal Revolution
Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist by Tyler Cowen
Managing Procrastination, Predicting the Future, and Finding Happiness — Tim Urban, The Tim Ferriss Show
The Tail End by Tim Urban, Wait But Why
The 90-Year Life Calendar
10% Happier by Dan Harris
Waking Up by Sam Harris
The Roots of Mindfulness: How a Group of Jews Turned a Buddhist Spiritual Practice into a Distinctly American Phenomenon — and a Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry by Michelle Goldberg, Tablet
The Waking Up Course: A Lesson on Gratitude by Sam Harris, Waking Up
Welcome to the Party by Jeff Warren, 10% Happier (For free access to a dozen of Jeff Warren’s guided meditations, including “Welcome to the Party,” visit the special link 10percenthappier.com/welcome to download the 10% Happier app and unlock the content.))
“There Isn’t Time — so Brief Is Life — for Bickerings, Apologies, Heartburnings, Callings to Account. There Is Only Time for Loving — and but an Instant, so to Speak, for That.” by Mark Twain, Letter to Clara Spaulding, 20 August 1886
The Sohn Conference Foundation
SHOW NOTES
I think of Graham as far more than an investor. How does he describe what he does? [05:35]
Absent the systems and frameworks he’s honed over time, what made Graham a good talent hunter at the tender age of 24? [10:12]
What constitutes taste when Graham is scouting for talent these days? [13:05]
Upon meeting someone, how does Graham stress-test whether or not someone is “commercial” in the way they balance aggression and integrity? [15:57]
One high-signal question Graham has found particularly useful when trying to determine the quality of anyone from a trader to an OB/GYN. [19:12]
When interviewing a potential candidate, how does Graham vet their given references? [22:00]
On approaching the reference process with curiosity rather than an attempt to catch anyone with a “gotcha.” [25:32]
Why does mutual friend Josh Waitzkin call Graham The Wild Gardener? [29:41]
How does Graham deal with contradictory perspectives — when the data is telling him one thing and his gut is telling him another? [31:30]
What does Graham do to familiarize himself with the way people underwrite their mental models (besides nearly beheading them)? [33:52]
Graham talks about his role as an investment coach, of sorts, and how he picks the best “players” for the game at hand. [35:17]
What other patterns has Graham noticed in the successful talent he’s ended up selecting? [36:47]
In what way have others helped Graham surface his hidden assumptions, and how might a coach do the same for others? [41:34]
An example of when Graham’s “grip” has been a bit too tight around his own beliefs. [44:38]
What Byron Katie has taught us about articulating the opposite of such beliefs — and having a mindful lunch. [46:14]
When evaluating a team, how does Graham think about each person developing the ability to look at the opposite versus hiring to end up at that optimal mixture? [50:45]
How might someone train to more clearly see disconfirming evidence — and roll with the punches when their instincts lead them toward regrettable decisions? [54:04]
What books does Graham gift to others most often? [58:56]
An aside about Wim Hof and Josh Waitzkin embracing “the other side of pain” to get the most out of life. [1:02:31]
How does James Carse’s distinction of finite and infinite games apply to finance, and how would Graham test a potential teammate for compatible sensibility? [1:06:12]
How likely would it be for Graham to invest in a Jocko Willink project? [1:10:45]
Different people have different ways of sniffing around direct questions. Here are a few examples. [1:11:43]
Graham explains what this Kwame Appiah quote means to him: “In life the challenge is not so much to figure out how best to play the game; the challenge is to figure out what game you’re playing.” [1:13:42]
Going by David Foster Wallace’s famous commencement speech, what’s your water? Podcasting helps me see mine. [1:16:17]
Graham’s take on Greg McKeown’s Essentialism. [1:17:50]
How Graham sees careers as a river (with a nod of thanks to neuroscientists Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson’s model of well-being). [1:18:57]
Toward which bank do the top one percent in any given field swim? What if that field is financial markets? What if that field is writing fiction novels? [1:21:54]
The differences between millionaires, billionaires, cultural billionaires, and time billionaires. [1:26:25]
An idea for how Tim Urban might allow for personalization of his 90-year-life calendar. [1:28:55]
Are you more concerned about the length of your life or its width? [1:30:10]
Life changes Graham and I have both made as a direct result of reading Tim Urban’s “The Long Tail” piece at Wait But Why. [1:31:05]
How does Graham try to appreciate the width of his life? [1:32:43]
Aside from the aforementioned Kwame Appiah quote, what might Graham put on his billboard? [1:36:12]
The power to be found in treating negative feelings like welcome party guests. [1:37:07]
Parting thoughts from Mark Twain and Graham. [1:39:09]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Josh Waitzkin
David Tepper
Chris Fussell
Stan McChrystal
Tobias L¸tke
Kyle Maynard
Susan Cain
Elaine Aron
Dean Simonton
Johann Sebastian Bach
Warren Buffett
William Shakespeare
Wayne Gretzky
John Arnold
Richard Feynman
Carolyn Coughlin
Bob Kegan
Byron Katie
Charlie Munger
Elon Musk
Ashvin Chhabra
Jim Simons
Dave Logan
Phil Jackson
Daniel Coyle
Phil Stutz
Barry Michels
Dana Goodyear
Wim Hof
Laird Hamilton
James Carse
Jocko Willink
Paul Graham
Sam Altman
Ray Dalio
Kwame Appiah
David Foster Wallace
Greg McKeown
Dan Siegel
Steve Jobs
Pablo Picasso
Mike Burry
Christian Bale
Robert M. Pirsig
Rachel Cusk
Karl Ove KnausgÂrd
Robin Carhart-Harris
Tyler Cowen
Rupert Murdoch
Tim Urban
Matt Mullenweg
Dan Harris
Sam Harris
Jack Kornfield
Joseph Goldstein
Sharon Salzberg
Gretchen Rubin
Muneeb Ali
Pierre Chardin
Mark Twain
February 18, 2019
Jim Collins — A Rare Interview with a Reclusive Polymath (#361)
Photo by George Lange
“I’m not really a business author; I just happen to have used companies as the method to study human systems because there’s great data.” — Jim Collins
My guest for this episode is the incredible (and somewhat reclusive) Jim Collins.
This was a rare treat, as Jim rarely does any media or interviews. I’ve wanted to speak with him for more than a decade, and it was worth the wait. This conversation overdelivered on every level. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
So, who is Jim Collins?
Jim Collins (jimcollins.com) is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick, and a Socratic advisor to leaders in the business and social sectors. He has authored or coauthored eight books that have together sold 10+ million copies worldwide, including Good to Great, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, Built to Last, How the Mighty Fall, Great by Choice, and his newest work, Turning the Flywheel.
Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.
In 2017, Forbes selected Jim as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.
Jim is also an avid rock climber and has completed single-day ascents of El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite Valley.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #361: Jim Collins — A Rare Interview with a Reclusive Polymath
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/5ba5c5e9-612a-4670-8fd2-e10b8832d3fc.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear an episode with someone else who likes to ask big questions? — Listen to my conversation with Nick Kokonas, subversive entrepreneur, angel investor, and restaurateur extraordinaire (stream below or right-click here to download):
#341: Nick Kokonas — How to Apply World-Class Creativity to Business, Art, and Lifehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/c23d1aee-571f-4e87-ae41-4026a5a5e92d.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn and its job recruitment platform, which offers a smarter system for the hiring process. If you’ve ever hired anyone (or attempted to), you know finding the right people can be difficult. If you don’t have a direct referral from someone you trust, you’re left to use job boards that don’t offer any real-world networking approach.
LinkedIn, as the world’s largest professional network — used by more than 70 percent of the US workforce — has a built-in ecosystem that allows you to not only search for employees, but also interact with them, their connections, and their former employers and colleagues in a way that closely mimics real-life communication. Visit LinkedIn.com/Tim and receive a $50 credit toward your first job post!
This podcast is also brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.
New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.
Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. Again, that’s onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Jim Collins:
Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is Not the Answer by Jim Collins
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins
Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen
Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins
Acquisition of Japanese Kanji: Conventional Practice and Mnemonic Supplementation by Timothy Ferriss
What I Think: John McPhee by Jamie Saxon, Princeton University
Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process by John McPhee
A Sense of Where You Are: A Profile of William Warren Bradley by John McPhee
Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives About a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies by John McPhee
The Control of Nature by John McPhee
John McPhee, The Art of Nonfiction No. 3 by Peter Hessler, The Paris Review
Eckerd Corporation
Rubbermaid
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Concept: Level 5 Leadership by Jim Collins
Teach for America
Stanford University
IBM
Thelma and Louise
The Simplex Method by Hamdy Taha, Operations Research, Wikibooks
Searching for Bobby Fischer Book and Movie
National Jewish Health
El Capitan
Bose QuietComfort 35 (Series II) Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones
The Hedgehog Concept by Jim Collins
Creativity in Business: Based on the Famed Stanford University Course That Has Revolutionized the Art of Success by Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers
HP
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker
Straight from the Hedgehog’s Mouth: Management Guru Jim Collins by Andrew Hill, The Irish Times
IndustryWeek
Drucker Day Keynote with Jim Collins, The Drucker Institute
Ten Lessons I Learned from Peter Drucker by Jim Collins
What is a Flywheel? Wikipedia
The Flywheel Effect by Jim Collins
The Retail Flywheel: Why Amazon Really Is Just Getting Started by Jon Allion, Seeking Alpha
How Does Your Flywheel Turn? by Jim Collins
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
Giro Sport Design
Intel
Triathlon Ironman World Championships 1985, TheSports.org
Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs by Jim Collins
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
SHOW NOTES
We begin by Jim asking me a few questions. The first: What was the subject of my Princeton senior thesis? [08:24]
How do I go about acquiring a new language? [09:29]
Does language constrain or enhance the concepts we develop? Let’s ask Ludwig Wittgenstein. [11:54]
What it was like to take a writing class taught by nonfiction great John McPhee, and how it improved more than just my writing. [15:40]
What is a conceptual vessel, and how do you choose the right one for the occasion at hand? Jim tells us about the time his irreverent research team changed his mind and helped created what became a cornerstone conceptual vessel: the Level 5 Leadership hierarchy. [24:29]
What is the Level 5 Leadership hierarchy? [30:27]
Among leaders, how did Jim and his team use research data to identify genuine humility and separate it from false humility? [35:25]
How Jim’s students led him to pursue an entrepreneurial path, why he keeps a stopwatch with three timers in his pocket, and what insight this gives us about Jim’s own successful habits. [40:26]
How Jim summarizes the time he spends on any given day in a spreadsheet to maximize his creative hours and ensure he doesn’t get into a “funk.” [47:32]
The method Jim uses to correlate what his bad days (and his good days) have in common while pursuing his relentless “discipline in service of creativity.” [52:45]
What patterns has Jim discovered by using this method? [55:18]
Three components Jim believes are crucial for living the kind of life he wants to lead. [56:27]
When accounting for his time, how does Jim define what counts as “creative?” [59:27]
How does Jim think about, monitor, and account for the time he spends sleeping? [1:07:10]
As someone who benefits greatly from naps, when does Jim find time to catch them? [1:11:54]
Jim’s absolute favorite sleeping pattern. [1:13:45]
What is the bug book, and how does it tie in with the Hedgehog Concept? [1:15:01]
How observations Jim made in his bug book led him from working in a corporate landscape to where he is today. [1:20:47]
As an early version of his time accounting spreadsheets, how did the bug book compare? Was it as thorough? Was it something he brought with him everywhere and used every day? [1:22:25]
Jim talks about “who luck” — particularly the time he was fortunate enough to spend with business visionary Peter Drucker and why, at 61 years of age, he feels his life has really just begun. [1:24:26]
An important aside about making sure the time a mentor agrees to spend with you is ultimately worth it for both of you. [1:29:07]
What big question does Jim think Peter Drucker was trying to answer? [1:33:42]
Two important lessons Jim learned from Peter Drucker. [1:35:32]
What is a flywheel, and how does it conceptually tie in with the lessons of Jim’s latest work? [1:00:00]
How the team at Amazon elaborated on Good to Great’s flywheel principle, and what Jim came to understand from this expanded model. [1:44:59]
What can people expect from the Turning the Flywheel monograph, and why was this format chosen to convey this message? [1:50:25]
What is Jim’s own flywheel? Where does it start, and what fuels its perpetuation? [1:53:21]
Can a flywheel sometimes be more of a vicious circle of degeneration than a virtuous cycle that promotes growth? What might cause an otherwise virtuous cycle to become dysfunctional? [1:55:42]
The mechanisms and patterns demonstrated by a doom loop and how it compares and contrasts to a flywheel. [1:57:36]
Jim explains why two seemingly spontaneous events from his past weren’t actually as out of character as they might seem at first glance. [1:59:24]
How the best decision Jim ever made and one of his favorite paragraphs he’s ever written are related. [2:04:18]
How the relation between empirical validation and pure analysis is like firing bullets before firing cannonballs. [2:06:00]
According to one of Jim’s mentors, when does the option of a safety net have a negative value? [2:08:57]
Parting thoughts. [2:11:51]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Ludwig Wittgenstein
John McPhee
Mark Twain
Reid Hoffman
Curious George
Jerry Porras
Jack Eckerd
Stanley Gault
Wendy Kopp
Jack Bogle
Joanne Ernst
George Dantzig
Josh Waitzkin
Walt Disney
Rochelle Myers
Peter Drucker
Bill Lazier
Tom Brown
Warren Buffett
Thomas Paine
Morten Hansen
Irv Grousbeck
Naval Ravikant
February 14, 2019
Caterina Fake — The Outsider Who Built Giants (#360)
Credit: Richard Morgenstein
“I really am a big believer in people’s creativity flourishing when they come at things from a different direction and see things in a different way.” — Caterina Fake
Caterina Fake (@caterina) is a long-time Silicon Valley pioneer. She is a co-founder of Yes VC, a pre-seed and seed-stage fund investing in ideas that elevate our collective humanity. Previously, she worked at Founder Collective as a founder partner, served as chair of Etsy, and was a co-founder of Flickr.
At Flickr, Caterina and her team introduced many of the innovations — newsfeeds, hashtags, “followers,” “likes” — that have become commonplace online. Caterina went on to found several more startups (Findery, Hunch) and became an active investor, advisor, and board member, helping to build companies like Etsy and Kickstarter from their beginnings. (Other investments include Stack Overflow, Cloudera, and Blue Bottle Coffee.) Caterina is an early creator of online communities and a long-time advocate of the responsibility of entrepreneurs for the outcomes of their technologies.
Caterina sits on the board of Public Goods, the Sundance Institute, and McSweeney’s. She was given the Silicon Valley Visionaries award in 2018 and has received honorary doctorates from both the New School and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
Caterina is also the host of the new podcast Should This Exist?, which asks the question, “What is technology doing to our humanity?” Should This Exist? can be listened to on Apple Podcasts, at shouldthisexist.com, or anywhere podcasts are found.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #360: Caterina Fake — Lessons from Flickr, Kickstarter, Etsy, and Much Morehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/d7962685-3765-45fa-834e-28e07d3c9dd2.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear an episode featuring another early Silicon Valley startup legend? — Listen to this episode featuring investor, Masters of Scale host, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, which features the 10 commandments of startup success. (Stream below or right-click here to download):
#248: The 10 Commandments of Startup Success with Reid Hoffmanhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/09e5870b-ff69-4a17-8dea-4b15973209b3.mp3Download
This podcast is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is, inevitably, Athletic Greens. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body and did not get paid to do so. As a listener of The Tim Ferriss Show, you’ll get a free 20-count travel pack (valued at $79) with your first order at athleticgreens.com/tim.
This podcast is also brought to you by Uber. Uber makes getting around town easier than ever before, and now Uber is introducing Uber Rewards, a new rewards program that helps keep modern life going. With Uber Rewards, you can earn points on Rides and Uber Eats and unlock rewards such as Uber Cash for your next Uber ride or your next Uber Eats order. You can unlock new benefits at every membership level, such as flexible cancellations with Gold, price protection with Platinum, complimentary surprise upgrades with Diamond, and more. For terms and to learn more about all the ways you can earn Uber Rewards, go to Uber.com/Rewards.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Caterina Fake:
Should This Exist? Podcast | Website | Twitter | Instagram
Should This Exist? Podcast
South by Southwest
Stanford MBA
Rock Climbing in Arkansas 101: Outdoor, Indoor, and Gear, Fayettechill
Nepal Rock Climbing, Mountain Project
U.S. Begins Privatizing Internet’s Operations by Peter H. Lewis, The New York Times
Vassar College
Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, UC Berkeley
Making Sense of Multimedia Gulch by George Raine, SFGate
HTML Tutorial: Learn HTML for Free, Codecademy
Flickr
Game Neverending, Codex Gamicus
The Hail Mary Prayer, Loyola Press
The Obvious Corp. Takes Backseat as Ev Williams, Biz Stone, and Jason Goldman Shift Focus to Individual Startups by Colleen Taylor, TechCrunch
Google Buys Blogger Web Service by Neil McIntosh, The Guardian
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Killing the Abraham by Caterina Fake, Wired
The Bible
SmugMug
Airbnb
Friendster
Idealab
Yes VC
Kickstarter
Etsy
Souk of Aleppo, World Monuments Fund
Oh the Agony! 150 of 165 Invited Investors Did Not Respond to Uber Investment Offer in 2010 by JD Alois, Crowdfund Insider
Founder Collective
The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built by Stewart Brand
The Anthrobscene by Caterina Fake, Caterina.net
Long Now Foundation
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
The 4 Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
How to Modify Your Sleep Schedule for Maximum Efficiency by Caterina Fake, Bloomberg Businessweek
The Genius Neuroscientist Who Might Hold the Key to True AI by Shaun Raviv, Wired
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Public Goods
DF Tube (Distraction Free for YouTube) for Chrome
Apple Screen Time
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan
How Can I Be as Great as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk or Sir Richard Branson?, Quora
PayPal
Tesla
The Science of FOMO and What We’re Really Missing Out On by Nick Hobson, Psychology Today
Eletelephony by Laura Elizabeth Richards
The Good Order by David Brooks, The New York Times
Social Peacocking and the Shadow by Caterina Fake, Caterina.net
The Child and the Shadow by Ursula K. Le Guin
Sonnet 29: When, in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes by William Shakespeare, Poetry Foundation
Cry Out in Your Weakness by Rumi, Zen of Water
Humans of New York
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Caterina at Goodreads
The Odyssey by Homer with Emily Wilson
A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kis
Hannah Versus the Tree by Leland de la Durantaye
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth by Robert Graves
The Upanishads
The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald
Drawings and Observations by Louise Bourgeois
The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman
Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher
Masters of Scale
CRISPR: A Game-Changing Genetic Engineering Technique by Ekaterina Pak, Harvard Medical School
Fleurs du Mal/Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire, FleursDuMal.org
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Fire and Ice by Robert Frost, Poetry Foundation
Whole Earth Catalog
The Woolly Mammoth Revival, Revive & Restore
Here’s the follow-up from Caterina with additional poetry and prose recommendations:
Some poets I mentioned on the podcast were Wallace Stevens and Emily Dickinson. Get their Collected Poems (The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens | The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson), and three great poems of Stevens’ are Arrival at the Waldorf, Emperor of Ice-Cream, and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. Greatest Hits is often a good way to get going.
There’s a lot of awful stuff out there. Even poets hate poetry. So stick to the well-trodden path when you’re just starting out. Get yourself an anthology and read as much as you can stand. But when you find something that moves you get some more. Go for The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry (Volume 1 | Volume 2) or surf around Poets.org.
Some fiction recommendations: Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun. A Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
I read a ton of non-fiction too, but your prior guests have certainly recommended dozens of books everyone’s still getting caught up on, so I’ll refrain. But I was really taken with Svetlana Alexievich’s Book Voices from Chernobyl. Unbelievable.
SHOW NOTES
What are the unintentional consequences of having a real last name like “Fake?” [06:43]
How did Caterina wind up in Silicon Valley? [08:10]
What’s Caterina’s background, and what did she want to be when she grew up? [10:37]
How did Caterina leverage this atypical background as an advantage in the tech world of the mid-’90s? [12:00]
What did Caterina’s first year of working in tech look like? [13:58]
Flickr came about as a Hail Mary when an original project didn’t pan out. To what lucky break does she credit the successful pivot, and what other pivots did she witness at this time? [15:36]
How Caterina and her “Abraham” team at Flickr worked around the clock to build a solid community and company culture from the very beginning — before the idea of online community was repackaged and sold to the masses as social media. [21:35]
When looking at decisions, best practices, and informative mistakes made during these early days, Caterina isn’t above giving credit to lucky timing. [24:36]
Caterina talks about the solid foundation of human connection that attracted her investment in Kickstarter and Etsy. [28:30]
What has helped Caterina recognize anomalous patterns and “bet on the right horses,” so to speak? [31:05]
Caterina considers herself a night owl, but her approach to time management probably isn’t what you imagine. Here’s how she spends her most productive hours. [35:54]
Cognitive defense and the benefits of cultivating simplicity through time management. [43:36]
The most effective way Caterina cultivates this simplicity and overall productivity. [45:22]
What does Caterina get out of writing and reading poetry? [51:12]
Where might a novice find poetry that’s right for them? [57:15]
Does Caterina share the poetry she writes with other people, or is it strictly for her eyes only? [1:00:23]
What default routines help Caterina maintain structure with minimal decision-making effort? [1:02:29]
On accepting depression as part and parcel of the human experience without succumbing to the darker impulses it inspires. [1:05:50]
A Rumi resource for resisting the darkness. [1:13:10]
Memorable failures. [1:18:14]
Reading recommendations for people who want to cultivate a more constant optimism. [1:21:41]
What books does Caterina gift the most? [1:26:56]
What prompted Caterina to throw her hat into the podcasting ring with Should This Exist? and what can we expect from the format? [1:28:26]
What vigilance is required to ensure that emerging technologies are used for good rather than evil? [1:32:50]
Caterina gives us a peek into what we can expect from an upcoming Should This Exist? episode about gene-editing by CRISPR. [1:35:19]
What would Caterina’s billboard say? [1:39:50]
Parting thoughts. [1:41:41]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Ev Williams
George Oates
Brian Chesky
Joe Gebbia
Bill Gross
Perry Chen
Yancey Strickler
Sunny Bates
Reid Hoffman
Stewart Brand
Bob Dylan
Steve Jobs
Elon Musk
Justine Musk
Kathy Sierra
Wallace Stevens
William Shakespeare
Emily Dickinson
James Merrill
W.H. Auden
Charles Darwin
Albert Einstein
Carl Jung
Ursula Le Guin
Fred Rogers
Hafez
Jalal al-Din Rumi
Brandon Stanton
Seneca
Jorge Luis Borges
Paul Celan
Natalie Shapero
Brenda Shaughnessy
Kahlil Gibran
Homer
Emily Wilson
Danilo Kis
Leland de la Durantaye
Edith Wharton
Robert Graves
W.G. Sebald
Louise Bourgeois
Maira Kalman
June Cohen
James Bond
Charles Baudelaire
Victor Frankenstein
Prometheus
Robert Frost
Caterina Fake — Lessons from Flickr, Kickstarter, Etsy, and Much More (#360)
Credit: Richard Morgenstein
“I really am a big believer in people’s creativity flourishing when they come at things from a different direction and see things in a different way.” — Caterina Fake
Caterina Fake (@caterina) is a long-time Silicon Valley pioneer. She is the Cofounder of Yes VC, a pre-seed and seed stage fund investing in ideas that elevate our collective humanity. Previously, she worked at Founder Collective as a Founder Partner, served as Chair of Etsy, and was the co-founder of Flickr.
At Flickr, Caterina and her team introduced many of the innovations — newsfeeds, hashtags, “followers,” “likes” — that have become commonplace online. Caterina went on to found several more startups (Findery, Hunch) and became an active investor, advisor and board member, helping to build companies like Etsy and Kickstarter from their beginnings. (Other investments include Stack Overflow, Cloudera, and Blue Bottle Coffee.) Caterina is an early creator of online communities and a long time advocate of the responsibility of entrepreneurs for the outcomes of their technologies.
Caterina sits on the board of Public Goods, the Sundance Institute, and McSweeney’s. She was given the Silicon Valley Visionaries award in 2018 and has received honorary doctorates from both the New School and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
Caterina is also the host of the new podcast Should This Exist?, which asks the question, “What is technology doing to our humanity?” Should This Exist? can be listened to on Apple Podcasts, at shouldthisexist.com or anywhere podcasts are found.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #360: Caterina Fake — Lessons from Flickr, Kickstarter, Etsy, and Much More
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/d7962685-3765-45fa-834e-28e07d3c9dd2.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear an episode featuring another early Silicon Valley startup legend? — Listen to this episode featuring investor, Masters of Scale host, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, which features the 10 commandments of startup success. (Stream below or right-click here to download):
#248: The 10 Commandments of Startup Success with Reid Hoffmanhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/09e5870b-ff69-4a17-8dea-4b15973209b3.mp3Download
This podcast is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is, inevitably, Athletic Greens. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body and did not get paid to do so. As a listener of The Tim Ferriss Show, you’ll get 30 percent off your first order at AthleticGreens.com/Tim.
This podcast is also brought to you by Uber. Uber makes getting around town easier than ever before, and now Uber is introducing Uber Rewards, a new rewards program that helps keep modern life going. With Uber Rewards, you can earn points on Rides and Uber Eats and unlock rewards such as Uber Cash for your next Uber ride or your next Uber Eats order. You can unlock new benefits at every membership level, such as flexible cancellations with Gold, price protection with Platinum, complimentary surprise upgrades with Diamond, and more. For terms and to learn more about all the ways you can earn Uber Rewards, go to Uber.com/Rewards.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Caterina Fake:
Should This Exist? Podcast | Website | Twitter | Instagram
Should This Exist? Podcast
South by Southwest
Stanford MBA
Rock Climbing in Arkansas 101: Outdoor, Indoor, and Gear, Fayettechill
Nepal Rock Climbing, Mountain Project
U.S. Begins Privatizing Internet’s Operations by Peter H. Lewis, The New York Times
Vassar College
Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, UC Berkeley
Making Sense of Multimedia Gulch by George Raine, SFGate
HTML Tutorial: Learn HTML for Free, Codecademy
Flickr
Game Neverending, Codex Gamicus
The Hail Mary Prayer, Loyola Press
The Obvious Corp. Takes Backseat as Ev Williams, Biz Stone, and Jason Goldman Shift Focus to Individual Startups by Colleen Taylor, TechCrunch
Google Buys Blogger Web Service by Neil McIntosh, The Guardian
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Killing the Abraham by Caterina Fake, Wired
The Bible
SmugMug
Airbnb
Friendster
Idealab
Yes VC
Kickstarter
Etsy
Souk of Aleppo, World Monuments Fund
Oh the Agony! 150 of 165 Invited Investors Did Not Respond to Uber Investment Offer in 2010 by JD Alois, Crowdfund Insider
Founder Collective
The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built by Stewart Brand
The Anthrobscene by Caterina Fake, Caterina.net
Long Now Foundation
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
The 4 Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
How to Modify Your Sleep Schedule for Maximum Efficiency by Caterina Fake, Bloomberg Businessweek
The Genius Neuroscientist Who Might Hold the Key to True AI by Shaun Raviv, Wired
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Public Goods
DF Tube (Distraction Free for YouTube) for Chrome
Apple Screen Time
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan
How Can I Be as Great as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk or Sir Richard Branson?, Quora
PayPal
Tesla
The Science of FOMO and What We’re Really Missing Out On by Nick Hobson, Psychology Today
Eletelephony by Laura Elizabeth Richards
The Good Order by David Brooks, The New York Times
Social Peacocking and the Shadow by Caterina Fake, Caterina.net
The Child and the Shadow by Ursula K. Le Guin
Sonnet 29: When, in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes by William Shakespeare, Poetry Foundation
Cry Out in Your Weakness by Rumi, Zen of Water
Humans of New York
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Caterina at Goodreads
The Odyssey by Homer with Emily Wilson
A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kis
Hannah Versus the Tree by Leland de la Durantaye
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth by Robert Graves
The Upanishads
The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald
Drawings and Observations by Louise Bourgeois
The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman
Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher
Masters of Scale
CRISPR: A Game-Changing Genetic Engineering Technique by Ekaterina Pak, Harvard Medical School
Fleurs du Mal/Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire, FleursDuMal.org
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Fire and Ice by Robert Frost, Poetry Foundation
Whole Earth Catalog
The Woolly Mammoth Revival, Revive & Restore
Here’s the follow-up from Caterina with additional poetry and prose recommendations:
Some poets I mentioned on the podcast were Wallace Stevens and Emily Dickinson. Get their Collected Poems (The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens | The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson), and three great poems of Stevens’ are Arrival at the Waldorf, Emperor of Ice-Cream, and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. Greatest Hits is often a good way to get going.
There’s a lot of awful stuff out there. Even poets hate poetry. So stick to the well-trodden path when you’re just starting out. Get yourself an anthology and read as much as you can stand. But when you find something that moves you get some more. Go for The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry (Volume 1 | Volume 2) or surf around Poets.org.
Some fiction recommendations: Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun. A Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
I read a ton of non-fiction too, but your prior guests have certainly recommended dozens of books everyone’s still getting caught up on, so I’ll refrain. But I was really taken with Svetlana Alexievich’s Book Voices from Chernobyl. Unbelievable.
SHOW NOTES
What are the unintentional consequences of having a real last name like “Fake?” [06:43]
How did Caterina wind up in Silicon Valley? [08:10]
What’s Caterina’s background, and what did she want to be when she grew up? [10:37]
How did Caterina leverage this atypical background as an advantage in the tech world of the mid-’90s? [12:00]
What did Caterina’s first year of working in tech look like? [13:58]
Flickr came about as a Hail Mary when an original project didn’t pan out. To what lucky break does she credit the successful pivot, and what other pivots did she witness at this time? [15:36]
How Caterina and her “Abraham” team at Flickr worked around the clock to build a solid community and company culture from the very beginning — before the idea of online community was repackaged and sold to the masses as social media. [21:35]
When looking at decisions, best practices, and informative mistakes made during these early days, Caterina isn’t above giving credit to lucky timing. [24:36]
Caterina talks about the solid foundation of human connection that attracted her investment in Kickstarter and Etsy. [28:30]
What has helped Caterina recognize anomalous patterns and “bet on the right horses,” so to speak? [31:05]
Caterina considers herself a night owl, but her approach to time management probably isn’t what you imagine. Here’s how she spends her most productive hours. [35:54]
Cognitive defense and the benefits of cultivating simplicity through time management. [43:36]
The most effective way Caterina cultivates this simplicity and overall productivity. [45:22]
What does Caterina get out of writing and reading poetry? [51:12]
Where might a novice find poetry that’s right for them? [57:15]
Does Caterina share the poetry she writes with other people, or is it strictly for her eyes only? [1:00:23]
What default routines help Caterina maintain structure with minimal decision-making effort? [1:02:29]
On accepting depression as part and parcel of the human experience without succumbing to the darker impulses it inspires. [1:05:50]
A Rumi resource for resisting the darkness. [1:13:10]
Memorable failures. [1:18:14]
Reading recommendations for people who want to cultivate a more constant optimism. [1:21:41]
What books does Caterina gift the most? [1:26:56]
What prompted Caterina to throw her hat into the podcasting ring with Should This Exist? and what can we expect from the format? [1:28:26]
What vigilance is required to ensure that emerging technologies are used for good rather than evil? [1:32:50]
Caterina gives us a peek into what we can expect from an upcoming Should This Exist? episode about gene-editing by CRISPR. [1:35:19]
What would Caterina’s billboard say? [1:39:50]
Parting thoughts. [1:41:41]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Ev Williams
George Oates
Brian Chesky
Joe Gebbia
Bill Gross
Perry Chen
Yancey Strickler
Sunny Bates
Reid Hoffman
Stewart Brand
Bob Dylan
Steve Jobs
Elon Musk
Justine Musk
Kathy Sierra
Wallace Stevens
William Shakespeare
Emily Dickinson
James Merrill
W.H. Auden
Charles Darwin
Albert Einstein
Carl Jung
Ursula Le Guin
Fred Rogers
Hafez
Jalal al-Din Rumi
Brandon Stanton
Seneca
Jorge Luis Borges
Paul Celan
Natalie Shapero
Brenda Shaughnessy
Kahlil Gibran
Homer
Emily Wilson
Danilo Kis
Leland de la Durantaye
Edith Wharton
Robert Graves
W.G. Sebald
Louise Bourgeois
Maira Kalman
June Cohen
James Bond
Charles Baudelaire
Victor Frankenstein
Prometheus
Robert Frost
February 7, 2019
Tobi Lütke — From Snowboard Shop to Billion-Dollar Company (#359)
[image error]
“Feedback is a gift.” — Tobi Lütke
Tobi Lütke (@tobi) is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shopify. In 2004, Tobi began building software to launch an online snowboard store called Snowdevil. It quickly became obvious that the software was more valuable than the snowboards, so Tobi and his founding team launched the Shopify platform in 2006. He has served as CEO since 2008 at the company’s headquarters in Ottawa, Canada.
Tobi is an active advocate for computer literacy and education, and serves as a board member of Canada Learning Code, an organization working to give all Canadians access to digital skills. In 2014, Tobi was named The Globe and Mail‘s CEO of the Year. He served as Chair of the Digital Industries Table, an advisory board commissioned by the federal government to provide recommendations on how to turn Canada into a digital leader.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #359: Tobi Lütke — The Oracle of Ottawahttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/b4c1d67d-0bb9-47bf-b4a7-2324447e17bd.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear the story of a go-getter who launched his now seven-figure business on Shopify? — Listen to my conversation with SpyGuy’s Allen Walton in which he describes how he made the switch from overworked and under-appreciated employee to entrepreneur (stream below or right-click here to download):
#351: Real 4-Hour Workweek Case Studies — Allen Walton and SpyGuy, The Path to Seven Figureshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/b35ef9cb-1f4e-478e-9c54-4497ab93ee5e.mp3Download
This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.
New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.
Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. Again, that’s onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM.
This episode is also brought to you by LegalZoom. I’ve used this service for many of my businesses, as have quite a few of the icons on this podcast — such as Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame.
LegalZoom is a reliable resource that more than a million people have already trusted for everything from setting up wills, proper trademark searches, forming LLCs, setting up non-profits, or finding simple cease-and-desist letter templates.
LegalZoom is not a law firm, but it does have a network of independent attorneys available in most states who can give you advice on the best way to get started, provide contract reviews, and otherwise help you run your business with complete transparency and up-front pricing. Check out LegalZoom.com and enter promo code TIM at checkout today for special savings and see how the fine folks there can make life easier for you and your business.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Tobi:
Connect with Shopify:
Shopify | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Snowdevil
Ottawa, Canada
BeaverTails
Canada Learning Code
Digital Industries Table
Tobi Lütke of Shopify: Powering a Team with a ‘Trust Battery’ by Adam Bryant, The New York Times
Rubi-Con
RailsConf
Ruby on Rails
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
Our Canadian CEO of the Year You’ve Probably Never Heard of by Trevor Cole, The Globe and Mail
New York Stock Exchange
Canadian Software Company Shopify Files for U.S.-Canada IPO by Maria Armental, The Wall Street Journal
Spotify
Slack
eBay
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson
Malcom McLean and Containerisation, Maersk Line
High Output Management by Andy Grove
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
The Silk Road by Joshua J. Mark, Ancient History Encyclopedia
The Industrial Revolution by Cynthia Stokes Brown, Khan Academy
Dilbert by Scott Adams
“Entrepreneurs Are the Only People Who Will Work 80 Hours a Week to Avoid Working 40 Hours a Week.” -Lori Greiner
Craigslist
How Sand Hill Road Became the Main Street of Venture Capital by Avey Alba, Wired
Communication: Trust and Crocker’s Rules by Malcolm Ocean
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
The Nine Enneagram Type Descriptions, The Enneagram Institute
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Dropbox
Public Speaking Mastery, Dale Carnegie Training
How to Build an Edge: Develop Your Talent Stack by Celestine Chua, Personal Excellence
The Official PokÈmon Website
Start-Ups Aren’t Cool Anymore: Are Millennials Giving Up on Entrepreneurship? by Stephen Harrison, The Atlantic
Build a Business by Shopify
Maker of iPad Cases Wins Shopify Competition (and $100,000) by Lora Kolodny, The New York Times
The Great Gatsby
Moleskine
DODOcase
Barack Obama iPad in DODOcase, HuffPost
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Kickstarter
Dyslexia Does Not Stop You Coding by Simon Bennett, Medium
Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello
Dungeons & Dragons
Air Jordans
How to Increase Your Luck Surface Area by Jason C. Roberts, Codus Operandi
Alibaba’s Futuristic Supermarket in China Is Way Ahead of the Us, with 30-minute Deliveries and Facial-Recognition Payment — and It Shows Where Amazon Is Likely to Take Whole Foods by Harrison Jacobs and Annie Zheng, Business Insider
Rotten Tomatoes
The Business Of Video Games: A Multi Billion Dollar Industry by Kevin Anderton, Forbes
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine
The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
What is an Adlerian?, North American Society of Adlerian Psychology
Story of Cities #39: Shenzhen — From Rural Village to the World’s Largest Megalopolis by Ilaria Maria Sala, The Guardian
SHOW NOTES
How far back does Tobi’s obsession for optimization go? [05:58]
How big is Shopify today? [08:14]
How did Tobi and I first meet? [09:13]
From my perspective, Shopify is a living example of what happens when the good guys win. [11:45]
Did Tobi’s early authority problems lay the groundwork for his current success? [12:31]
Something Tobi and Seth Godin agree on: the current characteristics of a temporary solution shouldn’t be mistaken as the ultimate objective. [18:57]
Even though you probably didn’t learn about him in history class, here’s how entrepreneur Malcolm McLean changed the world. [20:25]
A few of the books Tobi has found indispensable for finding footing in the business world. [23:13]
As a self-described slow reader with dyslexia, Tobi has to be selective with the books he takes in. By what criteria does a book make it to Tobi’s “to read” list? [26:55]
How Tobi’s role at Shopify changed from passionate programmer to reluctant CEO, and how he rose to the challenge to crash course his way through the learning process. [29:50]
When pitching to VCs on Sand Hill Road, this is how Tobi rolls (literally). [36:05]
Good and bad decisions Tobi made as a fledgling CEO. [37:36]
As a man whose expectations for employees match what he expects from himself, is Tobi difficult to work for? [39:31]
How does Shopify company culture facilitate the thick skin required to abide by Crocker’s Rules? [44:12]
Feedback is a gift. [47:37]
How the Enneagram system is used at Shopify as an empathy exercise rather than a personal horoscope. [48:56]
How can a growth (versus fixed) mindset — per psychologist Carol Dweck’s work — be fostered? [50:30]
Tobi’s definition of Hell. [55:24]
How Scott Adams’ “talent stacking” applies to Tobi’s career trajectory. [58:03]
Tobi addresses the factors that contribute to an underreported entrepreneurship crisis. [1:03:08]
How Shopify’s annual Build a Business competition came about, what it aims to accomplish, and some of the hurdles it has faced along the way. [1:08:39]
The first Build a Business winner and how its success was boosted by a happenstance presidential endorsement. [1:15:43]
The fascinating patterns, principles, and stories we observe every year when Build a Business time comes around. [1:17:39]
Does dyslexia affect Tobi’s coding? [1:23:49]
In search of an extended sense of peace? Here’s a book recommendation. [1:24:12]
What Tobi means by “the next box.” [1:25:59]
What Tobi learned about the next box from Jürgen, his mentor. [1:30:18]
Is it possible to understand the box you currently occupy and aim for the box you want to occupy next? [1:33:37]
In what box does Tobi see himself at the moment? [1:34:37]
How does Tobi choose ways to stress test possible exits from his current box? [1:35:38]
We examine the reasons behind Tobi’s discomfort with comfort on a business level in spite of generally considering himself “the most fortunate person on the planet” on a personal level. [1:36:50]
On identifying himself as the bottleneck that held back Shopify for a period of time, what caused this, and what Tobi is doing to ensure he doesn’t take on this unenviable role again. [1:40:21]
Why does Tobi think the business not only survived this period in the bottleneck, but actually began to thrive? [1:42:35]
Increasing “luck surface area” and staying in touch with the front lines by getting in the trenches from time to time. [1:47:44]
How Shopify’s chief investor from the early days still helps Tobi focus on what’s important — by ensuring he’s not “meddling” in minutiae. [1:49:13]
Though the future is admittedly uncertain, here are two things Tobi believes a forward-looking CEO can do to peek into what seems most probable. [1:51:54]
Is modern China showing us tomorrow today? [1:54:05]
What can the massively successful but mostly ignored video game industry teach the business world about the human psyche? [1:55:00]
What would Tobi’s billboard say? [1:57:18]
What books does Tobi most frequently gift? [1:57:49]
What is the Adlerian separation of tasks? [2:00:01]
Why Tobi believes we, as a society, need to celebrate and support entrepreneurship now more than ever. [2:00:52]
What cities does The Oracle of Ottawa believe are doing the best job of taking business into the future? [2:03:00]
Parting thoughts. [2:04:32]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
David Heinemeier Hansson
Francis Ford Coppola
Harley Finkelstein
Seth Godin
Malcolm McLean
The Vanderbilts
Andy Grove
Daniel Pink
Martin Fowler
Kent Beck
Robert Cialdini
Fiona McKean
Scott Lake
Pointy-Haired Boss
Dilbert
John Phillips
Lee Daniel Crocker
Jocko Willink
Angela Duckworth
Carol Dweck
Josh Waitzkin
Drew Houston
Scott Adams
Marc Andreessen
Warren Buffett
Dale Carnegie
Lora Kolodny
Leonardo DiCaprio
Tony Robbins
Patrick Buckley
Craig Dalton
Barack Obama
William Gibson
Anthony de Mello
Peter Mallouk
Jürgen
Sam Harris
Ray Kurzweil
William B. Irvine
Alfred Adler
Sigmund Freud
Tobi Lütke — The Oracle of Ottawa (#359)
[image error]
“Feedback is a gift.” — Tobi Lütke
Tobi Lütke (@tobi) is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shopify. In 2004, Tobi began building software to launch an online snowboard store called Snowdevil. It quickly became obvious that the software was more valuable than the snowboards, so Tobi and his founding team launched the Shopify platform in 2006. He has served as CEO since 2008 at the company’s headquarters in Ottawa, Canada.
Tobi is an active advocate for computer literacy and education, and serves as a board member of Canada Learning Code, an organization working to give all Canadians access to digital skills. In 2014, Tobi was named The Globe and Mail‘s CEO of the Year. He served as Chair of the Digital Industries Table, an advisory board commissioned by the federal government to provide recommendations on how to turn Canada into a digital leader.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #359: Tobi Lütke — The Oracle of Ottawa
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/b4c1d67d-0bb9-47bf-b4a7-2324447e17bd.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear the story of a go-getter who launched his now seven-figure business on Shopify? — Listen to my conversation with SpyGuy’s Allen Walton in which he describes how he made the switch from overworked and under-appreciated employee to entrepreneur (stream below or right-click here to download):
#351: Real 4-Hour Workweek Case Studies — Allen Walton and SpyGuy, The Path to Seven Figureshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/b35ef9cb-1f4e-478e-9c54-4497ab93ee5e.mp3Download
This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.
New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.
Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. Again, that’s onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM.
This episode is also brought to you by LegalZoom. I’ve used this service for many of my businesses, as have quite a few of the icons on this podcast — such as Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame.
LegalZoom is a reliable resource that more than a million people have already trusted for everything from setting up wills, proper trademark searches, forming LLCs, setting up non-profits, or finding simple cease-and-desist letter templates.
LegalZoom is not a law firm, but it does have a network of independent attorneys available in most states who can give you advice on the best way to get started, provide contract reviews, and otherwise help you run your business with complete transparency and up-front pricing. Check out LegalZoom.com and enter promo code TIM at checkout today for special savings and see how the fine folks there can make life easier for you and your business.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Tobi:
Connect with Shopify:
Shopify | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Snowdevil
Ottawa, Canada
BeaverTails
Canada Learning Code
Digital Industries Table
Tobi Lütke of Shopify: Powering a Team with a ‘Trust Battery’ by Adam Bryant, The New York Times
Rubi-Con
RailsConf
Ruby on Rails
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
Our Canadian CEO of the Year You’ve Probably Never Heard of by Trevor Cole, The Globe and Mail
New York Stock Exchange
Canadian Software Company Shopify Files for U.S.-Canada IPO by Maria Armental, The Wall Street Journal
Spotify
Slack
eBay
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson
Malcom McLean and Containerisation, Maersk Line
High Output Management by Andy Grove
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
The Silk Road by Joshua J. Mark, Ancient History Encyclopedia
The Industrial Revolution by Cynthia Stokes Brown, Khan Academy
Dilbert by Scott Adams
“Entrepreneurs Are the Only People Who Will Work 80 Hours a Week to Avoid Working 40 Hours a Week.” -Lori Greiner
Craigslist
How Sand Hill Road Became the Main Street of Venture Capital by Avey Alba, Wired
Communication: Trust and Crocker’s Rules by Malcolm Ocean
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
The Nine Enneagram Type Descriptions, The Enneagram Institute
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Dropbox
Public Speaking Mastery, Dale Carnegie Training
How to Build an Edge: Develop Your Talent Stack by Celestine Chua, Personal Excellence
The Official PokÈmon Website
Start-Ups Aren’t Cool Anymore: Are Millennials Giving Up on Entrepreneurship? by Stephen Harrison, The Atlantic
Build a Business by Shopify
Maker of iPad Cases Wins Shopify Competition (and $100,000) by Lora Kolodny, The New York Times
The Great Gatsby
Moleskine
DODOcase
Barack Obama iPad in DODOcase, HuffPost
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Kickstarter
Dyslexia Does Not Stop You Coding by Simon Bennett, Medium
Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello
Dungeons & Dragons
Air Jordans
How to Increase Your Luck Surface Area by Jason C. Roberts, Codus Operandi
Alibaba’s Futuristic Supermarket in China Is Way Ahead of the Us, with 30-minute Deliveries and Facial-Recognition Payment — and It Shows Where Amazon Is Likely to Take Whole Foods by Harrison Jacobs and Annie Zheng, Business Insider
Rotten Tomatoes
The Business Of Video Games: A Multi Billion Dollar Industry by Kevin Anderton, Forbes
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine
The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
What is an Adlerian?, North American Society of Adlerian Psychology
Story of Cities #39: Shenzhen — From Rural Village to the World’s Largest Megalopolis by Ilaria Maria Sala, The Guardian
SHOW NOTES
How far back does Tobi’s obsession for optimization go? [05:58]
How big is Shopify today? [08:14]
How did Tobi and I first meet? [09:13]
From my perspective, Shopify is a living example of what happens when the good guys win. [11:45]
Did Tobi’s early authority problems lay the groundwork for his current success? [12:31]
Something Tobi and Seth Godin agree on: the current characteristics of a temporary solution shouldn’t be mistaken as the ultimate objective. [18:57]
Even though you probably didn’t learn about him in history class, here’s how entrepreneur Malcolm McLean changed the world. [20:25]
A few of the books Tobi has found indispensable for finding footing in the business world. [23:13]
As a self-described slow reader with dyslexia, Tobi has to be selective with the books he takes in. By what criteria does a book make it to Tobi’s “to read” list? [26:55]
How Tobi’s role at Shopify changed from passionate programmer to reluctant CEO, and how he rose to the challenge to crash course his way through the learning process. [29:50]
When pitching to VCs on Sand Hill Road, this is how Tobi rolls (literally). [36:05]
Good and bad decisions Tobi made as a fledgling CEO. [37:36]
As a man whose expectations for employees match what he expects from himself, is Tobi difficult to work for? [39:31]
How does Shopify company culture facilitate the thick skin required to abide by Crocker’s Rules? [44:12]
Feedback is a gift. [47:37]
How the Enneagram system is used at Shopify as an empathy exercise rather than a personal horoscope. [48:56]
How can a growth (versus fixed) mindset — per psychologist Carol Dweck’s work — be fostered? [50:30]
Tobi’s definition of Hell. [55:24]
How Scott Adams’ “talent stacking” applies to Tobi’s career trajectory. [58:03]
Tobi addresses the factors that contribute to an underreported entrepreneurship crisis. [1:03:08]
How Shopify’s annual Build a Business competition came about, what it aims to accomplish, and some of the hurdles it has faced along the way. [1:08:39]
The first Build a Business winner and how its success was boosted by a happenstance presidential endorsement. [1:15:43]
The fascinating patterns, principles, and stories we observe every year when Build a Business time comes around. [1:17:39]
Does dyslexia affect Tobi’s coding? [1:23:49]
In search of an extended sense of peace? Here’s a book recommendation. [1:24:12]
What Tobi means by “the next box.” [1:25:59]
What Tobi learned about the next box from Jürgen, his mentor. [1:30:18]
Is it possible to understand the box you currently occupy and aim for the box you want to occupy next? [1:33:37]
In what box does Tobi see himself at the moment? [1:34:37]
How does Tobi choose ways to stress test possible exits from his current box? [1:35:38]
We examine the reasons behind Tobi’s discomfort with comfort on a business level in spite of generally considering himself “the most fortunate person on the planet” on a personal level. [1:36:50]
On identifying himself as the bottleneck that held back Shopify for a period of time, what caused this, and what Tobi is doing to ensure he doesn’t take on this unenviable role again. [1:40:21]
Why does Tobi think the business not only survived this period in the bottleneck, but actually began to thrive? [1:42:35]
Increasing “luck surface area” and staying in touch with the front lines by getting in the trenches from time to time. [1:47:44]
How Shopify’s chief investor from the early days still helps Tobi focus on what’s important — by ensuring he’s not “meddling” in minutiae. [1:49:13]
Though the future is admittedly uncertain, here are two things Tobi believes a forward-looking CEO can do to peek into what seems most probable. [1:51:54]
Is modern China showing us tomorrow today? [1:54:05]
What can the massively successful but mostly ignored video game industry teach the business world about the human psyche? [1:55:00]
What would Tobi’s billboard say? [1:57:18]
What books does Tobi most frequently gift? [1:57:49]
What is the Adlerian separation of tasks? [2:00:01]
Why Tobi believes we, as a society, need to celebrate and support entrepreneurship now more than ever. [2:00:52]
What cities does The Oracle of Ottawa believe are doing the best job of taking business into the future? [2:03:00]
Parting thoughts. [2:04:32]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
David Heinemeier Hansson
Francis Ford Coppola
Harley Finkelstein
Seth Godin
Malcolm McLean
The Vanderbilts
Andy Grove
Daniel Pink
Martin Fowler
Kent Beck
Robert Cialdini
Fiona McKean
Scott Lake
Pointy-Haired Boss
Dilbert
John Phillips
Lee Daniel Crocker
Jocko Willink
Angela Duckworth
Carol Dweck
Josh Waitzkin
Drew Houston
Scott Adams
Marc Andreessen
Warren Buffett
Dale Carnegie
Lora Kolodny
Leonardo DiCaprio
Tony Robbins
Patrick Buckley
Craig Dalton
Barack Obama
William Gibson
Anthony de Mello
Peter Mallouk
Jürgen
Sam Harris
Ray Kurzweil
William B. Irvine
Alfred Adler
Sigmund Freud
January 31, 2019
Ken Block — The Art of Marketing with a DC Shoes and Gymkhana Legend (500M+ views) (#358)
Credits: Hoonigan Racing Division
“In life — from the simplest thing to the biggest thing — I want to be proud of what it is and stake my claim: ‘That’s mine and that’s how I do it.'” — Ken Block
Ken Block (@kblock43 on IG and TW) is a co-founder of DC Shoes and a professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division.
His rally career began in 2005, and he won Rookie of the Year that season in the Rally America Championship. Ken has accumulated five X Games medals and achieved global fame through his wildly successful viral series of Gymkhana videos. Gymkhana videos (including all associated edits) have racked up more than 500 million views, landing the franchise in Ad Age’s top-10 viral video charts.
In January 2010, Block formed the Monster World Rally Team (later renamed to Hoonigan Racing Division) and signed with Ford to pursue his dreams of racing in the World Rally Championship and in doing so, became one of only four Americans to ever score points in the WRC.
His latest project is The Gymkhana Files, which takes viewers behind the scenes of GYMKHANA TEN: The Ultimate Tire Slaying Tour, a video that, as of this writing, just went up and already has nearly 20M views. It’s all complete insanity.
Please enjoy this interview with Ken Block!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #358: Ken Block — The Story of DC Shoes, Rally Car Racing, and 500+ Million Viewshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/145e3c3b-ed5c-424b-8f7d-577184f1444f.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear an interview with another entrepreneur who loves to race? — Listen to this interview with David “DHH” Heinemeier Hansson in which DHH shares his thoughts on the power of being outspoken, running a profitable business without venture capital, Stoic philosophy, and much more! (Stream below or right-click here to download.):
#195: David Heinemeier Hansson: The Power of Being Outspokenhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/b4d4ea29-a5a0-4d96-bbcc-39f06fe506f3.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.
With a community of more than 575 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally, and four out of five users are decision-makers at their companies — so you can build relationships that really matter and drive your business objectives forward. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. Why spray and pray with your marketing dollars when you can be surgical? To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!
This podcast is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is, inevitably, Athletic Greens. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body and did not get paid to do so. As a listener of The Tim Ferriss Show, you’ll get a free 20-count travel pack (valued at $79) with your first order at athleticgreens.com/tim.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Ken Block:
Hoonigan Racing | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
The Gymkhana Files
Hoonigan Racing Headquarters
DC Shoes
The Meaning of Hoon
The Gymkhana YouTube Videos
Formula 1
Team O’Neil Rally School
The Tim Ferriss Experiment
Ken Block Wins ‘2005 Rally America Rookie Of The Year’, Rally America
MCT Oil
Chek Institute
RallyCross — Sports Car Club of America
DC Shoes Startup Story: How Damon Way and Ken Block Built an Empire, Fundable
Skate Videos, 411 Video Magazine
Linkin Park
Chanel Snowboard
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
FUBU
Supreme
Rob Dyrdek Droors Paint Ad, Skately
X Games
Quiksilver
Nitro Circus
Stunt Junkies
The Daily Show
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
Jaws
War of the Worlds
Eerie Before and after Images Show Urban Decay in Detroit by Edecio Martinez, The Weather Channel
Iron Man 3
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Treasure Island: San Francisco’s Strangest Neighborhood by Peter Lawrence Kane, SF Weekly
Time Out Dubai
Bullitt
District 9
RED Digital Cinema
The Robot Food Trilogy : Lame, Afterlame, and Afterbang
DC Mountain Lab
DC Mountain Lab 1.5
Monster Energy
Publishers Marketplace
IMDbPro
WMG
Park City Mountain
The Long Drink
Clase Azul
Bulletproof Coffee
Onnit
The Clinton Affair
Jamon Iberico
Nobu Global
UFC
SHOW NOTES
What’s the practical side to being headquartered in a workspace made of shipping containers? [06:04]
What the heck is a hoonigan? [08:06]
Though he’s known as an adept marketer, 600 million views for the Gymkhana video series is beyond even Ken’s expectations. [09:51]
Ken shares his journey from skateboarder to dirt bike racer to rally car racer. [10:50]
What was Ken’s first exposure to Team O’Neil Rally School, and how did he tackle driving as a latecomer in competition with people who had been driving their whole lives? [12:49]
What behaviors, beliefs, and practices did Ken observe that differentiated rally driving’s top performers from the rest of the herd, and what tricks and tips did Ken employ to catch up and win 2005 Rally America Rookie Of The Year? [17:35]
What exercises help Ken physically and mentally prepare himself before driving? [21:52]
Though initially a reluctant businessman, how did Ken’s entrepreneurial life begin? [24:31]
Ken’s transition from a behind-the-scenes guy to a brand ambassador — and the lessons he learned from the missteps of others. [31:50]
Business mistakes and failures that informed later success, and what Ken understands about the value of targeted marketing that many miss. [37:01]
What does the “DC” in DC Shoes stand for, and why does its logo look different on shoes and snowboards? [42:11]
For Ken, trademark enforcement does not spark joy. [43:26]
What book does Ken credit with helping him understand basic management and people skills when he started his first business? [44:21]
In the highly competitive and cutthroat apparel business, a miss is far more likely than a hit. How did Ken and his partner differentiate DC Shoes in order to stand out from the competition? [47:42]
How did Ken and his partner hire the right people for the job in the early days? [54:22]
Before DC was bought by Quiksilver, was the business self-funded or financed externally? [57:01]
What’s the story behind Gymkhana, the “viral video series that changed automotive filmmaking forever” — and which one is Ken’s favorite so far? [57:55]
How does someone go about getting permission to use the heavily trafficked San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — or other landmark location — for their video? [1:06:30]
What does the budget look like for creating one of these videos? [1:11:42]
Ken’s advice to people hoping to create attention-getting videos on a smaller budget. [1:14:20]
How Ken and his crew brought storytelling back to extreme sports marketing in the ’90s. [1:17:27]
How is sponsorship value fairly determined and negotiated when dealing with athletes and celebrities? Here’s where we begin to understand why agents are so well-compensated. [1:20:37]
As a 51-year-old who hates the gym, how does Ken stay fit? What does his weekly training regimen look like? [1:30:59]
With a fairly extensive history of injuries from leading such an active life, what kind of exercise does Ken now avoid? [1:33:37]
Ken talks us through a tough time at DC, dealing with its accompanying self-doubt, and the adjustments he made to cope. [1:37:07]
What’s Ken’s favorite drink? [1:41:15]
What’s Ken’s default breakfast? [1:42:18]
Daily wind-down and pre-bed rituals. [1:43:25]
What would Ken’s billboard say? [1:45:23]
Parting thoughts. [1:47:30]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Bruce Wayne
Travis Pastrana
Steve Astephen
Alex Gelsomino
Ricky Carmichael
Jeff Emig
Ryan Hughes
Jeremy McGrath
Danny Way
Travis Rice
Andy Irons
Paul Chek
Damon Way
Danny Way
Mike Shinoda
KAWS
Nick Adcock
Dale Carnegie
Daymond John
Marc Ecko
Willy Wonka
Rob Dyrdek
George H. W. Bush
Neill Blomkamp
Ken Block — The Story of DC Shoes, Rally Car Racing, and 500+ Million Views (#358)
Credits: Hoonigan Racing Division
“In life — from the simplest thing to the biggest thing — I want to be proud of what it is and stake my claim: ‘That’s mine and that’s how I do it.'” — Ken Block
Ken Block (@kblock43 on IG and TW) is a co-founder of DC Shoes and a professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division.
His rally career began in 2005, and he won Rookie of the Year that season in the Rally America Championship. Ken has accumulated five X Games medals and achieved global fame through his wildly successful viral series of Gymkhana videos. Gymkhana videos (including all associated edits) have racked up more than 500 million views, landing the franchise in Ad Age’s top-10 viral video charts.
In January 2010, Block formed the Monster World Rally Team (later renamed to Hoonigan Racing Division) and signed with Ford to pursue his dreams of racing in the World Rally Championship and in doing so, became one of only four Americans to ever score points in the WRC.
His latest project is The Gymkhana Files, which takes viewers behind the scenes of GYMKHANA TEN: The Ultimate Tire Slaying Tour, a video that, as of this writing, just went up and already has nearly 20M views. It’s all complete insanity.
Please enjoy this interview with Ken Block!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #358: Ken Block — The Story of DC Shoes, Rally Car Racing, and 500+ Million Views
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/145e3c3b-ed5c-424b-8f7d-577184f1444f.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear an interview with another entrepreneur who loves to race? — Listen to this interview with David “DHH” Heinemeier Hansson in which DHH shares his thoughts on the power of being outspoken, running a profitable business without venture capital, Stoic philosophy, and much more! (Stream below or right-click here to download.):
#195: David Heinemeier Hansson: The Power of Being Outspokenhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/b4d4ea29-a5a0-4d96-bbcc-39f06fe506f3.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.
With a community of more than 575 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally, and four out of five users are decision-makers at their companies — so you can build relationships that really matter and drive your business objectives forward. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. Why spray and pray with your marketing dollars when you can be surgical? To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!
This podcast is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is, inevitably, Athletic Greens. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body and did not get paid to do so. As a listener of The Tim Ferriss Show, you’ll get a free 20-count travel pack (valued at $79) with your first order at AthleticGreens.com/Tim.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Ken Block:
Hoonigan Racing | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
The Gymkhana Files
Hoonigan Racing Headquarters
DC Shoes
The Meaning of Hoon
The Gymkhana YouTube Videos
Formula 1
Team O’Neil Rally School
The Tim Ferriss Experiment
Ken Block Wins ‘2005 Rally America Rookie Of The Year’, Rally America
MCT Oil
Chek Institute
RallyCross — Sports Car Club of America
DC Shoes Startup Story: How Damon Way and Ken Block Built an Empire, Fundable
Skate Videos, 411 Video Magazine
Linkin Park
Chanel Snowboard
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
FUBU
Supreme
Rob Dyrdek Droors Paint Ad, Skately
X Games
Quiksilver
Nitro Circus
Stunt Junkies
The Daily Show
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
Jaws
War of the Worlds
Eerie Before and after Images Show Urban Decay in Detroit by Edecio Martinez, The Weather Channel
Iron Man 3
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Treasure Island: San Francisco’s Strangest Neighborhood by Peter Lawrence Kane, SF Weekly
Time Out Dubai
Bullitt
District 9
RED Digital Cinema
The Robot Food Trilogy : Lame, Afterlame, and Afterbang
DC Mountain Lab
DC Mountain Lab 1.5
Monster Energy
Publishers Marketplace
IMDbPro
WMG
Park City Mountain
The Long Drink
Clase Azul
Bulletproof Coffee
Onnit
The Clinton Affair
Jamon Iberico
Nobu Global
UFC
SHOW NOTES
What’s the practical side to being headquartered in a workspace made of shipping containers? [06:04]
What the heck is a hoonigan? [08:06]
Though he’s known as an adept marketer, 600 million views for the Gymkhana video series is beyond even Ken’s expectations. [09:51]
Ken shares his journey from skateboarder to dirt bike racer to rally car racer. [10:50]
What was Ken’s first exposure to Team O’Neil Rally School, and how did he tackle driving as a latecomer in competition with people who had been driving their whole lives? [12:49]
What behaviors, beliefs, and practices did Ken observe that differentiated rally driving’s top performers from the rest of the herd, and what tricks and tips did Ken employ to catch up and win 2005 Rally America Rookie Of The Year? [17:35]
What exercises help Ken physically and mentally prepare himself before driving? [21:52]
Though initially a reluctant businessman, how did Ken’s entrepreneurial life begin? [24:31]
Ken’s transition from a behind-the-scenes guy to a brand ambassador — and the lessons he learned from the missteps of others. [31:50]
Business mistakes and failures that informed later success, and what Ken understands about the value of targeted marketing that many miss. [37:01]
What does the “DC” in DC Shoes stand for, and why does its logo look different on shoes and snowboards? [42:11]
For Ken, trademark enforcement does not spark joy. [43:26]
What book does Ken credit with helping him understand basic management and people skills when he started his first business? [44:21]
In the highly competitive and cutthroat apparel business, a miss is far more likely than a hit. How did Ken and his partner differentiate DC Shoes in order to stand out from the competition? [47:42]
How did Ken and his partner hire the right people for the job in the early days? [54:22]
Before DC was bought by Quiksilver, was the business self-funded or financed externally? [57:01]
What’s the story behind Gymkhana, the “viral video series that changed automotive filmmaking forever” — and which one is Ken’s favorite so far? [57:55]
How does someone go about getting permission to use the heavily trafficked San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — or other landmark location — for their video? [1:06:30]
What does the budget look like for creating one of these videos? [1:11:42]
Ken’s advice to people hoping to create attention-getting videos on a smaller budget. [1:14:20]
How Ken and his crew brought storytelling back to extreme sports marketing in the ’90s. [1:17:27]
How is sponsorship value fairly determined and negotiated when dealing with athletes and celebrities? Here’s where we begin to understand why agents are so well-compensated. [1:20:37]
As a 51-year-old who hates the gym, how does Ken stay fit? What does his weekly training regimen look like? [1:30:59]
With a fairly extensive history of injuries from leading such an active life, what kind of exercise does Ken now avoid? [1:33:37]
Ken talks us through a tough time at DC, dealing with its accompanying self-doubt, and the adjustments he made to cope. [1:37:07]
What’s Ken’s favorite drink? [1:41:15]
What’s Ken’s default breakfast? [1:42:18]
Daily wind-down and pre-bed rituals. [1:43:25]
What would Ken’s billboard say? [1:45:23]
Parting thoughts. [1:47:30]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Bruce Wayne
Travis Pastrana
Steve Astephen
Alex Gelsomino
Ricky Carmichael
Jeff Emig
Ryan Hughes
Jeremy McGrath
Danny Way
Travis Rice
Andy Irons
Paul Chek
Damon Way
Danny Way
Mike Shinoda
KAWS
Nick Adcock
Dale Carnegie
Daymond John
Marc Ecko
Willy Wonka
Rob Dyrdek
George H. W. Bush
Neill Blomkamp
January 24, 2019
Susan Cain — How to Overcome Fear and Embrace Creativity (#357)
Photo by Pasi Salminen
“So often, when you see someone who’s really good at almost anything, it’s because they actually started out exactly the opposite — and then they cared so much about fixing that problem.” — Susan Cain
Susan Cain (@susancain) is the author of the bestsellers Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, the latter of which has been translated into more than 40 languages. Quiet is in its seventh year on The New York Times Best Sellers list, and it was named the number one best book of the year by Fast Company magazine, which also named Susan one of its Most Creative People in Business.
She is the Chief Revolutionary of Quiet Revolution, and her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her record-smashing TED talk has been viewed more than 20 million times and was named by Bill Gates as one of his all-time favorite talks.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #357: Susan Cain — How to Overcome Fear and Embrace Creativity
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/627d570d-a0c4-4ac8-9f04-f062512162be.mp3Download
Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear more about loving-kindness and mindfulness meditation? — Listen to this episode with world-renowned meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg! (Stream below or right-click here to download):
#277: Sharon Salzberg, World-Renowned Meditation Teacherhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/505397f9-8b1b-4747-b509-06cb97ab28f5.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn and its job recruitment platform, which offers a smarter system for the hiring process. If you’ve ever hired anyone (or attempted to), you know finding the right people can be difficult. If you don’t have a direct referral from someone you trust, you’re left to use job boards that don’t offer any real-world networking approach.
LinkedIn, as the world’s largest professional network and also used by more than 70 percent of the US workforce, has a built-in ecosystem that allows you to not only search for employees, but also interact with them, their connections, and their former employers and colleagues in a way that closely mimics real-life communication. Visit LinkedIn.com/Tim and get $50 off toward your first job post!
This podcast is also brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.
New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.
Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. Again, that’s onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Susan Cain:
Quiet Revolution | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
Susan Cain’s e-mail newsletter
Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts by Susan Cain
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain, TED 2012
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Childhood Trauma and the Brain, Blue Knot Foundation
ilili
Toastmasters
Public Speaking Center of NY (speakeeezi.com)
South by Southwest (SXSW)
My TED Talks
Microsoft Word
Scrivener
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
When Is the Best Time of Day to Write? by Cathy Presland, Author Unlimited
The Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Ayn Rand
Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process by John McPhee
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
Are You Shy, Introverted, Both, or Neither (and Why Does It Matter)? by Susan Cain, Quiet Revolution
Nobody’s Looking at You: Eileen Fisher and the Art of Understatement by Janet Malcolm, The New Yorker
Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris
The Waking Up App
Why Loving-Kindness Takes Time by Sharon Salzberg, Mindful
Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection by Haemin Sunim and Lisk Feng
Metta Institute
Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness Within by Chade-Meng Tan
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
Getting Started with Mindfulness, Mindful
Spirit Rock — An Insight Meditation Center
Why Sad Songs Say So Much by Susan Cain, Quiet Revolution
SHOW NOTES
What initiated Susan’s lifelong fear of public speaking? [06:51]
How did the opportunity for Susan to give her now-legendary TED Talk come about, and how was it received at first? [10:12]
How do introverts handle group dinners? We all have our strategies. [11:23]
Susan asks if the sixth grade me who shied away from recess to read books about fish could foresee the public life I’d lead. For that matter: what happened to me in sixth grade? [13:54]
How did Susan begin to overcome her fear of public speaking? [15:38]
Even seasoned public speaking veterans don’t go into a TED Talk without a kaleidoscope of nervous butterflies fluttering in their stomachs. [18:34]
If professional speakers have a hard time giving a TED Talk, how did Susan ease her way up to being able to give hers — and now travel the world as a public speaker? [20:21]
What a lot of great teachers and coaches have in common that gets results. [21:39]
What pre-game rituals help Susan prepare for speaking engagements these days? [23:55]
Learning how to speak in public magnifies your ability to do almost everything else — just ask Warren Buffett. [25:49]
How Toastmasters and a trio of chihuahuas helped me overcome my own reservations about public speaking in preparation for my first presentation at South by Southwest. [26:36]
How I prepared for my own TED Talk. [29:43]
Crucial pre-TED help Susan got from Adam Grant — who began as a self-described “terrible public speaker” to become the most popular professor at Wharton. [31:25]
The importance of rehearsing in front of a live audience before — preferably well before — a big speaking engagement. [33:08]
How nervous do I get before speaking in public these days? Are my nerves more manageable now compared to when I began? [34:02]
One extra level of pressure you’ll face if you’re preparing for a TED Talk: don’t go over your allotted time…or else. [37:09]
As mentioned before, public speaking is a force multiplier for your other skills, and it allows people to see you as an authority. For better or worse, it’s also therapy. [38:29]
As someone who considers herself a worrier, what hacks does Susan have for relieving the pressure of her worries? [41:22]
Why did Susan decide to leave her career as a Wall Street lawyer to become a writer? [42:59]
Necessity isn’t always the mother of invention when it comes to making a living in a creative field. [46:06]
From start to finish, how long did it take for Susan to write her first book, and why was her editor’s advice to start from scratch after reading her “terrible” first submission such a relief? [48:57]
Now that she’s got two books under her belt, what does Susan’s writing process look like today? [51:20]
How does Susan take and organize her notes? [52:13]
When it comes to using Scrivener over Microsoft Word, Susan would prefer not to. But here’s why I like it and have used it for writing most of my books. [56:03]
After a year or so of taking notes, the real writing begins. While stopping short of calling this part of the process her happy place, Susan enjoys it on several levels. [57:38]
As a busy mother, what time of day does Susan tend to write? Without family obligations, when would she prefer to write? [59:03]
What does Susan’s schedule look like once she sits down to write? Does she take breaks? If so, how often? [1:00:03]
Writing late at night versus early in the morning, and the things many writers will do to (ourselves included) to put off writing. [1:02:09]
Books and resources that have had an impact on our writing. [1:04:24]
Serendipitous meetings that made each of our first books possible. [1:08:38]
Introversion versus shyness. [1:13:59]
Books Susan has gifted most. [1:18:16]
An aside about the first time I met Sam Harris. [1:19:29]
Susan and I share our experiences with loving-kindness (or metta) meditation and lament its avoidance by many who misunderstand the label. [1:22:10]
What loving-kindness meditation does for me that mindfulness meditation does not, and something I was doing wrong for years that was eventually corrected. [1:26:00]
What would Susan’s billboard say? [1:31:04]
What advice would Susan have for people seeking the ability to deeply connect with others? [1:32:30]
Susan’s lifelong love of bittersweet and minor key music and a peek into what her next book will be about. [1:33:13]
Intentions for my next projected book and parting thoughts. [1:35:38]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Bill Gates
Chris Anderson
The Punisher
Charles diCagno
Ken Cain
Jim Fyfe
Warren Buffett
Dale Carnegie
Hugh Forrest
Adam Grant
Mike Tyson
Dean Martin
Cus D’Amato
J.K. Rowling
Soman Chainani
Robert Rodriguez
Ayn Rand
John McPhee
Anne Lamott
Richard Pine
Leo Tolstoy
Jillian Manus
Stephen Hanselman
Eileen Fisher
Sam Harris
Achilles
Haemin Sunim
Sharon Salzberg
Jack Kornfield
Chade-Meng Tan
Larry David
E.M. Forster
