Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 91

Will MacAskill on Effective Altruism, Y Combinator, and Artificial Intelligence

Will MacAskill (Photo: Sam Deere)

“We want to disaggregate benefits and aggregate costs.”  – William MacAskill

Will MacAskill (@willmacaskill) is an Associate Professor in Philosophy at Lincoln College, Oxford. Just 28 years old, he is likely the youngest associate (i.e. tenured) professor of philosophy in the world.

Will is the author of Doing Good Better and a co-founder of the “effective altruism” movement. He has pledged to donate everything he earns over ~$36,000 per year to whatever charities he believes will be most effective.

He has also cofounded two well-known non-profits: 80,000 Hours, which provides research and advice on how you can best make a difference through your career, and Giving What We Can, which encourages people to commit to give at least 10% of their income to the most effective charities. Between them, they have raised more than $450 million in lifetime pledged donations, and are in the top 1% of non-profits in terms of growth.

He is one of the few non-profit founders who have gone through Y Combinator; for-profit companies get $120,000 for 7% of equity; as a non-profit, 80,000 Hours got $100,000 for 0% of equity.

In this episode, we discuss his story and a ton of actionable tips, including:

Why “following your passion” in a career is often a mistake.
Thought experiments: Pascal’s Wager versus Pascal’s Mugging.
Why working for a non-profit straight out of college is also a mistake.
How it’s possible to “hack” doing good in the same way you would a business.
Implications of artificial intelligence.
The best ways to really evaluate if you (or charities) are going good in the world.
The reasons donating to disaster relief typically isn’t the best use of your money.
Why ethical consumerism typically isn’t a great way to do good.
Running a non-profit in the Harvard/Navy SEALs of startup incubators: Y Combinator.

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast related to philosophy from a world class philosopher? — Listen to my conversation with Sam Harris. In this episode, we discuss his daily routines, the Trolley Scenario, and 5 books everyone should read (stream below or right-click here to download):

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Investing in securities involves risks, and there is the possibility of losing money. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Please visit Wealthfront dot com to read their full disclosure.

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What is your favorite charity and why do you donate? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

Doing Good Better by William MacAskill
The Atlantic’s profile piece on William MacAskill
Learn more about standout charities at GiveWell.org
Learn more about Pascal’s Wager
Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit
Seeking to make a career choice? Visit 80000Hours.org
Non-human sources for charity at Animal Charity Evaluators and Good Ventures
Learn more about QuestBridge and listen to my conversation with Reid Hoffman and the QuestBridge team
Learn more about DuoLingo
Visit The Founders Pledge to promise 2% of your company’s exit sale price
Read The Dangerous Myth of the Dream Job
Mindfulness by Mark Williams and Danny Penman
The Power of Persuasion by Robert Levine
Learn more about mobility and posture at Mobility WOD
Learn more about Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends
Want to experiment with turning around back pain? Here are some options:

Teeter Hang Ups Gravity Boots
Teeter Hang Ups EP 960 Inversion Table
Teeter Hang Ups P3 Back Stretcher
Seek an ART Practitioner




Chimpanzee Politics by Frans de Waal
Seeking more thoughts on big career choices? Listen to my interview with Scott Adams
Seeking to give more? Check out Giving What We Can
Learn about and connect with William MacAskill:

Effective Altruism | Twitter | Facebook

Show Notes

The significance of the colleges within Oxford [7:30]
How do you answer the question, “what do you do?” [8:05]
How to take a scientific approach to doing good [9:25]
Common mistakes when giving [10:40]
The differences between GiveWell.org, CharityNavigator, and a framework for examining the quality of charitable organizations [11:45]
On the effect of disaster relief [13:10]
Will MacAskill’s approach to becoming the youngest tenured philosophy professor in the world [14:33]
MacAskill’s philosophy role models [23:05]
On Peter Singer and the Trolly Scenario [26:20]
On the decision between charity spending for the poorest of the poor and investing in future generations [47:25]
The characteristics of a selfish charitable event [55:50]
Suggestions for activities that charities should stop doing [58:45]
The story of being accepted as a non-profit Y Combinator company [1:02:20]
The most important skills and information learned at Y Combinator [1:06:45]
Most common debates with participants and partners at Y Combinator [1:13:15]
Where do your favorite philosophical frameworks have trouble in the real world? [1:16:35]
On the different motivations between non-profit and profit-driven Y Combinator [1:19:35]
Is it better to give now or give (more significantly) later? [1:23:20]
Why pursuing your passion might be a mistake [1:29:05]
Most gifted books [1:35:15]
Will MacAskill’s daily meditation practice [1:38:40]
Daily rituals: breakfast, fitness, and valuable sleep practices [1:43:45]
Favorite documentaries and movies [1:57:35]
If you could put a billboard anywhere and write anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [2:03:20]
Thoughts on artificial intelligence [2:03:50]
Will competitive drive and the desire to generate wealth override a safe method of developing artificial intelligence? [2:10:35]
What existential threat to mankind worries you the most or is the most underrated? [2:14:00]
Advice to your 20-year-old self [2:16:20]
A framework for making important life decisions [2:18:05]
An ask of the audience [2:23:10]

People Mentioned

Ryan Holiday
Derek Parfit
Sam Harris
Peter Singer
Luis von Ahn
Louis Theroux
Nick Bostrom

Kevin Costner on Building His Career, Positive Self-Talk, and Making Dances with Wolves Happen

Kevin Costner (@modernwest) is an internationally renowned filmmaker. He is considered one of the most critically acclaimed and visionary storytellers of his generation. Costner has produced, directed, and/or starred in memorable films such as Dances with Wolves, JFK, The Bodyguard, Field of Dreams, Tin Cup, Bull Durham, Open Range, Hatfields & McCoys, and Black or White, among many others. He has been honored with two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and an Emmy Award.

This episode also features Jon Baird, the author and illustrator of the novels Day Job and Songs from Nowhere Near the Heart. He is the co-developer, along with Costner, of the Horizon miniseries.

Their first book collaboration is a beautiful tome — The Explorers Guild: A Passage to Shambhala. Kirkus described it: “With its colorful cast, exotic locales, and intertwined fates, the book slowly addicts. A rousing throwback whose spinning plates never stop, even at the end.”

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Did you enjoy this podcast? — If so, don’t miss my conversation with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In this episode, we discuss psychological warfare and much more. (stream below or right-click here to download):

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This podcast is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service, which is non-spec. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade.  Give it a test run…

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite Kevin Costner movie and why? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

The Explorers Guild: Volume One: A Passage to Shambhala
Watch Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech, Make Good Art
Connect with the Explorer’s Guild:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Learn more about Agitainment and Rick Ross:

Website | Instagram | Facebook

Learn more about Kevin Costner’s project to build a monument in order to tell The Story of the Bison

Show Notes

The origins of Kevin Costner [6:01]
On being raised in a conservative Baptist family [8:08]
Work ethic and lessons learned from his father [16:46]
The near-death experience during Costner’s first audition [23:56]
The story behind being cast for The Big Chill [33:26]
Kevin Costner’s self-talk for the the seemingly impractical goal of being an actor [36:01]
Advice for his younger self [40:06]
On his scariest scenes [40:56]
Explaining the ‘let us suppose’ scenes in JFK and working with Oliver Stone [45:46]
How Kevin Costner deals with burnout [48:46]
On managing the challenging aspects of fame [56:31]
The story behind Dances with Wolves, working with Michael Blake [57:46]
Mistakes made as a young director [1:06:25]
Why write The Explorers Guild? [1:11:00]
Jon Baird and the origin of The Explorers Guild [1:12:00]
The aesthetic thinking behind The Explorers Guild [1:19:10]
The process of working together to create The Explorers Guild [1:21:30]
Describing the ideal reader for the book [1:26:30]
What type of writers have most influenced Jon Baird’s storytelling [1:29:50]
When Kevin Costner thinks of the word “successful,” who is the first person who comes to mind and why? [1:40:50]
Kevin Costner’s favorite documentary [1:42:40]
Overcoming bad habits and equestrian stunt work [1:44:05]
Important historical figures for Kevin Costner [1:47:50]
Telling the story of Tatanka [1:48:50]
If you could have one billboard anywhere, where would it be and what would it say? [1:50:45]
Advice to his 30-year-old self [1:51:20]
Kevin Costner’s ask of the audience [1:52:15]

People Mentioned

Spencer Tracy
Gregory Peck
Oliver Stone
Michael Blake
Winsor McCay
Steven Spielberg
Thomas Jefferson
Mark Twain
Abraham Lincoln
Crazy Horse
Chief Joseph

How Philosophy Can Change Your Life, Alain de Botton

“We’re not very good at understanding what it is that we really want. We’re extremely prone to latch onto suggestions from the outside world.”  – Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton (@alaindebotton) is many things, but I think of him as a rare breed of practical philosopher.

In 1997, he turned away from writing novels and instead wrote an extended essay titled How Proust Can Change Your Life, which became an unlikely blockbuster.

His subsequent books have been described as a ‘philosophy of everyday life’ and subjects include love, travel, architecture, religion and work. His other bestsellers include Essays In Love, Status Anxiety, and The Architecture Of Happiness. More recent works include The News: A User’s Manual, which looks at the impact our obsession with checking news has on our minds, and Art as Therapy, co-written with the art historian John Armstrong.

In 2008, de Botton helped start The School of Life in London, a social enterprise determined to make learning and therapy relevant in today’s uptight culture. His goal is (through any of his mediums) to help clients learn “how to live wisely and well.”

In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including:

Real-world versus academic philosophy
The value of rituals and tribes
Practical pessimism
“Ordinary genius”
The magic of pomegranates
Lesser-known modern thinkers
Why “mean” is often simply “anxious”
His favorite Japanese pens
And much more!

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast related to emotional intelligence? — Listen to my conversation with Brené Brown. In this episode, we discuss vulnerability and home run TED talks (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service, which is non-spec. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade.  Give it a test run…

This podcast is also brought to you by Vimeo Pro, which is the ideal video hosting platform for entrepreneurs. In fact, a bunch of my start-ups are already using Vimeo Pro. WealthFront uses it to explain how WealthFront works. TaskRabbit uses it to tell the company’s story. There are many other names who you would recognize among their customers (AirBnB, Etsy, etc.) Why do they use it? Vimeo Pro provides enterprise level video hosting for a fraction of the usual cost. Features include:

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What life stressors do you wish you could handle better? What do you currently do to solve the problem(s), and what do you think is missing? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

Want to win a free trip?
Essays in Love by Alain de Botton
How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton
Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton
The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton
Learn more about The School of Life
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
Check out the documentary, Tim’s Vermeer
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton
Check out some modern philosophers:

John Armstrong | Martha Nussbaum | Jamie Oliver

Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver
Seven Fires by Francis Mallmann
Dying Every Day by James Romm
The Case of the Opulent Stoic
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Read Ryan Holiday’s post on Michel de Montaigne
Watch the documentary, Seven Up!
Alain de Botton’s favorite pen, the Pilot G-Tec-C4
Watch the School of Life’s video on higher consciousness and subscribe
Alain de Botton’s TED talks
Connect with Alain de Botton

Twitter | Facebook | Website | YouTube (Subscribe)

Show Notes

How do you answer the question, “what do you do?” [7:43]
How Alain de Botton started with his studies in emotional intelligence [11:23]
On gaining mainstream success and the importance of “proving” oneself [17:08]
On mixing nonfiction and fiction writing [21:23]
Alain de Botton’s most influential writers and books [22:58]
The impact of How Proust Can Change Your Life [24:38]
How writing a book on daily habits changed Alain de Botton’s life [30:23]
How to balance setting low expectations and striving to achieve great things [35:38]
Complex philosophy vs useful philosophy [39:53]
Alain de Botton’s pre-Cambridge years [59:38]
Best practices to help status anxiety [1:03:08]
Where Alain de Botton would like to be in three years [1:10:08]
On developing the skill of listening [1:16:23]
When you think of the word successful, who is the first person that comes to mind and why? [1:25:13]
Most gifted books [1:29:28]
What is something you believe that other people think is insane? [1:30:38]
Utilitarian philosophers, artificial intelligence and future roles of philosophy [1:36:08]
Favorite documentaries and movies [1:40:08]
What purchase of $100 or less purchase has provided the most positive effect on your life [1:41:58]
Valuable daily rituals and routines [1:44:18]
If you could put a billboard anywhere and write anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [1:47:18]
Advice to your 30-year-old self [1:48:08]

People Mentioned

Marcel Proust
Henry David Thoreau
Michel de Montaigne
Johannes Vermeer
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
Bertrand Russell

How to Travel the World for Free (And Win $4,000+ Worth of Prizes, Plus a Private Q&A)

If you have any interest in travel, then the next two minutes of reading are definitely worth your time.

It’s been too long since I’ve done a giveaway. I’ve been thinking about a trip to Australia or Montreal, so perhaps you’d like a getaway, too?  By that, I mean a vacation of epic proportions. I’ve partnered with StackSocial and Bootsnall to offer you a free ride around the globe.  Literally.  And there are tons of runner-up prizes (see below).

For those of you who really want to win, here’s a shortcut: Each time you share your unique link, which you get upon signing up, you receive another five entries. So spreading the word on Facebook and Twitter vastly improves your odds.

Click here to sign up. Share it well, and perhaps I’ll see you on the road!

Grand Prize: The Tim Ferriss Round-the-World Prize (worth $3,355.95)

Trip Around the World from BootsnAll (worth $3,000)

Sample route: San Francisco > Boston > Munich > Athens > Istanbul > Dubai > Bangkok > Saigon > Hong Kong > San Francisco
Customize your route to hit your must-see sites
Click here to map out your dream escape


1-Hour Private Q&A Session with Tim Ferriss
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1st Runner Up: The High-Flying DJI Drone Prize  (worth $1,034.95)

All hail the DJI Phantom 2–the king of the drones and a true aerial photography trailblazer. The 1st Runner Up will take home a brand new DJI along with 7 or our top-selling tech essentials!

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2nd Runner Up: The Tech-Savvy Tastemaker Prize  (worth $355.95)

Score the 7 gadgets you need this fall–all designed by top innovators, all best sellers. Power up outside with a solar battery pack, power yourself around the world with one plug, and carry it all in the stylish FYL Bag.

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Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner…

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Hope to share a drink with you during your adventures.  One trip like this can change your life forever, so it’s worth taking 60 seconds to toss your hat in the ring.

Good luck and pura vida!

Dom D’Agostino on Fasting, Ketosis, and the End of Cancer

“The FDA may see ketones as a drug. I see them as a fourth macronutrient. You have fats, proteins, and carbs. Ketones are an energy-containing molecule.”  – Dom D’Agostino

Dr. Dominic “Dom” D’Agostino (@DominicDAgosti2) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, and a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC).

He has also deadlifted 500 pounds for 10 reps after a seven-day fast.

He’s a beast and — no big surprise — he’s a good buddy of Dr. Peter Attia, my MD friend who drinks “jet fuel” in search of optimal athletic performance.

The primary focus of Dom’s laboratory is developing and testing metabolic therapies, including ketogenic diets, ketone esters and ketone supplements to induce nutritional/therapeutic ketosis. D’Agostino’s laboratory uses in vivo and in vitro techniques to understand the physiological, cellular and molecular mechanism of metabolic therapies and nutritional strategies for peak performance and resilience. His research is supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Department of Defense (DoD), private organizations and foundations.

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast discussing ketosis from a world class scientist? — Listen to my conversation with Dr. Peter Attia. In this episode, we discuss life-extension, drinking jet fuel, ultra-endurance, human foie gras, and more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years and I love audio books. I have 2 to recommend:

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This podcast is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service, which is non-spec. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade.  Give it a test run…

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What questions do you have about ketogenic diets that we didn’t discuss in this podcast? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode



Learn more about Institutional Review Boards
Learn more about the modified Atkins Diet and Erik Kosoff at John Hopkins
Learn more about HDAC inhibitors
Pick up your own Abbott Precision Xtra Glucose Monitor
Dom D’ Agostino’s favorite BCAA (branched chain amino acid) product Xtend
Cancer as a Metabolic Disease by Thomas Seyfried
Learn more about De Novo Nutrition and Utopian
See Dom’s website, KetoNutrition.org
Dom’s favorite companies for canned oysters and sardines: kingoscar.com and wildplanetfoods.com
Personal Power by Tony Robbins
The Language of God by Francis Collins
Screw Tape Letters by C.S. Lewis
One of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while (intro’d to me by Dom) — KetoPet Sanctuary
Learn more about The Origin (and Future) of the Ketogenic Diet
Tripping over the Truth by Travis Christofferson
Connect with Dom D’Agostino:

Facebook | Twitter | University of South Florida

Show Notes



How Dom D’Agostino responds when someone asks him, “what do you do?” [5:28]
Describing the Institutional Review Board (IRB) [9:53]
Research on advanced lifters in a state of ketosis [12:13]
Thoughts on getting big (hypertrophy) and strong while in a state of ketosis [15:53]
Defining ketones and ketosis [20:48]
The implications of fasting, nutritional ketosis and/or exogenous ketones for preventing/mitigating the onset of neurodegenerative diseases [28:23]
Defining cachexia, sarcopenia, anabolism, and catabolism [30:48]
Thoughts on the use of anabolic agents in cancer patients [34:48]
The advantage of SARMS instead of pre-existing low androgenic anabolic therapies [38:53]
To what extent is it possible to mimic the benefits of pre-chemo therapy fasting with exogenous ketones? [43:23]
How to accelerate the induction of ketone projection through use of exogenous ketones[49:18]
Ketone esters [56:13]
The benefits of eating exogenous ketones while in a carbohydrate attractive environment (for example, when traveling in Italy) [1:16:08]
What a traveling ketogenic breakfast looks like [1:20:43]
Reasons for using glutamine [1:25:08]
Thoughts on being considered a “nutritionist” [1:32:18]
The impact of Metformin on the survival rates of animals that have metastatic cancer [1:41:38]
If Dom D’Agostino learned that he had advanced cancer, what tools would he use to fight it? [1:46:18]
Thoughts on therapeutic fasting [2:03:03]
Observations of people who experiment with fasting [2:08:23]
Describing the risks and toxicities of consuming a cocktail of exogenous ketones [2:14:33]
Unusual foods or beverages that spike ketone levels [2:22:45]
Top resources for those seeking to learn about a ketogenic diet [2:41:33]
Most gifted books [2:43:13]
How to approach fighting Lyme Disease with the ketogenic diet [2:50:18]
The effect of ketosis on mitochondria [2:53:18]
Healing from use of antibiotics [2:55:53]



People Mentioned



George Cahill
Thomas Seyfried
Kevin Rose

 

How to Say “No” When It Matters Most (or “Why I’m Taking a Long ‘Startup Vacation'”)

(Photo: Michael Matti)

The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

– Lin Yutang

Discipline equals freedom.

– Jocko Willink

This post will attempt to teach you how to say “no” when it matters most.

At the very least, it will share my story of getting there. It’s a doozy.

Here’s the short version:

I’m taking a long break from investing in new startups. No more advising, either. Please don’t send me any pitches or introductions, as I sadly won’t be able to respond. Until further notice, I am done. I might do the same with interviews, conferences, and much more.

Now, the longer version for those interested:

This post will attempt to explain how I think about investing, overcoming “fear of missing out” (FOMO), and otherwise reducing anxiety.

It’s also about how to kill the golden goose, when the goose is no longer serving you.

I’ll dig into one specifically hard decision — to say “no” to startup investing, which is easily the most lucrative activity in my life. Even if you don’t view yourself as an “investor”—which you are, whether you realize it or not—the process I used to get to no should be useful…

[Warning: If you’re bored by investment stuff, skip the next two bulleted lists.]

Caveat for any investing pros reading this:

I realize there are exceptions to every “rule” I use. Most of this post is as subjective as the fears I felt.
My rules might be simplistic, but they’ve provided a good ROI and the ability to sleep. Every time I’ve tried to get “sophisticated,” the universe has kicked me in the nuts.
Many startup investors use diametrically opposed approaches and do very well.
There are later-stage investments I’ve made (2-4x return deals) that run counter to some of what’s below (e.g. aiming for 10x+), but those typically involve a discount to book value, due to distressed sellers or some atypical event.
Many concepts are simplified to avoid confusing a lay audience.

Related announcements:

I will continue working closely with my current portfolio of startups. I love them and believe in them.
I will be returning all unallocated capital in my private Stealth Fund on AngelList. If you’re an investor in that fund, you’ll be getting your remaining money back. My public Syndicate will remain in place for later re-entry into the game.

So, why am I tapping out now and shifting gears?

Below are the key questions I asked to arrive at this cord-cutting conclusion.  I revisit these questions often, usually every month.

I hope they help you remove noise and internal conflict from your life.

The Road to No

ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU’RE UNIQUELY CAPABLE OF, WHAT YOU FEEL PLACED HERE ON EARTH TO DO? CAN YOU BE REPLACED?

I remember a breakfast with Kamal Ravikant roughly one year ago.

Standing in a friend’s kitchen downing eggs, lox, and coffee, we spoke about our dreams, fears, obligations, and lives. Investing had become a big part of my net-worth and my identity. Listing out the options I saw for my next big moves, I asked him if I should raise a fund and become a full-time venture capitalist (VC), as I was already doing the work but trying to balance it with 5-10 other projects. He could sense my anxiety. It wasn’t a dream of mine; I simply felt I’d be stupid not to strike while the iron was hot.

He thought very carefully in silence and then said: “I’ve been at events where people come up to you crying because they’ve lost 100-plus pounds on the Slow-Carb Diet. You will never have that impact as a VC. If you don’t invest in a company, they’ll just find another VC. You’re totally replaceable.”

He paused again and ended with, “Please don’t stop writing.”

I’ve thought about that conversation every day since.

For some people, being a VC is their calling and they are the Michael Jordan-like MVPs of that world. They should cultivate that gift. But if I stop investing, no one will miss it. In 2015, that much is clear. There have never been more startup investors, and–right along with them–founders basing “fit” on highest valuation and previously unheard of terms. There are exceptions, of course, but it’s crowded. If I exit through the side door, the startup party will roll on uninterrupted.

Now, I’m certainly not the best writer in the world. I have no delusions otherwise. People like John McPhee and Michael Lewis make me want to cry into my pillow and brand “Poser” on my forehead.

BUT… if I stop writing, perhaps I’m squandering the biggest opportunity I have—created through much luck—to have a lasting impact on the greatest number of people. This feeling of urgency has been multiplied 100-fold in the last two months, as several close friends have died in accidents no one saw coming. Life is fucking short. Put another way: a long life is far from guaranteed. Nearly everyone dies before they’re ready.

I’m tired of being interchangeable, no matter how lucrative the game. Even if I’m wrong about the writing, I’d curse myself if I didn’t give it a shot.

Are you squandering your unique abilities? Or the chance to find them in the first place?

HOW OFTEN ARE YOU SAYING “HELL, YEAH!”? 

Philosopher-programmer Derek Sivers is one of my favorite people.

His incisive thinking has always impressed me, and his “hell, yeah!” or “no” essay has become one of my favorite rules of thumb. From his blog:

Those of you who often over-commit or feel too scattered may appreciate a new philosophy I’m trying: If I’m not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, then I say no.

Meaning: When deciding whether to commit to something, if I feel anything less than, “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!” – then my answer is no. When you say no to most things, you leave room in your life to really throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say “HELL YEAH!”

We’re all busy. We’ve all taken on too much. Saying yes to less is the way out.

To become “successful,” you have to say “yes” to a lot of experiments.  To learn what you’re best at, or what you’re most passionate about, you have to throw a lot against the wall.

Once your life shifts from pitching outbound to defending against inbound, however, you have to ruthlessly say “no” as your default. Instead of throwing spears, you’re holding the shield.

From 2007-2009 and again from 2012-2013, I said yes to way too many “cool” things. Would I like to go to a conference in South America? Write a time-consuming guest article for a well-known magazine? Invest in a start-up that five of my friends were in? “Sure, that sounds kinda cool,” I’d say, dropping it in the calendar. Later, I’d pay the price of massive distraction and overwhelm. My agenda became a list of everyone else’s agendas.

Saying yes to too much “cool” will bury you alive and render you a B-player, even if you have A-player skills. To develop your edge initially, you learn to set priorities; to maintain your edge, you need to defend against the priorities of others.

Once you reach a decent level of professional success, lack of opportunity won’t kill you. It’s drowning in 7-out-of-10 “cool” commitments that will sink the ship.

These days, I find myself saying “Hell, yes!” less and less with new startups. That’s my cue to exit stage left, especially when I can do work I love (e.g. writing) with 1/10th the energy expenditure.

I need to stop sowing the seeds of my own destruction.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR LIFE IS MAKING VERSUS MANAGING? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SPLIT?

One of my favorite time-management essays is “Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule” by Paul Graham of Y Combinator fame. Give it a read.

As Brad Feld and many others have observed, great creative work isn’t possible if you’re trying to piece together 30 minutes here and 45 minutes there. Large, uninterrupted block of time — 3-5 hours minimum — create the space needed to find and connect the dots. And one block per week isn’t enough.  There has to be enough slack in the system for multi-day CPU-intensive synthesis. For me, this means at least 3-4 mornings per week where I am in “maker” mode until at least 1pm.

If I’m in reactive mode, maker mode is all but impossible. Email and texts of “We’re overcommitted but might be able to squeeze you in for $25K. Closing tomorrow. Interested?” are creative kryptonite.

I miss writing, creating, and working on bigger projects. YES to that means NO to any games of whack-a-mole.

WHAT BLESSINGS IN EXCESS HAVE BECOME A CURSE? WHERE DO YOU HAVE TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

In excess, most things take on the characteristics of their opposite. Thus:

Pacifists become militants.

Freedom fighters become tyrants.

Blessings become curses.

Help becomes hinderance.

More becomes less.

To explore this concept more, read up on Aristotle’s golden mean.

In my first 1-2 years of angel investing, 90%+ of my bets were in a tiny sub-set of startups. The criteria were simple:

Consumer-facing products or services
Products I could be a dedicated “power user” of, products that scratched a personal itch
Initial target demographic of 25-40-year old tech-savvy males in big US cities like SF, NYC, Chicago, LA, etc. (allowed me to accelerate growth/scaling with my audience)

Demonstrated traction and consistent growth (not doctored with paid acquisition).
No “party rounds”—crowded financing rounds with no clear lead investor. Party rounds often lead to poor due diligence and few people with enough skin in the game to really care.

Checking these boxes allowed me to add a lot of value quickly, even as relatively cheap labor (i.e. I took a tiny stake in the company). Shopify is a great example, which you can read about here (scroll down).

My ability to help spread via word of mouth, and I got what I wanted: great “deal flow.” Deals started flowing in en masse from other founders and investors.

Fast forward to 2015, and great deal flow is now paralyzing the rest of my life.  I’m drowning in inbound.

Instead of making great things possible in my life, it’s preventing great things from happening.

I’m excited to go back to basics, and this requires cauterizing blessings that have become burdens.

WHY ARE YOU INVESTING, ANYWAY?

For me, the goal of “investing” has always been simple: to allocate resources (e.g. money, time, energy) to improve quality of life. This is a personal definition, as yours likely will be.

Some words are so overused as to have become meaningless.  If you find yourself using nebulous terms like “success,” “happiness,” or “investing,” it pays to explicitly define them or stop using them. “What would it look like if I had (or won at) ___ ?” helps. Life favors the specific ask and punishes the vague wish.

So, here: to allocate resources (e.g. money, time, energy) to improve quality of life.

This applies to both the future and the present. I am willing to accept a mild and temporary 10% decrease in current quality of life (based on morale in journaling) for a high-probability 10x return, whether the ROI comes in the form of cash, time, energy, or otherwise. That could be a separate blog post, but conversely:

An investment that produces a massive financial ROI but makes me a complete nervous mess, or causes insomnia and temper tantrums for a long period of time, is NOT a good investment.

I don’t typically invest in public stocks for this reason, even when I know I’m leaving cash on the table. My stomach can’t take the ups and downs, but—like drivers rubbernecking to look at a wreck—I seem incapable of not looking. I will compulsively check Google News and Google Finance, despite knowing it’s self-sabotage. I become Benjamin Graham’s Mr. Market. As counter-examples, friends like Kevin Rose and Chris Sacca have different programming and are comfortable playing in that sandbox. They can be rational instead of reactive.

Suffice to say — For me, a large guaranteed decrease in present quality of life doesn’t justify a large speculative return.

One could argue that I should work on my reactivity instead of avoiding stocks. I’d agree on tempering reactivity, but I’d disagree on fixing weaknesses as a primary investment (or life) strategy.

All of my biggest wins have come from leveraging strengths instead of fixing weaknesses. Investing is hard enough without having to change your core behaviors. Don’t push a boulder up a hill just because you can.

Public market sharks will eat me alive in their world, but I’ll beat 99% of them in my little early-stage startup sandbox. I live in the middle of the informational switch box and know the operators.

From 2007 until recently, I paradoxically found start-up investing very low-stress. Ditto with some options trading. Though high-risk, I do well with binary decisions. In other words, I do a ton of homework and commit to an investment that I cannot reverse. That “what’s done is done” aspect allows me to sleep well at night, as there is no buy-sell choice for the foreseeable future. I’m protected from my lesser, flip-flopping self. That has produced more than a few 10-100x investments.

In the last two years, however, my quality of life has suffered.

As fair-weather investors and founders have flooded the “hot” tech scene, it’s become a deluge of noise. Where there were once a handful of micro VCs, for instance, there are now hundreds. Private equity firms and hedge funds are betting earlier and earlier. It’s become a crowded playing field. Here’s what that has meant for me personally:

I get 50-100 pitches per week. This creates an inbox problem, but it gets worse, as…
Many of these are unsolicited “cold intros,” where other investors will email me and CC 2-4 founders with “I’d love for you to meet A, B, and C” without asking if they can share my e-mail address
Those founders then “loop in” other people, and it cascades horribly from there. Before I know it 20-50 people I don’t know are emailing me questions and requests.
As a result, I’ve had to declare email bankruptcy twice in the last six months. It’s totally untenable.

Is there a tech bubble? That question is beyond my pay grade, and it’s also beside the point.

Even if I were guaranteed there would be no implosion for 3-5 years, I’d still exit now. Largely due to communication overload, I’ve lost my love for the game.  On top of that, the marginal minute now matters more to me than the marginal dollar.

But why not cut back 50%, or even 90%, and be more selective?  Good question. That’s next…

ARE YOU FOOLING YOURSELF WITH A PLAN FOR MODERATION?

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.

– Richard P. Feynman

Where in your life are you good at moderation? Where are you an all-or-nothing type? Where do you lack a shut-off switch? It pays to know thyself.

The Slow-Carb Diet succeeds where other diets fail for many reasons, but the biggest is this: It accepts default human behaviors versus trying to fix them. Rather than say “don’t cheat” or “you can no longer eat X,” we plan weekly “cheat days” (usually Saturdays) in advance. People on diets will cheat regardless, so we mitigate the damage by pre-scheduling it and limiting it to 24 hours.

Outside of cheat days, slow carbers keep “domino foods” out of their homes. What are domino foods? Foods that could be acceptable if humans had strict portion control, but that are disallowed because practically none of us do. Common domino foods include:

Chickpeas
Peanut butter
Salted cashews
Alcohol

Domino triggers aren’t limited to food. For some people, if they play 15 minutes of World of Warcraft, they’ll play 15 hours. It’s zero or 15 hours.

For me, startups are a domino food.

In theory, “I’ll only do one deal a month” or “I’ll only do two deals a quarter” sound great, but I’ve literally NEVER seen it work for myself or any of my VC or angel friends. Sure, there are ways to winnow down the pitches. Yes, you can ask “Is this one of the top 1-2 entrepreneurs you know?” to any VC who intro’s a deal and reject any “no”s. But what if you commit to two deals a quarter and see two great ones the first week? What then? If you invest in those two, will you be able to ignore every incoming pitch for the next 10 weeks?

Not likely.

For me, it’s all or nothing. I can’t be half pregnant with startup investing.  Whether choosing 2 or 20 startups per year, you have to filter them from the total incoming pool.

If I let even one startup through, another 50 seem to magically fill up my time (or at least my inbox). I don’t want to hire staff for vetting, so I’ve concluded I must ignore all new startup pitches and intros.

Know where you can moderate and where you can’t.

YOU SAY “HEALTH IS #1″…BUT IS IT REALLY?

After contracting Lyme disease and operating at ~10% capacity for nine months, I made health #1. Prior to Lyme, I’d worked out and eaten well, but when push came to shove, “health #1” was negotiable. Now, it’s literally #1. What does this mean?

If I sleep poorly and have an early morning meeting, I’ll cancel the meeting last-minute if needed and catch up on sleep. If I’ve missed a workout and have a con-call coming up in 30 minutes? Same. Late-night birthday party with a close friend? Not unless I can sleep in the next morning. In practice, strictly making health #1 has real social and business ramifications. That’s a price I’ve realized I MUST be fine paying, or I could lose weeks or months to sickness or fatigue.

Making health #1 50% of the time doesn’t work. It’s absolute — all or nothing. If it’s #1 50% of the time, you’ll compromise precisely when it’s most important.

The artificial urgency common to startups makes mental and physical health even more challenging. I’m tired of unwarranted last-minute “hurry up and sign” emergencies and related fire drills. It’s a culture of cortisol.

ARE YOU OVER-CORRELATED?

[NOTE: Two investors friends found this bullet slow, as they’re immersed in similar subjects. Feel free to skip if it drags on, but I think there are a few important novice concepts in here.]

“Correlated” means that investments tend to move up or down in value at the same time.

As legendary hedge fund manager Ray Dalio told Tony Robbins: “It’s almost certain that whatever you’re going to put your money in, there will come a day when you will lose 50 percent to 70 percent.” It pays to remember that if you lose 50%, you need a subsequent 100% return to get back to where you started. That math is tough.

So, how to de-risk your portfolio?

Many investors “rebalance” across asset classes to maintain certain ratios (e.g. X% in bonds, Y% in stocks, Z% in commodities, etc.). If one asset class jumps, they liquidate a part of it a buy more of lower performing classes. There are pros and cons to this, but it’s common practice.

From 2007-2009, during the “real-world MBA” that taught me to angel invest, barbell approach to investing. But most startups are illiquid. I commonly can’t sell shares until 7-12 years after I invest, at least for my big winners to date. What does that mean? In 2015, startups comprise more than 80% of my assets. Yikes!

Since I can’t sell, the simplest first step for lowering stress is to stop investing in illiquid assets.

I’ve sold large portions of liquid stocks—mostly early start-up investments in China–to help get me to “sleep at night” levels, even if they are lower than historical highs of the last 6-12 months. Beware of anchoring to former high prices (e.g. “I’ll sell when it gets back to X price per share…”). I only have 1-2 stock holdings remaining.

Some of you might suggest hedging with short positions, and I’d love to, but it’s not my forte. If you have ideas for doing so without huge exposure or getting into legal gray areas, please let me know in the comments.

In the meantime, the venture capital model is mostly a bull market business. Not much shorting opportunity. The best approximation I’ve seen is investing in businesses like Uber, which A) have a lot of international exposure (like US blue chips), and B) could be considered macro-economically counter-cyclical. For instance, it’s conceivable a stock market correction or crash could simultaneously lead fewer people to buy cars and/or more people to sign up as Uber drivers to supplement or replace their jobs. Ditto with Airbnb and others that have more variable than fixed costs compared to incumbents (e.g. Hilton).

WHAT’S THE RUSH? CAN YOU “RETIRE” AND COME BACK?

I’m in startups for the long game. In some capacity, I plan to be doing this 20+ years from now.

The reality: If you’re spending your own money, or otherwise not banking on management fees, you can wait for the perfect pitches, even if it takes years. It might not be the “best” approach, but it’s enough. To get rich beyond your wildest dreams in startup investing, it isn’t remotely necessary to bet on a Facebook or Airbnb every year. If you get a decent bet on ONE of those non-illusory, real-business unicorns every 10 years, or if you get 2-3 investments that turn $25K into $2.5M, you can retire and have a wonderful quality of life. Many would argue that you need to invest in 50-100 startups to find that one lottery ticket. Maybe. I think it’s possible to narrow the odds quite a bit more, and a lot of it is predicated on maintaining stringent criteria; ensuring you have an informational, analytical, or behavioral advantage; and TIMING.

Most of my best investments were made during the “Dot-com Depression” of 2008-2009 (e.g. Uber, Shopify, Twitter, etc.), when only the hardcore remained standing on a battlefield littered with startup bodies. In lean times, when startups no longer grace magazine covers, founders are those who cannot help but build a company. LinkedIn in 2002 is another example.

HOWEVER… This doesn’t mean there aren’t great deals out there.  There are. Great companies are still built during every “frothy” period.

The froth just makes my job and detective work 10x harder, and the margin of safety becomes much narrower.

[Tim: Skip this boxed text if the concept of “margin of safety” is old news to you.]

Think of the “margin of safety” as wiggle room.

Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of the 20th century and a self-described “value investor.” He aims to buy stocks at a discount (below intrinsic value) so that even with a worst-case scenario, he can do well. This discount is referred to as the “margin of safety,” and it’s the bedrock principle of some of the brightest minds in the investing world (e.g., Seth Klarman). It doesn’t guarantee a good investment, but it allows room for error.  Back in the startup world…

I want each of my investments, if successful, to have the ability to return my “entire fund,” which is how much capital I’ve earmarked for startups over two years, for instance. This usually means potential for a minimum 10X return. That 10X minimum is an important part of my recipe that allows margin for screw ups.

For the fund-justifying ROI to have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening, I must A) know basic algebra to ensure my investment amounts (check sizes) permit it, and B) avoid companies that seem overpriced, where the 10x price is something the world has never seen before (i.e. no even indirect comparables, or tenable extrapolations from even an expanded market size).

If you throw low-due-diligence Hail Mary’s everywhere and justify it with “they could be the next Uber!”, you will almost certainly be killed by 1,000 slow-bleeding $25K paper cuts. Despite current euphoria, applying something like Pascal’s Wager to startups is a great way to go broke.

Good startup investors who suggest being “promiscuous” are still methodical.

It’s popular in startup land to talk about “moonshots”—the impossibly ambitious startups that will either change the world or incinerate themselves into star dust.

I’m a fan of funding ballsy founders (which includes women), and I want many moonshots to be funded, but here’s the reality of my portfolio: as I’ve signed the investment docs for every big success I’ve had, I’ve always thought, “I will never lose money on this deal.”

The “this will be a home run or nothing” deals usually end up at nothing. I’m not saying such deals can’t work, but I try not to specialize in them.

These days, the real unicorns aren’t the media darlings with billion-dollar valuations. Those have become terrifyingly passé. The unicorns are the high-growth startups with a reasonable margin of safety.

Fortunately, I’m not in a rush, and I can wait for the tide to shift.

If you simply wait for blood in the streets, for when true believers are the only ones left, you can ensure come-hell-or-high-water founders are at least half of your meetings.

It might be morbid, but it’s practical.

My Last Deals For A While

It’s still a great time to invest in companies… but only if you’re able to A) filter the signal from the noise, B) say no to a lot of great companies whose investors are accepting insane terms, and C) follow your own rules. Doing all three of these requires a fuck-ton of effort, discipline, and systems. I prefer games with better odds.

There are a few deals you’ll see in the upcoming months, which I committed to long ago. These are not new deals.

They are current companies in which I’m filling my pro-rata, or companies postponing funding announcements until they’re most helpful (e.g. launching publicly). Separately, I work closely with the Expa startup lab and will continue to do so. They are largely able to insulate themselves from madness, while using and refining an excellent playbook.

Are You Having a Breakdown or a Breakthrough? A Short How-To Guide

“Make your peace with the fact that saying ‘no’ often requires trading popularity for respect.”

– Greg McKeown, Essentialism

If you’re suffering from a feeling of overwhelm, it might be useful to ask yourself two questions:

– In the midst of overwhelm, is life not showing me exactly what I should subtract?

– Am I having a breakdown or a breakthrough?

As Marcus Aurelius and Ryan Holiday would say, “The obstacle is the way.” This doesn’t mean seeing problems, accepting them, and leaving them to fester. Nor does it mean rationalizing problems into good things. To me, it means using pain to find clarity. Pain–if examined and not ignored–can show you what to excise from your life.

For me, step one is always the same: write down the 20% of activities and people causing 80% or more of your negative emotions.

My step two is doing a “fear-setting” exercise on paper, in which I ask and answer “What is really the worst that could happen if I did what I’m considering? And so what? How could I undo any damage?”

Below is a real-world example: the journal page that convinced me to write this post and kickstart an extended startup vacation.

The questions were “What is really the worst that could happen if I stopped angel investing for a minimum of 6-12 months? Do those worse-case scenarios really matter? How could I undo any potential damage? Could I do a two-week test?”

As you’ll notice, I made lists of the guaranteed upsides versus speculative downsides. If we define “risk” as I like to—the likelihood of an irreversible negative outcome—we can see how stupid (and unnecessarily painful) all my fretting and procrastination was. All I needed to do was put it on paper.

Below is a scan of the actual page.  Click here for an enlarged version.

Further below is a transcribed version (slightly shorter and edited). For a full explanation of how and why I use journaling, see this post.  In the meantime, this will get the point across:

Transcription:

“The anxiety is mostly related to email and startups: new pitches, new intros, etc.

Do a 2-week test where “no” to ALL cold intros and pitches?

Why am I hesitant? For saying “no” to all:

PROS:

– 100% guaranteed anxiety reduction

– Feeling of freedom

– Less indecision, less deliberation, so far more bandwidth for CREATING, for READING, for PHYSICAL [TRAINING], for EXPERIMENTS.

CONS (i.e. why not?):

– Might find the next Uber (

– Not get more deals. But who cares?

* Dinner with 5 friends fixes it.

* One blog post fixes it. [Here’s an example from 2013 that helped me find Shyp and co-lead their first round]

* NONE of my best deals (Shyp, Shopify, Uber, Twitter, Facebook, Evernote, Alibaba, etc.) came from cold intros from acquaintances.

If try 2 weeks, how to ensure successful:

– I don’t even see interview or [new] startup emails

– No con-calls. [Cite] “con call vacation” –> push to email or EOD [end-of-day review with assistant]

– Offer [additional] “office hours” on Fridays [for existing portfolio]?

I ultimately realized: If I set up policies to avoid new startups for two weeks, the systems will persist. I might as well make it semi-permanent and take a real “startup vacation.”

What do you need a vacation from?

My Challenge To You: Write Down The “What If”s

“I am an old man and I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

– Mark Twain

“He who suffers before it is necessary suffers more than is necessary.”

– Seneca

Tonight or tomorrow morning, take a decision you’ve been putting off, and challenge the fuzzy “what if”s holding you hostage.

If not now, when? If left at the status quo, what will your life and stress look like in six months? In one year? In three years? Who around you will also suffer?

I hope you find the strength to say no when it matters most. I’m striving for the same, and only time will tell if I pull it off.

What will I spend my time on next? More crazy experiments and creative projects, of course.  To hear about them first, sign up for my infrequent newsletter. Things are going to get nuts.

But more important — how could you use a new lease on life?

To surf, like this attorney who quit the rat race? To travel with your family around the world for 1,000+ days, like this?  To learn languages or work remotely in 20+ countries while building a massive business? It’s all possible. The options are limitless…

So start by writing them down. Sometimes, it takes just a piece of paper and a few questions to create a breakthrough.

I look forward to hearing about your adventures.

How Renegade Filmmaker Casey Neistat Breaks Rules, Reinvents Himself, and Gets Thanked For It

“What is the ultimate quantification of success? For me, it’s not how much time you spend doing what you love. It’s how little time you spend doing what you hate.” – Casey Neistat

Casey Neistat (@caseyneistat) is a New York-based filmmaker. His online films have been viewed nearly 300,000,000 times in the last 5 years.

He is the writer, director, editor, and star of the series The Neistat Brothers on HBO and won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards for the film Daddy Long Legs. His main body of work consists of dozens of short films he has released exclusively on the Internet, including regular contributions to the New York Times critically acclaimed Op-Docs series. He is also the founder of Beme, a startup aiming to make creating and sharing video dead simple.

Casey is excellent at breaking every rule imaginable and having people (fans, sponsors, big brands, etc.) thank him for it. In this conversation, we dig into his history, techniques, influences, habits, and more…

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast with another award-winning movie maker? — Listen to my conversations with Robert Rodriguez. In this episode, we discuss the making of From Dusk ’till Dawn, Sin City, and what it means to be the “Wizard” of Hollywood (stream below or right-click here to download):

 

This podcast is brought to you by Vimeo Pro, which is the ideal video hosting platform for entrepreneurs. In fact, a bunch of my start-ups are already using Vimeo Pro. WealthFront uses it to explain how WealthFront works. TaskRabbit uses it to tell the company’s story. There are many other names who you would recognize among their customers (AirBnB, Etsy, etc.) Why do they use it? Vimeo Pro provides enterprise level video hosting for a fraction of the usual cost. Features include:

Gorgeous high-quality playback with no ads
Up to 20 GB of video storage every week
Unlimited plays and views
A fully customizable video player, which can include your company logo, custom outro, and more

You get all this for just $199 per year (that’s only $17 per/mo.). There are no complicated bandwidth calculations or hidden fees. Try it risk-free for 30 days. Just go to Vimeo.com/business to check it out. If you like it, you can use the promo code “Tim” to get 25% off. This is a special discount just for you guys.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: Casey is breaking the mold for what it means to be a filmmaker. Who are your favorite entertainers, artists, or entrepreneurs who are breaking the mold? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

Here are a few articles about Casey:

Get Away with Murder | Teen Welfare Dad |

Want to hack commercial flights? Check out Free Business Class Upgrades, everytime (Note: you must fly a whole lot)
Casey Neistat’s vlogging equipment

Cannon 70d | Sony RX-100

Learn more about Final Cut Pro X
The Second World War by John Keegan
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, Alex Haley, and Attallah Shabazz
It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden
Some of Casey’s favorite bloggers:

Mr. Ben Brown | Fun For Louis

Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech, Make Good Art
Casey’s favorite movies:

Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (IMDb) | Little Dieter Needs to Fly (IMDb)

Casey’s running playlist, Jonny Famous
Connect with Casey Neistat:

Subscribe to Casey on YouTube | Draw My Life | Beme | Twitter

Show Notes

On the challenges of working in New York City [2:20]
How Casey Neistat grew up [3:45]
The story of Bike Lanes [7:50]
How Casey Neistat responds when people ask, “what do you do?” [13:45]
The story behind Make It Count [15:05]
Casey’s pitch to Nike for the Make It Count video [18:05]
Suggestions for packing [23:15]
Thoughts on post production software [25:05]
Where novice YouTubers waste the most time [26:50]
Thoughts on how to be successful with YouTube [30:15]
On the decision to make a daily vlog [34:40]
The importance of devoting time to communicating with your audience [39:00]
The story behind Casey’s first paid gig in the entertainment business [40:30]
When you think of the word successful, who is the first person that comes to mind and why? [44:40]
Who makes Casey Neistat feel star-struck? [50:10]
Tips on developing the ability to be well-spoken [54:40]
Rapid fire questions: Most gifted books, best purchase of $100 or less, and favorite vloggers [1:01:05]
Common misconceptions [1:07:25]
On how to say, “no” [1:09:20]
What is a belief that you have that many people may think is crazy? [1:12:00]
The thinking behind Beme [1:15:00]
Top films that may not have been fully appreciated [1:20:50]
If you could put a billboard anywhere and write anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [1:23:55]
An ask/suggestion for the audience [1:28:15]

People Mentioned

Tyler Oakley
Jason Harris
Po Bronson
Fred Hochberg
Tom Healy
Larry King
Jack Welch

How Casey Neistat Gets Away With Murder

“What is the ultimate quantification of success? For me, it’s not how much time you spend doing what you love. It’s how little time you spend doing what you hate.” – Casey Neistat

Casey Neistat (@caseyneistat) is a New York-based filmmaker. His online films have been viewed more than 50,000,000 times in the last 3 years.

He is the writer, director, editor, and star of the series The Neistat Brothers on HBO and won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards for the film Daddy Long Legs. His main body of work consists of dozens of short films he has released exclusively on the Internet, including regular contributions to the New York Times critically acclaimed Op-Doc series. He is also the founder of Beme, a startup aiming to make creating and sharing video dead simple.

Casey is excellent at breaking every rule imaginable and having people (fans, sponsors, big brands, etc.) thank him for it. In this conversation, we dig into his history, techniques, influences, habits, and more…

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast with another award-winning movie maker? — Listen to my conversations with Robert Rodriguez. In this episode, we discuss the making of From Dusk ’till Dawn, Sin City, and what it means to be the “Wizard” of Hollywood (stream below or right-click here to download):

 

This podcast is brought to you by Vimeo Pro, which is ideal for entrepreneurs. In fact, a bunch of my start-ups are already using Vimeo Pro. WealthFront uses it to explain how it develops personalized investment portfolios. TaskRabbit uses it to tell the company’s story. Twitter uses it to showcase Periscope. Why are they using it instead of other options out there? Vimeo Pro provides enterprise level video hosting that typically costs thousands of dollars for a tiny fraction of the cost. Features include:

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: Casey is breaking the mold for what it means to be a filmmaker. What other entertainers, artists, or entrepreneurs do you appreciate who also are breaking the mold? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

Here are a few articles about Casey:

Get Away with Murder | Teen Welfare Dad |

Want to hack commercial flights? Check out Free Business Class Upgrades, everytime (Note: you must fly a whole lot)
Casey Neistat’s vlogging equipment

Cannon 70d | Sony RX-100

Learn more about Final Cut Pro X
The Second World War by John Keegan
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, Alex Haley, and Attallah Shabazz
It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden
Some of Casey’s favorite bloggers:

Mr. Ben Brown | Fun For Louis

Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech, Make Good Art
Casey’s favorite movies:

Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (IMDb) | Little Dieter Needs to Fly (IMDb)

Casey’s running playlist, Jonny Famous
Connect with Casey Neistat:

Subscribe to Casey on YouTube | Draw My Life | Beme | Twitter

Show Notes

On the challenges of working in New York City [2:20]
How Casey Neistat grew up [3:45]
The story of Bike Lanes [7:50]
How Casey Neistat responds when people ask, “what do you do?” [13:45]
The story behind Make It Count [15:05]
Casey’s pitch to Nike for the Make It Count video [18:05]
Suggestions for packing [23:15]
Thoughts on post production software [25:05]
Where novice YouTubers waste the most time [26:50]
Thoughts on how to be successful with YouTube [30:15]
On the decision to make a daily vlog [34:40]
The importance of devoting time to communicating with your audience [39:00]
The story behind Casey’s first paid gig in the entertainment business [40:30]
When you think of the word successful, who is the first person that comes to mind and why? [44:40]
Who makes Casey Neistat feel star-struck? [50:10]
Tips on developing the ability to be well-spoken [54:40]
Rapid fire questions: Most gifted books, best purchase of $100 or less, and favorite vloggers [1:01:05]
Common misconceptions [1:07:25]
On how to say, “no” [1:09:20]
What is a belief that you have that many people may think is crazy? [1:12:00]
The thinking behind Beme [1:15:00]
Top films that may not have been fully appreciated [1:20:50]
If you could put a billboard anywhere and write anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [1:23:55]
An ask/suggestion for the audience [1:28:15]

People Mentioned

Tyler Oakley
Jason Harris
Po Bronson
Fred Hochberg
Tom Healy
Larry King
Jack Welch

Thinking About Extra Dimensions with Physicist Lisa Randall

Physics professor, Lisa Randall, is co-author of a paper that suggests dark matter may have played a role in the extinction of the dinosaurs.
(Credit: Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer)

“Be curious and try to find solutions to problems.”  – Lisa Randall

Professor Lisa Randall (@lirarandall) researches particle physics and cosmology at Harvard, where she is a professor of theoretical physics.

Professor Randall was the first tenured woman in the Princeton physics department, and the first tenured female theoretical physicist at Harvard. In autumn 2004, she was the most cited theoretical physicist of the previous five years.

In 2007, Randall was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (Time 100) under the section for “Scientists & Thinkers.” Randall was given this honor for her work regarding the evidence of a higher dimension.

She has written several mind-expanding books, the newest of which is Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe.  If you want a semi-psychedelic experience (viewing the world through a new lens) without imbibing substances, this is worth checking out.

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast related to spirituality and science from a world class thinker? — Listen to my conversations with Sam Harris. In this episode, we discuss spirituality, neuroscience, meditation, and more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Thrive Market. If you’re anything like me, you care a lot about the food you put in your body. In fact, I think it’s much more important than exercise. The problem is that good food can be extremely expensive…but it doesn’t have to be.

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What are your thoughts on the value of applied science and basic science? Is one more valuable than the other? If so, why? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

Inside Job — a documentary on Wall Street shenanigans and financial meltdowns
Learn more about the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (Math Camp)
Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World by Lisa Randall
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe by Lisa Randall
Hidden Cosmos by Timothy Ferris in National Geographic
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman
Learn more about Interstellar
Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space by Lisa Randall
Learn more about Jimmy Chin and Meru
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Connect with Lisa Randall on Twitter

Show Notes

How do you answer the question, “what do you do?” [6:33]
Defining physics [8:08]
Defining theoretical physics [8:58]
Defining cosmology [9:53]
On succeeding in the male-dominated world of science, and the value of “math camp” [12:33]
Explaining the title for Warped Passages [25:33]
Defining hidden dimensions [28:18]
The search for fundamental connections in the universe [34:13]
Defining dark matter and dark energy [40:28]
Why are outer planets in our solar system bigger than those closer to the sun? [44:28]
Common misuses of physics terms [45:53]
Is time an illusion? [51:43]
Are there aspects of philosophy that are becoming more relevant to physics? [54:28]
How science could expand empathy [57:08]
Thoughts on Interstellar [1:01:03]
Thoughts on consciousness after physical death [1:02:53]
Could you describe a tennis ball as it moves through additional dimensions of space? [1:05:13]
What is the significance of the Higgs boson? [1:06:43]
Why does cosmology research matter? [1:11:33]
What is the difference between basic science and applied science? [1:13:28]
When you think of the word successful, who is the first person who comes to mind and why? [1:15:13]
In the last five years, when have you felt the most successful? [1:16:13]
Most gifted books [1:18:03]
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively affected your life recently [1:20:08]
What do you believe that other people might consider to be insane? [1:21:03]
Should the scientific community be focusing on large-scale expensive science projects or create many smaller scale science projects? [1:22:58]
Thoughts on the superstring theory.  [1:25:53]
If you could put a billboard anywhere and write anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [1:27:38]
Advice for your 30-year-old self [1:28:58]
An ask or request for the audience [1:29:53]

People Mentioned

Richard Feynman
Dana Randall
Albert Einstein
Timothy Ferris

The Athlete (And Artist) Who Cheats Death, Jimmy Chin

“I’m the laziest motivated person that I know!” — Jimmy Chin

Jimmy Chin (@jimkchin) is an artist and professional athlete, often at the same time. If Chase Jarvis and Laird Hamilton had a love child, it would be Jimmy.

He has participated in and documented breakthrough expeditions around the planet, from climbing first ascents in the Karakoram to skiing first descents in the Himalayas. He is one of the few people to both climb Mount Everest and ski it from the summit.  Most recently, he filmed and directed the incredible feature documentary MERU, which is in theaters now and won the 2015 Audience Award at Sundance.

What is MERU? In the high-stakes game of big-wall climbing, the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru is the ultimate prize. Everest is a cakewalk by comparison. Sitting at the headwaters of the sacred Ganges River in Northern India, the Shark’s Fin has seen more failed attempts by elite climbing teams over the past 30 years than any other ascent in the Himalayas. This movie is the story of one group’s journey to conquer it—a white-knuckle quest of friendship, sacrifice, hope and obsession. How Jimmy captured it on film while risking his life is almost impossible to fathom.

In this episode of the podcast, we talk about his origins, training, nutrition, gear, and MERU, of course.

Suffice to say, if you want a benevolent kick in the ass, the film MERU is your assignment. I saw it a few weeks ago, and all my family could say for minutes afterward was, “Whoa….” My refrain was, “Holy shit…,” which I muttered to myself at least 20 times in 90 minutes.  It’s an amazing, terrifying, and inspiring edge-of-your-seat experience.

Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as”.

Want to hear another podcast with super athletes? — Listen to my conversation with Laird Hamilton, Gabrielle Reece, and Brian MacKenzie. In this incredible episode, we explore underwater training, strengthening your weaknesses, and advice for beat up athletes. Check it out.

This podcast is brought to you by TrunkClub. I hate shopping with a passion. And honestly I’m not good at it, which means I end up looking like I’m colorblind or homeless. Enter TrunkClub, which provides you with your own personal stylist and makes it easier than ever to shop for clothes that look great on your body. Just go to trunkclub.com/tim and answer a few questions, and then you’ll be sent a trunk full of awesome clothes. They base this on your sizes, preferences, etc. The trunk is then delivered free of charge both ways, so you only pay for clothes that you keep. If you keep none, it costs you nothing. To get started, check it out at trunkclub.com/tim.

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What other athletes or world-class performers would you love to hear on the podcast?  Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Enjoy!

Selected Links from the Episode

Trango Towers
Grand Teton National Park
Yosemite National Park
Meru Peak
Exum Mountain Guides and Jackson Hole Mountain Guides
Jimmy’s favorite gear: Five Ten Anasazi Climbing Shoes, DynaFit Boots, Armada Skis, and Black Diamond Skis
Jimmy stays energized with Clif Shot Bloks, Hammer Nutrition Heed sports drinks, and Endurolytes
On expeditions, Jimmy listens to The Glitch Mob and José González
NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School)
Patagonia Land Trust
Valley Uprising
Coming into the Country by John McPhee
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era by Eiji Yoshikawa and Charles Terry
A Guide to the I Ching by Carol K. Anthony
Casamigos and Casa Dragones
Jack Black 25 SPF Lip Balm
Connect with Jimmy Chin

MERU | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Jimmy Chin

Show Notes

How do you pronounce “MERU?” [08:22]
How do you answer the question, “What do you do?” [09:18]
What is a first ascent and a first descent? [11:55]
Defining car-to-car time [17:25]
Why an outdoor athlete may start spending more time at the gym [19:55]
A typical week of training [21:06]
Most common beginning rock climbing mistakes (and corrections) [27:42]
Overcoming the fear of rock climbing [30:30]
Jimmy’s gear (shoes, boots, skis) [32:00]
Jimmy’s nutrition routine [33:11]
What does Jimmy listen to when he’s on expeditions? [34:50]
Goals for aspiring climbers [37:07]
Finding a good mountain guide [39:42]
Defining moments from Jimmy’s childhood [42:44]
Jimmy’s parenting style [44:44]
How Jimmy got started with photography [51:14]
Lessons Jimmy learned from Galen Rowell’s work ethic [58:38]
Dealing with fear and House of Cards [01:01:36]
How Jimmy improved his writing skills [01:09:31]
The first person who comes to mind when Jimmy thinks of success [01:11:52]
The books Jimmy gives as gifts [01:13:25]
Jimmy’s morning rituals [01:15:00]
Drinks of choice  [01:17:54]
A purchase of $100 or less that had the most positive impact [01:19:03]
What would Jimmy put on a billboard, and where would it be? [01:20:07]
What advice would Jimmy give his 30-year-old self? [01:21:05]

People Mentioned

Chase Jarvis
Laird Hamilton
Doug Coombs
Justin Boreta
Jose Gonzalez
Alex Honnold
Conrad Anker
Galen Rowell
Dean Potter
Steph Davis
Timmy O’Neill
Cedar Wright
Peter Croft
Ernest Hemingway
John McPhee
Jonathan Franzen
Jon Krakauer
Yvon Chouinard
Carol K. Anthony