Chasing Curiosity, with Brian Koppelman — [Invest Like the Best, EP.21]
My guest this week is writer, director, producer, and podcast host Brian Koppelman, who’s film credits include ‘Rounders’, ‘Oceans 13’, and ‘Solitary Man’. More recently he co-created the Showtime show, ‘Billions’, which allowed us to have some fun talking about the world of hedge funds and investing. Brian’s method for chasing curiosity is something that everyone can learn apply in their own lives. In this chat, we discuss creativity, the importance of storytelling and why we are all so intrigued by billionaires.
Please enjoy!
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Books Referenced
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Links Referenced
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless
Show Notes
1:28 – (first question) – Patrick asks Brian if he did TM as soon as he started getting into meditation. The two discuss the benefits of meditation.
2:57 – Looking at other experiences that match the feeling of meditation, which includes a discussion on running and sports
4:06 – What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir
4:12 – Couch To 5K
5:57 – Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
6:10 – Looking at how the idea for ‘Solitary Man’ came to be and the creative process that led to it finally getting done
12:30 – Why Brian must be curious about a character’s motivation to write about them
13:20 – Why it can be difficult to stand pat
13:23 – Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
14:05 – Exploring the creative process, which requires curiosity and strangeness
14:29 – The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry
16:39 – What does Brian do to make it possible to be creative. He discusses routines and the morning pages
16:59 – The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
18:51 – How Brian met his writing partner and how David helped him become a successful writer
23:43 – Getting immersed in a subject and how Brian got interested in the topic that led to the Showtime show Billions
26:15 – Interesting discussion on how billionaires are more like nation-states than citizens
28:35 – Exploration of why billionaires are celebrated in the US, even more so than athletes and rock stars
32:48 – How having lots of money can impact the way people relate to you
37:14 – Why so much reverence for billionaires and why they are obsessed with attaining that kind of wealth
40:48 – When people have a passion for something, they seem to be happier in life.
41:22 – Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism
44:48 – Patrick talks about why some carpenters have unmatched happiness in life
46:08 – Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
46:30 – Grizzly Man
46:49 – Why we tell stories and some of the rules that need to be followed
49:48 – Why Brian started his podcast
50:33 – Stories across time are all the same and curiosity is the best way to discover good ones
51:07 – Meru
51:26 – 180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless
51:57 – Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
52:04 – Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
52:35 – The financier
53:19 – Looking at Brian’s most memorable day
58:30 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Brian
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
