On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview the bestselling author and former Huffington Post Managing Editor Jimmy Soni. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as an author to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Great Books Distilled, we explore Jimmy Soni’s bestselling book, The Founders. The Founders tells the founding story of PayPal and the personalities who shaped it, including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Reid Hoofman. To write the book, Jimmy Soni conducted hundreds of interviews and had unprecedented access to thousands of pages of internal material. In this interview, we explore the most interesting aspects of this incredible story and what we can learn from it, and we go behind the scenes to explore the five-year story of writing the book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Leo Polovets, who is a Founder & General Partner at Susa Ventures. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as a venture investor to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Investors, we decode how Susa Ventures is building the next great seed-stage venture capital firm. Learn about Susa’s playbook for finding the best seed-stage companies, discovering their focus areas and industries, creating their investing algorithm, approaching due diligence, thinking about pro rata follow-on investments, and more. To date, Susa Ventures has raised more than $600M and has invested in companies including Stedi, Flexport, and Robinhood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Jannick Malling, Public’s Cofounder & Co-CEO. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from lessons as an entrepreneur to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we decode how Public is building the investment platform of the future — from their initial focus on fractional shares, to adding alternative assets, how they’ve built social features and community into their platform, and more. Learn Public’s playbook for finding product market fit, achieving viral growth, building a multi-sided product, as well as their unique approach for driving accountability and ownership across their team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone shares the lessons he’s learned as an award-winning designer, the Founder & CEO of Baronfig, and the author of The Laws of Creativity, including why he’s fascinated with the juxtaposition between skill and renown, how he worked with James Clear to design the Clear Habit Journal, why experimentation is Baronfig’s most important value, how rock bottom taught him how to take risks, and so much more. “There’s a stereotype of creatives, which is that they’re just flying by the seat of their pants. I’m here to tell you that it’s absolutely not true. We need to separate that from what creativity is. We need to decouple this ridiculous stereotype so that more people can blossom creatively.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook    FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook-transcript     CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:08) - Wrestling with Skill vs Renown (00:02:57) - Why People Would Be Surprised at Joey Cofone’s Daily Discipline (00:04:04) - Why Joey Cofone Has Been Tracking His Habits for 13 Years (00:05:21) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Baronfig Products (00:07:23) - How Joey Cofone and James Clear Designed the Clear Habit Journal (00:10:46) - The Laws of Creativity by Joey Cofone in 90 Seconds (00:12:51) - How Rock Bottom Taught Joey Cofone How to Take Risks (00:16:07) - Why the Most Important Value at Baronfig is Experimentation (00:22:08) - Joey Shares His Favorite Books Including Radical Candor and The Phantom Tollbooth (00:23:47) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Advice From His Barber and Malcom Gladwell (00:26:11) - How Joey Cofone Learns From Failure at Baronfig ABOUT THE GUEST Joey Cofone is the Founder & CEO of Baronfig and an award-winning designer and entrepreneur. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, Quartz, Mashable, Gizmodo, and Print, among others. Joey was named a New Visual Artist and, separately, Wunderkind designer by Print magazine. He strives to make work that appeals to curious minds—work that’s beautiful, smart, and communicative. He believes that design is the least of a designer’s worries, that story is at the heart of all tasks, and jumping off cliffs is the only way to grow. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Joey Cofone, Founder & CEO of Baronfig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone, Founder & CEO of the much loved “tools for thinkers” company Baronfig, joins me on Outlier Book Club to decode his new book, The Laws of Creativity. We cover why creativity isn’t magic, how creators across history from Albert Einstein to Grace Hopper and Bruce Lee wielded creativity to reach incredible heights, practical ways to hone your creativity, a framework for generating ideas, Joey’s process for writing the book, and so much more. “At this point in my career, I have art directed over 100 products from a rough idea into consumer’s hands. I’ve collaborated with incredible creators like James Clear and Roxane Gay. There came a point where it was very obvious how it all worked and fit together—because I was always interested not just in what I was doing but how I was doing it.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:49) - Origin Story of The Laws of Creativity (00:06:39) - Distilling Down the Laws of Creativity (00:08:17) - What Creativity Is and Why It Isn’t Magic (00:18:17) - On Zeno’s Paradox and Choosing to Finish (00:22:58) - The Laws of Mindset, Action, and Greatness (00:25:57) - Joey’s Favorite Law: The Law of Competition (00:29:55) - The Law of Precision (00:33:00) - The Law of The Muse (00:36:06) - On Borrowing vs Stealing Ideas (00:39:42) - The Law of Simplicity (00:42:56) - The Law of Good Enough (00:46:51) - Joey’s Process for Writing the Book (00:55:54) - Knowing When the Book Was Done (01:02:07) - The Highs and Lows of Creating Baronfig (01:04:54) - Creativity vs Business (01:08:21) - Baronfig: The Idea Company ABOUT THE BOOK In his book The Laws of Creativity, Joey debunks why creativity isn’t magic and shares what it is, how it works, and how you can harness it in your everyday life. Learn how to unlock your originality and awaken your creative genius with Joey Cofone—award-winning designer and Founder & CEO of the much loved “Tools for Thinkers'' brand Baronfig. Each of the 39 Laws of Creativity are illustrated with inspiring, enlightening, and surprising stories of iconic creators across history—including Albert Einstein, Serena Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Houdini, Grace Hopper, Bruce Lee, and many more. Joey breaks down how these titans of history wielded creativity to reach incredible heights. “Drawing on decades of experience, Joey Cofone has distilled the elements of creativity into an excellent, easy-to-use guide. The Laws of Creativity provides a roadmap for unleashing the creative force inside you.” — James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s episode featuring Joey Cofone, author of The Laws of Creativity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Adrian Aoun, who founded Forward into 2017 to turn healthcare from a service into a product and reach 1B+ people globally. Before founding Forward, Adrian served as the Director of Special Projects for Google CEO Larry Page, founded Sidewalk Labs, and served as an advisor to the White House on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Principle: Be problem obsessed, not solution obsessed. Framework: How to predict the future from first principles. Insight: Why healthcare should be a product—not a service. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/problem-obsessions-and-predicting-the-future Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s episodes: Forward’s Adrian Aoun | My Favorite Books, Tools, Habits and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Forward: Bringing Healthcare as a Product to a Billion People | Adrian Aoun, Founder & CEO Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Get the Cheat Sheet newsletter in your inbox: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Adrian Aoun, who founded Forward into 2017 to turn healthcare from a service into a product and reach 1B+ people globally. Before founding Forward, Adrian served as the Director of Special Projects for Google CEO Larry Page, founded Sidewalk Labs, and served as an advisor to the White House on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Principle: Be problem obsessed, not solution obsessed. Framework: How to predict the future from first principles. Insight: Why healthcare should be a product—not a service. Get the Cheat Sheet newsletter in your inbox: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #121, we deconstruct Adrian Aoun's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. “Care deeply about the problem, not about your idea.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Adrian Aoun’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:21 – Creating companies that change the world 00:06:07 – On being stubborn and persistent 00:09:51 – Why medical wearables aren’t working 00:14:03 – It’s just as easy to work on something big as something that’s small 00:16:19 – Everything should relate to the problem 00:17:39 – On fiction and factfulness 00:19:20 – Cycling as meditation 00:20:23 – The only thing that matters is impact ABOUT ADRIAN AOUN Adrian Aoun is the founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare. Where most healthcare follows the service model, where one patient sees a single doctor only when they need care, Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care. It's productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere. It's scalable so it's affordable for everyone and always on with help available through Forward's app, as well as a network of doctors' offices around the United States, which might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. In this episode, Adrian shares why he's so fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused and how he runs problem-centric brainstorms at Forward, where the goal is to beat up on other people's ideas in the name of getting to the best ideas. What he learned working with Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt at Google, as well as the other advisors on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, why modern fitness wearables are broken, and why Adrian thinks we need to build tools to tell people what to do with that data, not just share the data with them. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Adrian Aoun of Forward. In it, Adrian shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #118, we explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall.  “Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:37 – From Google to Forward 00:09:01 – Why founders should be problem-oriented 00:12:31 – Advising the President on the future of technology 00:17:22 – The root problem of the healthcare industry 00:25:24 – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service 00:30:01 – The imminent fall of health insurance 00:35:06 – Does the healthcare system really matter? 00:45:47 – Why medical specialties don’t make sense 00:55:02 – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it ABOUT FORWARD Adrian Aoun is founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration. Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Forward with Adrian Aoun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #130, we deconstruct Robert Cantwell's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Robert is the Portfolio Manager at Compound Kings. We cover longevity in investing, source documents, and learning from fintwit. “I wish someone told me that who you work with peer-wise is the number one driver of whether or not you enjoy working or not.” – Robert Cantwell EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/robert-cantwell-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/robert-cantwell-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Robert Cantwell’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:13) – Longevity in investing (00:03:37) – Investment philosophy at Compound Kings (00:09:05 – Source documents can level up investment knowledge (00:11:23) – Consuming info vs. processing info (00:14:02) – Key tools and learnings from fintwit (00:16:30) – Who you spend your time with is paramount ABOUT ROBERT CANTWELL Robert Cantwell is Founder of Upholdings and Portfolio Manager of Compound Kings, which is an exchange traded fund focused on investing in compounders. I had Robert Cantwell on last year in episode 23, where he joined me shortly after launching Compound Kings in late 2020. Before founding Upholdings and launching Compound Kings, Robert had an incredible career, both as an operator and an investor. Robert started his career as an analyst at Elevation Partners, which was co-founded by U2's lead singer Bono. He then worked at the long short hedge fund Meru Capital before serving as Everlane CFO for five years. Robert founded Upholdings in 2019 and officially launched Compound Kings in late 2020. In this episode, we cover why Robert is obsessed with how we think, process information and make decisions. The single biggest lessons that Robert has taken away from launching and scaling Compound Kings over the last two years, how being a compounding focused investor is different than being solely growth or value focused, why he skips to the back of investment books and goes straight to the source material to form his own opinions about the contents of the book, the investing tools that he and his team use daily at Compound Kings to beat the S&P 500, and his three-step process for consuming thinking through and ultimately coming to conclusions about everything that he reads. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Robert Cantwell. In it, Robert shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #129, Robert Cantwell, Founder & Portfolio Manager of Compound Kings joins us as part of our Outlier Investors series. We discuss the biggest lessons that Robert has learned as an investor and portfolio manager, the top positions in the fund today, and the future of active management. “The investment management business actually looks a lot more like every other business, where there's products, there's marketing, and there's distribution, and you have to be outstanding at all three of those things in order to succeed in this business.” – Robert Cantwell  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/compound-kings-robert-cantwell   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/compound-kings-robert-cantwell-transcript   CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building an ETF business. In it we cover: (00:02:23) – Introduction (00:04:53) – Defining a compounder (growth, profitability, high ROIC) (00:06:22) – Investing in challenging markets (00:14:26) – Robert’s thoughts on the rise of active management (00:17:28) – Why so much money is still in mutual funds (00:19:33) – Thematic ETFs and where they can go wrong (00:39:05) – Why investing in public markets is so challenging (00:46:09) – Top three positions in Compound Kings today: Meta, ServiceNow, and Adyen (01:05:35) – What it’s like to build an ETF business ABOUT COMPOUND KINGS Robert Cantwell is the Founder of Upholdings and Portfolio Manager of Compound Kings, which is an exchange-traded fund focused on investing in companies often called compounders. Compounders are typically profitable, growing, and generate very high returns on invest capital (ROIC). This is an incredible interview with a true pioneer in the actively managed ETF space. In it, we look back at the top three positions in Compound Kings when Robert and I sat down in early 2021, which feels like a world away, to review the performance of Alibaba, Meta, then Facebook and Berkshire Hathaway. Robert shares the three biggest learnings from the last 18 months including: why you always have to be learning new industries; why you should add a quant to your investment team; and why knowing the people running public companies matters a lot. Robert also walks through his team's thesis on the three largest positions in the fund today, which include Meta, ServiceNow and Adyen. This section of the interview is fantastic so skip ahead and don't miss it if you're short on time. And finally, Robert shares what it's like to build an ETF business scale assets under management and why running an investment business is very similar to an enterprise software business.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Compound Kings with Robert Cantwell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emi Gal shares the lessons he’s learned building Ezra, why he tracks 150 different biomarkers, what he’s learned doing a Yearly Challenge for the last 14 years, and why he’s focused on achieving peak health by 40, and more. As well as the origin story behind his extreme discipline and his advice for others that want to become more disciplined. “To make progress in anything, but especially your health, you just need to nudge behavior a little bit every day. I find that tracking 150 different biomarkers does that quite well for me.” — Emi Gal EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/emi-gal-ezra-20-minute-playbook   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/emi-gal-ezra-20-minute-playbook-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:27) - Why and How Emi Gal Tracks 150 Different Biomarkers (00:05:50) - How Emi Gal is Reaching Peak Health by The Age of 40 (00:08:54) - The Relationship Between Bone Density and Exercise (00:10:27) - Why Emi Gal Has Done a Yearly Challenge Every Year Since 2008 (00:18:16) - Lessons Learned Studying and Becoming Antifragile (00:22:23) - Lessons Learned from Studying with a World Memory Champion (00:26:56) - Lessons Learned from Interviewing Elderly Americans (00:31:31) - Why People Would Be Surprised at Emi Gal’s Discipline (00:34:06) - How to Become More Disciplined (00:39:05) - Emi Gal’s Favorite Books: Antifragile and The Patient Will See You Now (00:42:57) - Emi’s Advice for His Younger Self: Embrace Optionality Early On ABOUT THE GUEST Emi Gal started his first company, Brainient, when he was just 19. He spent 10 years building Brainient into one of the leading ad-tech companies in Europe before it was acquired by Teads—one of the largest advertising platforms in Europe, with 1.8-billion impressions per month. After working with Hospices for Hope, a non-profit in Romania that builds and operates hospices for terminally ill cancer patients, Emi realized that one of the biggest problems with cancer is the lack of a fast, accurate, affordable way to screen for cancer everywhere in the body. He founded Ezra in 2018 to solve this problem using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Artificial Intelligence. To date, he’s reduced the cost of getting a full-body cancer screening by 80% and reduced the time required to get screened by 66%. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen as we decode how Emi Gal tracks more than 150 different biomarkers, what he’s learned doing an Annual Challenge for the last 14 years, why he’s focused on achieving peak health by 40, how to become more disciplined, and more. Emi Gal is the Founder & CEO of Ezra, which is bringing fast and affordable cancer screening to everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning to make MRIs an order of magnitude more efficient. As well as how they’ve built an asset light business in healthcare and what it takes to be a software-centric business within a heavily regulated industry. “I realized that the main reason why people die of cancer is because they found it too late. And the main reason we still find cancer late for people is because there’s no easy way to screen for cancer in the body that’s fast, accurate, and affordable. And so, I decided to focus on that problem.” — Emi Gal EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders-transcript/  CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:21) - Origin Story of Ezra (00:03:22) - How Ezra Tried 12 Different Ideas Around Cancer Screening (00:08:22) - Screening for Cancer with Ezra vs Best Practices Today (00:11:01) - MRI 101: A Simple Explanation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (00:14:45) - The Dawn of Proactive Healthcare and The Patient Will See You Now (00:19:58) - The Hippocratic Oath, Doing No Harm, and Early Screening (00:25:09) - How Often Should We All Be Screening for Cancer? (00:28:54) - What It’s Like to Get an MRI Scan (00:33:41) - Ezra’s Approach to AI and FDA Approval of AI Updates (00:41:06) - Breaking Down Ezra’s Asset Light Business Model (00:46:02) - Why the Future of Healthcare is Proactive and Holistic (00:50:36) - The Highs and Lows of Building Ezra (00:54:05) - Lessons Learned Building a Mission Centric Company ABOUT EZRA Ezra was founded in 2018 to build the world’s first fast, accurate, and affordable way to screen for cancer everywhere in the body. To do this, they’ve harnessed the power of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, often called an MRI, and dramatically improved the efficiency of imaging and analyses using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. To date, they’ve decreased the cost of getting a full body MRI scan by 80% and the time required to get scanned by 66%. Every year, more than 20,000,000 Americans are diagnosed with cancer. Without a fast, accurate, and affordable way to proactively screen the entire body for cancer, many of these diagnoses come too late. For some types of cancer, including colon cancer, once it reaches Stage 4 your chances of survival are just 4%. Ezra’s goal is to bring down the cost and time required to get screened for cancer by an order of magnitude—reducing both by 90%+. Ezra is an incredible example of using AI and ML to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an existing technology in order to bring down costs within a critical segment of healthcare. You can save $150 off an Ezra screening by using promo code Outlier150 when checking out on Ezra.com. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Ezra with Emi Gal. Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #128, we deconstruct Andrew Herr's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Andrew is the Founder and CEO of Fount. We cover how the brain acts under stress, commonalities of peak performance, and simple health experiments anyone can try. “You can do incredible things if you are truly dedicated to it and surround yourself with the right people.” — Andrew Herr EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-herr-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-herr-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Andrew Herr’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:33 – From polyphenols to trust and mission focus 00:05:04 – How the brain acts under stress 00:10:15 – Simple health experiments everyone can undertake 00:12:59 – Patriotism, giving back, and dedication 00:14:40 – Organizing things into frameworks 00:18:03 – Commonalities of peak performance 00:20:36 – Listening to your circadian rhythm and optimizing breakfast 00:22:09 – The books that changed Andrew’s life 00:25:16 – There is no “room of adults” in life ABOUT ANDREW HERR Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three-month program that's born out of Andrew's work, enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the U.S. military, including the Navy SEALs. Before founding Fount, Andrew spent seven years running human performance and biotech strategy for the U.S. military special forces. WIRED Magazine described Andrew's work for the U.S. military as giving our soldiers mutant abilities. Andrew holds master's degrees in microbiology and immunology, health physics and security studies. He studied at Georgetown's famed School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., and he unsurprisingly comes from a highly decorated and long-serving military family. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Andrew Herr of Fount. In it, Andrew shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #127, we explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. “The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:03:42 – Human performance and biotech strategy in the military 00:08:37 – The limits of military power for achieving political goals 00:15:22 – Navy SEALs and performance modalities 00:19:29 – Novelty and social judgment are the two great human stressors 00:21:55 – The premise of Fount and its future goals 00:31:07 – The 10 top goals for users of Fount, and the experiments they run 00:37:58 – The Fount user journey 00:42:28 – Coaching, both human and AI 00:46:36 – Using experimental methodology as a founder ABOUT FOUNT Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three month program that's born out of Andrew's work enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the US Military, including the Navy Seals. To start, Fount gathers more than 100 data points about their customers using in-depth blood and urine analysis to explore their metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, nutrient levels, liver and kidney function, and even cardiovascular markers. Customers are then paired with an ex-special forces coach who gets to know their goals, day-to-day schedule, and even their family history all before kicking off a series of experiments that run for the remaining 15 weeks of the program. Experimentation is a huge component of how Fount approaches their work. And it's part of their goal of helping each customer find what works for them. As part of the program, customers receive their own custom supplement packs with exactly what they need to take each morning, afternoon, and evening all sent from Fount's own custom supplement manufacturing facility. At the end of the program, Fount then offers a support program to make it easy to keep the gains you've made and continue building on them. This includes less frequent blood and urine tests, as well as a continuous supply of your daily supplements. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Fount with Andrew Herr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #126, we deconstruct Saad Alam's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Saad is the Founder and CEO of Hone Health. We cover radical transparency, daily gratitude, and constructing a purposeful life. “I think that people that don't believe you can do it all, I think it's a load. And I think you just have to really sit down and engineer your day and your life a little bit more.” – Saad Alam  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/saad-alam-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes//saad-alam-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Saad Alam’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:09 – Fixing healthcare and defining the soul 00:03:47 – Radical transparency and playing in the dirt 00:06:38 – Big swings vs. base hits 00:08:09 – Priorities and daily gratitude 00:10:43 – Confessions of an Economic Hitman 00:12:41 – Understanding markets and emotional intelligence 00:14:28 – Believing in what you do 00:17:59 – An obsession with wellness 00:24:52 – Constructing a purposeful life ABOUT SAAD ALAM Saad Alam is Founder and CEO of Hone, which is creating an entirely new type of healthcare company initially focused on helping men with low testosterone. Saad describes it as helping men age with confidence. Saad is a serial entrepreneur who founded two companies before he founded home. He's completely focused on building mission-driven companies that solve problems that have directly affected him. And he's probably one of the fittest guests I've ever had on the show. His daily routine, from his morning meditation to the way he works out, how he changes the personal trainer he uses every quarter, how he uses everything from an infrared sauna to hyperbaric chamber, is the most intense of anyone I've ever interviewed. In it, we cover Saad's daily health and fitness regimen, from drinking water directly after he wakes up to meditating 10 minutes, two times per day. We talk through all of the equipment he uses, from his infrared sauna to an at home hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Saad shares why he writes down three things he's grateful for every single morning and how that practice shows up when he's burnt out and tired at the end of the day, and being able to remind himself about why he's doing what he's doing.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Saad Alam. In it, Saad shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #125, we explore testosterone replacement therapy and building a telehealth company. We’re joined by Saad Alam, Hone Health’s Founder and CEO. We cover the basics of testosterone, the future of health management, and learnings from building a telehealth company. “When people say a good CEO basically works himself out of a job and spends 30 for 40% of his time recruiting, I thought that was a cute kitchen magnet that really probably wasn't real. And the reality is, it actually couldn't be more true.” – Saad Alam  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building and scaling a testosterone replacement telehealth company. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:39 – Saad’s background and the genesis of Hone 00:10:12 – Making life whatever you want it to be 00:15:12 – Helping men have confidence as they age 00:18:25 – What is testosterone, and how does it work? 00:24:22 – Non-pharmaceutical treatments for low testosterone 00:27:23 – The risks of high and low testosterone levels 00:32:28 – The patient journey at Hone 00:44:12 – The future of health management 00:50:29 – Learnings from building a telehealth company 00:54:48 – The importance of hiring people who are better than you ABOUT HONE HEALTH Saad Alam is Founder and CEO of Hone, which is creating an entirely new type of healthcare company initially focused on helping men with low testosterone. Saad describes it as “helping men age with confidence.” Low testosterone is an alarming and growing trend, which is why testosterone treatments like Hone are on the rise. Scientific research has shown that for decades now the level of testosterone in men has been declining. The most alarming statistic is that our generation has around 50% less testosterone than our father's generation, who in turn has less testosterone than their father's generation. And the reasons behind this are very complicated, but a large part of it seems to be due to growing environmental and plastic pollution, which have caused the level of heavy metals in our bodies to rise while micro plastics in our blood disrupt the production of testosterone and actually spur the production of estrogen. With this context, you would imagine that it's becoming easier to find out if you have low testosterone and get testosterone treatments if needed, but you would be very wrong, which is why Saad Alam founded Hone and set out to revolutionize the way that men are treated for low testosterone. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Hone Health with Saad Alam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #123, we deconstruct Steve Vassallo's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Steve is General Partner at Foundation Capital. We cover translating non-human languages, enlightened procrastination, and his insatiable curiosity. “Go deep, go early, go big.” – Steve Vassallo EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/steve-vassallo-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/steve-vassallo-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Steve Vassallo’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:03:52 – Translating non-human languages 00:06:35– Having insatiable curiosity and a deep love of building hard things 00:08:27 – Investment philosophy can be distilled down to conviction 00:10:21 – You can always find a way to build something you’ve already sold, but you can’t always sell something you’ve already built 00:12:08 – Enlightened procrastination 00:14:44 – Thinking, Fast and Slow 00:17:10 – Invest in people you want to work with 00:21:01 – Take stock of what you’re granting your attention to ABOUT STEVE VASSALLO Steve Vassallo has been a general partner at Foundation Capital for the last 15 years. At Foundation, he's led the firm's investments in Stripe, Cerebra, Sunrun, Loft Orbital, Solana, and many other incredible firms. Steve is also the author of The Way to Design, which is a guide to how companies of all sizes should approach design. The book is a compendium of interviews with more than 50 designers, design scholars and tech founders who have gotten design right from day one. Steve began his career at IDEO where he worked closely with IDEO's founder, David Kelly, to research design and deliver innovative products and services across industries. Because of Steve's early experiences at IDEO he's drawn to product-centric founders and has a wonderful knack for bringing design and engineering together to create incredible products. In this episode, we cover why Steve has been fascinated with the wicked problems that exist in Crypto and why he thinks we're still in the earliest innings there. He talks about his work with the earth species project, whose goal is to decode non-human language in mammals of all sizes from whales to monkeys. Talks about how he combines insatiable curiosity and a deep love of building hard things in his investing work. He shares his advice for founders and investors, and he shares his favorite books, including why he loves Thinking Fast and Slow and Poor Charlie's Almanack. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Steve Vassallo of Foundation Capital. In it, Steve Vassallo shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #120, we explore reinventing a well-established venture capital firm. We’re joined by Steve Vassallo, General Partner at Foundation Capital. We cover Minimum Awesome Product, the prepared mind vs. open mind, and learnings from tearing down and rebuilding an investment firm. “The best product matters, but it is not what defines a generationally important company.” – Steve Vassallo EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/foundation-capital-steve-vassallo  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/foundation-capital-steve-vassallo-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to reinventing a venture capital firm. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:39 – From electro mechanical engineering to product design 00:06:22 – Interdisciplinary innovation and missionary misfits 00:10:24 – How investing snuck into Steve’s career 00:15:33 – Working at the intersection of building and investing 00:19:24 – A 15-year window into the investment world 00:24:45 – Tearing down and rebuilding an investment firm 00:39:04 – Identifying a firm’s turning point 00:41:21 – Going down the rabbit hole of crypto and enticing investors to follow 00:51:35 – The prepared mind vs. open mind 00:54:44 – Building the best product matters, but it doesn’t guarantee success 00:57:56 – The Minimum Awesome Product and evolving product-market fit 01:02:07 – Advice for new founders ABOUT FOUNDATION CAPITAL Steve Vassallo is General Partner at Foundation Capital and author of "The Way to Design." In this episode, we explore what it's like to reinvent a venture capital firm. Foundation Capital was founded in 1995, 27 years ago by Bill Elmore, Catherine Gold, and Jim Anderson. One of the foundation's early claims to fame was that it was one of the first investors in Netflix back in the early 2000s.  This episode is our definitive guide to reinventing a venture capital firm. In it, we cover Steve's early years bringing design, product, and engineering together at IDEO, and what that taught him about building successful products and companies, the early warning signs he saw that made it clear Foundation Capital needed to be reinvented, how Foundation rediscovered who they were and who they wanted to be as a team, how they changed the way they operated and made investment decisions to giving partners more latitude to invest in the ideas they thought could be massive companies in the years to come, how they began making crypto investments, which led to massive wins in Solana and Brave by making small bets and winning over LP support as the wins added up. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Foundation Capital with Steve Vassallo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #111, we deconstruct Illia Polosukhin's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Illia is the co-founder of NEAR Protocol and Unchain Fund. We cover why context switching is a necessary skill for founders, Illia’s recommended books, and the nuance of the Russian language in writing. “Find a mentor who's a few years ahead of you, like not too far, but like two, three years ahead of you, because those are people who still remember what they were doing in your position. And so they will be able to give you the most useful advice.” – Illia Polosukhin EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/illia-polosukhin-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/illia-polosukhin-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Illia Polosukhin’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:59) – Designing social graph in Web3 (00:04:01) – Why context switching is a necessary skill for founders (00:05:51) – Finding mentors who are just a few years ahead of you in business (00:10:56) – Building a great decentralized ecosystem requires high-level, small, agile teams (00:13:29) – Books Illia recommends (00:16:59) – The nuance of the Russian language in writing ABOUT ILLIA POLOSUKHIN Illia Polosukhin is co-founder of NEAR Protocol. NEAR is a layer one blockchain that's incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees and is climate neutral, in part because of its proof of stake model. It's traded on crypto exchanges under the ticker symbol NEAR, and has a market cap of just under $5 billion today. From 2020 through 2021, the developers working in NEARs ecosystem, that's everyone building applications on top of their blockchain quadrupled, making NEAR the second fastest growing chain behind only Solana.  In this episode, Illia shares why he loves running daily and how it helps him remember to just put one foot in front of the other to accomplish anything; why he loves the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and how he applies that principle in his life and work; why he's fascinated with the concept of a social graph and how to build it into the NEAR protocol and why it's so important for building a better world in Web3; why he thinks everyone should find mentors that are two to three years ahead of them in terms of where they'd like to be and why he'd tell his younger self to focus on speed and velocity shipping quickly in everything that he does. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Illia Polosukhin of NEAR Protocol. In it, Illia Polosukhin shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #108, we explore building a global blockchain that’s high-speed, climate neutral, and low-fee. We’re joined by Illia Polosukhin, NEAR Protocol’s Co-Founder. We cover why proof of stake beats proof of work, how NEAR approached scaling, and how Illia raised more than $10M to help fund aid in war-torn Ukraine.  “For me, web3 is not about decentralization. I think decentralization is just a tool. What it is about is low switching costs.” – Illia Polosukhin EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:35) – How NEAR Protocol is imagining your world (00:04:46) – Why decentralization is just a tool (00:09:14) – Dethroning monopolies and leveling the playing field (00:14:02) – NEAR Protocol’s origin with scaling crowdsourcing (00:20:18) – Lack of intellectual honesty in crypto (00:24:19) – NEAR’s approach to sharding (00:31:03) – The importance of bringing the community into decision making (00:37:47) – How the co-founder’s role can evolve from centralized to decentralized (00:43:17) – Illia’s Web3 mindmap and staying decentralized while preserving privacy (00:46:36) – NEAR’s approach to sustainability in blockchain (00:49:46) – Founders: Build credibility and ship fast (00:54:19) – Handling fear and anxiety when building in crypto: Keep calm and build on (00:58:52) – The Unchained Fund and helping Ukraine ABOUT NEAR PROTOCOL Illia Polosukhin is Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol. NEAR is a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral—in part because of its Proof of Stake model. It’s traded on crypto exchanges under the ticker symbol NEAR and has a market cap of just under $5B today. From 2020 through 2021, the developers working in NEAR’s ecosystem—building applications on top of their blockchain—quadrupled, making NEAR the second-fastest growing chain behind Solana.  Illia is an incredibly impressive founder, but more importantly, he’s an incredibly thoughtful engineer, leader, and community builder who has built something incredible slowly and methodically, one step at a time. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring NEAR Protocol with Illia Polosukhin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #107, we deconstruct Howie Schwab's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Howie is the Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth of Driehaus Capital. We cover regime shifts in the market and obsessing over failures. “In terms of how we invest, I think integrating and overlaying macro as well as behavioral components, not simply wedding ourselves to this bottom up, here's our specific template and it's time tested is really important.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Howie Schwab’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:41) – Regime shifts in the market (00:06:51) – Learning from investing mentors (00:10:08) – Great investors obsess over their failures (00:12:48) – Advice for young investors (00:16:43) – Howie’s investment philosophy (00:24:24) – Challenging yourself ABOUT HOWIE SCHWAB Howie Schwab manages more than 5 billion in emerging market growth funds for Driehaus which is a firm that's based in Chicago and where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the emerging market's growth. And he's a portfolio manager for the emerging market, small cap equity and emerging markets opportunities. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Howie Schwab of Driehaus. In it, Howie shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #104, we explore emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. We’re joined by Howie Schwab, Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth at Driehaus. We cover the lure of emerging markets, a behavioral focus on investing, and the impact of shifting voting demographics. “I think it's true everywhere, but data shows it's particularly true in emerging markets, which is that the persistence of risk is generally higher than the persistence of return.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:20) – Howie’s background and work at Driehaus Capital (00:06:52) – The lure of emerging markets (00:12:20) – A behavioral focus in investing (00:19:30) – Seeing patterns and avoiding fraud (00:24:12) – Researching and publishing market analysis (00:43:21) – The state of financial assets today (00:49:41) – The future and financial repression (00:56:42) – The shift in voting demographics and its economic impact (01:02:14) – Advice for investors ABOUT DRIEHAUS Howie Schwab manages more than five billion in emerging market growth for Driehaus, which is based in Chicago, and it's where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Growth, and he's a portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Small Cap Equity and Emerging Markets Opportunity Strategies. I've learned an enormous amount from Howie, both as an investor and a macro thinker, since I first met him, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show to share what he's learned managing many of the world's best performing emerging market funds over the last 20 years. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Driehaus Capital with Howie Schwab Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #105, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Gokul is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. We cover crypto, international investing, and habits and routines. “I always believe the hierarchy of anyone, any individual should be health, then family, then work. Why not family before health? Because if you're not healthy, you become a burden to your family and you can't help them. So, your health is actually very, very important.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:21) – The evolution of crypto (00:02:44) – Superpowers and struggles (00:06:08) – Inspirations and the importance of exercise (00:08:24) – Recommended books (00:10:19) – Tools and routines (00:12:26) – Defining success (00:14:32) – International investing ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is a prolific angel investor in over 300 companies and counting, and an executive at DoorDash, which he joined after DoorDash acquired Caviar from Square in 2019. I was fortunate enough to get to work with Gokul at Square, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show today. In this episode, Gokul shares what he thinks his investing superpowers are, why he loved Marc Andreesen's interview on the Good Time Show, why he loves Andre Agassi's book, Open, and the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back 20 years to the start of his career. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring angel investor Gokul Rajaram. In it, Gokul shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The best product leaders coach people across the company, not just in their team, and help develop them into the future leaders of the company.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-speed-small-teams-product-management-decision-making-gokul-rajaram-spotlight-show-notes FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-speed-small-teams-product-management-decision-making-gokul-rajaram-spotlight-transcript CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to product management in small, speedy teams. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:26) – Gokul’s background in product management (00:06:58) – Applying a computer science background to product management (00:10:26) – What great product vision looks like (00:16:32) – The product analyst role (00:23:11) – Focusing on controllable inputs (00:26:07) – Experiment design (00:34:54) – Editing vs. managing a product (00:42:50) – S.P.A.D.E. decision making (00:55:18) – Speed in product creation ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is part of a new wave of solo capitalists, like Elad Gil and Lachy Groom, that play an outsized role in funding and helping many of the world's best startups. As Gokul says in this interview, his goal is for every founder he backs to say that he's the most helpful investor on the cap table. And if there is another thing that Gokul is known for, it's his expertise around product management and decision making, including the Spade framework he created at Square for making transparent decisions at the highest levels. Spade is now used by many of the world's best startups for large, important, and strategic decisions that need to be made transparently so the whole company understands why the decision was made. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Gokul Rajaram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore inflation, retail investors, precious metals, and Bitcoin. We’re joined by Luke Gromen, Founder of The Forest for the Trees. We cover Luke’s perspectives on inflation, investing in alternative assets, and interpreting investment data. “My sense of where we are is... we're basically in the first bursting global sovereign debt bubble in 100 years.” – Luke Gromen EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/perspectives-data-analysis-inflation-fftt-luke-gromen-ig-show-notes FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/perspectives-data-analysis-inflation-fftt-luke-gromen-ig-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to inflation, retail investors, precious metals, and Bitcoin. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:02 – Luke's experience as an analyst at investment research firms 00:09:37 – Interpreting and presenting investment data 00:12:05 – How Luke started The Forest for the Trees 00:17:22 – Luke's take on the current financial climate 00:20:34 – The importance of owning assets in today's climate 00:23:58 – Perspectives on inflation 00:41:15 – Investing in alternative assets 00:50:54 – Gold and Bitcoin 00:54:53 – Recommended books and resources ABOUT THE FOREST FOR THE TREES Luke Gromen publishes a weekly macro research report read by institutional and individual investors alike, called Tree Rings. And he's also the author of Mr. X Interviews volume one and two. After working as an analyst for 20 plus years, Luke founded the Forest for The Trees in 2014. Luke is known as one of today's best macroeconomic thinkers. His view is that as data becomes increasingly commoditized, free thinking becomes priceless. And that's exactly why I wanted to have him on the show. After an incredibly tumultuous 2021, I wanted to sit down with Luke to get his thoughts on the last year, the road ahead, and some of the toughest challenges we're facing today, from a multi decade high in inflation to shifts in how we collectively think about money.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Luke Gromen's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Luke Gromen is the CEO and Founder of The Forest for the Trees. We cover cognitive dissonance in today’s economy and the benefits of early morning writing. “The ability to make the data useful, to interpret the data, to make music out of the data, if you will, I think you're seeing that dynamic across a lot of different sectors and in the economy.” – Luke Gromen EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fftt-luke-gromen-20mp-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fftt-luke-gromen-20mp-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Luke Gromen's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:44 – The cognitive dissonance in today’s economy and connecting the dots 00:04:07 – Moving too quickly to the second derivative 00:05:35 – Daily walks and early morning writing 00:10:30 – Learning from Grant Williams and Kiril Sokoloff 00:12:02 – Architecture school and f*ck you money ABOUT LUKE GROMEN Luke Gromen is the CEO and Founder of the Forest for the Trees. Luke publishes a weekly macro research report called Tree Rings, and he's the author of the world renowned Mr. X Interviews Volume 1 and 2. After working as an analyst for 20 plus years, Luke founded the Forest for the Trees in 2014. Luke's Gromen as one of today's best macroeconomic thinkers. His view, which I love, is that as data increasingly becomes commoditized, free thinking becomes priceless. And he's a regular guest on real vision and has been published in a number of newspapers, including the financial times. As someone who's followed Luke's work for years, it was a thrill to finally have him on the show. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore why and how to invest in gold. We’re joined by Simon Mikhailovich, Co-Founder of The Bullion Reserve. We cover cycles of financial euphoria, the three ways to get out of debt, and whether people should invest in gold ETFs. “The most important thing is that technology evolves, but people don't. That's the biggest lesson of history—humans don't change.” – Simon Mikhailovich EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/simon-mikhailovich-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/simon-mikhailovich-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to why and how to invest in gold. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:32) – Simon’s thoughts on gold’s role in the current financial market (00:08:37) – Why gold is important at this moment in time (00:15:48) – Cycles of financial euphoria (00:20:33) – The three ways to get out of debt (00:26:31) – Why holding physical gold is different and better than savings in other forms (00:32:12) – Gold is the ultimate insurance for bad financial outcomes (00:38:42) – Gold vs. other precious metals, and how gold is nature’s Bitcoin (00:46:42) – Gold has no impairment risk or counterparty risk, and making money vs. preserving wealth (00:59:01) – How Simon has maintained an outlier point of view over time ABOUT THE BULLION RESERVE The Bullion Reserve enables investors to hold physical gold in secure locations all around the world.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore becoming a better writer. We’re joined by Verlyn Klinkenborg, author and Yale professor. We cover learning from farm life and work, finding rhythm in writing, and debunking writing cliches.  “So what I do now is essentially help students escape from their education. That's my enterprise every year. And it's always fun, because they escape quite readily. They all know that what they're making in their classes is an artificial product that doesn't actually have any particular interest for anyone except them.” – Verlyn Klinkenborg  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/verlyn-klinkenborg-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/verlyn-klinkenborg-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to becoming a better writer. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:54) – Rural life and the “home place” (00:04:50) – Raising animals and eating meat (00:11:07) – Learnings from farm life and work (00:15:35) – Verlyn’s reading habits (00:28:40) – Verlyn’s book Several Short Sentences About Writing (00:34:49) – What is academic prose? (00:40:08) – Why people should use shorter sentences in writing (00:44:43) – Finding rhythm in writing (00:48:49) – Self authorization and noticing the world around you (00:55:26) – Writing cliches that are untrue (01:06:43) – Writing is rooted in experience more than language ABOUT SEVERAL SHORT SENTENCES ABOUT WRITING Verlyn Klinkenborg teaches creative writing at Yale University, and was a member of the editorial board of The New York Times for 16 years. His work has been featured in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Esquire, and National Geographic, and he has authored several books, including Several Short Sentences About Writing. This book aims to debunk general cliches about writing and creativity and remove obstacles keeping us from clear self-expression. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore investing in buy-and-build compounders in public markets. We’re joined by Dan Roller, Founder and CIO of Maran Capital. We cover how building investment knowledge is like training for the Ironman, the value vs. growth debate, and investing in SPACs. “What you need to do, I think, is constantly update your thesis as you go, which can allow for longer holding periods, because things do change. And at the same time, I go into investments with a multi-year horizon—but my thesis might be disproven fairly quickly.” – Dan Roller EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/dan-roller-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/dan-roller-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to investing in buy-and-build compounders in public markets. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:50) – MOI Global and Dan’s start in the investment world (00:11:20) – The formation of Maran Capital (00:14:59) – Choosing your hunting ground and creating structural advantages  (00:21:21) – Researching and choosing companies to invest in (00:28:27) – How building investment knowledge is like training for the Ironman (00:32:17) – Examples and basics of buy-and-build companies (00:41:04) – How buy-and-build can go wrong (00:51:40) – The value vs. growth debate (00:54:57) – Investing in SPACs (00:58:06) – Thesis drift and mental models (01:02:21) – Resources for learning about investing ABOUT MARAN CAPITAL Dan Roller is Founder and CIO of Maran Capital Management, a boutique, values-driven investment manager that I've been following intently for the last few years. I love the way that Dan sees the world, and I never miss reading one of his investor letters. In this episode, we go deep on how becoming a better investor is similar to training for an Ironman competition, why Dan focuses on what he calls buy and build companies and some of his favorite historic and recent examples there, his approach to investing in special situations and what defines a good or bad opportunity. I get his thoughts on SPACs and why he sees some interesting opportunities in the world today. Dan is a remarkable investor. Before he founded Maran Capital management in 2015, he worked as an analyst for over a decade at firms like Credit Suisse First Boston, Impala Asset Management, Avesta Capital Advisors, and Scopus Asset Management. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore the world’s least sexy $500M business. We’re joined by Carey Smith, Founder of Big Ass Fans. We cover the importance of humor in business, receiving and listening to feedback, and Carey’s investment philosophy with Unorthodox Ventures. “I think in some ways it's trite, but you really do learn an awful lot from failures. And the other thing you get from a failure—or certainly I did—was the fear of completely wasting my life. That was a much greater fear—to imagine that you wouldn't accomplish much of anything was just more than I could bear and what it moved me to was looking for other opportunities.” – J. Carey Smith EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/carey-smith-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/carey-smith-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building the world's least sexy $500M business. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:17 – Carey’s childhood and first forays into business 00:06:24 – What Carey learned from the failure of his first company 00:11:42 – How Carey started Big Ass Fans 00:21:00 – Why humor is so important in business and customer service 00:32:46 – Focusing on excellent quality when selling a higher-priced product 00:36:51 – Receiving and listening to feedback to constantly improve a company 00:45:40 – Carey’s investment philosophy with Unorthodox Ventures 01:01:41 – Inspiration from one of Carey’s first supervisors ABOUT BIG ASS FANS AND CAREY SMITH Carey Smith is the Founder of Big Ass Fans, a business that he built from the ground up and scaled for nearly 20 years before selling for $500 million in 2017. Since then, he's founded Unorthodox Ventures, where he backs extraordinary founders and helps them scale their companies faster, using all of what he learned building Big Ass Fans. We go deep on a bunch of interesting topics, including lessons learned scaling Big Ass Fans, why it's important to deeply understand the people purchasing your product, not just those enjoying it, and building lucrative businesses in unsexy markets. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore Deep Survival: The Incredible Neuroscience of Survival, Who Lives, and Who Dies. We’re joined by Laurence Gonzales, best-selling author. We cover habits during emergencies, practicing for disaster, and safety in the airline industry. “All accidents are the same. You kind of have to put them together from pieces. They don’t just happen. You have to assemble them.” — Laurence Gonzales EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laurence-gonzales-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laurence-gonzales-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our guide to Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:49 – How Laurence’s father’s survival of a World War II plane crash inspired his interest in survival themes 00:06:18 – How habituation and the brain-body complex work together 00:20:57 – Laurence’s views on arming police with military gear 00:24:26 – The concept of hot cognition in times of stress 00:31:28 – PTSD minus the D 00:51:35 – Safety in the airline industry 01:01:48 – The human brain on the “night shift” 01:06:07 – The Santa Fe Institute and Laurence’s work there ABOUT DEEP SURVIVAL AND LAURENCE GONZALES Laurence Gonzales started his career as a journalist and earned a Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. He then went on to become an editor for multiple magazines, including Playboy back in the day. And he won two national awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors for his work on National Geographic's Adventure magazine. He's the bestselling author of multiple award winning books. He was awarded the Montaigne Medal from the Eric Hoffer Society in 2018, and won the prestigious Eric Hoffer Award in both 2018 and 2019. He has also been a Miller scholar at the illustrious Santa Fe Institute. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #16, we explore The Chemistry of Fire: Essays with the author, Laurence Gonzales. We cover an adventure story of ice climbers on Mount Washington, the importance of rules and systems for decision making, and Laurence’s work with the Santa Fe Institute. “There’s no way to stop these accidents from happening, but there’s a way to stop them from happening to you.” – Laurence Gonzales EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laurence-gonzales2-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laurence-gonzales2-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to The Chemistry of Fire. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:32) – The concept of the chemistry of fire (00:05:06) – An adventure story of ice climbers on Mount Washington (00:06:57) – Why people keep going when they know they should turn back (00:15:54) – The importance of rules and systems for decision making (00:21:32) – The survival of a cross-country skier after a major mishap (00:27:32) – Laurence’s work with the Santa Fe Institute (00:34:02) – Words of wisdom for 2021 ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY OF FIRE Laurence Gonzales is the author of The Chemistry of Fire: Essays. In our previous conversation, we discussed Laurence's best selling book, Deep Survival, on who lives, who dies, and why. It's an incredible book, and it's filled with so many parallels to the worlds of business, investing, and peak performance. So when Laurence told me that he had a new book coming, I couldn't resist the urge to pick his brain one more time. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore building the Apple Design Award-winning apps Halide and Spectre with Sebastiaan de With, Co-Founder and designer at Lux. We cover bridging the gap between visual design and product design, growing from one camera app to a photography company, and advice for those interested in creating and selling an app. “We will see the landscape littered with the burnt out husks of people that love their passions, but burn so bright that they burn out. And it is so, so valuable to give yourself time, to take a break, to reflect and to realize, ‘these are my passions—how can I healthily pursue them?’” – Sebastiaan de With EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/sebastiaan-de-with-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/sebastiaan-de-with-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building Apple Design Award-winning apps. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:03) – Sebastiaan’s early introduction to designing icons with HP, Apple, and doubleTwist (00:09:23) – Apple as a workplace of incredible learning, punishingly hard work, and in depth design processes (00:17:35) – Bridging the gap between visual design and product design (00:19:53) – The making and success of Sebastiaan’s first camera app, Halide (00:29:28) – How passion relates to success (00:31:36) – Growing from one camera app to a photography company (00:33:34) – Physicality and attention to detail in digital design (00:45:04) – Advice for those interested in creating and selling an app (00:48:08) – Whether we should follow our passions in business, and how to nurture them (00:54:48) – Sebastiaan’s favorite failures and the definition of success  ABOUT SEBASTIAAN DE WITH AND LUX Aside from being an incredible designer, Sebastiaan has built one of the world's most successful, independent iOS app businesses with Lux. And it all started in 2017 when Ben Sandofsky and Sebastiaan launched their first app Halide, which went on to top the charts in the App Store and win Apple's App of the Year Award. Halide makes it incredibly easy to capture and edit beautiful, raw photos, right on your iPhone and now your iPad. They followed that up with the release of Spectre, which makes it easy to take long, exposure photos, which also topped the App Store and won them a second App of the Year Award. All of Lux's apps are centered around photography, and they're building a next-generation camera company.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore finding, owning, and loving your voice. We’re joined by Jessica Hansen, In-House Voice Coach at NPR. We cover finding and honing the perfect NPR voice, techniques for finding your best voice, and Jessica’s voice coaching practice. “Your voice is your instrument and you are a professional voice user. — Jessica Hansen EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jessica-hansen-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jessica-hansen-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to finding, owning, and loving your voice. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:30 – How Jessica became interested in voice through theater 00:04:29 – Jessica’s work at NPR 00:09:13 – On finding and honing the perfect NPR voice 00:21:55 – Techniques on controlling your nerves before speaking, including breathwork 00:26:47 – The building blocks of voice 00:30:02 – Jessica’s voice coaching process, from beginner to advanced levels 00:38:47 – Simple but effective tips for finding your best voice 00:51:02 – Recommendations for resources on the voice ABOUT JESSICA HANSEN As an actress, Jessica Hansen has appeared on hit TV shows like Parks and Rec and Veep. And as a vocal coach, she works at NPR, where she helps all of NPR's on-air talent to sound incredible. In the lead-up to launching Outlier Academy, I was lucky enough to work with Jessica, and she helped me finally get comfortable and confident with my own voice. And that's exactly why I wanted to have her on the show. We go deep on how to find and own your voice, overcoming your fear of speaking publicly, why the best voices are often the quirkiest, and how to sound interesting, as well as why that's important. If you've ever struggled with your own voice, this episode is for you. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore managing $1.8 billion in wealth, investment philosophy, and teaching kids about money. We’re joined by Brandon Johnson, CEO of JFG Wealth. We cover keys to successful family wealth management, the spectrum of risk and returns, and diversification and recency bias. “Once we have a starting point and a target, we can start to evaluate, do we turn left, do we turn right? How do we measure success? Then that dynamic process never stops." – Brandon Johnson EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/brandon-johnson-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/brandon-johnson-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to investment philosophy and wealth management. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:27) – History of the Johnson Financial Group (00:10:19) – Brandon’s path to wealth management (00:14:39) – What is a family office? (00:23:16) – Keys to successful family wealth management (00:38:08) – Teaching kids about saving, investing, and giving back (00:48:05) – JFG’s process for working with new families (01:01:13) – The spectrum of risk and returns (01:09:40) – Diversification and recency bias (01:17:10) – Defining success ABOUT JFG MULTI-FAMILY OFFICE Brandon Johnson is the CEO of JFG Wealth, where Brandon and his team manage over $1.8 billion for ultra high net worth families across the United States. Before taking a hard left turn into the world of investing, Brandon first trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Paris. He also serves on the board of trustees for the University of Denver and the Children's Hospital of Colorado. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore technology's origins, what technology wants, and advising Steven Spielberg on Minority Report. We’re joined by Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of WIRED. We cover what technology wants, Magic Leap and virtual worlds, and Kevin’s work on Minority Report.. “What is this thing we call technology? In the cosmological sense, like, where does it fit in? How does it relate to life? And my current summary would be that it is an extension of life and therefore is not contrary to life. It's an extended version of life—and that gives me hope, because it means that we can always make a greener version of whatever we make.” – Kevin Kelly EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kevin-kelly-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kevin-kelly-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to technology's origins, what technology wants. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:38) – The turning point for Kevin's relationship with technology (00:06:32) – What technology wants (00:12:05) – General purpose vs. specialized technology (00:17:49 – Kevin's start with Wired magazine (00:25:59) – Magic Leap and virtual worlds (00:34:19) – Kevin's work on Minority Report (00:39:03) – Kevin’s newsletter, Recomendo ABOUT KEVIN KELLY AND WIRED Kevin Kelly was the Founding Executive Editor at WIRED magazine and is the author of multiple bestselling books, including What Technology Wants and the New York Times bestseller The Inevitable: Understanding The 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future. His perspectives of science and technology have been featured in the New York Times, The Economist, and Time Magazine. Kevin helped shape the world of Minority Report as a futurist advisor to Stephen Spielberg, and he helped dream up the gestural interface shown in the film, which is something we talk about a little bit in the interview. Today, Kevin publishes a weekly newsletter called Recomendo as well as the weekly podcast, Cool Tools. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore the past, present, and future of Asia with Kevin Kelly, author of Vanishing Asia: A Masterclass on the Past, Present, and Future of Asia. We cover Kevin’s travel in Asia and how he viewed its changes over time, his thoughts on how to embrace the future while retaining cultural values and beauty, and understanding the nuances of Asia and the power it will hold in the future. “Don't try to be the best; try to be the only. If at all possible, you want to be doing something that you have trouble describing because there's not a name for it. That's a sign that you are working in the territory of the only." – Kevin Kelly EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kevin-kelly2-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kevin-kelly2-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our guide to the past, present, and future of Asia. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:44) – The full-time job of managing a Kickstarter campaign (00:08:29) – The “1,000 true fans” concept (00:22:39) – Art by the pound and writing out loud (00:26:14) – The process of creating, compiling and culling photographs for Vanishing Asia (00:38:27) – The photos in Vanishing Asia that resonate the most with Kevin (00:44:45) – Kevin’s travel in Asia, and how he viewed its changes over time (00:51:59) – Kevin’s thoughts on how to embrace the future while retaining cultural values and beauty (00:58:49) – How Kevin's travel in Asia has affected his life (01:06:41) – Understanding the nuances of Asia and the power it will hold in the future ABOUT VANISHING ASIA Kevin Kelly's new book, Vanishing Asia, features over 1,000 pages with 9,000 images from his hundreds of trips to remote places in Asia over the last 49 years.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore space manufacturing, microgravity, and building factories in outer space. We’re joined by Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries. We cover leaning into your superpowers when investing, common mistakes in venture capital, and problem solving with space manufacturing. “Trust is not what makes successful co-founding relationships. Having the world-class skillset that you need to succeed is what will then form that trust that will allow you to succeed.” – Delian Asparahouv  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/delian-asparouhov1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/delian-asparouhov-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to space manufacturing and building factories in space. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:43 – Delian’s background in robotics and path to entrepreneurship 00:07:32 – Mentorship from Jack Dorsey and Keith Rabois 00:21:43 – Leaning into your superpowers when investing 00:25:01 – Cultivating optimism in investing 00:29:29 – Common mistakes in venture capital 00:33:48 – Incubating a company 00:38:59 – Getting started in the space industry 00:42:09 – What is a space factory? 00:45:38 – Problem solving with space manufacturing 00:51:35 – Exciting changes in the space industry 00:55:43 – Recommended resources in the space industry ABOUT VARDA SPACE INDUSTRIES Varda Space Industries is building the world's first space factories. You heard that right, literally factories in outer space, all for earthbound products. What Varda is building, literally wouldn't have been possible even two, three, maybe five years ago, but as launch costs to get mass up to low earth orbit have come down at an incredible pace, it's unlocked the next wave of innovation, including new players and possibilities like what Varda is building with their space factories.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore building a media brand to cover the business and policy of space. We’re joined by Mo Islam, Payload’s Co-Founder, who talks with us about becoming the number one resource for space industry news. We cover everything from lowering the costs of space travel to why we are in the middle of the next space race. “Very simply, we are living in the next space race, and it's going to have huge implications for the way we built technology, the way we spend dollars in military.” – Mo Islam EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/payload-mo-islam  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/payload-mo-islam-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a media brand to cover the business and policy of space. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:36) – How Payload focuses on the business and policy of space (00:10:54) – How Elon Musk has changed the space race (00:15:17) – Aerospace and defense go hand in hand (00:18:11) – Earth imaging illuminates the atrocities of war (00:19:36) – We are living in the next space race (00:22:52) – SPACs and space (00:28:57) – How we’ll move from government to commercial spending in space (00:33:11) – Reusable second stages and lowering the costs of space exploration (00:36:59) – What scaling Starlink could mean for space travel (00:39:40) – Launching a media brand and the importance of voice (00:43:32) – Making Payload the most important voice in the space discussion (00:51:49) – Learning from feedback and embracing boredom ABOUT MO ISLAM Mo Islam is the co-founder of Payload Space, which is building a media empire dedicated to covering the business and policy of space, as in outer space. We discovered Payload and immediately subscribed to their daily newsletter after it was recommended by Delian Asparouhov, co-founder of Varda Space Industries, in episode 71. We asked Delian what newsletters and websites he used to stay on top of everything going on in space, and he had only one answer: Payload Space.  In this episode, we go deep on why we're at an inflection point when it comes to space and how that was unlocked, at least in the U.S., largely by SpaceX, which has brought down the price to get a unit of mass up to low Earth orbit by order of magnitude. We cover the outsized role the military and defense departments play as customers for space companies, ranging from Earth imaging to satellite manufacturing startups. We talk about the space companies that Mo thinks are the most underrated, as well as how Payload is building a media empire, starting with what Mo calls The Modern Homepage, which is their daily newsletter. We discuss how Payload crafted a compelling voice and editorial style in an old school and relatively stodgy industry, making space cool to read and learn about. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re joined by Mo Islam, Payload’s Co-Founder. We cover lessons we can learn from the Apollo space era, why killing them with kindness is the best option, and why founders should stay focused on what they love. “Hubris kills startups and humility saves them. No matter what your success level is or may not be, it's really important to always be humble about what you're building and what you're doing because it can change at the drop of a hat.” – Mo Islam EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mo-islam-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mo-islam-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Mo Islam’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – Clearing up misconceptions about space (00:03:06) – Kill them with kindness, embrace the boredom (00:05:30) – Learning from Phillippe Laffont and Engines That Move Markets (00:07:33) – Hubris kills startups; humility saves them (00:09:18) – Focus on what you love (00:12:02) – Learning from the Apollo era (00:13:15) – Relying on to-do lists and the Notes app (00:15:53) – Do what matters, change people’s lives for the better ABOUT MO ISLAM Mo Islam is co-founder of Payload, which is building a media empire dedicated to covering the business and policy of space, as in outer space. We discovered Payload and immediately subscribed to their daily newsletter after it was recommended by Delian Asparouhov, co-founder of Varda Space Industries, in Episode 71. We asked Delian what newsletters and websites he used to stay on top of everything going on in space, and he had only one answer: Payload Space. Mo Islam has a fascinating background in finance, having worked at J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank before co-founding Payload. In this episode, Mo shares why hubris kills startups and humility saves them, what he's learned from incredible investors like Philippe Laffont at Coatue, and why he loves the book Engines That Move Markets, which we had never heard of but immediately ordered after recording this episode with him. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore building the Berkshire Hathaway of outer space. We’re joined by Dylan Taylor, Founder and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings. We cover the evolution of space technology, private space companies vs. the government, and exciting innovations in the space industry. “I’m in the camp that is super passionate about space as a tool for transformation. So what energizes me is getting humans into space.” — Dylan Taylor EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/dylan-taylor-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/dylan-taylor-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building the Berkshire Hathaway of outer space. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:55 – How Dylan’s work in space began after reading The Last Lecture 00:09:22 – Dylan’s early investments in and the evolution of space technology 00:17:25 – How re-usability and privatization has expanded space technology 00:39:05 – Why Dylan founded Voyager Space Holdings 00:49:52 – Space industry standards and the creation of the Voyager Space IP Exchange 00:54:35 – Private space companies and their relationship with government agencies 01:09:58 – Exciting innovations in the space industry 01:16:06 – How anyone can become involved in space industry and exploration   ABOUT DYLAN TAYLOR AND VOYAGER SPACE HOLDINGS In 2019, PitchBook named Dylan Taylor one of the top 10 investors in space and space technology. While SpaceX, Virgin, Galactic, and Blue Origin have taken off in recent years, Dylan's been investing in outer space for over a decade. First, as an angel, and now as CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, where he's building the Berkshire Hathaway of space holding companies. Dylan has also served as the CEO of a public company, he's been on numerous boards, and he runs his own space-focused nonprofit called Space for Humanity. Dylan is a wealth of wisdom, and this episode is a masterclass on the past, present and future of outer space. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone, Founder & CEO of the much loved “tools for thinkers” company Baronfig, joins me on Outlier Book Club to decode his new book, The Laws of Creativity. We cover why creativity isn’t magic, how creators across history from Albert Einstein to Grace Hopper and Bruce Lee wielded creativity to reach incredible heights, practical ways to hone your creativity, a framework for generating ideas, Joey’s process for writing the book, and so much more. “At this point in my career, I have art directed over 100 products from a rough idea into consumer’s hands. I’ve collaborated with incredible creators like James Clear and Roxane Gay. There came a point where it was very obvious how it all worked and fit together—because I was always interested not just in what I was doing but how I was doing it.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:49) - Origin Story of The Laws of Creativity (00:06:39) - Distilling Down the Laws of Creativity (00:08:17) - What Creativity Is and Why It Isn’t Magic (00:18:17) - On Zeno’s Paradox and Choosing to Finish (00:22:58) - The Laws of Mindset, Action, and Greatness (00:25:57) - Joey’s Favorite Law: The Law of Competition (00:29:55) - The Law of Precision (00:33:00) - The Law of The Muse (00:36:06) - On Borrowing vs Stealing Ideas (00:39:42) - The Law of Simplicity (00:42:56) - The Law of Good Enough (00:46:51) - Joey’s Process for Writing the Book (00:55:54) - Knowing When the Book Was Done (01:02:07) - The Highs and Lows of Creating Baronfig (01:04:54) - Creativity vs Business (01:08:21) - Baronfig: The Idea Company ABOUT THE BOOK In his book The Laws of Creativity, Joey debunks why creativity isn’t magic and shares what it is, how it works, and how you can harness it in your everyday life. Learn how to unlock your originality and awaken your creative genius with Joey Cofone—award-winning designer and Founder & CEO of the much loved “Tools for Thinkers'' brand Baronfig. Each of the 39 Laws of Creativity are illustrated with inspiring, enlightening, and surprising stories of iconic creators across history—including Albert Einstein, Serena Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Houdini, Grace Hopper, Bruce Lee, and many more. Joey breaks down how these titans of history wielded creativity to reach incredible heights. “Drawing on decades of experience, Joey Cofone has distilled the elements of creativity into an excellent, easy-to-use guide. The Laws of Creativity provides a roadmap for unleashing the creative force inside you.” — James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone shares the lessons he’s learned as an award-winning designer, the Founder & CEO of Baronfig, and the author of The Laws of Creativity, including why he’s fascinated with the juxtaposition between skill and renown, how he worked with James Clear to design the Clear Habit Journal, why experimentation is Baronfig’s most important value, how rock bottom taught him how to take risks, and so much more. “There’s a stereotype of creatives, which is that they’re just flying by the seat of their pants. I’m here to tell you that it’s absolutely not true. We need to separate that from what creativity is. We need to decouple this ridiculous stereotype so that more people can blossom creatively.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook    FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook-transcript     CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:08) - Wrestling with Skill vs Renown (00:02:57) - Why People Would Be Surprised at Joey Cofone’s Daily Discipline (00:04:04) - Why Joey Cofone Has Been Tracking His Habits for 13 Years (00:05:21) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Baronfig Products (00:07:23) - How Joey Cofone and James Clear Designed the Clear Habit Journal (00:10:46) - The Laws of Creativity by Joey Cofone in 90 Seconds (00:12:51) - How Rock Bottom Taught Joey Cofone How to Take Risks (00:16:07) - Why the Most Important Value at Baronfig is Experimentation (00:22:08) - Joey Shares His Favorite Books Including Radical Candor and The Phantom Tollbooth (00:23:47) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Advice From His Barber and Malcom Gladwell (00:26:11) - How Joey Cofone Learns From Failure at Baronfig ABOUT THE GUEST Joey Cofone is the Founder & CEO of Baronfig and an award-winning designer and entrepreneur. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, Quartz, Mashable, Gizmodo, and Print, among others. Joey was named a New Visual Artist and, separately, Wunderkind designer by Print magazine. He strives to make work that appeals to curious minds—work that’s beautiful, smart, and communicative. He believes that design is the least of a designer’s worries, that story is at the heart of all tasks, and jumping off cliffs is the only way to grow. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore self-reflection, self improvement, and the Socratic Method. We’re joined by Marc Champagne, author of Personal Socrates. We cover building a mental fitness practice, simplifying the Socratic method, and the writing process. “You need to understand if you're climbing the right mountain to begin with and understand who you're optimizing to become.” – Marc Champagne EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marc-champagne1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marc-champagne-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to self-reflection, self improvement, and the Socratic Method. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:55 – We are one question away from a different life 00:07:22 – Building a mental fitness practice 00:11:33 – Marc's morning reflection routine 00:16:00 – Behind the Human podcast 00:20:09 – Simplifying the Socratic method 00:28:45 – Profiles and questions in Personal Socrates  00:34:50 – The writing process 00:39:28 – Pausing the autopilot of life and work ABOUT PERSONAL SOCRATES Personal Socrates is filled with profiles of incredible people from Cal Fussman and Robin Williams to Kobe Bryant and Maya Angelou. Each chapter contains a short profile along with a few clarifying questions you can ponder and use as a journaling prompt, questions like how could I be clearer in fewer words or my personal favorite from Cal Fussman, how can I be the most curious person in the room? This is the first book published by Baron Fig. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Marc Champagne's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Marc is the author of Personal Socrates: Questions That Will Upgrade Your Life from Legends & World-Class Performers. We cover breathwork, the dialogue about mental health, and building a life wiki with Notion. “The thing that lights me up the most is leaving people with more energy after conversation than when they came in.” – Marc Champagne EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marc-champagne2-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marc-champagne-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Marc Champagne's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:45 – The current dialogue around mental health 00:01:27 – Being a source of energy for others 00:03:26 – Trusting the journey 00:05:05 – Breathwork and questioning medications 00:14:22 – The Notion Life Wiki 00:16:22 – Success is waking up happy and motivated ABOUT MARC CHAMPAGNE Marc Champagne is author of Personal Socrates: Questions That Will Upgrade Your Life from Legends & World-Class Performers. A self-proclaimed Mental Fitness Strategist, Marc is a speaker and corporate trainer and hosts the top 50 podcast, Behind the Human. Marc previously co-founded the journaling app (KYO) which reached 86.9 million people. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore how failure can be your key to success. We’re joined byBrian Scudamore, Author & Founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. We cover embracing competition, bouncing back from struggles, and turning down a buyout offer. “A brand is a selection of promises that we make and keep.” – Brian Scudamore EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/800-got-junk-failure-can-be-key-to-success-brian-scudamore-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/800-got-junk-failure-can-be-key-to-success-brian-scudamore-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to using failure as a key to success. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:22 – How Brian’s grandparents influenced his path to entrepreneurship 00:04:41 – The birth and growth of 1-800-GOT-JUNK 00:09:35 – The power of a brand 00:16:33 – Creating a franchise 00:21:45 – Embracing competition 00:026:00 – Bouncing back from struggles 00:33:55 – Turning down a buyout offer 00:39:24 – Growth over time as an entrepreneur ABOUT WILLING TO FAIL (WTF) Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster of trial and error, laughter and tears, confusion and triumph. In WTF?! (Willing to Fail), serial entrepreneur Brian Scudamore takes you on an adventure that will convince you once and for all that you have exactly what it takes to succeed. With engaging stories from his thirty-plus years of failing upward, his book is full of lessons you can apply to your own endeavors—developing a clear vision, creating an awesome culture, finding gratitude in challenging times, and using setbacks to change your business for the better. Being an entrepreneur means letting go of fear. WTF?! (Willing to Fail) gives you the encouragement and wisdom you need to begin stumbling toward greatness. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Brian Scudamore's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Brian Scudamore is the Founder and CEO of O2E Brands. We cover the power of branding and systematic approaches to business. “My advice, or challenge, to someone who's looking for their integrator, their second in command, their partner, whatever it is—is to get really, really clear on what your gaps are that you need filled by someone else.” – Brian Scudamore EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/brian-scudamore-800-got-junk-wtf-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/brian-scudamore-800-got-junk-wtf-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In Episode #95, we deconstruct Brian Scudamore's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:43 – Learning and growing with ADD 00:06:14 – On parenting with an open mind 00:08:30 – Superpowers and struggles 00:10:50 – The power of a brand 00:18:56 – Systematic approaches in business 00:28:29 – Recommended books ABOUT BRIAN SCUDAMORE Brian Scudamore is the Founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, which today does more than 700 million in annual revenue. What's more, he bootstrapped the business and has grown it for over 33 years now, which is an incredible track record. Brian's also the author of New York Times bestselling book WTF, which stands for Willing to Fail and is about how failure can be your key to success. And he has a new book coming out later this year called BYOB. Build Your Own Business, Be Your Own Boss. In this episode, we cover Brian's struggle with ADD and how he found his learning and management style over the years, how he counterbalances his desire to move quickly and fire before he's aimed with being smart and sensible. How he's used the power of brand to build 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, as well as his newest businesses SHACK SHINE and WOW 1 DAY PAINTING. And we also talk about one of Brian's favorite books, the E-Myth, and how it helped him learn the power of systems. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore the fight between democracy and autocracy for the future of the internet. We’re joined by Jacob Helberg, author of The Wires of War. We cover the definition of autocracy, watershed moments in geopolitics, and how the physical infrastructure of the internet can be manipulated. “We have to see the world for what it is, not as we wish it were.” – Jacob Helberg EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jacob-helberg1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jacob-helberg-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to the fight between democracy and autocracy for the future of the internet. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:03:13 – Jacob's background and introduction to geopolitics 00:05:45 – Jacob's book, The Wires of War 00:08:16 – Defining autocracy 00:12:02 – Watershed moments in geopolitics 00:15:27 – The physical infrastructure of the internet, and how it can be manipulated 00:18:13 – China is a peer competitor 00:28:20 – The need for US proactivity with autocracies 00:36:52 – Cold war, gray war, and hot peace 00:40:02 – How the US should work to preserve democracy 00:48:12 – Optimism in geopolitics ABOUT THE WIRES OF WAR The Wires of War is all about the battle being waged that will determine the future of the internet, and in many ways, the future of global society. And it's a battle that's being waged both on the front and back end of the internet. On the front end, that's taking place in the apps we use every day, from Google to Facebook, to TikTok, to Twitter. On the back end, in the hardware, routers, protocols and even the undersea cables that travel hundreds of thousands of miles crisscrossing and connecting the entire world. The Wires of War is deeply compelling, expansive, and an incredibly detailed picture woven together of the world that we're in and what we face.  The Wires of War is out now and available on amazon.com. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Jacob Helberg's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Jacob is the author of The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power. We cover trend spotting, the wisdom of Winston Churchill, and avoiding procrastination. “If you know in your heart of hearts that something just doesn't feel right with the current path that you're on, I think being open and willing to take some pretty drastic changes, for me, has worked out pretty well.” – Jacob Helberg EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jacob-helberg2-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jacob-helberg-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Jacob Helberg's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:42 – Investing in technology that advances national security 00:02:39 – Trend spotting and forming deep-seated convictions 00:06:17 – Avoiding procrastination and the importance of exercise 00:09:07 – On Henry Kissinger and Winston Churchill 00:14:35 – Dropping out of law school and trusting your gut ABOUT JACOB HELBERG Jacob Helberg is the author of the incredible new book, The Wires of War, which details the technical battle that's being waged that will determine the future of the internet and, in many ways, the future of global society. It's a battle that's being waged on both the front and back end of the internet, on the front end in the apps we use every single day from Google to Facebook to TikTok and Twitter, it's stuff like misinformation campaigns, fake followers, and fake news, and on the back end, in the hardware, routers, protocols, and even the undersea cables that travel hundreds of thousands of miles crisscrossing and connecting the entire world. I loved reading The Wires of War because it's deeply compelling, it's really expansive, and it's an incredibly detailed picture that it paints of where we're at and what we face. It's out now and available on amazon.com. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore technological progress and how innovation and invention happens. We’re joined by Jason Crawford, Founder of Roots of Progress. We cover nurturing progress as a moral imperative, the growth of progress studies, and how bureaucracy can slow progress. “We can pay it forward to future generations by making sure that progress continues and by making sure that future generations are living as well off compared to us today, as we are compared to the past. So let's have that ambition for the future.” – Jason Crawford  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/progress-studies-roots-of-progress-jason-crawford-ig-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/progress-studies-roots-of-progress-jason-crawford-ig-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to technological progress and innovation. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:09 – About Jason’s work with The Roots of Progress 00:04:30 – Nurturing progress is a moral imperative 00:06:24 – On Louis Pasteur 00:14:20 – What is progress? What is technology? 00:21:06 – On starting The Roots of Progress  00:25:18 – The growth of progress studies 00:30:30 – Is progress really stagnating? 00:37:38 – How bureaucracy can slow progress 00:42:18 – The speed of innovation 00:48:26 – Advancements in biotech, artificial intelligence, energy technologies, and nanotech 00:56:00 – Appreciating the progress we see on a daily basis ABOUT ROOTS OF PROGRESS Jason Crawford is one of the researchers and writers at the forefront of the progress studies movement, which seeks to understand what's driven human progress historically in order to cultivate and accelerate it moving forward. Jason Crawford, through his blog and non-profit Roots of Progress, has studied and written about everything from the invention of the bicycle and why it took so long to be invented, to the smallpox vaccine. He's one of the world's leading thinkers on how progress happens, why it seems to have slowed in recent years, or at the least narrowed, and what we need to do to accelerate human progress in the coming years. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Jason Crawford's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Jason Crawford is the Founder and CEO of The Roots of Progress. We cover the Gutenberg press, startup failures, and recommended apps. “I would say the single most powerful technique that I have found is when you start your day, rather than checking email or or anything, start by pulling out a blank sheet of paper, whether that's literal paper or whether, like me, you use an electronic note-taking system, and just think on paper about your day. How's it going? What's up? What am I going to do today? What are my priorities and so forth?” – Jason Crawford EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/roots-of-progress-jason-crawford-20mp-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/roots-of-progress-jason-crawford-20mp-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Jason Crawford's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:24 – Research on the Gutenberg press 00:03:51 – Learning, planning the day, and improving sleep 00:10:09 – Recommended apps, including Bear, Readwise, and Anki 00:12:27 – Startup failures, sci-fi books, and success on your own terms ABOUT JASON CRAWFORD Jason Crawford is one of the researchers and writers at the forefront of the progress studies movement, which seeks to understand what's driven human progress historically in order to cultivate and accelerate moving forward, which is to say the least absolutely fascinating. Jason Crawford, through his blog and nonprofit Roots of Progress has studied and written about everything from the invention of the bicycle, to the smallpox vaccine. He's one of the world's leading thinkers on how progress happens, why it seems to have slowed or at least narrowed in recent years, and what we need to do to accelerate it in the coming years. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. We’re joined by Howie Schwab, Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth at Driehaus Capital. We cover the lure of emerging markets, a behavioral focus on investing, and the impact of shifting voting demographics. “I think it's true everywhere, but data shows it's particularly true in emerging markets, which is that the persistence of risk is generally higher than the persistence of return.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:20) – Howie’s background and work at Driehaus Capital (00:06:52) – The lure of emerging markets (00:12:20) – A behavioral focus in investing (00:19:30) – Seeing patterns and avoiding fraud (00:24:12) – Researching and publishing market analysis (00:43:21) – The state of financial assets today (00:49:41) – The future and financial repression (00:56:42) – The shift in voting demographics and its economic impact (01:02:14) – Advice for investors ABOUT DRIEHAUS Howie Schwab manages more than five billion in emerging market growth for Driehaus, which is based in Chicago, and it's where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Growth, and he's a portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Small Cap Equity and Emerging Markets Opportunity Strategies. I've learned an enormous amount from Howie, both as an investor and a macro thinker, since I first met him, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show to share what he's learned managing many of the world's best performing emerging market funds over the last 20 years. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Driehaus Capital with Howie Schwab. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Howie Schwab's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Howie is the Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth of Driehaus Capital. We cover regime shifts in the market and obsessing over failures. “In terms of how we invest, I think integrating and overlaying macro as well as behavioral components, not simply wedding ourselves to this bottom up, here's our specific template and it's time tested is really important.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Howie Schwab’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:41) – Regime shifts in the market (00:06:51) – Learning from investing mentors (00:10:08) – Great investors obsess over their failures (00:12:48) – Advice for young investors (00:16:43) – Howie’s investment philosophy (00:24:24) – Challenging yourself ABOUT HOWIE SCHWAB Howie Schwab manages more than 5 billion in emerging market growth funds for Driehaus which is a firm that's based in Chicago and where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the emerging market's growth. And he's a portfolio manager for the emerging market, small cap equity and emerging markets opportunities. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Howie Schwab of Driehaus Capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Pressfield’s The Warrior Ethos is a deep historical examination of the values and ethics of warriors throughout history—from the ancient Spartans to Japan’s Samurai to Alexander the Great—and how these values can be applied to the battles we each fight. We all struggle daily to find and defense our sense of purpose, to show up as our best ourselves, and to overcome the obstacles we face in our own pursuits. In that struggle, there's much we can learn and apply from the world's great warriors and warrior cultures. The Book in Three Sentences When we speak of The Warrior Ethos, we really speak of Warrior ethics and values as ethos is latin for ethics. Warriors prize virtues including courage, honor, loyalty, integrity, love, and selflessness—many of which evolved as a counterpoise to fear and self-preservation. True warriors lead from the front, they prize valor and honor as highly as victory, they embrace adversity and shared suffering, they laugh in the face of death, and they exemplify selflessness. About The Book The Warrior Ethos is really a mini-book. The book’s content is drawn almost exclusively from the ancient world, from Herodotus and Arrian, Plutarch, Vegetius, Xenophon, Thucydides, etc. There are anecdotes about the Spartans, the Romans, the Macedonians, with a few thrown in from the modern British and Israelis and even the Afrika Korps under Rommel. Here’s one story about Alexander the Great, taken from Plutarch, to give you the flavor of the book: Once, Alexander was leading his army through a waterless desert. The column was strung out for miles, with men and horses suffering terribly from thirst. Suddenly, a detachment of scouts came galloping back to the king. They had found a small spring and managed to fill a helmet with water. They rushed to Alexander and presented this to him. The army held in place, watching. Every man’s eye was fixed upon his commander. Alexander thanked the scouts for bringing him this gift, then, without touching a drop, he lifted the helmet and poured the precious liquid into the sand. At once, a great cheer ascended, rolling from one end of the column to the other. A man was heard to say, “With a king like this to lead us, no force on earth can stand against us.” There’s no other better author to write this book than Steven Pressfield. He’s spent his career writing about war—external and internal wars, ancient and modern ones, real wars from history and imagined ones. One of his books, Gates of Fire, which tells the story of the 300 Spartans sent to fight and die against the Persian emperor King Xerxes, is my all-time favorite book. Steven Pressfield has also written A Man at Arms, The Virtues of War, Killing Rommel, The Afghan Campaign, Tides of War, and some incredible nonfiction books including The War of Art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Pressfield’s The Warrior Ethos is a deep historical examination of the values and ethics of warriors throughout history—from the ancient Spartans to Japan’s Samurai to Alexander the Great—and how these values can be applied to the battles we each fight. We all struggle daily to find and defense our sense of purpose, to show up as our best ourselves, and to overcome the obstacles we face in our own pursuits. In that struggle, there's much we can learn and apply from the world's great warriors and warrior cultures. The Warrior Ethos is really a mini-book. The book’s content is drawn almost exclusively from the ancient world, from Herodotus and Arrian, Plutarch, Vegetius, Xenophon, Thucydides, etc. There are anecdotes about the Spartans, the Romans, the Macedonians, with a few thrown in from the modern British and Israelis and even the Afrika Korps under Rommel. Here’s one story about Alexander the Great, taken from Plutarch, to give you the flavor of the book: Once, Alexander was leading his army through a waterless desert. The column was strung out for miles, with men and horses suffering terribly from thirst. Suddenly, a detachment of scouts came galloping back to the king. They had found a small spring and managed to fill a helmet with water. They rushed to Alexander and presented this to him. The army held in place, watching. Every man’s eye was fixed upon his commander. Alexander thanked the scouts for bringing him this gift, then, without touching a drop, he lifted the helmet and poured the precious liquid into the sand. At once, a great cheer ascended, rolling from one end of the column to the other. A man was heard to say, “With a king like this to lead us, no force on earth can stand against us.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I realized that the main reason why people die of cancer is because they found it too late. And the main reason we still find cancer late for people is because there’s no easy way to screen for cancer in the body that’s fast, accurate, and affordable. And so, I decided to focus on that problem.” — Emi Gal Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning to make MRIs an order of magnitude more efficient. As well as how they’ve built an asset light business in healthcare and what it takes to be a software-centric business within a heavily regulated industry. Episode Guide with Books, Links, and Ways to Dive Deeper https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders Transcript https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders-transcript Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:21) - Origin Story of Ezra (00:03:22) - How Ezra Tried 12 Different Ideas Around Cancer Screening (00:08:22) - Screening for Cancer with Ezra vs Best Practices Today (00:11:01) - MRI 101: A Simple Explanation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (00:14:45) - The Dawn of Proactive Healthcare and The Patient Will See You Now (00:19:58) - The Hippocratic Oath, Doing No Harm, and Early Screening (00:25:09) - How Often Should We All Be Screening for Cancer? (00:28:54) - What It’s Like to Get an MRI Scan (00:33:41) - Ezra’s Approach to AI and FDA Approval of AI Updates (00:41:06) - Breaking Down Ezra’s Asset Light Business Model (00:46:02) - Why the Future of Healthcare is Proactive and Holistic (00:50:36) - The Highs and Lows of Building Ezra (00:54:05) - Lessons Learned Building a Mission Centric Company About Ezra Ezra was founded in 2018 to build the world’s first fast, accurate, and affordable way to screen for cancer everywhere in the body. To do this, they’ve harnessed the power of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, often called an MRI, and dramatically improved the efficiency of imaging and analyses using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. To date, they’ve decreased the cost of getting a full body MRI scan by 80% and the time required to get scanned by 66%. Every year, more than 20,000,000 Americans are diagnosed with cancer. Without a fast, accurate, and affordable way to proactively screen the entire body for cancer, many of these diagnoses come too late. For some types of cancer, including colon cancer, once it reaches Stage 4 your chances of survival are just 4%. Ezra’s goal is to bring down the cost and time required to get screened for cancer by an order of magnitude—reducing both by 90%+. Ezra is an incredible example of using AI and ML to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an existing technology in order to bring down costs within a critical segment of healthcare. You can save $150 off an Ezra screening by using promo code Outlier150 when checking out on Ezra.com. Ezra | How it Works | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Ezra with Emi Gal. Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another edition of Cheat Sheet by Outlier Academy. Where each week we compress 6+ hours of research and interviews into 3 big ideas that you can read in 5 minutes. This week we profiled one of the internet’s most-read writers (100M+ views), Nicolas Cole, and his latest book Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create a Category of One with co-authors Eddy Yoon and Christopher Lochhead. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/category-creation-and-avoiding-competition Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Competition is for losers, avoid it at all costs. How Eight Sleep created the Sleep Fitness category. How to find and create your own category of one. Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s Outlier Academy episodes: Nicolas Cole, Co-Founder of Category Pirates and Ship 30 for 30 | Favorite Books and Writing Tools, Enduring Boring Things, and Why Great Writing Changes the Reader Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create a Category Of One | Nicolas Cole, Author and Co-Founder of Category Pirates Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore network effects and investing in network effect businesses. We’re joined by James Currier, co-founder and general partner of NfX. We cover virality vs. network effects, tweaking rules and systems to take advantage of network effects, and network effects as a business strategy. “Every company is its own work of art, and the founder is the artist.” – James Currier EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/james-currier1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/james-currier-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to network effects and investing in network effect businesses. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:58) – James’ background and journey to NfX (00:07:50) – Defining network effects and why they are so powerful (00:11:20) – Virality vs. network effects (00:14:46) – Examples of businesses with network effects (00:24:57) – Tweaking rules and systems to take advantage of network effects (00:31:07) – Networks effects as a business strategy (00:33:58) – Investing in network effects businesses (00:40:26) – Advice for founders ABOUT NFX The name NfX is actually short for Network Effects, and James with his founding partner, Pete Flint, founded NfX after seeing the power of network effects, partially by doing research that confirms that 70% of all unicorns are companies with proven network effects driving their businesses. While NFX has become one of the world's leading thinkers on network effects, having published incredibly salient posts from 13 different network effects and counting, where they've now identified 16 different types of network effects, to their very popular self-help article titled Your Life is Driven by Network Effects, and their strategy is clearly working. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we deconstruct James Currier's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. James is General Partner of NfX. We cover working with ADD, bonding curves, and a Buddhist perspective of success. “I think about it from a Buddhist perspective, which is that just being present and being in joy is success, and therefore it's available to anyone.” – James Currier EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/james-currier2-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/james-currier-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct James Currier's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:00:35) – Bonding curves and seeing the big picture (00:03:14) – Working with ADD, avoiding alcohol and sugar, and finding the love of your life (00:05:22) – Learning from Joseph Campbell and Niall Ferguson (00:06:05) – Your Life on Network Effects (00:09:04) – A Buddhist perspective of success (00:10:13) – Choosing the right industry ABOUT JAMES CURRIER James Currier is General Partner of NFX, an early stage VC firm with a focus on startups with potential for network effects. Before founding NFX, James co-founded four successful companies: Tickle (acquired by Monster), Wonderhill (merged with Kabam), IronPearl (acquired by PayPal), and Jiff (merged with Castlight). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emi Gal shares the lessons he’s learned building Ezra, why he tracks 150 different biomarkers, what he’s learned doing a Yearly Challenge for the last 14 years, and why he’s focused on achieving peak health by 40, and more. As well as the origin story behind his extreme discipline and his advice for others that want to become more disciplined. “To make progress in anything, but especially your health, you just need to nudge behavior a little bit every day. I find that tracking 150 different biomarkers does that quite well for me.” — Emi Gal EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/emi-gal-ezra-20-minute-playbook   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/emi-gal-ezra-20-minute-playbook-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:27) - Why and How Emi Gal Tracks 150 Different Biomarkers (00:05:50) - How Emi Gal is Reaching Peak Health by The Age of 40 (00:08:54) - The Relationship Between Bone Density and Exercise (00:10:27) - Why Emi Gal Has Done a Yearly Challenge Every Year Since 2008 (00:18:16) - Lessons Learned Studying and Becoming Antifragile (00:22:23) - Lessons Learned from Studying with a World Memory Champion (00:26:56) - Lessons Learned from Interviewing Elderly Americans (00:31:31) - Why People Would Be Surprised at Emi Gal’s Discipline (00:34:06) - How to Become More Disciplined (00:39:05) - Emi Gal’s Favorite Books: Antifragile and The Patient Will See You Now (00:42:57) - Emi’s Advice for His Younger Self: Embrace Optionality Early On ABOUT THE GUEST Emi Gal started his first company, Brainient, when he was just 19. He spent 10 years building Brainient into one of the leading ad-tech companies in Europe before it was acquired by Teads—one of the largest advertising platforms in Europe, with 1.8-billion impressions per month. After working with Hospices for Hope, a non-profit in Romania that builds and operates hospices for terminally ill cancer patients, Emi realized that one of the biggest problems with cancer is the lack of a fast, accurate, affordable way to screen for cancer everywhere in the body. He founded Ezra in 2018 to solve this problem using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Artificial Intelligence. To date, he’s reduced the cost of getting a full-body cancer screening by 80% and reduced the time required to get screened by 66%. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen as we decode how Emi Gal tracks more than 150 different biomarkers, what he’s learned doing an Annual Challenge for the last 14 years, why he’s focused on achieving peak health by 40, how to become more disciplined, and more. Emi Gal is the Founder & CEO of Ezra, which is bringing fast and affordable cancer screening to everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Adrian Aoun, who founded Forward into 2017 to turn healthcare from a service into a product and reach 1B+ people globally. Before founding Forward, Adrian served as the Director of Special Projects for Google CEO Larry Page, founded Sidewalk Labs, and served as an advisor to the White House on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Principle: Be problem obsessed, not solution obsessed. Framework: How to predict the future from first principles. Insight: Why healthcare should be a product—not a service. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/problem-obsessions-and-predicting-the-future Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s episodes: Forward’s Adrian Aoun | My Favorite Books, Tools, Habits and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Forward: Bringing Healthcare as a Product to a Billion People | Adrian Aoun, Founder & CEO Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Get the Cheat Sheet newsletter in your inbox: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Adrian Aoun, who founded Forward into 2017 to turn healthcare from a service into a product and reach 1B+ people globally. Before founding Forward, Adrian served as the Director of Special Projects for Google CEO Larry Page, founded Sidewalk Labs, and served as an advisor to the White House on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Principle: Be problem obsessed, not solution obsessed. Framework: How to predict the future from first principles. Insight: Why healthcare should be a product—not a service. Get the Cheat Sheet newsletter in your inbox: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall.  “Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:37) – From Google to Forward (00:09:01) – Why founders should be problem-oriented (00:12:31) – Advising the President on the future of technology (00:17:22) – The root problem of the healthcare industry (00:25:24) – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service (00:30:01) – The imminent fall of health insurance (00:35:06) – Does the healthcare system really matter? (00:45:47) – Why medical specialties don’t make sense (00:55:02) – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it ABOUT FORWARD Adrian Aoun is founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration. Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Forward with Adrian Aoun, where we explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Adrian Aoun's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. “Care deeply about the problem, not about your idea.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Adrian Aoun’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:21) – Creating companies that change the world (00:06:07) – On being stubborn and persistent (00:09:51) – Why medical wearables aren’t working (00:14:03) – It’s just as easy to work on something big as something that’s small (00:16:19) – Everything should relate to the problem (00:17:39) – On fiction and factfulness (00:19:20) – Cycling as meditation (00:20:23) – The only thing that matters is impact ABOUT ADRIAN AOUN Adrian Aoun is the founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare. Where most healthcare follows the service model, where one patient sees a single doctor only when they need care, Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care. It's productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere. It's scalable so it's affordable for everyone and always on with help available through Forward's app, as well as a network of doctors' offices around the United States, which might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. In this episode, Adrian shares why he's so fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused and how he runs problem-centric brainstorms at Forward, where the goal is to beat up on other people's ideas in the name of getting to the best ideas. What he learned working with Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt at Google, as well as the other advisors on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, why modern fitness wearables are broken, and why Adrian thinks we need to build tools to tell people what to do with that data, not just share the data with them. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Adrian Aoun of Forward. In it, we deconstruct Adrian's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Justin Mares, who has built 3 direct-to-consumer brands in Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine that have all reached tens of millions in revenue. All by finding and owning emerging health and wellness trends. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/spotting-and-owning-trends Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: How to spot trends and build businesses to own them. Concept: Wedge versus ramp shaped businesses. Reminder: Why it pays to bring on a Head of Finance early. Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s episodes: #143 Kettle & Fire's Justin Mares | Identifying Trends, 5-Minute Mini Workouts, 6 To Dos Per Day, Favorite Books, and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript #144 Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine: Spotting Trends and Building D2C Brands to Own Them | Justin Mares, Serial Entrepreneur Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Justin Mares, who has built 3 direct-to-consumer brands in Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine that have all reached tens of millions in revenue. All by finding and owning emerging health and wellness trends. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: How to spot trends and build businesses to own them. Concept: Wedge versus ramp shaped businesses. Reminder: Why it pays to bring on a Head of Finance early. Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn how Justin Mares identifies trends and builds direct-to-consumer businesses (and brands) to own them. Including all of the hard lessons that Justin has learned along the way, from why he’s learned to bring on a head of finance early, why consumer business are “cashflow businesses”, to how he competes with generic brands. And so much more. “The Iron Law of Ecommerce across everything I’ve ever started is that I start out thinking I’m selling to people like me and it always turns out that it’s 45-year old women that are buying the product.” — Justin Mares EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kettle-and-fire-perfect-keto-surely-wines-justin-mares  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kettle-and-fire-perfect-keto-surely-wines-justin-mares-transcript/    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:19) - Getting Fired from 13 Jobs and Discovering Entrepreneurship (00:08:34) - The Origin Story of Kettle & Fire (00:15:39) - Evolution of Kettle & Fire’s Branding and Packaging (00:19:10) - Distribution: Direct-to-Consumer vs Wholesale & Retail (00:22:10) - How to Compete with Generic Store Brands (00:24:27) - The Challenges of Building a Sustainably Profitable Business (00:27:13) - Raising Venture Capital for Consumer Brands (00:33:01) - Painful Lessons: $800k in Unpaid Invoices and Why Finance is Strategic (00:39:24) - Launching Perfect Keto and Surely Non-Alcoholic Wine (00:41:48) - Justin’s Annual Review and Goal Setting Process (00:45:44) - Why Extreme People Have Extreme Outcomes (00:49:32) - How to Become an Extreme Person ABOUT THE COMPANIES Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine all have something in common. They were founded by Justin Mares and built to own an emerging health and wellness trend—from drinking more bone broth, to making the move to a keto diet, or deciding to drink only non-alcoholic wine. Listeners can save 15% off any non-subscription Kettle & Fire order by using promo code Outlier15 when checking out on KettleAndFire.com. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode Justin Mares, Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Mares has a knack for identifying trends and building D2C businesses to own them—including Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn how he identifies trends, why he focuses on just 6 tasks each day, how he gets in 25+ minutes of exercise with tiny 5-minute mini workouts during the day, and more. “I’ve learned to appreciate that people systematically undervalue and write off things that are super weird or that they just don’t understand. So I look for areas where most people think that X has a probability of 10% and I think it’s really closer to 40-50%.” — Justin Mares EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/justin-mares-20-minute-playbook    FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/justin-mares-20-minute-playbook-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:06) - Recent Fascination: Environmental Chemicals and Crime (00:04:43) - Justin Mares’ Daily Routine: Focusing on Six To Dos Per Day (00:09:12) - Reflection: Enjoy the Ride & Trust the Process (00:11:45) - Biggest Lessons Learned as an Investor (00:16:59) - Exercise Routine: Three Lifts Per Week, Mobility, Swimming, and Pickleball (00:21:06) - Justin Mares’ Superpower: Identifying Trends (00:23:19) - Tiny Habit: Fitting in 5 Minute Workouts Throughout the Day (00:24:55) - Favorite Books: The Three-Body Problem & The Company (00:27:45) - Advice to Younger Self: Spend More Time Learning From Others ABOUT THE GUEST Justin Mares is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. He’s the Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine and a Venture Partner at Long Journey Ventures. His products are sold in more than 10,000 retail stores, and each of his companies does tens of millions of dollars in annual sales each year. He strives to make a dent in the problems with our food system and improve the trajectory of health in the United States. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Justin Mares, Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another edition of Cheat Sheet by Outlier Academy. Where each week we compress 6+ hours of research and interviews into 3 big ideas that you can read in 5 minutes. This week we profiled Worm Capital, who call themselves “value investors focused on the future.” They’re one of our favorite technology and disruption investors in the public markets. Since Worm’s inception in 2012, they’ve outperformed the S&P 500 by over 2X net of fees—generating 26.73% per annum vs the S&P 500’s 12.08%). Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/the-secret-to-eternal-life-in-business Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Markets provide liquidity, businesses generate value. Or why the game of business has nothing to do with the stock market. How to find the best companies in any industry. First observe, then deconstruct inputs and outputs. The secret to eternal life in business. Or why the company that delivers the best customer value proposition consistently always wins. Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s Outlier Academy episodes: 20 Minute Playbook - Eric Markowitz, Worm Capital’s Head of Research | Conviction vs Opinions, Two-Step Research Process, Favorite Books, and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Outlier Investors - Worm Capital: Value Investors Focused on the Future | On Worm Theory, Worm’s Investing Algorithm, and The Game of Business Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re joined by Eric Markowitz, Head of Research at Worm Capital, to explore Worm Theory, the Worm Algorithm, and investing in disruptive technology. We go deep on being an optimistic and open-minded investor, time horizons, thinking in decades, and constructing a survivable portfolio. “I think we're just optimists. I think that we believe that technology and the culture that we live in will actually improve over time, that there will be more efficiencies across the market, that our lives will improve, that there can be some really great opportunities for wealth creation.” – Eric Markowitz EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/worm-capital-investing-in-technology-and-disruption-eric-markowitz-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/worm-capital-investing-in-technology-and-disruption-eric-markowitz-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to Worm Theory and investing in disruptive technology. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:30) – Worm Capital’s focus on technology, innovation, and disruption (00:07:43) – Investing in the customer value proposition as it stands (00:16:19) – The Worm algorithm for investing (00:21:22) – Being an optimistic and open-minded investor (00:26:01) – Time horizons and thinking in decades (00:32:50) – Conviction and concentration (00:42:39) – Constructing a survivable portfolio (00:52:22) – Worm theory (01:02:00) – Investing in Tesla ABOUT WORM CAPITAL Worm Capital runs a concentrated long only strategy and invests in technology, innovation and disruption. They hold a concentrated portfolio of between five and 10 positions that today includes Shopify, Spotify, Tesla, Airbnb, Amazon, and NextEra Energy. Since inception, Worm has compounded their investors capital at over 31% per year, while the S&P 500 has delivered just over 15% over the same period. Worm Capital has a unique approach to investing, which they call the Worm Algorithm and Worm Theory to understand how they've generated such incredible returns over the last decade. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Worm is one of my favorite hedge funds. I've been reading their quarterly reports for years. They run a concentrated long only strategy and invest in technology, innovation and disruption. They hold a concentrated portfolio of between five and 10 positions that today includes Shopify, Spotify, Tesla, Airbnb, Amazon, and NextEra Energy. Since inception, Worm has compounded their investors capital at over 31% per year, while the S&P 500 has delivered just over 15% over the same period. I sat down with Eric Markowitz, Worm's Head of Research, to dive into Worm's unique approach to investing which they call the Worm Algorithm and Worm Theory to understand how they've generated such incredible returns over the last decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Markowitz shares his journey from being an award-winning journalist to the Director of Research at Worm Capital—leading all of the research that informs Worm’s concentrated, long-only, technological disruption investment focus. Eric shares why investing is all about making good calculated bets, the important of slowing down the research process, how he avoids making behavioral mistakes, and so much more. “I think the lesson learned is there’s so much value to patience in this business. That just slowing down not only the research process, but the actual allocation and trading process, is immensely valuable. Some of the greatest investors just do nothing, right? That is such a hard thing to conceptualize—especially in a culture that values action and values doing things. Most of the time, really the best answer is to do nothing.” — Eric Markowitz EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eric-markowitz-worm-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eric-markowitz-worm-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:56) – Eric’s Path from Journalist to Director of Research (00:07:57) – Why Investing is About Making Good Calculated Bets (00:09:47) – Worm’s Two-Step Research Process (00:13:21) – The Importance of Slowing Down the Research Process (00:15:36) – Guardrails and Keeping Bad Information Out of the Research Process (00:19:48) – Worm’s Behavioral Advantages in Investing (00:23:44) – Eric’s Recent Obsessions: The Future of Robotics (00:26:54) – Eric Markowitz’s Favorite Books ABOUT ERIC MARKOWITZ Eric Markowitz is the Director of Research at Worm Capital. Worm runs a concentrated long-only strategy and invests in technological disruption. They call themselves "value investors focused on the future” and are drawn toward messy, complicated sectors of the market that are difficult to understand—and even more difficult to accurately price. Before joining Worm Capital, Eric worked as an award-winning investigative business journalist and wrote from Inc., The New Yorker, and Newsweek. As the Director of Research, Eric leads all of Worm’s research efforts including mapping out new industries, understanding new technologies, and breaking down investment targets to understand the inputs and outputs that drive their business. Twitter | Worm Capital | The Nightcrawler 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In tomorrow's 20 Minute Playbook, we sit down with Worm Capital's Head of Research, Eric Markowitz. We cover everything from Worm's two-step research process to Eric's favorite books, as well as the tiny habit that's had the biggest positive on his life and the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back in time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone, Founder & CEO of the much loved “tools for thinkers” company Baronfig, joins me on Outlier Book Club to decode his new book, The Laws of Creativity. We cover why creativity isn’t magic, how creators across history from Albert Einstein to Grace Hopper and Bruce Lee wielded creativity to reach incredible heights, practical ways to hone your creativity, a framework for generating ideas, Joey’s process for writing the book, and so much more. “At this point in my career, I have art directed over 100 products from a rough idea into consumer’s hands. I’ve collaborated with incredible creators like James Clear and Roxane Gay. There came a point where it was very obvious how it all worked and fit together—because I was always interested not just in what I was doing but how I was doing it.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:49) - Origin Story of The Laws of Creativity (00:06:39) - Distilling Down the Laws of Creativity (00:08:17) - What Creativity Is and Why It Isn’t Magic (00:18:17) - On Zeno’s Paradox and Choosing to Finish (00:22:58) - The Laws of Mindset, Action, and Greatness (00:25:57) - Joey’s Favorite Law: The Law of Competition (00:29:55) - The Law of Precision (00:33:00) - The Law of The Muse (00:36:06) - On Borrowing vs Stealing Ideas (00:39:42) - The Law of Simplicity (00:42:56) - The Law of Good Enough (00:46:51) - Joey’s Process for Writing the Book (00:55:54) - Knowing When the Book Was Done (01:02:07) - The Highs and Lows of Creating Baronfig (01:04:54) - Creativity vs Business (01:08:21) - Baronfig: The Idea Company ABOUT THE BOOK In his book The Laws of Creativity, Joey debunks why creativity isn’t magic and shares what it is, how it works, and how you can harness it in your everyday life. Learn how to unlock your originality and awaken your creative genius with Joey Cofone—award-winning designer and Founder & CEO of the much loved “Tools for Thinkers'' brand Baronfig. Each of the 39 Laws of Creativity are illustrated with inspiring, enlightening, and surprising stories of iconic creators across history—including Albert Einstein, Serena Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Houdini, Grace Hopper, Bruce Lee, and many more. Joey breaks down how these titans of history wielded creativity to reach incredible heights. “Drawing on decades of experience, Joey Cofone has distilled the elements of creativity into an excellent, easy-to-use guide. The Laws of Creativity provides a roadmap for unleashing the creative force inside you.” — James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s profile episode featuring Joey Cofone, author of The Laws of Creativity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone shares the lessons he’s learned as an award-winning designer, the Founder & CEO of Baronfig, and the author of The Laws of Creativity, including why he’s fascinated with the juxtaposition between skill and renown, how he worked with James Clear to design the Clear Habit Journal, why experimentation is Baronfig’s most important value, how rock bottom taught him how to take risks, and so much more. “There’s a stereotype of creatives, which is that they’re just flying by the seat of their pants. I’m here to tell you that it’s absolutely not true. We need to separate that from what creativity is. We need to decouple this ridiculous stereotype so that more people can blossom creatively.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook    FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook-transcript     CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:08) - Wrestling with Skill vs Renown (00:02:57) - Why People Would Be Surprised at Joey Cofone’s Daily Discipline (00:04:04) - Why Joey Cofone Has Been Tracking His Habits for 13 Years (00:05:21) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Baronfig Products (00:07:23) - How Joey Cofone and James Clear Designed the Clear Habit Journal (00:10:46) - The Laws of Creativity by Joey Cofone in 90 Seconds (00:12:51) - How Rock Bottom Taught Joey Cofone How to Take Risks (00:16:07) - Why the Most Important Value at Baronfig is Experimentation (00:22:08) - Joey Shares His Favorite Books Including Radical Candor and The Phantom Tollbooth (00:23:47) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Advice From His Barber and Malcom Gladwell (00:26:11) - How Joey Cofone Learns From Failure at Baronfig ABOUT THE GUEST Joey Cofone is the Founder & CEO of Baronfig and an award-winning designer and entrepreneur. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, Quartz, Mashable, Gizmodo, and Print, among others. Joey was named a New Visual Artist and, separately, Wunderkind designer by Print magazine. He strives to make work that appeals to curious minds—work that’s beautiful, smart, and communicative. He believes that design is the least of a designer’s worries, that story is at the heart of all tasks, and jumping off cliffs is the only way to grow. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Joey Cofone of Baronfig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another edition of Cheat Sheet by Outlier Academy. Where each week we compress 6+ hours of research and interviews into 3 big ideas that you can read in 5 minutes. This week we profiled one of the internet’s most-read writers (100M+ views), Nicolas Cole, and his latest book Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create a Category of One with co-authors Eddy Yoon and Christopher Lochhead. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/category-creation-and-avoiding-competition Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Competition is for losers, avoid it at all costs. How Eight Sleep created the Sleep Fitness category. How to find and create your own category of one. Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s Outlier Academy episodes: 20 MINUTE PLAYBOOK Nicolas Cole, Co-Founder of Category Pirates and Ship 30 for 30 | Favorite Books and Writing Tools, Enduring Boring Things, and Why Great Writing Changes the Reader Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript BOOK CLUB Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create a Category Of One | Nicolas Cole, Author and Co-Founder of Category Pirates Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicolas Cole shares the lessons he’s learned as one of the internet’s most-read writers, including why he’s fascinated with reverse engineering written work—from James Patterson novels to Twitter threads—into templates writers can use, why all great writing changes the reader, why his superpower is his ability to endure boring things for longer than others, and so much more. “Writers without niches are starving artists. Because again, they’re just competing in these massive competitions. Writers with niches are category kings.” — Nicolas Cole EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/snow-leopard-nicolas-cole  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/snow-leopard-nicolas-cole-transcript   CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:07:37) - Service Businesses, Linear vs Infinite Scaling, and Picking a Bag of Problems (00:10:02) - Ship 30 for 30 and Finding Your Niche (00:17:01) - The Origin Story of Category Pirates and Snow Leopard (00:20:13) - Category Creation, Competition, and Being Different vs Better (00:28:48) - Content-Free Content and Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious (00:35:34) - The Content Pyramid: Levels One, Two, and Three (00:49:44) - The Content Pyramid: Level Four (Making Non-Obvious Connections) (00:55:32) - Debunking Common Myths About Writing and Category Creation (01:04:10) - The Difference Between More Views and More Dollars (01:11:37) - What is Category Creation? (01:14:27) - How to Create a Category: Weird Problem + Weird Solution ABOUT THE BOOK Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create A Category Of One by Category Pirates (Nicolas Cole, Christopher Lochhead, and Eddie Yoon) shares why all legendary writers who stand the test of time create a category of one. In decades past, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert, Leo Burnett, Gary Bencivenga, Al Ries & Jack Trout, and many more master communicators have all written about the psychology behind how messages spread. Snow Leopard builds on their work with dozens of new insights and frameworks, and brings category creation and design into the digital age. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past Nicolas Coles include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Book Club episode featuring Nicolas Cole’s book, Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create A Category Of One. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicolas Cole shares the lessons he’s learned as one of the internet’s most-read writers, including why he’s fascinated with reverse engineering written work—from James Patterson novels to Twitter threads—into templates writers can use, why all great writing changes the reader, why his superpower is his ability to endure boring things for longer than others, and so much more. “It takes you a really long time to realize that great writing has very little to do with you. It will change you in the process. It can be about you, yourself, your heart, and your story. Everything can be in it, but has to ultimately be about the reader.” — Nicolas Cole EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/nicolas-cole-playbook     FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/nicolas-cole-playbook-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:25) - Using Templates to Write Exponentially Faster (00:06:54) - Nicolas Cole’s Favorite Books: Gary Halbert’s Writing and Portnoy’s Complaint (00:11:20) - Nicolas’s Daily Routine and Not Disrupting Flow States (00:15:05) - The Power of Enduring Boring Things (00:16:24) - Nicolas’s Writing Process and Focusing on the Right Thing (00:19:25) - Nicolas Cole’s Favorite Writing Tools (Reedsy’s Book Editor) (00:21:43) - Why All Great Writing Changes the Reader (00:24:33) - How Sharing Work Publicly Changed Nicolas’ Life (00:27:27) - The Advice Nicolas Would Give His Younger Self ABOUT THE GUEST Nicolas Cole is one of the most-read writers on the Internet. Over the past decade, he’s written over 5,000 articles online and ghostwritten for over 300 Founders, C-level executives, NYT best-selling authors, and Grammy-winning musicians. He’s also the Co-Founder of Ship 30 for 30, which is one of the largest cohort-based writing courses online, as well as Typeshare and Category Pirates. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past Nicolas Coles include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Nicolas Cole. In it, Nicolas Cole shares their favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've decided to try something new: ✨  Starting today, every Thursday we're going to condense down hours of interviews and research to give you the 3 best ideas, questions, and bits of wisdom from our podcast episodes that week in an email you can read in 5 minutes. We call it Cheat Sheet, and it won’t cost you a dime. Read the first issue on Abby Levy Miller & Primetime Partners (Episodes #135-136): https://outlieracademy.substack.com/p/agetech-and-living-to-100 Here are the 3 big ideas and questions that we're covering this week: What changes when 50% of the U.S. population lives to be at least 100? What kinds of investment opportunities does this create? How should this all change the way we think about and approach our lives? Sign up for Cheat Sheet: https://outlieracademy.substack.com For more make sure to listen, watch, and explore the full episodes: 20 Minute Playbook: #135 Abby Miller Levy, Co-Founder of Primetime Partners and Thrive Global | On Living to 100, Getting to the Key Issue, and Choosing What to Major and Minor In Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Outlier Investors: #136 Primetime Partners: AgeTech, The Ripple Effects of Living Longer, and Investing in the Future of How We Age | Abby Miller Levy, Co-Founder & Managing Partner Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #138, we explore building and scaling a fulfillment business with handcrafted algorithms. We’re joined by Jivko Bojinov, ShipBob’s Co-Founder. We cover the challenges of a fulfillment business, ShipBob’s custom warehouse algorithms, and the importance of transparency with staff and customers alike. “Ultimately, transparency to your customers is extremely important, no matter how difficult it is to display.” — Jivko Bojinov EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/shipbob-jivko-bojinov  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/shipbob-jivko-bojinov-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building and scaling a fulfillment business with handcrafted algorithms. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – The origin and scaling of ShipBob (00:06:38) – Meeting customers at their pain points (00:10:56) – The challenges of a fulfillment business (00:15:04) – Expanding from ShipBob warehouses to partner locations (00:24:28) – Custom software for scaling ShipBob (00:33:18) – ShipBob’s algorithms for stowing, picking, and packaging (00:43:06) – Strategic projects within the fulfillment space (00:51:53) – The importance of transparency with staff customers alike ABOUT SHIPBOB Jivko Bojinov played professional tennis before co-founding ShipBob with Dhruv Saxena and Divey Gulati in 2014. Jivko is currently the Senior Vice President of Strategic Projects at ShipBob. And over the last eight years, he's led the development and launch of almost every major strategic initiative at ShipBob, from their transition from owning their own fulfillment centers, to developing an asset like partner network of fulfillment centers, to the launch of affordable two day shipping for all of ShipBob's customers. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring ShipBob with Jivko Bojinov. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #137, we deconstruct Jivko Bojinov's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Jivko Bojinov is the Co-Founder of ShipBob. We cover falling in love with the problem, inspiration from pro tennis, and maximizing learning early in your career. “At the start of your career, maximize learning and not your title or your pay, because the dividends that you would make over your lifetime from the greater knowledge and experience that you have early on your career are exponentially higher than getting an extra 5K on your signing from a company out of school.” — Jivko Bojinov EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jivko-bojinov-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jivko-bojinov-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Jivko Bojinov’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:21) – A fascination with eCommerce and logistics (00:02:57) – Making the most of opportunities (00:04:57) – Inspiration from pro tennis and Rafa Nadal (00:09:21) – Perseverance under pressure (00:10:57) – The early morning habit (00:12:22) – Humility, resilience, and The Count of Monte Cristo (00:15:30) – Why you must fall in love with the problem (00:20:07) – Maximize learning early in your career ABOUT JIVKO BOJINOV Jivko Bojinov played professional tennis before co-founding ShipBob with Dhruv Saxena and Divey Gulati in 2014. Jivko is currently the Senior Vice President of Strategic Projects at ShipBob. Over the last eight years, he's led the development and launch of almost every major strategic initiative that ShipBob has shipped, from their transition from owning their own fulfillment centers, to developing an asset-like partner network of fulfillment centers, to the launch of affordable two-day shipping for all of ShipBob's customers. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Jivko Bojinov. In it, Jivko Bojinov shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #136, we explore AgeTech and investing in the future of how we age. We’re joined by Abby Miller Levy, Primetime Partners’s Managing Partner and Co-Founder. We cover becoming an accidental investor, the compelling white space in the senior market, and ending ageism. “I hope we have a society that isn't plagued by obesity and diabetes because people are excited to live longer and are therefore making trade-offs when they're younger to enjoy a longer, healthier life.” – Abby Miller Levy EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/primetime-partners-abby-levy  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/primetime-partners-abby-levy-transcript/  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to AgeTech and investing in the future of how we age. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:00) – From business building at OXO and SoulCycle to becoming an accidental investor (00:07:58) – The compelling white space of the senior market (00:19:22) – Focusing on seed to Series A and launching incubations (00:22:15) – Consumer behavior and employment opportunities in the aging population (00:29:16) – Maximizing today vs. planning for tomorrow (00:37:18) – Housing opportunities for the senior market (00:43:15) – Ending ageism, focusing on preventative healthcare, and embracing multiple careers ABOUT PRIMETIME PARTNERS Abby Miller Levy is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Primetime Partners, which is a new venture capital firm that specializes in AgeTech, or investing in technology around the future of how we age. As you'll hear in this interview, the latest data and statistics around aging are almost too hard to believe. Here are just two data points. As of 2007, it's expected that about half of all babies born will live to be over 100 or become what are called centenarians. And by 2024, it's expected that workers aged 55 or older will represent a full 25% of the nation's workforce, with the fastest annual growth rates among those aged 65 and older. And yet, before Primetime Partners was founded by Abby Levy and venture legend Alan Patricof of Greycroft and Apax Partners fame, there were no venture firms focused solely on aging and enabling the technologies, products, and businesses we'll need to support an aging population. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Primetime Partners with Abby Miller Levy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #135, we deconstruct Abby Miller Levy's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Abby is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Primetime Partners. We cover the hundred year life, lessons from Alan Patricof, and the nonlinear career path. “If you were guaranteed a hundred year life, what would you do differently? How would you think about it? How would you plan for it? How would you live it?” – Abby Miller Levy EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/abby-levy-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/abby-levy-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Abby Miller Levy’s peak performance playbook—from her favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on her life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:29) – The Hundred Year Life (00:03:57) – Lessons from McKinsey, OXO, and Alan Patricof (00:07:09) – Zeroing in on the key issues and leaping into VC (00:15:15) – Investing as an operator, and the nonlinear career path (00:19:02) – Expertise vs. generalism ABOUT ABBY LEVY Abby Miller Levy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Primetime Partners, which is a venture capital firm that Abby co-founded with venture legend Alan Patricof of Greycroft and Apex Partners fame. Primetime specializes in what they call AgeTech, or technology around the future of how we age. Before founding Primetime Partners, Abby had an epic career. She worked at McKinsey. She's worked at OXO. She led growth at SoulCycle, and she even co-founded Thrive with Ariana Huffington. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Abby Miller Levy. In it, Abby shares her favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #105, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Gokul is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. We cover crypto, international investing, and habits and routines. “I always believe the hierarchy of anyone, any individual should be health, then family, then work. Why not family before health? Because if you're not healthy, you become a burden to your family and you can't help them. So, your health is actually very, very important.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:21) – The evolution of crypto (00:02:44) – Superpowers and struggles (00:06:08) – Inspirations and the importance of exercise (00:08:24) – Recommended books (00:10:19) – Tools and routines (00:12:26) – Defining success (00:14:32) – International investing ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is a prolific angel investor in over 300 companies and counting, and an executive at DoorDash, which he joined after DoorDash acquired Caviar from Square in 2019. I was fortunate enough to get to work with Gokul at Square, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show today. In this episode, Gokul shares what he thinks his investing superpowers are, why he loved Marc Andreesen's interview on the Good Time Show, why he loves Andre Agassi's book, Open, and the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back 20 years to the start of his career. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring angel investor Gokul Rajaram. In it, Gokul shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #13, we explore silence, philosophy, and summiting Mount Everest. We’re joined by Erling Kagge, famed explorer and author. We cover Erling’s expeditions across the Atlantic and to the North and South Poles, how he dove into philosophy, and his foray into book publishing. “Experience is the best education you can have, but it's very costly.” – Erling Kagge EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/erling-kagge-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/erling-kagge-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our guide to Erling Kagge’s experiences with silence, philosophy, and summiting Mount Everest. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:57) – How Erling’s daughters inspired his book about silence (00:07:36) – Erling’s experience walking solo to the South Pole (00:13:34) – Erling’s expeditions across the Atlantic and to the North and South Poles (00:21:15) – Erling’s struggle with dyslexia, and how reading became an important part of his life (00:24:23) – How Erling dove into philosophy (00:29:51) – On how Erling got into book publishing, the publishing process at Kagge Forlag (00:47:55) – Why moving slowly is better than speeding through life, and how walking plays into that (01:01:01) – Erling’s daily rituals ABOUT ERLING KAGGE Erling Kagge is a man of many firsts. The New York Times has described Erling as a philosophical adventurer, or perhaps an adventurous philosopher. In 1990, Erling and his expedition partner Børge Ousland became the first people to ever reach the North Pole unsupported. Over the course of 58 days, they covered nearly 500 miles on skis, pulling hundreds of pounds of supplies behind them the entire way. In 1993, Erling became the first person to make a solo, completely unsupported expedition to the South Pole, where he covered over 800 miles in 50 days without any contact with the outside world.  And in 1994, Erling summited Mount Everest, completing what's called the “Three Pole Challenge” by making it to both the North and South Poles, as well as the summit of Mount Everest. Out of those experiences, he's published multiple best selling books, including two of my all time favorites, Silence: In the Age of Noise, and Philosophy for Polar Explorers: What They Don't Teach You in School. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #134, we deconstruct Chris Sparks's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Chris Sparks is the author of Experiment Without Limits. We cover applying game theory to life, maintaining systems, and the self-signaling effect. “I think it really all comes down to trusting the process that accomplishing anything just takes a lot of time and iterative effort.” – Chris Sparks EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/chris-sparks-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/chris-sparks-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Chris Sparks’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:15) – Applying game theory to life (00:05:52) – Focusing on your thought process rather than the result (00:10:12) – Deciding the game you want to play (00:15:05) – Maintaining systems and avoiding habit debt (00:19:39) – Optimizing for your top value (00:31:05) – The self-signaling effect (00:33:43) – Looking for superpowers in others (00:45:56) – Trust the process and stay in the game ABOUT CHRIS SPARKS Chris began his career as a high stakes poker player and became one of the Top 20 Online Poker Players in the world. To achieve that, he studied elite performers across disciplines and started optimizing every area of his life. Which led Chris to found Forcing Function and begin working with the world’s best founders, investors, executives, poker players, and even artists, to optimize their own performance and move more quickly toward their goals. If you're ready to become an elite performer, consider applying for Chris Sparks's group coaching program, Team Performance Training. In Team Performance Training, Chris will teach you how to optimize your productivity, increase your personal leverage, and show up as your best self every day. There are fifteen spots available in Cohort 4 with applications open until the 27th of September. Learn more at teamperformancetraining.com. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNEROutlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Chris Sparks. In it, Chris shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #133, we explore achieving peak performance through experimentation. We’re joined by Chris Sparks, author of Experiment Without Limits and Founder of Forcing Function. We cover productivity vs. peak performance, eliminating dissonance between goals and reality, and writing your personal vision statement. “Rather than thinking about these tactics and how they can work harder, are you working on the right things? This comes back to some of the questions we've been asking today, what do you value? What are you optimizing for in your life? What is your vision? What are you trying to create?” – Chris Sparks EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/experiment-without-limits-chris-sparks  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/experiment-without-limits-chris-sparks-transcript/  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to achieving peak performance through experimentation. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:36) – From poker pro to peak performance (00:06:25) – Productivity vs. peak performance (00:09:51) – Team Performance Training (00:19:33) – Understanding your own values (00:25:16) – Dissonance between goals and reality (00:37:51) – Writing your personal vision statement (00:51:31) – The plan, experiment, reflect flywheel (01:07:08) – Systems minimize downtime (01:21:25) – Maximizing attention and energy ABOUT EXPERIMENT WITHOUT LIMITS Almost exactly two years ago Chris Sparks joined me as our very first guest on Outlier Academy. In this episode he’s back to explore his peak performance and productivity coaching work at Forcing Function. This time, to decode how he works with elite founders, investors, and even artists, to optimize their performance, clarify their goals, and make more progress each day. Chris works with elite founders, investors, and operators in his twice-yearly program, Team Performance Training, which accepts fifteen students at a time and takes them through his ten-week program. If you're ready to become an elite performer, consider applying for Chris Sparks's group coaching program, Team Performance Training. In Team Performance Training, Chris will teach you how to optimize your productivity, increase your personal leverage, and show up as your best self every day. There are fifteen spots available in Cohort 4 with applications open until the 27th of September. Learn more at teamperformancetraining.com. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Book Club episode featuring Chris Sparks’s book Experiment Without Limits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #132, we deconstruct Ben Blumenrose's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Ben Blumenrose is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Designer Fund. We cover how AI might affect designers, the business value of design, and learning from science fiction. “I think one of the things that's lacking in human-centered design is humanity-centered design, because when you're optimizing for the individuals, well, then what happens to the ecosystem at large?” – Ben Blumenrose EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ben-blumenrose-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ben-blumenrose-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Ben Blumenrose’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:48) – How AI might affect designers and artists (00:08:48) – Why should you care about design? (00:15:58) – Inspiration from passionate designers (00:22:36) – The business value of design (00:26:38) – Knowing a good product and standardizing processes (00:31:04) – Learning from science fiction (00:36:16) – Design in the everyday world (00:40:22) – Learnings from 10 years of investing (00:46:34) – Focusing on the craft of design ABOUT BEN BLUMENROSE Ben Blumenrose is the Co-Founder, Co-Director, and Managing Partner of Designer Fund, which is an early stage venture capital firm that backs founders who both recognize the power of design, and are committed to getting design right in their company from day one. Before co-founding Designer Fund with Enrique Allen in 2012, Ben was a design lead at Facebook for nearly six years after joining when the team was just around 100 people in size. In this episode, you'll learn why Ben is fascinated with AI like Dall-E 2 that can create original artwork, why design is utility centric, what Ben has learned from studying natural ecosystems, and why they make it clear that our growth at all cost mentality is flawed. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Ben Blumenrose. In it, Ben shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #131, we explore building the world’s first design centric venture capital firm. We’re joined by Ben Blumenrose, Designer Fund’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner. We cover the Designer Fund algorithm, the core qualities of great startups, and how designers can add value as investors. “What are you spending your nights and weekends on and is there a way for you to make that your job? Because that's the stuff that you're really into.” – Ben Blumenrose EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/designer-fund-ben-blumenrose  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/designer-fund-ben-blumenrose-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building the world’s first design centric venture capital firm. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:39) – The genesis of Designer Fund (00:22:31) – Demystifying design (00:28:28) – Traits of designer founders (00:35:02) – Sweat the details that matter (00:39:23) – The Designer Fund algorithm (00:44:23 – Balancing skepticism and optimism in investing (00:48:47) – Core qualities of great startups (00:50:32) – How designers can add value as investors ABOUT DESIGNER FUND Ben Blumenrose is Co-director and Managing Partner of Designer Fund, which is an early stage venture capital firm that backs founders that both recognize the power of design and are committed to getting design right from day one. Designer Fund was founded by Ben Blumenrose and Enrique Allen in 2012 after the two met at a program put on by Stanford's D school, where students use design to develop their own creative potential. When Ben and Enrique founded Designer Fund, there were few companies in Silicon Valley outside of Apple that understood the power of design to build incredible products, create a category defining brand, and ultimately forge an enduring company. There were also no other venture capitalists with a pure design background. And yet, over the last decade Designer Fund has built an incredible venture firm. They've produced top quartile returns for their investors, beating out almost all of their peers in the market, and we're early investors in a wave of design-centric companies that have defined the last 10 years, including Stripe and Gusto.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Designer Fund with Ben Blumenrose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #130, we deconstruct Robert Cantwell's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Robert is the Portfolio Manager at Compound Kings. We cover longevity in investing, source documents, and learning from fintwit. “I wish someone told me that who you work with peer-wise is the number one driver of whether or not you enjoy working or not.” – Robert Cantwell EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/robert-cantwell-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/robert-cantwell-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Robert Cantwell’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:13) – Longevity in investing (00:03:37) – Investment philosophy at Compound Kings (00:09:05) – Source documents can level up investment knowledge (00:11:23) – Consuming info vs. processing info (00:14:02) – Key tools and learnings from fintwit (00:16:30) – Who you spend your time with is paramount ABOUT ROBERT CANTWELL Robert Cantwell is Founder of Upholdings and Portfolio Manager of Compound Kings, which is an exchange traded fund focused on investing in compounders. I had Robert Cantwell on last year in episode 23, where he joined me shortly after launching Compound Kings in late 2020. Before founding Upholdings and launching Compound Kings, Robert had an incredible career, both as an operator and an investor. Robert started his career as an analyst at Elevation Partners, which was co-founded by U2's lead singer Bono. He then worked at the long short hedge fund Meru Capital before serving as Everlane CFO for five years. Robert founded Upholdings in 2019 and officially launched Compound Kings in late 2020. In this episode, we cover why Robert is obsessed with how we think, process information and make decisions. The single biggest lessons that Robert has taken away from launching and scaling Compound Kings over the last two years, how being a compounding focused investor is different than being solely growth or value focused, why he skips to the back of investment books and goes straight to the source material to form his own opinions about the contents of the book, the investing tools that he and his team use daily at Compound Kings to beat the S&P 500, and his three-step process for consuming thinking through and ultimately coming to conclusions about everything that he reads. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Robert Cantwell. In it, Robert shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #129, Robert Cantwell, Founder & Portfolio Manager of Compound Kings joins us as part of our Outlier Investors series. We discuss the biggest lessons that Robert has learned as an investor and portfolio manager, the top positions in the fund today, and the future of active management. “The investment management business actually looks a lot more like every other business, where there's products, there's marketing, and there's distribution, and you have to be outstanding at all three of those things in order to succeed in this business.” – Robert Cantwell  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/compound-kings-robert-cantwell   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/compound-kings-robert-cantwell-transcript   CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building an ETF business. In it we cover: (00:02:23) – Introduction (00:04:53) – Defining a compounder (growth, profitability, high ROIC) (00:06:22) – Investing in challenging markets (00:14:26) – Robert’s thoughts on the rise of active management (00:17:28) – Why so much money is still in mutual funds (00:19:33) – Thematic ETFs and where they can go wrong (00:39:05) – Why investing in public markets is so challenging (00:46:09) – Top three positions in Compound Kings today: Meta, ServiceNow, and Adyen (01:05:35) – What it’s like to build an ETF business ABOUT COMPOUND KINGS Robert Cantwell is the Founder of Upholdings and Portfolio Manager of Compound Kings, which is an exchange-traded fund focused on investing in companies often called compounders. Compounders are typically profitable, growing, and generate very high returns on invest capital (ROIC). This is an incredible interview with a true pioneer in the actively managed ETF space. In it, we look back at the top three positions in Compound Kings when Robert and I sat down in early 2021, which feels like a world away, to review the performance of Alibaba, Meta, then Facebook and Berkshire Hathaway. Robert shares the three biggest learnings from the last 18 months including: why you always have to be learning new industries; why you should add a quant to your investment team; and why knowing the people running public companies matters a lot. Robert also walks through his team's thesis on the three largest positions in the fund today, which include Meta, ServiceNow and Adyen. This section of the interview is fantastic so skip ahead and don't miss it if you're short on time. And finally, Robert shares what it's like to build an ETF business scale assets under management and why running an investment business is very similar to an enterprise software business.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Compound Kings with Robert Cantwell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #128, we deconstruct Andrew Herr's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Andrew is the Founder and CEO of Fount. We cover how the brain acts under stress, commonalities of peak performance, and simple health experiments anyone can try. “You can do incredible things if you are truly dedicated to it and surround yourself with the right people.” — Andrew Herr EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-herr-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-herr-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Andrew Herr’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:33) – From polyphenols to trust and mission focus (00:05:04) – How the brain acts under stress (00:10:15) – Simple health experiments everyone can undertake (00:12:59) – Patriotism, giving back, and dedication (00:14:40) – Organizing things into frameworks (00:18:03) – Commonalities of peak performance (00:20:36) – Listening to your circadian rhythm and optimizing breakfast (00:22:09) – The books that changed Andrew’s life (00:25:16) – There is no “room of adults” in life ABOUT ANDREW HERR Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three-month program that's born out of Andrew's work, enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the U.S. military, including the Navy SEALs. Before founding Fount, Andrew spent seven years running human performance and biotech strategy for the U.S. military special forces. WIRED Magazine described Andrew's work for the U.S. military as giving our soldiers mutant abilities. Andrew holds master's degrees in microbiology and immunology, health physics and security studies. He studied at Georgetown's famed School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., and he unsurprisingly comes from a highly decorated and long-serving military family. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Andrew Herr of Fount. In it, Andrew shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #127, we explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. “The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:42) – Human performance and biotech strategy in the military (00:08:37) – The limits of military power for achieving political goals (00:15:22) – Navy SEALs and performance modalities (00:19:29) – Novelty and social judgment are the two great human stressors (00:21:55) – The premise of Fount and its future goals (00:31:07) – The 10 top goals for users of Fount, and the experiments they run (00:37:58) – The Fount user journey (00:42:28) – Coaching, both human and AI (00:46:36) – Using experimental methodology as a founder ABOUT FOUNT Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three month program that's born out of Andrew's work enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the US Military, including the Navy Seals. To start, Fount gathers more than 100 data points about their customers using in-depth blood and urine analysis to explore their metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, nutrient levels, liver and kidney function, and even cardiovascular markers. Customers are then paired with an ex-special forces coach who gets to know their goals, day-to-day schedule, and even their family history all before kicking off a series of experiments that run for the remaining 15 weeks of the program. Experimentation is a huge component of how Fount approaches their work. And it's part of their goal of helping each customer find what works for them. As part of the program, customers receive their own custom supplement packs with exactly what they need to take each morning, afternoon, and evening all sent from Fount's own custom supplement manufacturing facility. At the end of the program, Fount then offers a support program to make it easy to keep the gains you've made and continue building on them. This includes less frequent blood and urine tests, as well as a continuous supply of your daily supplements. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Fount with Andrew Herr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #41, we deconstruct Joe Percoco's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Joe is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Titan. We cover Y intercept vs. slope in hiring, calendar auditing, and T-shirt ROI assessments. “I think failure is definitely glorified to a degree. The goal is that you don't just fail consistently; eventually, you provide successful impact to others. But to the degree you're able to royally fail, and then royally succeed, that's way better than just royally succeeding. It's like a great underdog story in a way.” – Joe Percoco EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joe-percoco2-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joe-percoco-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Joe Percoco's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:00:48) – The importance of working on your relationship with yourself (00:03:59) – Y intercept vs. slope in hiring (00:07:37) – Green/yellow/red light calendar auditing (00:09:58) – T-shirt ROI assessments (00:10:53) – Learning from the best coaches (00:14:32) – Training to win and to lose (00:17:10) – Royally failing to royally succeeding ABOUT JOE PERCOCO Joe Percoco is Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Titan, an investment firm focused on leveling the playing field across the wealth spectrum. Titan has recently been valued at $450 million at the close of their Series B round. Before launching Titan, Joe Percoco managed investments at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #18, we explore becoming a better writer. We’re joined by Verlyn Klinkenborg, author and Yale professor. We cover learning from farm life and work, finding rhythm in writing, and debunking writing cliches.  “So what I do now is essentially help students escape from their education. That's my enterprise every year. And it's always fun, because they escape quite readily. They all know that what they're making in their classes is an artificial product that doesn't actually have any particular interest for anyone except them.” – Verlyn Klinkenborg  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/verlyn-klinkenborg-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/verlyn-klinkenborg-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to becoming a better writer. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:00:35) – Rural life and the “home place” (00:03:56) – Raising animals and eating meat (00:09:20) – Learnings from farm life and work (00:13.48) – Verlyn’s reading habits (00:19:51) – Physical vs. digital books (00:26:53) – Verlyn’s book Several Short Sentences About Writing (00:33:01) – What is academic prose? (00:38:21) – Why people should use shorter sentences in writing (00:42:56) – Finding rhythm in writing (00:47:01) – Self authorization and noticing the world around you (00:53:38) – Writing cliches that are untrue (00:58:16) – What to expect from a class with Verlyn (01:04:56) – Writing is rooted in experience more than language ABOUT SEVERAL SHORT SENTENCES ABOUT WRITING Verlyn Klinkenborg teaches creative writing at Yale University, and was a member of the editorial board of The New York Times for 16 years. His work has been featured in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Esquire, and National Geographic, and he has authored several books, including Several Short Sentences About Writing. This book aims to debunk general cliches about writing and creativity and remove obstacles keeping us from clear self-expression. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #126, we deconstruct Saad Alam's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Saad is the Founder and CEO of Hone Health. We cover radical transparency, daily gratitude, and constructing a purposeful life. “I think that people that don't believe you can do it all, I think it's a load. And I think you just have to really sit down and engineer your day and your life a little bit more.” – Saad Alam  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/saad-alam-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes//saad-alam-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Saad Alam’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:09) – Fixing healthcare and defining the soul (00:03:47) – Radical transparency and playing in the dirt (00:06:38) – Big swings vs. base hits (00:08:09) – Priorities and daily gratitude (00:10:43) – Confessions of an Economic Hitman (00:12:41) – Understanding markets and emotional intelligence (00:14:28) – Believing in what you do (00:17:59) – An obsession with wellness (00:24:52) – Constructing a purposeful life ABOUT SAAD ALAM Saad Alam is Founder and CEO of Hone, which is creating an entirely new type of healthcare company initially focused on helping men with low testosterone. Saad describes it as helping men age with confidence. Saad is a serial entrepreneur who founded two companies before he founded home. He's completely focused on building mission-driven companies that solve problems that have directly affected him. And he's probably one of the fittest guests I've ever had on the show. His daily routine, from his morning meditation to the way he works out, how he changes the personal trainer he uses every quarter, how he uses everything from an infrared sauna to hyperbaric chamber, is the most intense of anyone I've ever interviewed. In it, we cover Saad's daily health and fitness regimen, from drinking water directly after he wakes up to meditating 10 minutes, two times per day. We talk through all of the equipment he uses, from his infrared sauna to an at home hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Saad shares why he writes down three things he's grateful for every single morning and how that practice shows up when he's burnt out and tired at the end of the day, and being able to remind himself about why he's doing what he's doing.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Saad Alam. In it, Saad shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #125, we explore testosterone replacement therapy and building a telehealth company. We’re joined by Saad Alam, Hone Health’s Founder and CEO. We cover the basics of testosterone, the future of health management, and learnings from building a telehealth company. “When people say a good CEO basically works himself out of a job and spends 30 for 40% of his time recruiting, I thought that was a cute kitchen magnet that really probably wasn't real. And the reality is, it actually couldn't be more true.” – Saad Alam  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building and scaling a testosterone replacement telehealth company. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:39) – Saad’s background and the genesis of Hone (00:10:12) – Making life whatever you want it to be (00:15:12) – Helping men have confidence as they age (00:18:25) – What is testosterone, and how does it work? (00:24:22) – Non-pharmaceutical treatments for low testosterone (00:27:23) – The risks of high and low testosterone levels (00:32:28) – The patient journey at Hone (00:44:12) – The future of health management (00:50:29) – Learnings from building a telehealth company (00:54:48) – The importance of hiring people who are better than you ABOUT HONE HEALTH Saad Alam is Founder and CEO of Hone, which is creating an entirely new type of healthcare company initially focused on helping men with low testosterone. Saad describes it as “helping men age with confidence.” Low testosterone is an alarming and growing trend, which is why testosterone treatments like Hone are on the rise. Scientific research has shown that for decades now the level of testosterone in men has been declining. The most alarming statistic is that our generation has around 50% less testosterone than our father's generation, who in turn has less testosterone than their father's generation. And the reasons behind this are very complicated, but a large part of it seems to be due to growing environmental and plastic pollution, which have caused the level of heavy metals in our bodies to rise while micro plastics in our blood disrupt the production of testosterone and actually spur the production of estrogen. With this context, you would imagine that it's becoming easier to find out if you have low testosterone and get testosterone treatments if needed, but you would be very wrong, which is why Saad Alam founded Hone and set out to revolutionize the way that men are treated for low testosterone. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Hone Health with Saad Alam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #107, we deconstruct Howie Schwab's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Howie is the Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth of Driehaus Capital. We cover regime shifts in the market and obsessing over failures. “In terms of how we invest, I think integrating and overlaying macro as well as behavioral components, not simply wedding ourselves to this bottom up, here's our specific template and it's time tested is really important.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Howie Schwab’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:41) – Regime shifts in the market (00:06:51) – Learning from investing mentors (00:10:08) – Great investors obsess over their failures (00:12:48) – Advice for young investors (00:16:43) – Howie’s investment philosophy (00:24:24) – Challenging yourself ABOUT HOWIE SCHWAB Howie Schwab manages more than 5 billion in emerging market growth funds for Driehaus which is a firm that's based in Chicago and where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the emerging market's growth. And he's a portfolio manager for the emerging market, small cap equity and emerging markets opportunities. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Howie Schwab of Driehaus. In it, Howie shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #104, we explore emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. We’re joined by Howie Schwab, Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth at Driehaus. We cover the lure of emerging markets, a behavioral focus on investing, and the impact of shifting voting demographics “I think it's true everywhere, but data shows it's particularly true in emerging markets, which is that the persistence of risk is generally higher than the persistence of return.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:20) – Howie’s background and work at Driehaus Capital (00:06:52) – The lure of emerging markets (00:12:20) – A behavioral focus in investing (00:19:30) – Seeing patterns and avoiding fraud (00:24:12) – Researching and publishing market analysis (00:43:21) – The state of financial assets today (00:49:41) – The future and financial repression (00:56:42) – The shift in voting demographics and its economic impact (01:02:14) – Advice for investors ABOUT DRIEHAUS Howie Schwab manages more than five billion in emerging market growth for Driehaus, which is based in Chicago, and it's where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Growth, and he's a portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Small Cap Equity and Emerging Markets Opportunity Strategies. I've learned an enormous amount from Howie, both as an investor and a macro thinker, since I first met him, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show to share what he's learned managing many of the world's best performing emerging market funds over the last 20 years. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Driehaus Capital with Howie Schwab. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #124, we deconstruct Andrew Carter’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Andrew is the Co-Founder & CEO of Smallhold. We cover eliminating the ego, building around community, and creating lasting relationships. “Build around community. You want to focus on the people around you, and the people that you're servicing, however you're servicing them.” – Andrew Carter EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-carter-playbook FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-carter-playbook-transcript CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Andrew Carter’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:17) – On being fascinated by his child (00:04:16) – The importance of eliminating your ego (00:04:55) – Building around community (00:05:35) – Life lessons from eco machines (00:08:20) – Entangled life and self-help books (00:10:15) – The benefits of letting people finish their thoughts (00:11:30) – Build lasting relationships with people ABOUT ANDREW CARTER Andrew Carter is co-founder and CEO of Smallhold, which is upending the food industry by growing mushrooms in Michelin-star rated restaurants and grocery stores, and through their network of on-site and macro farms. Today, 68% of all mushrooms consumed in the United States come from a single town in Pennsylvania called Kennett Square. That's 400 million pounds worth of mushrooms per year, which means that most mushrooms are transported across a vast distribution network to reach stores all around the United States. Smallhold knew there was a better way, so they spent years creating a proprietary set of technologies that could allow them to grow mushrooms in an incredibly small footprint, in their on-site farms are about the size of a small standing cabinet. Smallhold is an incredible example of what the future of food looks like, and they're just getting started. In this episode, Andrew shares why everyone should watch the mushroom-focused Netflix documentary, Fantastic Fungi, his advice for building an incredible company culture, and the advice he'd give himself if he could go back to the start of his career. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Andrew Carter of Smallhold. In it, Andrew Carter shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #78, we explore inflation, retail investors, precious metals, and Bitcoin. We’re joined by Luke Gromen, Founder of The Forest for the Trees. We cover Luke’s perspectives on inflation, investing in alternative assets, and interpreting investment data. “My sense of where we are is... we're basically in the first bursting global sovereign debt bubble in 100 years.” – Luke Gromen EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/perspectives-data-analysis-inflation-fftt-luke-gromen-ig-show-notes FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/perspectives-data-analysis-inflation-fftt-luke-gromen-ig-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to inflation, retail investors, precious metals, and Bitcoin. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:02) – Luke's experience as an analyst at investment research firms (00:09:37) – Interpreting and presenting investment data (00:12:05) – How Luke started The Forest for the Trees (00:17:22) – Luke's take on the current financial climate (00:20:34) – The importance of owning assets in today's climate (00:23:58) – Perspectives on inflation (00:41:15) – Investing in alternative assets (00:50:54) – Gold and Bitcoin (00:54:53) – Recommended books and resources ABOUT THE FOREST FOR THE TREES Luke Gromen publishes a weekly macro research report read by institutional and individual investors alike, called Tree Rings. And he's also the author of Mr. X Interviews volume one and two. After working as an analyst for 20 plus years, Luke founded the Forest for The Trees in 2014. Luke is known as one of today's best macroeconomic thinkers. His view is that as data becomes increasingly commoditized, free thinking becomes priceless. And that's exactly why I wanted to have him on the show. After an incredibly tumultuous 2021, I wanted to sit down with Luke to get his thoughts on the last year, the road ahead, and some of the toughest challenges we're facing today, from a multi decade high in inflation to shifts in how we collectively think about money.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #123, we deconstruct Steve Vassallo's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Steve is General Partner at Foundation Capital. We cover translating non-human languages, enlightened procrastination, and his insatiable curiosity. “Go deep, go early, go big.” – Steve Vassallo EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/steve-vassallo-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/steve-vassallo-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Steve Vassallo’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:52) – Translating non-human languages (00:06:35) – Having insatiable curiosity and a deep love of building hard things (00:08:27) – Investment philosophy can be distilled down to conviction (00:10:21) – You can always find a way to build something you’ve already sold, but you can’t always sell something you’ve already built (00:12:08) – Enlightened procrastination (00:14:44) – Thinking, Fast and Slow (00:17:10) – Invest in people you want to work with (00:21:01) – Take stock of what you’re granting your attention to ABOUT STEVE VASSALLO Steve Vassallo has been a general partner at Foundation Capital for the last 15 years. At Foundation, he's led the firm's investments in Stripe, Cerebra, Sunrun, Loft Orbital, Solana, and many other incredible firms. Steve is also the author of The Way to Design, which is a guide to how companies of all sizes should approach design. The book is a compendium of interviews with more than 50 designers, design scholars and tech founders who have gotten design right from day one. Steve began his career at IDEO where he worked closely with IDEO's founder, David Kelly, to research design and deliver innovative products and services across industries. Because of Steve's early experiences at IDEO he's drawn to product-centric founders and has a wonderful knack for bringing design and engineering together to create incredible products. In this episode, we cover why Steve has been fascinated with the wicked problems that exist in Crypto and why he thinks we're still in the earliest innings there. He talks about his work with the earth species project, whose goal is to decode non-human language in mammals of all sizes from whales to monkeys. Talks about how he combines insatiable curiosity and a deep love of building hard things in his investing work. He shares his advice for founders and investors, and he shares his favorite books, including why he loves Thinking Fast and Slow and Poor Charlie's Almanack. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Steve Vassallo of Foundation Capital. In it, Steve Vassallo shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #122, we explore growing the world’s best mushrooms in high-tech mini-farms. We’re joined by Andrew Carter, Smallhold’s Co-Founder & CEO. We cover the science and complexities of mushrooms, distributed farming, and how Smallhold is aiming to revamp the food industry. “Smallhold wants people to eat more mushrooms. We are mainly just trying to get mushrooms on people's plates in any sort of way possible. We want them to be grown locally, so they're fresh and enjoyable.” – Andrew Carter EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/smallhold-andrew-carter   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/smallhold-andrew-carter-transcript   This episode is our definitive guide to growing the world’s best mushrooms in high-tech mini-farms. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:51) – The move from hydroponics to mycology (00:13:34) – How Smallhold is getting people to eat more mushrooms (00:19:02) – The science and complexities of growing mushrooms (00:24:02) – The decomposition cycle and mushroom growth technology (00:32:13) – Revamping the food industry (00:37:47) – The concept of distributed farming (00:41:56) – How branding fresh produce is different from other products (00:45:19) – Smallhold’s presence in local restaurants (00:51:52) – Fantastic Fungi has increased interest in mycology (00:54:33) – The importance of letting go ABOUT SMALLHOLD Andrew Carter is co-founder and CEO of Smallhold, which is upending the food industry by growing their mushrooms in Michelin-star rated restaurants, grocery stores, and through their network of onsite and macro farms. Today, 68% of all mushrooms consumed in the United States come from a single town in Pennsylvania called Kenneth Square. 400 million pounds worth of mushrooms per year, to be exact. This means that most mushrooms are transported across a vast distribution network to reach stores all around the United States. Smallhold knew there was a better way, so they spent years creating a proprietary set of technologies that allows them to grow mushrooms in an incredibly small footprint, about the size of a small standing cabinet. Andrew covers why the modern food industry is broken, from why most apples you eat are nearly a year old, and why most fish sold in the United States, even if it's caught in the States, is sent to China to be processed, and then back to the US to be sold. We cover the technology behind Smallhold and all of the lessons Andrew has learned along the way. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Smallhold with Andrew Carter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #121, we deconstruct Adrian Aoun's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. “Care deeply about the problem, not about your idea.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Adrian Aoun’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:21) – Creating companies that change the world (00:06:07) – On being stubborn and persistent (00:09:51) – Why medical wearables aren’t working (00:14:03) – It’s just as easy to work on something big as something that’s small (00:16:19) – Everything should relate to the problem (00:17:39) – On fiction and factfulness (00:19:20) – Cycling as meditation (00:20:23) – The only thing that matters is impact ABOUT ADRIAN AOUN Adrian Aoun is the founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare. Where most healthcare follows the service model, where one patient sees a single doctor only when they need care, Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care. It's productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere. It's scalable so it's affordable for everyone and always on with help available through Forward's app, as well as a network of doctors' offices around the United States, which might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. In this episode, Adrian shares why he's so fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused and how he runs problem-centric brainstorms at Forward, where the goal is to beat up on other people's ideas in the name of getting to the best ideas. What he learned working with Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt at Google, as well as the other advisors on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, why modern fitness wearables are broken, and why Adrian thinks we need to build tools to tell people what to do with that data, not just share the data with them. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Adrian Aoun of Forward. In it, Adrian shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #120, we explore reinventing a well-established venture capital firm. We’re joined by Steve Vassallo, General Partner at Foundation Capital. We cover Minimum Awesome Product, the prepared mind vs. open mind, and learnings from tearing down and rebuilding an investment firm. “The best product matters, but it is not what defines a generationally important company.” – Steve Vassallo EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/foundation-capital-steve-vassallo  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/foundation-capital-steve-vassallo-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to reinventing a venture capital firm. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:39) – From electro mechanical engineering to product design (00:06:22) – Interdisciplinary innovation and missionary misfits (00:10:24) – How investing snuck into Steve’s career (00:15:33) – Working at the intersection of building and investing (00:19:24) – A 15-year window into the investment world (00:24:45) – Tearing down and rebuilding an investment firm (00:39:04) – Identifying a firm’s turning point (00:41:21) – Going down the rabbit hole of crypto and enticing investors to follow (00:51:35) – The prepared mind vs. open mind (00:54:44) – Building the best product matters, but it doesn’t guarantee success (00:57:56) – The Minimum Awesome Product and evolving product-market fit (01:02:07) – Advice for new founders ABOUT FOUNDATION CAPITAL Steve Vassallo is General Partner at Foundation Capital and author of "The Way to Design." In this episode, we explore what it's like to reinvent a venture capital firm. Foundation Capital was founded in 1995, 27 years ago by Bill Elmore, Catherine Gold, and Jim Anderson. One of the foundation's early claims to fame was that it was one of the first investors in Netflix back in the early 2000s.  This episode is our definitive guide to reinventing a venture capital firm. In it, we cover Steve's early years bringing design, product, and engineering together at IDEO, and what that taught him about building successful products and companies, the early warning signs he saw that made it clear Foundation Capital needed to be reinvented, how Foundation rediscovered who they were and who they wanted to be as a team, how they changed the way they operated and made investment decisions to giving partners more latitude to invest in the ideas they thought could be massive companies in the years to come, how they began making crypto investments, which led to massive wins in Solana and Brave by making small bets and winning over LP support as the wins added up. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Foundation Capital with Steve Vassallo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #119, we deconstruct Michael Brandt's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Michael is the Co-Founder and CEO of HVMN and Ketone IQ. We cover barefoot running, creating brand synesthesia, and the magic of walking. “Do not reinvent the wheel for 80% of what you're doing. Because the 20% of what you're doing that's really special and interesting, that's going to take a 100% of your time. It could and should.” – Michael Brandt EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/michael-brandt-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/michael-brandt-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Michael Brandt’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:02) – HVMN and ketones (00:04:17) – Barefoot running and improving running form (00:06:50) – Speaking multiple languages across the business as a founder (00:09:37) – Continuous glucose monitoring and heart rate monitoring for peak performance (00:13:27) – Embedding Ketone-IQ into daily life (00:15:58) – Creating brand synesthesia with design (00:22:22) – Recommended books, from Shoe Dog to Born to Run (00:26:43) – The importance of daily activity and the magic of walking (00:31:19) – Find more mentors and don’t reinvent the wheel for 80% of your business As a listener — that’s you — you can try Ketone-iQ and save 10% off today. Simply go to HVMN.me/OutlierAcademy or use code OUTLIER at checkout. ABOUT MICHAEL BRANDT Michael Brandt is the co-founder and CEO of HVMN which makes the world's first drinkable ketones. HVMN stands for Health Via Modern Nutrition. And in 2017, they launched version 1.0 of their drinkable ketone product after landing a six million dollar contract with the US Department of Defense to study how ketones could improve the performance of our special forces warriors. HVMM launched version 2.0 called KetoneIQ last year in November 2021. Michael is also an avid marathoner, long distance runner, and biohacker which we talk about a lot in this episode. In this episode, Michael shares his product design and branding principles, including his theory of synesthesia or why every part of your aesthetic and brand has to relate to every other part. He talks about how he uses drinkable ketones and KetoneIQ in his daily life, including what products he stacks it with. We discuss his favorite books on running, and the design and engineering thought that went into HVMN. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Michael Brandt of HVMN and Ketone IQ. In it, Michael shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #118, we explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall.  “Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:37) – From Google to Forward (00:09:01) – Why founders should be problem-oriented (00:12:31) – Advising the President on the future of technology (00:17:22) – The root problem of the healthcare industry (00:25:24) – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service (00:30:01) – The imminent fall of health insurance (00:35:06) – Does the healthcare system really matter? (00:45:47) – Why medical specialties don’t make sense (00:55:02) – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it ABOUT FORWARD Adrian Aoun is founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration. Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Forward with Adrian Aoun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #117, we deconstruct Adam Nash's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adam is the Co-Founder and CEO of Daffy. We cover the importance of brutal prioritization, lessons from mentors and books, and being a leader as an engineer. “For many people who come from an engineering background, it can be difficult separating building the product you want to build from actually building the company itself, which is going to build and maintain that product indefinitely.” – Adam Nash EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adam-nash-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adam-nash-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Adam Nash’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:03) – The rapid progress in space exploration (00:03:05) – Being a leader as an engineer (00:04:31) – The importance of brutal prioritization (00:07:22) – On Reid Hoffman, building companies, and solving problems (00:08:52) – Why every founder should read The Innovator’s Dilemma (00:11:59) – Your daily top three (00:14:08) – The lessons of delayed gratification and humility in gardening ABOUT ADAM NASH Adam Nash is the co-founder and CEO of Daffy, which is building a modern platform for giving and in the process rethinking how we all give to the causes and charities we care about. Adam has a long and incredible history as an entrepreneur and builder. He's been a VP at LinkedIn, helping scale the network in its earliest years, entrepreneur in residence at Greylock, the President and CEO of Wealthfront, and an advisor to a long list of incredible companies from Gusto to Bitwise. In this episode, Adam shares why the hardest part of company building is prioritization and phasing, and how he gets these things right. We talk about why, as a founder, it's important to know everyone's superpower on your team. He shares the lessons he learned by working closely with Clayton Christensen of the Innovator's Dilemma fame. He shares why he's a big believer in interdisciplinary innovation, and that his favorite thing to do on the weekends is gardening and what that's taught him about company building. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Adam Nash of Daffy. In it, Adam shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #116, we explore metabolic health with ketones. We’re joined by Michael Brandt, HVMN and Ketone IQ’s Co-Founder and CEO. We cover the basics of ketones, iterating on product, and the company’s $6 million contract with Navy SEALs. “Your human body is the most advanced piece of technology you'll ever own.” – Michael Brandt EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hvmn-michael-brandt  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hvmn-michael-brandt-transcript/  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to metabolic health with ketones. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:02) – Marathon running and the origin of HVMN (00:08:47) – Health via modern nutrition (00:10:51) – Ketones as a metabolic substrate (00:15:32) – Energy from ketones vs. energy from glucose (00:20:52) – How substrates work in the body (00:29:08) – Operation Metabolic Dominance (00:31:56) – HVMN’s $6 million contract with the Navy Seals (00:36:08) – How ketones can improve performance in endurance sports (00:49:07) – Iterating on the product and moving from petrochemicals to biochemicals (00:59:00) – Ketones as an alcohol replacement in cocktails and more (01:05:17) – Educating consumers is step one for growth As a listener — that’s you — you can try Ketone-iQ and save 10% off today. Simply go to HVMN.me/OutlierAcademy or use code OUTLIER at checkout. ABOUT HVMN Michael Brandt is Co-founder and CEO of HVMN, which makes the world's first drinkable ketones. HVMN stands for Health via Modern Nutrition, and in 2017, they launched version 1.0 of their drinkable ketones product. After landing a $6 million contract with the US Department of Defense to study how ketones could improve the performance of our special forces warriors, they launched version 2.0, called Ketone-IQ, in November 2021. In this episode, we cover ketosis and ketones 101, including what ketones are, how they work, and why they're so helpful for boosting cognitive and physical performance. We compare and contrast ketones with sugar, covering everything from how ketones pass the blood brain barrier to why they provide energy with less oxidative stress. We dive into how drinkable ketones are used by the Navy SEALs and Operation Metabolic Dominance. And we discuss all the work that HVMN has done around bioengineering, manufacturing, and testing to produce their latest product, Ketone-IQ. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring HVMN and Ketone IQ with Michael Brandt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #115, we deconstruct Milind Mehere's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Milind Mehere is the Founder and CEO of Yieldstreet. We cover the ABCDE of building a company, the importance of gratitude, and the impact of blockchain on private markets. “Be bright, be brief, be gone.” – Milind Mehere EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/milind-mehere-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/milind-mehere-playbook-transcript/ CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Milind Mehere’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:09) – The impact of blockchain on private markets (00:03:16) – Adaptability as a superpower (00:04:59) – Learning from mentors, both personal and public (00:07:09) – Be bright, be brief, be gone. (00:09:14) – The ABCDE of building a company (00:12:19) – Leadership and Self-Deception, plus American Aristocracy (00:13:49) – The importance of gratitude ABOUT MILIND MEHERE Milind Mehere is co-founder and CEO of Yieldstreet. Milind's background is fascinating. Before founding Yieldstreet in 2014, Milind founded and scaled several other companies, including Yodle, which he scaled to $220 million in annual revenue before being acquired by web.com. Over the last eight years, Yieldstreet has built one of the largest private investment platforms in the world. To date, they brought on over 377,000 members that have invested more than $1.5 billion, and Yieldstreet has paid out over $196 million in interest alone. In this episode, Milind shares why he's been fascinated with blockchain and the problems it can solve, including KYC for platforms like Yieldstreet as well as why his superpower is adaptability, and how that's helped him as a serial entrepreneur. He shares some of his favorite books, including, Leadership and Self Deception and The Richest Man in Babylon, as well as why he loves the phrase, "Be bright, be brief, be gone," and why, if he could go back in time, he'd tell his younger self to take even more risks. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Milind Mehere of Yieldstreet. In it, Milind shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #114, we explore building a modern charitable giving platform. We’re joined by Adam Nash, Daffy’s Co-Founder and CEO, and we cover donor-advised funds, getting kids involved in charity, and philosophies on angel investing. “I think the center of solving problems with products and software is to just always remember that people are the heart of everything. You're solving a problem for a person.” – Adam Nash EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/daffy-adam-nash  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/daffy-adam-nash-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a modern charitable giving platform. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:41) – From Apple to eBay, and from LinkedIn to Daffy (00:05:01) – Technology asks, what have you done for me lately? (00:10:53) – The hard part of being a contrarian is being wrong most of the time (00:15:06) – Software goes beyond the products you build (00:17:45) – Crossing the chasm (00:22:56) – The basics of using Daffy (00:28:03) – Overcoming customer perception of giving (00:33:17) – What are donor-advised funds? (00:41:38) – Choosing a charity in Daffy (00:48:34) – Getting kids involved in charity (00:51:53) – On Personal Finance for Engineers (00:55:52) – Adam’s angel investing thesis (01:02:07) – Lessons from Clayton Christensen ABOUT DAFFY Adam Nash is co-founder and CEO of Daffy, which is building a modern platform for giving, and in the process rethinking how we all give to the causes and charities we care about. Daffy has taken something typically only known and used by the ultra wealthy, the donor-advised fund, and made it available to anyone. With a Daffy account, anyone can contribute cash, stock and even crypto, which is all tax deductible, and then give whatever amount they'd like to over 1.5 million charities on their platform. You can invest your contribution so that your donor-advised fund compounds in value, allowing you to give even more in the years to come, all with the goal of making giving easy and affordable enough that we can all make giving a part of our daily lives. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Daffy with Adam Nash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #113, we’re joined by Mo Islam, Payload’s Co-Founder. We cover lessons we can learn from the Apollo space era, why killing them with kindness is the best option, and why founders should stay focused on what they love. “Hubris kills startups and humility saves them. No matter what your success level is or may not be, it's really important to always be humble about what you're building and what you're doing because it can change at the drop of a hat.” – Mo Islam EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mo-islam-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mo-islam-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Mo Islam’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – Clearing up misconceptions about space (00:03:06) – Kill them with kindness, embrace the boredom (00:05:30) – Learning from Phillippe Laffont and Engines That Move Markets (00:07:33) – Hubris kills startups; humility saves them (00:09:18) – Focus on what you love (00:12:02) – Learning from the Apollo era (00:13:15) – Relying on to-do lists and the Notes app (00:15:53) – Do what matters, change people’s lives for the better ABOUT MO ISLAM Mo Islam is co-founder of Payload, which is building a media empire dedicated to covering the business and policy of space, as in outer space. We discovered Payload and immediately subscribed to their daily newsletter after it was recommended by Delian Asparouhov, co-founder of Varda Space Industries, in Episode 71. We asked Delian what newsletters and websites he used to stay on top of everything going on in space, and he had only one answer: Payload Space. Mo Islam has a fascinating background in finance, having worked at J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank before co-founding Payload. In this episode, Mo shares why hubris kills startups and humility saves them, what he's learned from incredible investors like Philippe Laffont at Coatue, and why he loves the book Engines That Move Markets, which we had never heard of but immediately ordered after recording this episode with him. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Mo Islam of Payload. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #112, we explore building an alternative investment platform across income, equity, and real estate. We’re joined by Milind Mehere, Yieldstreet’s Founder and CEO. We cover the entrepreneurial spirit, building a portfolio of liquidity, and why you should invest in private markets. “I think we talk a lot about spending; we should talk an equal amount about earning.” – Milind Mehere  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/yieldstreet-milind-mehere FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/yieldstreet-milind-mehere-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to private markets and building a private market investment platform. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:22) – From tech entrepreneur to creating an investment platform (00:08:44) – The entrepreneurial spirit (00:12:07) – How public markets have shifted, and why you should invest in private markets (00:16:09) – Changes in consumer behavior that affect how we should invest (00:20:30) – Recommendations on how to allocate your investment portfolio (00:23:07) – Building a rolling portfolio of liquidity (00:27:06) – Retail investors and a generational wealth transfer (00:31:55) – The investment environment in Yieldstreet’s early stages (00:35:43) – How an ongoing bet between co-founders propelled Yieldstreet forward (00:37:41) – The extreme need for trust and credibility in money management (00:41:43) – Distribution infrastructure and a two-sided marketplace in Yieldstreet (00:51:36) – Founders: learn from feedback, find the right team, and be well-capitalized ABOUT YIELDSTREET Milind Mehere is co-founder and CEO of Yieldstreet. Yieldstreet was founded in 2014, and over the last eight years has built one of the largest private investment platforms in the world. To date, they've brought on over 377,000 members to invest more than $1.5 billion, and they've paid out over $196 million in interest on income producing investments alone, not including principle. What started out as a far-fetched idea in 2014 to build one of the world's first private market investment platforms, initially focused around producing income investments like credit, hence the name Yieldstreet, has become one of the largest investment platforms in the world alongside companies like AngelList and Republic. This episode is our definitive guide to private markets and building a private market investment platform. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Yieldstreet with Milind Mehere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #111, we deconstruct Illia Polosukhin's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Illia is the co-founder of NEAR Protocol and Unchain Fund. We cover why context switching is a necessary skill for founders, Illia’s recommended books, and the nuance of the Russian language in writing. “Find a mentor who's a few years ahead of you, like not too far, but like two, three years ahead of you, because those are people who still remember what they were doing in your position. And so they will be able to give you the most useful advice.” – Illia Polosukhin EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/illia-polosukhin-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/illia-polosukhin-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Illia Polosukhin’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:59) – Designing social graph in Web3 (00:04:01) – Why context switching is a necessary skill for founders (00:05:51) – Finding mentors who are just a few years ahead of you in business (00:10:56) – Building a great decentralized ecosystem requires high-level, small, agile teams (00:13:29) – Books Illia recommends (00:16:59) – The nuance of the Russian language in writing ABOUT ILLIA POLOSUKHIN Illia Polosukhin is co-founder of NEAR Protocol. NEAR is a layer one blockchain that's incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees and is climate neutral, in part because of its proof of stake model. It's traded on crypto exchanges under the ticker symbol NEAR, and has a market cap of just under $5 billion today. From 2020 through 2021, the developers working in NEARs ecosystem, that's everyone building applications on top of their blockchain quadrupled, making NEAR the second fastest growing chain behind only Solana.  In this episode, Illia shares why he loves running daily and how it helps him remember to just put one foot in front of the other to accomplish anything; why he loves the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and how he applies that principle in his life and work; why he's fascinated with the concept of a social graph and how to build it into the NEAR protocol and why it's so important for building a better world in Web3; why he thinks everyone should find mentors that are two to three years ahead of them in terms of where they'd like to be and why he'd tell his younger self to focus on speed and velocity shipping quickly in everything that he does. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Illia Polosukhin of NEAR Protocol. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #110, we explore building a media brand to cover the business and policy of space. We’re joined by Mo Islam, Payload’s Co-Founder, who talks with us about becoming the number one resource for space industry news. We cover everything from lowering the costs of space travel to why we are in the middle of the next space race. “Very simply, we are living in the next space race, and it's going to have huge implications for the way we built technology, the way we spend dollars in military.” – Mo Islam EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/payload-mo-islam  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/payload-mo-islam-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a media brand to cover the business and policy of space. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:36 – How Payload focuses on the business and policy of space 00:10:54 – How Elon Musk has changed the space race 00:15:17 – Aerospace and defense go hand in hand 00:18:11 – Earth imaging illuminates the atrocities of war 00:19:36 – We are living in the next space race 00:22:52 – SPACs and space 00:28:57 – How we’ll move from government to commercial spending in space 00:33:11 – Reusable second stages and lowering the costs of space exploration 00:36:59 – What scaling Starlink could mean for space travel 00:39:40 – Launching a media brand and the importance of voice 00:43:32 – Making Payload the most important voice in the space discussion 00:51:49 – Learning from feedback and embracing boredom ABOUT MO ISLAM Mo Islam is the co-founder of Payload Space, which is building a media empire dedicated to covering the business and policy of space, as in outer space. We discovered Payload and immediately subscribed to their daily newsletter after it was recommended by Delian Asparouhov, co-founder of Varda Space Industries, in episode 71. We asked Delian what newsletters and websites he used to stay on top of everything going on in space, and he had only one answer: Payload Space.  In this episode, we go deep on why we're at an inflection point when it comes to space and how that was unlocked, at least in the U.S., largely by SpaceX, which has brought down the price to get a unit of mass up to low Earth orbit by order of magnitude. We cover the outsized role the military and defense departments play as customers for space companies, ranging from Earth imaging to satellite manufacturing startups. We talk about the space companies that Mo thinks are the most underrated, as well as how Payload is building a media empire, starting with what Mo calls The Modern Homepage, which is their daily newsletter. We discuss how Payload crafted a compelling voice and editorial style in an old school and relatively stodgy industry, making space cool to read and learn about. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring Payload with Mo Islam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #109, we deconstruct Alex Simon's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Alex is the CEO and Co-Founder of Elude. We cover mentors, favorite books, and daily meditation. “You don't need to be doing something every single moment or every single day to feel accomplished. Actually, the best times of creativity come when you have nothing going on.” – Alex Simon EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/alex-simon-elude-playbook-show-notes   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/alex-simon-elude-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Alex Simon’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:02) – Alex’s recent fascination with crystals (00:03:47) – Networking as a superpower (00:04:50) – Guidance from leaders at Lyft, Priceline, and Kelton Global (00:07:18) – Always trust your gut (00:09:11) – Building a startup is about marketing, tech, and everything business (00:10:39) – Alex’s favorite books to recommend (00:12:17) – Why daily meditation is a non-negotiable (00:17:13) – Jiu Jitsu as an outlet and creative source (00:18:34) – Why enjoying your daily work is so important ABOUT ALEX SIMON Alex Simon left a career in investment banking to start the travel startup Elude, where he's the co-founder and CEO today. Elude is focused on helping people find and book incredible travel experiences that help them escape and see the world. It's the only place where you can simply input your max budget, your local airport, and how many days you'd like to be gone to find incredible destinations around the world that fit those parameters. So you can ask the question, where can I go next week for $1000? In this episode, Alex shares why he's been fascinated with crystals, the three mentors he's learned the most from and why one of them has continually pushed him to simplify Elude's design and user experience again and again, and again. Why he wishes he always trusted his gut instincts as much as he does today. He shares his two favorite books, which are World Travel by Anthony Bourdain and The CEO Within by Matt Mochary. And he talks about why he meditates at the end of each day and how he includes reflection on how the day went into that routine. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Alex Simon of Elude. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #108, we explore building a global blockchain that’s high-speed, climate neutral, and low-fee. We’re joined by Illia Polosukhin, NEAR Protocol’s Co-Founder. We cover why proof of stake beats proof of work, how NEAR approached scaling, and how Illia raised more than $10M to help fund aid in war-torn Ukraine. “For me, web3 is not about decentralization. I think decentralization is just a tool. What it is about is low switching costs.” – Illia Polosukhin EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:35) – How NEAR Protocol is imagining your world (00:04:46) – Why decentralization is just a tool (00:09:14) – Dethroning monopolies and leveling the playing field (00:14:02) – NEAR Protocol’s origin with scaling crowdsourcing (00:20:18) – Lack of intellectual honesty in crypto (00:24:19) – NEAR’s approach to sharding (00:31:03) – The importance of bringing the community into decision making (00:37:47) – How the co-founder’s role can evolve from centralized to decentralized (00:43:17) – Illia’s Web3 mindmap and staying decentralized while preserving privacy (00:46:36) – NEAR’s approach to sustainability in blockchain (00:49:46) – Founders: Build credibility and ship fast (00:54:19) – Handling fear and anxiety when building in crypto: Keep calm and build on (00:58:52) – The Unchained Fund and helping Ukraine ABOUT NEAR PROTOCOL Illia Polosukhin is Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol. NEAR is a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral—in part because of its Proof of Stake model. It’s traded on crypto exchanges under the ticker symbol NEAR and has a market cap of just under $5B today. From 2020 through 2021, the developers working in NEAR’s ecosystem—building applications on top of their blockchain—quadrupled, making NEAR the second-fastest growing chain behind Solana.  Illia is an incredibly impressive founder, but more importantly, he’s an incredibly thoughtful engineer, leader, and community builder who has built something incredible slowly and methodically, one step at a time. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring NEAR Protocol with Illia Polosukhin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #107, we deconstruct Howie Schwab's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Howie is the Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth of Driehaus Capital. We cover regime shifts in the market and obsessing over failures. “In terms of how we invest, I think integrating and overlaying macro as well as behavioral components, not simply wedding ourselves to this bottom up, here's our specific template and it's time tested is really important.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Howie Schwab’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:41) – Regime shifts in the market (00:06:51) – Learning from investing mentors (00:10:08) – Great investors obsess over their failures (00:12:48) – Advice for young investors (00:16:43) – Howie’s investment philosophy (00:24:24) – Challenging yourself ABOUT HOWIE SCHWAB Howie Schwab manages more than 5 billion in emerging market growth funds for Driehaus which is a firm that's based in Chicago and where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the emerging market's growth. And he's a portfolio manager for the emerging market, small cap equity and emerging markets opportunities. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Howie Schwab of Driehaus Capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #106, we explore building a travel search engine and a trusted global brand. We’re joined by Alex Simon, Elude’s Co-Founder and CEO. We cover why the travel industry is a startup graveyard, the importance of being the merchant of record, and the difficulties and rewards of entrepreneurship. “It's not who you know, it's who knows you.” – Alex Simon EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/elude-alex-simon-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/elude-alex-simon-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a travel search engine and a trusted global brand. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:24 – The path from investment banking to entrepreneurship 00:05:35 – The Elude customer journey, from app download to travel time 00:14:11 – Building a travel search engine from the ground up 00:19:34 – Why the travel industry is a startup graveyard 00:25:32 – How travel regulations make it difficult to build and scale a business in the industry 00:32:42 – Why becoming a merchant of record was crucial to Elude’s success 00:35:21 – Building a brand with the help of Apple advisors 00:44:09 – The difficulties and rewards of entrepreneurship 00:49:55 – It’s not who you know; it’s who knows you ABOUT ELUDE Alex Simon is the co-founder and CEO of Elude, which is focused on helping people find and book incredible travel experiences. It's the only place where you can simply input your max budget, your local airport, and how many days you'd like to be gone to find incredible destinations around the world that fit those parameters. So you can ask the question, where can I go next week for a thousand dollars?  This episode is a fascinating, deep dive into the world of travel, from the unique barriers to building an airline and hotel booking business—which include a surprising amount of regulation—to an overview of the major players in the travel space and a look at what it's like to build a cutting edge company in a very old industry. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring Elude with Alex Simon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this replay episode, we deconstruct Ben Boyer's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Ben Boyer is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of R-Zero and Managing Director at Tenaya Capital. We cover investing through market cycles and how to be a great board member. “I don't think you can over-network. I think it is very much a club, and that's good and bad, but there's a lot of flow of information that happens amongst friends. And so to the extent you can build a network of people to share information, I think you're at an advantage to others.” – Ben Boyer EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ben-boyer-r-zero-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/r-zero-ben-boyer-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Ben Boyer’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:37) – Ben’s start in venture capital (00:08:04) – Transitioning from the public market to venture capital (00:16:53) – Working with Chinese companies (00:21:25) – Advice for new venture capitalists (00:22:40) – Recommended books (00:24:58) – Defining success ABOUT BEN BOYER Ben Boyer is Co-Founder and CEO of R-Zero, maker of the world's first continuous autonomous disinfection system, and Managing Director at the early to growth stage VC firm Tenaya Capital. In this episode, we cover the lessons that Ben has learned as a VC over the last 20 years, first at Lehman Brothers, and then building Tenaya Capital. Ben's experience investing in the first wave of Chinese tech companies, and the lessons he learned from some of the best Chinese CEOs. How he approached building R-Zero using his experience as a venture capitalist, Ben's favorite recent re-healthy buildings, and why he thinks we're on the cusp of a revolution in building technology, and Ben's advice for new founders and investors. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Ben Boyer of R-Zero. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Replay episode, we explore how failure can be your key to success. We’re joined by Brian Scudamore, Author & Founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. We cover embracing competition, bouncing back from struggles, and turning down a buyout offer. “A brand is a selection of promises that we make and keep.” – Brian Scudamore EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/800-got-junk-failure-can-be-key-to-success-brian-scudamore-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/800-got-junk-failure-can-be-key-to-success-brian-scudamore-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to using failure as a key to success. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:22) – How Brian’s grandparents influenced his path to entrepreneurship (00:04:41) – The birth and growth of 1-800-GOT-JUNK (00:09:35) – The power of a brand (00:16:33) – Creating a franchise (00:21:45) – Embracing competition (00:26:00) – Bouncing back from struggles (00:33:55) – Turning down a buyout offer (00:39:24) – Growth over time as an entrepreneur ABOUT WILLING TO FAIL (WTF) Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster of trial and error, laughter and tears, confusion and triumph. In WTF?! (Willing to Fail), serial entrepreneur Brian Scudamore takes you on an adventure that will convince you once and for all that you have exactly what it takes to succeed. With engaging stories from his thirty-plus years of failing upward, his book is full of lessons you can apply to your own endeavors—developing a clear vision, creating an awesome culture, finding gratitude in challenging times, and using setbacks to change your business for the better. Being an entrepreneur means letting go of fear. WTF?! (Willing to Fail) gives you the encouragement and wisdom you need to begin stumbling toward greatness. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our Book Club episode featuring Brian Scudamore’s book, WTF?!. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #105, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Gokul is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. We cover crypto, international investing, and habits and routines. “I always believe the hierarchy of anyone, any individual should be health, then family, then work. Why not family before health? Because if you're not healthy, you become a burden to your family and you can't help them. So, your health is actually very, very important.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:21) – The evolution of crypto (00:02:44) – Superpowers and struggles (00:06:08) – Inspirations and the importance of exercise (00:08:24) – Recommended books (00:10:19) – Tools and routines (00:12:26) – Defining success (00:14:32) – International investing ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is a prolific angel investor in over 300 companies and counting, and an executive at DoorDash, which he joined after DoorDash acquired Caviar from Square in 2019. I was fortunate enough to get to work with Gokul at Square, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show today. In this episode, Gokul shares what he thinks his investing superpowers are, why he loved Marc Andreesen's interview on the Good Time Show, why he loves Andre Agassi's book, Open, and the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back 20 years to the start of his career. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Playbook episode featuring prolific angel investor Gokul Rajaram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #104, we explore emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. We’re joined by Howie Schwab, Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth at Driehaus. We cover the lure of emerging markets, a behavioral focus on investing, and the impact of shifting voting demographics. “I think it's true everywhere, but data shows it's particularly true in emerging markets, which is that the persistence of risk is generally higher than the persistence of return.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/driehaus-capital-investing-emerging-markets-howie-schwab-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to emerging markets and the great pendulum shift. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:20) – Howie’s background and work at Driehaus Capital (00:06:52) – The lure of emerging markets (00:12:20) – A behavioral focus in investing (00:19:30) – Seeing patterns and avoiding fraud (00:24:12) – Researching and publishing market analysis (00:43:21) – The state of financial assets today (00:49:41) – The future and financial repression (00:56:42) – The shift in voting demographics and its economic impact (01:02:14) – Advice for investors ABOUT DRIEHAUS Howie Schwab manages more than five billion in emerging market growth for Driehaus, which is based in Chicago, and it's where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Growth, and he's a portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Small Cap Equity and Emerging Markets Opportunity Strategies. I've learned an enormous amount from Howie, both as an investor and a macro thinker, since I first met him, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show to share what he's learned managing many of the world's best performing emerging market funds over the last 20 years. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Investor Spotlight episode featuring Driehaus Capital with Howie Schwab. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #103, we deconstruct Andrew Jamison's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Andrew Jamison is the CEO and Co-Founder of Extend. We cover building diverse and cohesive teams and the definition of success. “It's about trust in the people—because you run through walls for people, you don't run through walls for a company. And so if we create the right culture around the right people, we will continue to grow.” – Andrew Jamison EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-jamison-extend-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/andrew-jamison-extend-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Andrew Jamison’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:21) – Being a reluctant entrepreneur (00:05:17) – Time and stress management (00:07:44) – Selling into large financial institutions (00:11:18) – Inspirational leaders and building great teams (00:18:00) – Defining success ABOUT GUEST Andrew Jamison is Co-founder and CEO of Extend, which is the world's first virtual card platform that works with every card issuer. Before co-founding Extend, Andrew worked as a Vice President at American Express for over 12 years. In this episode, we cover why Andrew's a reluctant entrepreneur and how growing up in a family of entrepreneurs shaped his approach to building Extend, why he goes running daily and always packs a pair of trainers in his bag when traveling, how he manages his time and approaches leading the team at Extend, and the wisdom he'd whisper in his ear if he could go back and visit himself when he was 20. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Playbook episode featuring Andrew Jamison of Extend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #102, we explore the super angel on speed, small teams, product management, and the S.P.A.D.E. decision framework. We’re joined by prolific angel investor Gokul Rajaram. We cover the product analyst role, and focusing on controllable inputs, and editing vs. managing a product.  “The best product leaders coach people across the company, not just in their team, and help develop them into the future leaders of the company.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-speed-small-teams-product-management-decision-making-gokul-rajaram-spotlight-show-notes FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-speed-small-teams-product-management-decision-making-gokul-rajaram-spotlight-transcript CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to product management in small, speedy teams. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:26) – Gokul’s background in product management (00:06:58) – Applying a computer science background to product management (00:10:26) – What great product vision looks like (00:16:32) – The product analyst role (00:23:11) – Focusing on controllable inputs (00:26:07) – Experiment design (00:34:54) – Editing vs. managing a product (00:42:50) – S.P.A.D.E. decision making (00:55:18) – Speed in product creation ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is part of a new wave of solo capitalists, like Elad Gil and Lachy Groom, that play an outsized role in funding and helping many of the world's best startups. As Gokul says in this interview, his goal is for every founder he backs to say that he's the most helpful investor on the cap table. And if there is another thing that Gokul is known for, it's his expertise around product management and decision making, including the Spade framework he created at Square for making transparent decisions at the highest levels. Spade is now used by many of the world's best startups for large, important, and strategic decisions that need to be made transparently so the whole company understands why the decision was made. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring Gokul Rajaram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #56, we deconstruct Vivek Sodera's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Vivek is the Co-Founder of Superhuman. We cover identifying great founders, opportunities for growth, and having accountability partners for health. “I'm trying to optimize for happiness. I'm not trying to optimize for ego.” – Vivek Sodera EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/vivek-sodera2-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/vivek-sodera-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Vivek Sodera's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:00:30) – What Vivek looks for in founders when he invests (00:04:50) – Identifying winners and predicting the future (00:08:46) – Having a health accountability partner (00:11:06) – Learning to say “no” (00:14:12) – Relying on Fitbit, Levels, and Superhuman (00:16:26) – The constant opportunity for growth and building relationships (00:23:40) – Failed startups and positively impact the lives of others ABOUT VIVEK SODERA Vivek Sodera is Co-Founder of Superhuman, a platform striving to be the fastest email experience in the world. He is also an investor, with a portfolio of companies including Framework, UtilizeCore, Rewatch, Bunches, and Playbook. He previously co-founded Airseed and LiveRamp, though he started his career in nuclear engineering. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Replay episode, we explore building the world's first crypto hedge fund and growing to $6B in AUM. We’re joined by Joey Krug, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Pantera Capital. We cover lessons from investing in volatile markets, DeFi and the future of prediction markets, and branding in crypto. “When you're investing and you have a position that you think you have conviction in, where you think it's very high odds that you're right, take a big swing at it.” – Joey Krug EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/building-6b-hedge-fund-crypto-pantera-capital-joey-krug-ig-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/building-6b-hedge-fund-crypto-pantera-capital-joey-krug-ig-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building the world's first crypto hedge fund. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:35) – Joey's daily work at Pantera, Augur, and Eco (00:04:35) – Joey's start in mining Bitcoin (00:09:28) – Joining Pantera and investing (00:17:18) – Lessons learned as an investor in volatile markets (00:20:13) – Pantera's active trading and early stage venture bets (00:23:41) – Perspectives on risk (00:29:24) – On scaling Ethereum (00:31:10) – DeFi and the future of prediction markets (00:35:35) – A peek into Eco (00:37:29) – Branding in crypto (00:41:20) – Technical analysis in trading ABOUT PANTERA CAPITAL Pantera Capital was founded by Dan Morehead in 2013 and became the first institutional investment manager in the Crypto space. Today, Pantera has amassed over $6 billion in capital, alongside absolutely eye-popping returns. Pantera invests in new Crypto, DeFi and Web 3 protocols and projects, and they also manage a liquid more mature Crypto portfolio. They live in a very interesting position within the space. As the co-founder of multiple high-profile projects, as well as the co-CIO of over $6 billion in assets. For more on Pantera, visit panteracapital.com. I also highly recommend subscribing to their monthly newsletter where they share their commentary and thoughts on the broader Crypto market. I've been a subscriber for years, and I've always really enjoyed reading through it. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #101, we deconstruct Alex Rubalcava's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Alex Rubalcava is Partner at Stage Venture Partners. We cover the coming energy transition and advice for founders and investors. “No one in the world has an urgent problem that will get solved by investing in some random guy's venture capital fund.” – Alex Rubalcava EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/alex-rubalcava-stage-venture-partners-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/stage-venture-partners-alex-rubalcava-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Alex Rubalcava’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:53) – Alex’s superpowers in investing (00:03:07) – Advice for founders (00:05:03) – Learning from Berkshire Hathaway and investment books (00:09:17) – The massive energy transition underway (00:14:24) – Advice for new investors (00:16:54) – Planning and long term success ABOUT ALEX RUBALCAVA Alex Rubalcava is the Founder and Managing Partner of Stage Venture Partners. Stage VP invests hyper early, typically pre-seed and seed, into deep technology companies across four core verticals, which includes space technology, industrial applications, healthcare and life sciences, and eCommerce tooling. What fascinated me about Alex and Stage Venture Partners is the incredibly unique approach of investing early into very difficult technological problems with a proven ability to help shepherd these companies from seed to Series A and beyond. In this episode, we cover Alex's investing superpower, how he manages his time, why he loves the book The Gorilla Game, the advice he gives founders again and again and again, and so much more. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Alex Rubalcava of Stage Venture Partners. In it, Alex shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #100, we explore the power of virtual cards, building two-sided products, and selling into enterprises. We’re joined by Andrew Jamison, co-founder and CEO of Extend. We cover starting from scratch in the payment space, building software in a startup environment, and the differences between working in a large corporation and in a startup. “Nothing good really happens with cash.” – Andrew Jamison EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/extend-power-of-virtual-cards-andrew-jamison-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/extend-power-of-virtual-cards-andrew-jamison-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to virtual cards and selling into enterprises. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:00) – Andrew’s international background and work at American Express (00:07:34) – What credit cards unlock in a global, interconnected world (00:12:39) – How Extend works (00:16:08) – Starting from scratch in the payment space (00:19:25) – The first four years of Extend (00:24:17) – How virtual cards benefit small businesses (00:34:39) – The decision not to be a card issuer (00:41:10) – Building software in a startup environment (00:48:35) – The differences between working in a large corporation and in a startup (00:56:07) – The entrepreneurial journey ABOUT EXTEND Extend is the world's first virtual card platform that works with every card issuer. Which might make you think, what is a virtual card? Virtual cards effectively tokenize a physical card making it easy to create any number of digital cards, each with advanced controls around everything from spending to geolocation, to merchant gating, which enables very powerful uses for a massive number of industries. From helping lawyers and law firms clearly break out expenses by cases and attorneys, to powering food delivery companies like GrubHub and DoorDash so couriers can easily pay for the food they're picking up, to helping travel companies hold thousands of hotel rooms all tied to individual virtual cards. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring Extend with Andrew Jamison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Markowitz shares his journey from being an award-winning journalist to the Director of Research at Worm Capital—leading all of the research that informs Worm’s concentrated, long-only, technological disruption investment focus. Eric shares why investing is all about making good calculated bets, the important of slowing down the research process, how he avoids making behavioral mistakes, and so much more. “I think the lesson learned is there’s so much value to patience in this business. That just slowing down not only the research process, but the actual allocation and trading process, is immensely valuable. Some of the greatest investors just do nothing, right? That is such a hard thing to conceptualize—especially in a culture that values action and values doing things. Most of the time, really the best answer is to do nothing.” — Eric Markowitz EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eric-markowitz-worm-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eric-markowitz-worm-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:56) – Eric’s Path from Journalist to Director of Research (00:07:57) – Why Investing is About Making Good Calculated Bets (00:09:47) – Worm’s Two-Step Research Process (00:13:21) – The Importance of Slowing Down the Research Process (00:15:36) – Guardrails and Keeping Bad Information Out of the Research Process (00:19:48) – Worm’s Behavioral Advantages in Investing (00:23:44) – Eric’s Recent Obsessions: The Future of Robotics (00:26:54) – Eric Markowitz’s Favorite Books ABOUT ERIC MARKOWITZ Eric Markowitz is the Director of Research at Worm Capital. Worm runs a concentrated long-only strategy and invests in technological disruption. They call themselves "value investors focused on the future” and are drawn toward messy, complicated sectors of the market that are difficult to understand—and even more difficult to accurately price. Before joining Worm Capital, Eric worked as an award-winning investigative business journalist and wrote from Inc., The New Yorker, and Newsweek. As the Director of Research, Eric leads all of Worm’s research efforts including mapping out new industries, understanding new technologies, and breaking down investment targets to understand the inputs and outputs that drive their business. Twitter | Worm Capital | The Nightcrawler 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Playbook episode featuring Eric Markowitz of Worm Capit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #98, we explore investing where others aren't looking in early-stage technology. We’re joined by Alex Rubalcava, founder and managing partner at Stage Venture Partners. We cover finding emerging technologies and applications to invest in, investment opportunities in space, and founder mafias. “To me, the three questions that matter when evaluating a management team are, can you ship? Can you sell? And can you hire?” – Alex Rubalcava EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/stage-venture-partners-investing-where-others-arent-looking-alex-rubalcava-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/stage-venture-partners-investing-where-others-arent-looking-alex-rubalcava-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to investing where others aren’t looking in early-stage tech. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:04) – Alex’s career in investing (00:06:41) – Investing in technology (00:13:32) – Stage Venture Partners’ investment thesis (00:23:30) – Investing in manufacturing and industrial applications (00:34:41) – Finding emerging technologies and applications to invest in (00:39:04) – Investment opportunities in space (00:49:48) – On founder mafias (00:52:42) – Attending annual Berkshire Hathaway meetings (00:56:51) – Patience and long-term ownership in investing ABOUT STAGE VENTURE PARTNERS Stage VP invests hyper early, typically preseed and seed into deep technology companies across four core verticals, which includes space technology, industrial applications, healthcare and life sciences and e-commerce tools. What fascinated me about Alex and Stage VP is the incredibly unique approach of investing super early into hyper difficult technological problems with the ability to help shepherd these companies from seed to series A and beyond. So I wanted to sit down with Alex to dive into each of his focus verticals, talk through his early investments in GrayMatter, VeriSIM Life and Epsilon3, and understand his approach to investing in deeply technical companies. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the trailer for our next Investor Spotlight episode featuring Stage Venture Partners with Alex Rubalcava. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #97, we deconstruct Ben Boyer's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Ben Boyer is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of R-Zero and Managing Director at Tenaya Capital. We cover investing through market cycles and how to be a great board member. “I don't think you can over-network. I think it is very much a club, and that's good and bad, but there's a lot of flow of information that happens amongst friends. And so to the extent you can build a network of people to share information, I think you're at an advantage to others.” – Ben Boyer EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ben-boyer-r-zero-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/r-zero-ben-boyer-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Ben Boyer’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:37) – Ben’s start in venture capital (00:08:04) – Transitioning from the public market to venture capital (00:16:53) – Working with Chinese companies (00:21:25) – Advice for new venture capitalists (00:22:40) – Recommended books (00:24:58) – Defining success ABOUT BEN BOYER Ben Boyer is Co-Founder and CEO of R-Zero, maker of the world's first continuous autonomous disinfection system, and Managing Director at the early to growth stage VC firm Tenaya Capital. In this episode, we cover the lessons that Ben has learned as a VC over the last 20 years, first at Lehman Brothers, and then building Tenaya Capital. Ben's experience investing in the first wave of Chinese tech companies, and the lessons he learned from some of the best Chinese CEOs. How he approached building R-Zero using his experience as a venture capitalist, Ben's favorite recent re-healthy buildings, and why he thinks we're on the cusp of a revolution in building technology, and Ben's advice for new founders and investors. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Playbook episode featuring Ben Boyer of R-Zero. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #96, we explore worm theory, the worm algorithm, and investing in disruptive technology. We’re joined by Eric Markowitz, Head of Research at Worm Capital. We cover being an optimistic and open-minded investor, time horizons and thinking in decades, and constructing a survivable portfolio. “I think we're just optimists. I think that we believe that technology and the culture that we live in will actually improve over time, that there will be more efficiencies across the market, that our lives will improve, that there can be some really great opportunities for wealth creation.” – Eric Markowitz EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/worm-capital-investing-in-technology-and-disruption-eric-markowitz-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/worm-capital-investing-in-technology-and-disruption-eric-markowitz-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to Worm Theory and investing in disruptive technology. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:30) – Worm Capital’s focus on technology, innovation, and disruption (00:07:43) – Investing in the customer value proposition as it stands (00:16:19) – The Worm algorithm for investing (00:21:22) – Being an optimistic and open-minded investor (00:26:01) – Time horizons and thinking in decades (00:32:50) – Conviction and concentration (00:42:39) – Constructing a survivable portfolio (00:52:22) – Worm theory (01:02:00) – Investing in Tesla ABOUT WORM CAPITAL Worm Capital runs a concentrated long only strategy and invests in technology, innovation and disruption. They hold a concentrated portfolio of between five and 10 positions that today includes Shopify, Spotify, Tesla, Airbnb, Amazon, and NextEra Energy. Since inception, Worm has compounded their investors capital at over 31% per year, while the S&P 500 has delivered just over 15% over the same period. Worm Capital has a unique approach to investing, which they call the Worm Algorithm and Worm Theory to understand how they've generated such incredible returns over the last decade. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring Worm Capital with Eric Markowitz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #95, we deconstruct Brian Scudamore's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Brian Scudamore is the Founder and CEO of O2E Brands. We cover the power of branding and systematic approaches to business. “My advice, or challenge, to someone who's looking for their integrator, their second in command, their partner, whatever it is—is to get really, really clear on what your gaps are that you need filled by someone else.” – Brian Scudamore EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/brian-scudamore-800-got-junk-wtf-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/brian-scudamore-800-got-junk-wtf-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In Episode #95, we deconstruct Brian Scudamore's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:43) – Learning and growing with ADD (00:06:14) – On parenting with an open mind (00:08:30) – Superpowers and struggles (00:10:50) – The power of a brand (00:18:56) – Systematic approaches in business (00:28:29) – Recommended books ABOUT BRIAN SCUDAMORE Brian Scudamore is the Founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, which today does more than 700 million in annual revenue. What's more, he bootstrapped the business and has grown it for over 33 years now, which is an incredible track record. Brian's also the author of New York Times bestselling book WTF, which stands for Willing to Fail and is about how failure can be your key to success. And he has a new book coming out later this year called BYOB. Build Your Own Business, Be Your Own Boss. In this episode, we cover Brian's struggle with ADD and how he found his learning and management style over the years, how he counterbalances his desire to move quickly and fire before he's aimed with being smart and sensible. How he's used the power of brand to build 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, as well as his newest businesses SHACK SHINE and WOW 1 DAY PAINTING. And we also talk about one of Brian's favorite books, the E-Myth, and how it helped him learn the power of systems. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Playbook episode featuring Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #94, we explore UVC, disinfecting physical spaces, and pioneering a 100+ year old technology. We’re joined by Ben Boyer, co-founder and executive chairman of R-Zero. We cover the challenges of selling in healthcare vs. schools, hardware and software development at R-Zero, and utilizing the Internet of Things. “Every single one of our products has a very clear aesthetic that we care about. Our goal is to build things that people want to be around.” – Ben Boyer EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/r-zero-pioneering-with-100-year-old-technology-ben-boyer-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/r-zero-pioneering-with-100-year-old-technology-ben-boyer-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a company based on UVC and disinfecting spaces. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:24) – Why R-Zero was created (00:13:36) – The perfect time for UVC technology (00:16:13) – The challenges of selling in healthcare vs. schools (00:18:37) – Lab data vs. clinical data (00:21:13) – The R-Zero product line (00:26:38) – Hardware and software development at R-Zero (00:29:42) – Competitive advantages in the industry (00:36:00) – Utilizing the Internet of Things (00:39:47) – The investor role vs. the operator role (00:45:22) – Important milestones for R-Zero ABOUT R-ZERO R-Zero combines powerful UV-C hardware devices, which they call nodes and are capable of removing pathogens, germs, and bacteria from both the air, as well as surfaces with powerful software that connects all these devices and monitors their performance in real time. R-Zero has modernized and is scaling a very old technology which is UV-C. UV-C is a form of ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 200 to 280 nanometers which effectively destroys and inactivates both bacteria and viruses, killing them and preventing them from reproducing. In 1903, the Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Niels Ryberg Finsen for his work using concentrated light to treat lupus vulgaris. Since then, UV-C technology has been used extensively for disinfecting water, air and surfaces to destroy a whole host of harmful microorganisms. R-Zero has taken UV-C and modernized it so it can be deployed in almost any setting to sanitize the air and surfaces.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Spotlight episode featuring R-Zero with Ben Boyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #93, we deconstruct Edward Sullivan's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Edward Sullivan is the CEO and Managing Partner of Velocity Coaching. We cover surfing, empathy, and freedom as success. “Anyone who thinks they're perfect is actually hiding a very deep sense of insecurity.” – Edward Sullivan EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/edward-sullivan-velocity-coaching-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/edward-sullivan-velocity-coaching-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Edward Sullivan’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:18) – Edward’s latest deep dive into surfing (00:02:26) – On empathy, summer barbecues, and depression (00:04:41) – Cappuccinos, pushups, and avoiding the tailor (00:07:53) – The Courage to Be Disliked and Alan Watts (00:10:02) – Failing with Richard Branson and freedom as success ABOUT EDWARD SULLIVAN Edward Sullivan is the CEO and Managing Partner of Velocity Coaching. Velocity has a team of over 25 coaches located around the world and they work with the world's best hyper growth founders to help them scale their companies and their leadership skills through that crucial 10 to 100 X growth phase. Velocity has worked with almost all of the biggest names in tech, including DoorDash, Masterclass, Airtable, Google, and even Apple. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Playbook episode featuring Edward Sullivan of Velocity Coaching. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #92, we explore how failure can be your key to success. We’re joined byBrian Scudamore, Author & Founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. We cover embracing competition, bouncing back from struggles, and turning down a buyout offer. “A brand is a selection of promises that we make and keep.” – Brian Scudamore EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/800-got-junk-failure-can-be-key-to-success-brian-scudamore-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/800-got-junk-failure-can-be-key-to-success-brian-scudamore-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to using failure as a key to success. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:22) – How Brian’s grandparents influenced his path to entrepreneurship (00:04:41) – The birth and growth of 1-800-GOT-JUNK (00:09:35) – The power of a brand (00:16:33) – Creating a franchise (00:21:45) – Embracing competition (00:26:00) – Bouncing back from struggles (00:33:55) – Turning down a buyout offer (00:39:24) – Growth over time as an entrepreneur ABOUT WILLING TO FAIL (WTF) Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster of trial and error, laughter and tears, confusion and triumph. In WTF?! (Willing to Fail), serial entrepreneur Brian Scudamore takes you on an adventure that will convince you once and for all that you have exactly what it takes to succeed. With engaging stories from his thirty-plus years of failing upward, his book is full of lessons you can apply to your own endeavors—developing a clear vision, creating an awesome culture, finding gratitude in challenging times, and using setbacks to change your business for the better. Being an entrepreneur means letting go of fear. WTF?! (Willing to Fail) gives you the encouragement and wisdom you need to begin stumbling toward greatness. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to a trailer for our next Book Club episode featuring Brian Scudamore’s book WTF?! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #91, we deconstruct Alexandra Zatarain's peak performance playbook—from her favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on her life. Alexandra Zatarain is the Co-Founder and VP of Brand and Marketing at Eight Sleep. We cover focusing on the message, sleep routines, and the highs and lows of being a founder. “I think that ultimately the definition [of success] for me is this idea that you know, and you feel, and you set for yourself a bar of what your potential is, and you will feel successful when you feel that you are utilizing your full potential and that you're utilizing it not just for yourself, but for the benefits of others, too.” – Alexandra Zatarain  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/alexandra-zatarain-eight-sleep-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/alexandra-zatarain-eight-sleep-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Alexandra Zatarain's peak performance playbook—from her favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on her life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:07) - Alexandra's sleep routine (00:05:55) - The highs and lows of working on a product for eight years (00:08:13) - Advice for founders (00:08:53) - Focusing on the message and being outside your comfort zone (00:13:41) - Daily routines of sleep, exercise, and sun exposure (00:15:38) - How Alexandra's Mexican upbringing affects her life as a founder (00:17:55) - Shoe Dog and The Score Takes Care of Itself (00:19:11) - Pursuing the expansion of your potential and the importance of good health ABOUT GUEST Alexandra Zatarain is Co-Founder and VP of Brand and Marketing at Eight Sleep. Alexandra grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, before coming to the United States and eventually founding Eight Sleep with co-founders Matteo and Massimo. In this episode, we explore Alexandra's nightly sleep routine as well as her favorite books, daily routine, superpower, and so much more. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #90, we explore compassionate leadership and helping hyper-growth founders scale. We’re joined by Edward Sullivan, CEO & managing partner of Velocity Coaching. We cover the current state of executive coaching, and how leadership coaching differs from life coaching, constructive vs. deconstructive conflict, and leading with heart. “The reason compassion is so important is that we are all human beings—we are all emotional, alive human beings who need psychological safety. We need to feel belonging, we need to feel trust, we need to feel trusted. We need to believe that people think we're competent.” – Edward Sullivan EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/velocity-coaching-helping-hyper-growth-founders-scale-edward-sullivan-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/velocity-coaching-helping-hyper-growth-founders-scale-edward-sullivan-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to compassionate leadership. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:37) – Background on Velocity Coaching (00:06:17) – Velocity’s philosophy when working with clients (00:19:04) – The current state of executive coaching, and how leadership coaching differs from life coaching (00:25:02) – The coaching journey (00:27:43) – Focusing on compassion (00:30:59) – Constructive vs. deconstructive conflict (00:39:12) – Common themes in coaching (00:45:29) – Work self and home self are one (00:51:31) – Leading with heart ABOUT VELOCITY COACHING Velocity has a team of over 25 coaches located around the world and they work with the world's best hyper growth founders to help them scale their companies and their leadership skills. Velocity has worked with most of the biggest names in tech, including DoorDash, MasterClass, Airtable, Google and Apple. Velocity Coaching specializes in helping founders 10 to 100X the size of their business and, as Edward says in this interview, the best founders are going for gold, they all recognize that if they want to get there, they need great coaches to help them.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #89, we deconstruct Mike Clare’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Mike Clare is the Founder and CEO of Mood Health. We cover the pain points of traditional mental health care and how Mood aims to alleviate them. “In some ways, one of the things that's really frustrating is that mental health has kind of become this luxury, where if you have the money, you can get great psychiatric care. If you can't afford that, then the system kind of breaks down and it becomes much more challenging.” – Mike Clare EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mood-health-mike-clare-20mp-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mood-health-mike-clare-20mp-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Mike Clare’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:04) – Mike’s experience designing at Juxtapose (00:08:33) – Moving from design to entrepreneurship (00:19:57) – Being open-minded and learning from osmosis (00:22:53) – On empathy and depression (00:27:02) – Daily habits, exercise, and plant care (00:29:01) – Principles and In Praise of Shadows (00:32:40) – Psychedelics in mental health care ABOUT MIKE CLARE Mike Clare is the Founder of Mood Health. Mood Health is reimagining mental healthcare and opening up access to anyone with an internet connection, solving the mental healthcare wasteland that currently affects over half the people in the United States. In this episode, we explore what Mike learned from his years at Juxtapose, helping launch and scale incredible companies like Care Of, Great Jones, Perch, and Tent. We discuss Mike's transition from industrial designer to CEO and his advice for others looking to make the same design-to-CEO leap. We cover what he learned at Juxtapose that he still uses today, including why he spends so much time interviewing customers, as well as his favorite books, daily routine, superpowers and so much more. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #88, we explore sleep fitness, sleep technology, and category creation. We’re joined by Alexandra Zatarain, co-founder and VP of brand and marketing of Eight Sleep. We cover the importance of consistent data for innovation, brand vs. category, and Eight Sleep's vision of the future of sleep fitness. “Sleep unlocks life, it unlocks health, it unlocks it longevity. It is the most important pillar of health.” – Alexandra Zatarain EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eight-sleep-sleep-fitness-category-creation-alexandra-zatarain-spotlight-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eight-sleep-sleep-fitness-category-creation-alexandra-zatarain-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a sleep fitness brand. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:06) - The Eight Sleep origin story (00:09:32) - The Eight Sleep product (00:14:02) - Sleep research and development (00:18:29) - The importance of consistent data for innovation (00:22:45) - Competition and category creation (00:28:51) - Brand vs. category (00:32:45) - Sleep fitness as a brand and movement (00:43:05) - Benefits and pitfalls of working on a physical product (00:49:55) - Eight Sleep's vision of the future ABOUT EIGHT SLEEP Eight Sleep is famous for their Pod Pro mattress and Pod Pro mattress cover, which are used by everyone from three times NBA champion, Danny Green, to CrossFit games champion Justin Medeiros. Eight Sleep's Pod Pro mattress can heat and cool both sides of the bed separately while capturing incredibly high fidelity sleep data, and even waking you up with a subtle vibrational alarm each morning.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #62, we deconstruct Rachel Sanders’ peak performance playbook—from her favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on her life. Rachel is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rootine. We cover data-driven health, no-call days, and learning to let go as a founder. “Being a founder is hard. There are a lot of high highs and a lot of low lows, and just making sure that you figure out a way to deal with it is super important.” – Rachel Sanders EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/rachel-sanders2-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/rachel-sanders-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Rachel Sanders’ peak performance playbook—from her favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on her life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:01) – Data-driven health (00:01:37) – Efficiency, prioritization, and learning to let go (00:02:29) – The Great CEO Within (00:03:21) – No-call days and tracking biomarkers (00:06:20) – Making an impact and continuing to learn (00:07:39) – Really trying and putting your all into it ABOUT RACHEL SANDERS Rachel Sanders is CEO and Co-Founder of Rootine, a personalized micronutrient subscription service. She started her career in investment banking at Raymond James before transitioning into the healthcare space. founding her first company, Patch Health. She then connected with her co-founder, Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer, PhD, to create Rootine. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Replay Episode, we explore real-time optimization in metabolic health. We’re joined by Josh Clemente, Co-founder of Levels. We cover the basics of ketones and ketosis, how real-time data can help people choose the foods and activities that are healthiest for them, and surprising insights from Levels customer data. “The most important things that I do every day are to take walks after my meals and make sure that I sleep a full eight hours. Those two simple things, which require a lot of adjusting for your lifestyle, have an outsized impact over the years and decades as they compound.” – Josh Clemente EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/josh-clemente-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/josh-clemente-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to real-time optimization in metabolic health. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:23) – How Josh’s engineering background and role at SpaceX led to the creation of Levels (00:07:39) – How a ketogenic diet can affect your life expectancy (00:10:09) – The basics of ketones and ketosis (00:15:47) – How real-time data can help people choose the foods and activities that are healthiest for them (00:30:43) – Surprising insights from Levels customer data (00:33:13) – How Levels converts raw data into easy-to-understand scores (00:45:15) – Whether glucose alone is the best indicator of overall health ABOUT JOSH CLEMENTE AND LEVELS Before founding Levels, Josh Clemente was the lead Life Support Systems engineer at SpaceX. One day, while doing research, he came across a startling study that would change his life forever. Josh is the founder and president of Levels, which is revolutionizing the world of individualized health. Levels combines an off-the-shelf glucose sensor with an iOS or Android app that you use to log everything that you eat and do. It then provides a simple score that captured how each meal and activity positively or negatively affects your own individual metabolism and glycemic index, all to help you better understand how your own body works and reacts to everything that you do. Josh shares how Levels helped him find out he was nearly pre-diabetic, even though he's a CrossFit trainer and looked and felt incredibly healthy. We go deep on what glucose is and why it matters, how our choices shape our metabolism moment to moment, how a little activity after a big meal can have a big difference in how it affects our bodies, and how to improve everything from your sleep to overall energy level with personal insights from Levels. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for