Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

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Zaid Admani is a creator and part-time Civil Engineer. He creates content on finance and business that is both educational and entertaining. He has built up a following of ~400k people & has generated more than 100 million views across social media.

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/j-he_V_V5nY

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:04:14) - Zaid’s Creator Journey
(00:21:04) - Zaid’s Civil Engineering Background
(00:32:04) - Zaid’s Content Style
(00:43:39) - Creating Viral Content vs. Meaningful Content
(00:57:12) - Sponsor: LinkedIn Jobs
(00:58:23) - Balancing Educating and Entertaining
(01:00:26) - Inside Look at Zaid’s Content Creation Process
(01:33:33) - Quantity vs Quality
(01:39:43) - Why TikTok Live
(01:49:40) - Monetization

Links Mentioned:

Zaid’s Twitter
Zaid’s TikTok
Timm Chiusano’s TikTok
Descript

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Suneel Gupta is a writer and entrepreneur. He studies leaders from around the world to discover and share simple, actionable habits that enhance performance and deepen ones state of well-being.

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/kZwbKcnsdbY

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:01:49) - Suneel’s Backstory
(00:03:35) - What is Dharma?
(00:17:38) - The Arrival Fallacy
(00:24:44) - The Ambition Paradox?
(00:32:51) - Sponsor: LinkedIn Jobs
(00:34:02) - Searching for Meaning
(00:42:37) - The Importance of Recovery
(00:46:06) - The 85% Rule
(00:50:58) - Tools for Finding Dharma
(01:00:56) - Music Mindset
(01:04:33) - Staying Connected to your Essence

Links Mentioned

Suneel's Book - Everyday Dharma
WSJ Article on One Medical Acquisition of Rise
Tel Ben-Shahar
Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning

Thank you to our sponsors:

Linkedin Jobs - helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post a job for free on https://linkedin.com/creator

Man's Search for Meaning The Classic Tribute to Hope from the Holocaust

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Kallaway is creator with a passion for producing content centered around tech and cult brands. He has generated over 100 million views and amassed a large following across social media.

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/etQpm_bQJH8

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:02:22) - Kallaway’s Backstory
(00:17:07) - Distribution is King
(00:20:57) - Why Short-Form Video?
(00:28:56) - Actionable Advice on Creating Content
(00:44:53) - Sponsor: LinkedIn Jobs
(00:46:04) - Comedy & Storytelling
(00:52:41) - Why Writing is the Most Important Skill
(01:03:33) - Inside Look at Kallaway’s Script Layout
(01:05:59) - Kallaway’s Equipment
(01:10:24) - Kallaway’s Editing Process
(01:32:35) - Psychology of Creating Content
(01:44:57) - How to go viral
(01:49:37) - Newsletter Insights
(01:55:26) - Thoughts on Monetization
(01:59:52) - Becoming a Full-Time Creator

Links Mentioned

Kallaway’s Personal Website
Kallaway’s Twitter
Espresso Letter
TikTok Example 1
TikTok Example 2
TikTok Example 3
Camera
Lens
Capture Card
Microphone
Recording Software
Youtube Downloader (Downie)
Premiere Keyboard Shortcuts

Thank you to our sponsors:

Linkedin Jobs - helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post a job for free on linkedin.com/creator

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zJBc0-rsnVo

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Start
00:04:26 - What VCs do & how it overlaps with Mario’s experience
00:08:00 - Why Be A Generalist vs. Specialist?
00:11:32 - Surprising characteristics of “who becomes an entrepreneur”?
00:15:52 - Average age of entrepreneurs - fact vs fiction
00:17:58 - Emerging Tech (AI, Crypto, Health)
00:22:34 - Valuations in 2023
00:24:53 - Feelings After FTX & Luna Crash
0:33:24 - Web 2.5 Companies
00:35:45 - Neo Banks vs Traditional Banks
00:37:30 - Fintech Overlap w/ Crypto
00:38:33 - ChatGPT vs. Google
00:41:55 - Types of searches & AI co-pilots
00:44:34 - Hype Cycles: Football vs. Tech
00:48:22 - Sponsor Break: Virtual Gurus
00:49:25 - Monetizing AI & Google vs. Microsoft
00:56:59 - Satya Smashing It At Microsoft
01:02:36 - What Running A $15mil Fund Looks Like
01:16:19 - Behind The Mind
01:17:08 - If you weren’t doing the generalist what would you be doing?
01:18:26 - Contrarian Opinions
01:23:08 - Subcultures, Reality TV & The Day of Judgement
01:26:14 - People That Have Impacted Your Thinking

Links Mentioned

https://www.generalist.com/briefing/all-the-answers
https://www.generalist.com/briefing/josh-wolfe
https://www.generalist.com/briefing/the-casino-and-the-genie

Thank you to our sponsors:

The Virtual Gurus - if you’re looking for talented remote staff on a budget, book a free consult at thevirtualgurus.com/creator

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/c1vgzbouoXY

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:24) - Start Of Interview
(00:06:43) - Selling Companies & Expertise Gap
(00:15:40) - Expertise Gap in 2023
(00:20:18) - Selling Company: Strategic vs Financial Buyers
(00:23:50) - Getting New Clients & Figuring Out Pricing
(00:39:29) - Sponsor Break: Virtual Gurus
(00:40:32) - Press, Scaling Beyond Yourself & Dealing With Ego
(00:56:42) - Best In Class Influencer Marketing
(01:04:00) - Priorities & Long Term View On Business

Thank you to our sponsors:

The Virtual Gurus - if you’re looking for talented remote staff on a budget, book a free consult at thevirtualgurus.com/creator

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/FNCgWJNR9ok Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:24) - Start Of Interview
(00:01:55) - What Is Tongal?
(00:04:07) - Types of Content: Branded, Original + Advertising
(00:07:08) - Scale Of Tongal
(00:12:14) - Background in Hollywood
(00:24:57) - The Company Before Tongal
(00:34:54) - Power of Cold E-mail
(00:36:53) - Company Origin Story
(00:41:12) - Sponsor Break: Virtual Gurus
(00:42:12) - Getting First Few Customers
(00:46:49) - Finding Product Market Fit
(00:52:19) - Scaling + Growth Levers
(01:02:43) - Pricing Model Change
(01:08:14) - Looking Ahead
(01:13:35) - How AI Will Impact The Creative Work Force?
(01:15:44) - Streaming Wars (Netflix, YouTube, HBO, Tiktok)

Thank you to our sponsors:

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/2XHlteP32Sc

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:24) - Start Of Interview
(00:02:48) - Zapier + AI
(00:05:56) - No Code + AI
(00:17:16) - OpenAI vs Google vs Microsoft
(00:26:32) - AI assistant
(00:39:20) - Sponsor Break: The Virtual Gurus
(00:40:21) - OpenAI vs Big Tech
(00:46:49) - askmybook.com
(00:54:58) - AI Hype Cycle?
(01:00:05) - Predictions for 2023
(01:14:11) - End

Links Mentioned

https://www.bensbites.co
https://twitter.com/bentossell

Thank you to our sponsors:

The Virtual Gurus - if you’re looking for talented remote staff on a budget, book a free consult at thevirtualgurus.com/creator

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/4PWqRILYz8U

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:07) - Start Of Interview
(00:01:25) - Who Is Danny Postma
(00:04:04) - Slowmad Lifestyle
(00:06:54) - Early Indie Hacking
(00:15:21) - What Is GPT-3?
(00:18:18) - Training AI
(00:24:07) - First-Hand Experience
(00:25:36) - Use Cases
(00:28:41) - Should we learn to code to play with AI?
(00:34:19) - Jasper and copy.ai
(00:38:07) - What Is Open AI?
(00:40:05) - Sponsor Break: Shopify
(00:41:39) - Sponsor Break: Justworks
(00:42:45) - Will AI Take Over The World?
(00:45:08) - How AI will replace people
(00:46:34) - Learning To Code
(00:50:39) - Use Cases and Generating Ideas
(00:54:52) - What Happened After Danny Sold Headlime?
(00:57:28) - AI Business Ideas
(01:04:55) - Personalized Podcasts
(01:10:23) - End

LINKS MENTIONED:

https://twitter.com/dannypostmaa
https://www.profilepicture.ai/
https://www.stockai.com/
https://www.landingfolio.com/

Thank you to our sponsors:

Shopify: trusted by millions of entrepreneurs to create their online store and more - signup for a free trial at shopify.com/creatorlab
Justworks: makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states; visit JustWorks.com

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/K26L7HwTLcU

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:01:06) - What Is Shiny?
(00:03:48) - Hyperfocused On Being Unfocused
(00:06:14) - Shiny Object Social Club + Shiny Token
(00:11:09) - Crypto Sentiment & Price Action
(00:16:10) - Open AI & What's Driving The Growth in AI?
(00:22:08) - Image, Video, Podcast AI + Generative Art
(00:27:42) - Jasper - All-in-one Tool + AI Co-Pilots
(00:37:25) - Sponsor Break: Shopify
(00:38:35) - Sponsor Break: Justworks
(00:39:59) - Continuation Of Interview
(00:53:07) - Will AI Evolve & Be A Threat?
(01:07:09) - Moving Abroad

Links Mentioned

https://twitter.com/tomosman
https://www.shinyobjects.gg/

Thank you to our sponsors:

Shopify: trusted by millions of entrepreneurs to create their online store and more - signup for a free trial at shopify.com/creatorlab
Justworks: makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states; visit JustWorks.com

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/YbEAIBbQA5E

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:25) - Start Of Interview
(00:01:56) - How Grubhub Started
(00:03:26) - Software Developer to Starting Grubhub & Fixer
(00:05:13) - Seven Deadly Sins
(00:06:48) - Idea To Reality
(00:08:45) - The Evolution
(00:13:26) - Knowing When To Go Full Time
(00:22:00) - Prioritizing & Managing Time
(00:25:25) - Repeat Purchases
(00:26:51) - iPhone & The App Store
(00:31:03) - Creating A New Business Model
(00:34:01) - Phone is the Remote Control Of Your Life
(00:36:30) - Sponsor: Justworks
(00:37:37) - Full-time Employees vs Contractors
(00:40:16) - Growth Moments
(00:42:35) - Seamless & Grubhub Merger & Exit
(00:52:30) - Bilal's Definition Of Success
(00:59:10) - Difference Between A Grump & An Entrepreneur
(01:04:38) - Leaving It All Behind
(01:09:27) - The Big Bike Trip

Links Mentioned:

Hangry a Startup Journey: https://amzn.to/3EPudNo

Thank you to our sponsors:

Justworks - makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states; visit JustWorks.com

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/8HlTDcNCDxI

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:26) - Start of Interview
(00:01:42) - Starting HVMN (Health Via Modern Nutrition)
(00:07:48) - Scale Of Business & Google Background
(00:13:02) - Ketosis & Keto
(00:18:23) - How The Brain Uses Energy
(00:21:39) - Exogenous Ketones
(00:35:31) - Athletes Using Exogenous Ketones
(00:38:55) - Sponsor: Justworks
(00:40:01) - Continuation Of Interview
(00:45:04) - Ketones Your Body Produces vs Exogenous Ketones
(00:47:00) - Contract With Army
(00:48:59) - Glucose Levels & Clearing Out Carbs You Eat
(00:58:57) - 7-Day Fast
(01:02:35) - Autophagy & Fasting
(01:09:52) - Stem Cell Preservation
(01:14:51) - Micro-Dosing

Links Mentioned:

https://twitter.com/bdm_runner

Thank You To Our Sponsor:

Justworks - makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states; visit JustWorks.com

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/EtsZ36eaBPc

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:37) - Start Of Interview
(00:01:30) - Annie Duke's Background In Poker
(00:03:49) - Growing Up
(00:06:11) - How Games Help Your Life
(00:09:53) - What Makes A Great Poker Player
(00:17:52) - Annie Duke's Role At First Round Capital
(00:22:56) - Knowing When To Quit
(00:38:39) - Müller-Lyer Illusion
(00:49:51) - Sponsor: Linkedin Jobs
(00:50:54) - Sponsor: Justworks
(00:52:10) - Continuation Of Interview
(00:58:17) - Challenges With How We Think
(01:02:23) - Problem With Quitting
(01:11:00) - Example: Stewart Butterfield, Founder of Slack
(01:22:22) - Grit vs Quitting
(01:28:56) - "Quitting On Time Feels Like It's Too Early"
(01:30:11) - Monkeys vs. Pedestal Framework
(01:39:42) - The Great Resignation

Links Mentioned:

Annie Duke's New Book, QUIT:
https://amzn.to/3RQsTwH

Thinking In Bets:
https://amzn.to/3eqOcHf

Thank you to our sponsors:

Linkedin Jobs - helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster. Post a job for free on linkedin.com/creator
Justworks - makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states; visit JustWorks.com

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

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Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/hXHZLKFpTu8

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:27) - Sponsor Break: Sendinblue
(00:01:17) - Who Is Elijah?
(00:07:10) - Sound System Culture
(00:09:13) - What's A Reload?
(00:12:26) - Origins of UK Grime
(00:16:30) - Controversy of Form 696
(00:27:21) - Pirate Radio
(00:31:45) - How Musicians Make Money
(00:36:07) - How Much You Get Paid Per Stream
(00:38:05) - Industry Standards In Music
(00:44:15) - Communities, Artists & Gatekeepers
(00:51:49) - Balancing Old & New
(00:57:43) - Sponsor Break: Bambee
(01:07:46) - Web 3 + Music
(01:14:05) - The Yellow Squares Project
(01:19:07) - Choosing A Social Media Platform
(01:21:06) - The Disadvantage Of Having A Degree
(01:25:19) - The Yellow Squares Live Event
(01:31:50) - The Doomscroll Formula
(01:39:36) - Rinse FM & Y Combinator
(01:42:22) - Skepta
(01:43:57) - Why Michaela Cole Rejected £1M Netflix Deal
(01:46:09) - The Life & Passing Of Jamal Edwards

Link Mentioned

https://www.instagram.com/eli1ah/
Infrastructural challenges thread:

https://twitter.com/eli1ah/status/1571087605382647809?s=20&t=19lL7kSGUKZ0H3EBFLHtVw

Thank you to our sponsors:

Sendinblue - an all-in-one marketing, automation, and email platform empowering small businesses to build stronger customer relationships. Visit sendinblue.com/creator
Bambee - get access to your own dedicated HR Manager starting at just $99/month. Visit bambee.com/lab

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Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/dytmn7fcBxo

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:02:34) - How The Phan Family Got To Canada
(00:07:34) - Trung's Exposure To Writing
(00:11:28) - Twitter: The Good & Bad
(00:14:29) - South East Asia To America
(00:24:42) - Anxiety & Writing Publically
(00:27:12) - Growing A Podcast
(00:32:04) - Sponsor: Linkedin Jobs
(00:33:04) - Sponsor: Justworks
(00:34:20) - Cringe Test
(00:39:45) - Vanity Metrics & Distraction of Follower Count
(00:45:52) - Film Script To TV Show
(00:52:04) - Why Trung Started On Twitter
(00:58:10) - Where To Start
(00:04:53) - Topic Ideas: Breadth vs. Depth

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:**https://youtu.be/dytmn7fcBxo

Links Mentioned:**

Trung's newsletter: https://trungphan.substack.com/
Trung's Twitter: https://twitter.com/trungtphan
Not Investment Advice Podcast: https://linktr.ee/notinvestmentadvice

Thank you to our sponsors:

Linkedin Jobs - helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post a job for free on linkedin.com/creator

JustWorks - makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states; visit JustWorks.com

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Adrian Aon is the founder & CEO of Forward. They've raised more than $225mil from the world's leading VCs to "build an insurance-free healthcare system from the ground-up”.

Before that, he was the Director of Special Projects for Google's CEO & founder of Sidewalk Labs, the startup at Google tasked with re-inventing cities & sold Wavii to Google for $30mil.

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/IwO12HgtWqw

Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:31) - Sponsor: Justworks
(00:03:21) - Sidewalk Labs
(00:11:40) - Director Of Special Projects at Google
(00:15:23) - What Is Forward
(00:18:43) - What Is Wrong With The US Health Care System
(00:22:15) - Life Expectancy In The Bronze Age
(00:24:11) - Sponsor: Bambee
(00:25:21) - Sponsor: Linkedin Jobs
(00:26:24) - How US Health Care Can Be Improved
(00:33:07) - Using Technology To Improve Health Care
(00:35:45) - What Is The Body Scanner Doing That We Couldn't Do Before
(00:42:45) - Prenuvo Whole Body Scan
(00:49:28) - Best Way To Go About Health Care
(00:52:59) - Health Care As A Product
(00:56:11) - Outro

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/IwO12HgtWqw

Thank you to our sponsors:

Linkedin Jobs - helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post a job for free on linkedin.com/creator

Bambee - get access to your own dedicated HR Manager starting at just $99/month. Visit bambee.com/lab

JustWorks - makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states, visit JustWorks.com

View Details

Adrian Aon is the founder & CEO of Forward. They've raised more than $225mil from the world's leading VCs to "build an insurance-free healthcare system from the ground-up”.

Before that, he was the Director of Special Projects for Google's CEO & founder of Sidewalk Labs, the startup at Google tasked with re-inventing cities & sold Wavii to Google for $30mil.

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/IwO12HgtWqw

Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:31) - Sponsor: Justworks
(00:03:21) - Sidewalk Labs
(00:11:40) - Director Of Special Projects at Google
(00:15:23) - What Is Forward
(00:18:43) - What Is Wrong With The US Health Care System
(00:22:15) - Life Expectancy In The Bronze Age
(00:24:11) - Sponsor: Bambee
(00:25:21) - Sponsor: Linkedin Jobs
(00:26:24) - How US Health Care Can Be Improved
(00:33:07) - Using Technology To Improve Health Care
(00:35:45) - What Is The Body Scanner Doing That We Couldn't Do Before
(00:42:45) - Prenuvo Whole Body Scan
(00:49:28) - Best Way To Go About Health Care
(00:52:59) - Health Care As A Product
(00:56:11) - Outro

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/IwO12HgtWqw

Thank you to our sponsors:

Linkedin Jobs - helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post a job for free on linkedin.com/creator

Bambee - get access to your own dedicated HR Manager starting at just $99/month. Visit bambee.com/lab

JustWorks - makes it simple to hire and manage remote employees across all 50 states, visit JustWorks.com

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Kathryn Minshew is the Founder & CEO at The Muse

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/ZKOgdHTnKc8

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:40) - Sponsor Break: AppSumo
(00:01:19) - What Is The Muse
(00:05:29) - How Big Is The Muse
(00:06:46) - Pay-Per-Click vs Pay-Per-Hire Business Model
(00:11:38) - Hiring Is The More Important Thing
(00:16:16) - The Average Cost To Hiring People
(00:22:27) - Kathryn’s View about Pallet's Approach
(00:29:05) - Sponsor Break: The Economist
(00:30:26) - Shift From Office Work To Hybrid + Benefits Of Hybrid Work
(00:39:30) - Shift Shock
(00:43:39) - One Of The Most Important Element In Career Search
(00:48:52) - The Value Of Transparency Between Companies And Employees

Links Mentioned

https://www.instagram.com/kminshew/
https://twitter.com/kmin

Thank you to our sponsors:

The Economist - full access to the topics that matter to you and original analysis as events unfold. Start your 30-day trial with The Economist today: economist.com/lab

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands: https://social.appsumo.com/creatorlab

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Tiago Forte is the creator of Building a Second Brain.

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/h04N_6tmMeg

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) – Intro
(00:00:40) – Sponsor Break: AppSumo
(00:03:23) - How Second Brain Began
(00:05:49) - Building a Second Brain
(00:13:31) - Multi-Million Dollar Live Courses.
(00:16:23) - What Makes People Have Sustained Behavior Change
(00:24:15) - 4 Steps of C.O.D.E (Capture, Organize, Distil, Express
(00:27:08) - 3 stages: 1) Remember 2) Connect 3) Create
(00:29:49) – Sponsor Break: The Economist + Linkedin Jobs
(00:32:02) - Think Like a Curator
(00:34:30) - Screenshare of Tiago’s System in Action on youtube: https://youtu.be/h04N_6tmMeg?t=2085
(00:49:33) - Designing Notes for Future Self
(00:53:37) – Expression is a chaotic + messy process (no checklist)
(00:55:52) - Don’t Start from Scratch Every Time

Thank you to our sponsors:

The Economist - full access to the topics that matter to you and original analysis as events unfold. Start your 30-day trial with The Economist today: economist.com/lab

Linkedin Jobs - helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post a job for free on linkedin.com/creator

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://social.appsumo.com/creatorlab

Links Mentioned:

Tiago's book: https://amzn.to/3zUqgEy
Blog post: https://fortelabs.co/blog/basboverview/

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Sam Corcos is the co-founder & CEO of Levels Health

Subscribe & watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/iI331lJkPm0

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Preview
(00:00:34) Sponsor - AppSumo
(00:01:02) Intro to Sam
(00:10:23) Problems Caused by Metabolic Dysfunction
(00:15:43) Current Stage of The Company
(00:22:49) Alternative Business Model
(00:28:47) Product Market Fit
(00:39:56) Sponsor: Linkedin Jobs
(00:42:17) 10x in Digital Content
(00:44:34) Podcasting As A Channel
(00:49:17) Partnerships
(00:52:36) Transition from CTO to CEO
(01:04:30) Time Management + Prioritization

Thank you to our sponsors:

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://social.appsumo.com/creatorlab

Linkedin Jobs:

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post a job for free on linkedin.com/creator

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Colin Sapire is the founder of Beast Health & Nutribullet.

Watch & subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/lqSfvL7QHRo

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet
0:00:39 - Sponsor: AppSumo
0:01:07 - Intro + Landing In The US
0:07:45 - Origins Of Nutribullet
0:11:21 - Finding A Differentiator + Landing On Pricing
0:13:17 - Reaching Half A Billion Dollars In Revenue
0:15:57 - Transitioning To Beast Nutrition + Getting Kids Interested In Nutrition
0:18:34 - Motivation After A Massive Business Success + Keeping The Hunger Alive
0:23:00 - Designing Product
0:26:27 - Day 1 of Designing New Product
0:30:20 - Creating a Prototype + 3D CAD Model
0:32:10 - 80/20 of launch + growth
0:35:42 - Customer Feedback
0:39:19 - Sponsor Break: Linkedin Jobs
0:40:23 - Lessons From Running The Most Successful Infomercials Of All Time
0:45:07 - Craziest Informercial Day
0:47:24 - Scale of TV advertising + using data
0:51:13 - Understanding ROI of Ad Spend
0:53:37 - Increasing Cost of Facebook & Google Ads
0:59:52 - Home Shopping Channel and China’s Live Shopping App
1:03:27 - International Expansion
1:06:51 - Hiring Good People
1:09:03 - Logistics, outsourcing or keeping fulfillment in-house
1:15:14 - Staying Healthy

Thank you to our sponsors:

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://social.appsumo.com/creatorlab

Linkedin Jobs:

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Ramon is a Dutch immigrant who dropped out of high school before finding an entrepreneurial path.

Most recently he acquired a DTC dog ramp business (Alpha Paw) for $300k + which he's grown to $35mil+ in sales.

Previously, he grew a soap opera blog to 30mil+ monthly pageviews before selling it for $9mil.

In this conversation you'll learn:

– why buy vs build
– buying a company with little money down
– growth levers to ramp up a DTC ecom business
– growing through paid acquisition, influencers, whitelisting, seo + affiliates
– creating a healthy channel mix + managing platform risk
– benefits of in-house vs 3rd party logistics

Watch + Subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/2DzHRUyI28Q

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet
0:02:27 - Intro + Selling $35mil Worth Of DTC Dog Ramps
0:04:07 - Highschool dropout, business philosophy + 10 figure exit
0:13:04 - Finding Direction
0:16:01 - Finding A Buying An Existing Problem
0:21:35 - Pet Industry
0:23:15 - Finding A Good Business To Buy
0:29:44 - 3PL vs In-House
0:40:02 - Growth Levers To Look Out For When Buying
0:49:23 - Smart Due Diligence
0:52:18 - What To Look For In Google Analytics
0:55:37 - Amazon vs Shopify Split
0:58:40 - Paid Acquisition, Apple Update + Platform Risk
1:07:20 - Budget Allocation + Testing Channels
1:10:17 - Working With Affiliates
1:13:19 - Working With Influencers
1:18:23 - When You Should Work With An Agency
1:21:27 - Whitelisting Strategy
1:24:05 - Partnering With Investors + Funding An Acquisition

Ramon's original thread:
https://twitter.com/ramonvanmeer/status/1448022919901335552?s=20

Thank you to our sponsors:

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://social.appsumo.com/creatorlab

Nord VPN:

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In this conversation, we explore:

Eric's approach to writing a book entirely made up of Naval's words
philosophy around wealth + happiness
eastern vs western approaches
permissionless leverage + ownership
why desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy
freedom to vs freedom from

Watch the full episode on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/J7j-5sgDkxQ

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet
0:01:50 - Intro + Figuring Out Transitions
0:08:54 - Who Is Naval Ravikant?
0:15:08 - Unique Approach To Writing This Book
0:21:08 - Process Of Writing A Book
0:30:17 - Not Letting The Tools Get In The Way
0:33:12 - 80/20 Of Naval’s Philosophy on Wealth + Happiness
0:39:36 - The Older The Problem, The Older The Solution
0:41:10 - Eastern + Sufi Philosophy, Imam Ali + Nahj al-Balagha
0:45:06 - Western vs Eastern Philosophy - Meditation Example
0:46:49 - Seek Wealth, Not Money or Status
0:51:59 - Ownership, Wage Work + “Do not fear work that has no end”
0:55:51 - Types of Leverage
1:00:17 - Sponsor Break - Nord VPN
1:01:20 - Permissionless Leverage, Gatekeepers + DeFi
1:12:33 - Creative Work For Its Own Sake
1:14:33 - A Year To Decide, And A Day of Acting
1:18:58 - Antigoals + Sacrificing Today For An Imaginary Tomorrow
1:25:49 - Background on Creator Lab
1:27:48 - Buddha Was A Prince
1:32:56 - FIRE Community + Knowing How Much Is Enough?
1:40:43 - Direction vs Speed
1:44:10 - Happiness = Not Suffering
1:49:19 - Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy
1:56:38 - Losing Motivation + Hunger
1:59:47 - Happiness is peace in motion, and peace is happiness at rest
2:03:07 - Healing Old Wounds
2:05:38 - Freedom To vs Freedom From

Thank you to my sponsors:

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://www.appsumo.com

Nord VPN - https://nordvpn.com/clab
Coupon code: CLAB

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Bilal breaks down the secret sauce that makes Google + YouTube two of the greatest businesses of all time.

We discuss the ad auction, how Google understands intent better than anyone, the future of advertising + compare YouTube, Netflix + live TV.

Subscribe + listen to the full episode on "Not Investment Advice":

https://linktr.ee/notinvestmentadvice

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-investment-advice/id1563288568?itsct=podcast_box_link&itscg=30200&ls=1

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pogh5lcyKxmZVKQnao8zT?si=DSuMCklFTM-mOV9WbltZkg&dl_branch=1

YouTube:
https://youtube.com/notinvestmentadvice

Join our groupchat on Telegram:
https://t.me/notinvestmentadvice

Let me know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi

Thank you to my sponsors:

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Mary Grove is Managing Partner of Bread and Butter Ventures. She brings nearly two decades of leadership experience in technology, early-stage investing, and startup ecosystem growth.

She began her career working on the Google IPO, and went on to lead new business development partnerships, negotiating early-stage product and technology deals worldwide.

She was the founding director of Google for Startups, leading the company’s global efforts to support entrepreneurs in over 100 countries.

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/marygrove

Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/t52IaNs2IYE

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Preview
0:01:52 - Google IPO Team, Google For Startups + VC
0:09:05 - What Changed After Google IPO?
0:12:36 - Figuring Out Your Next Career Step
0:15:03 - Career Mistakes
0:17:19 - Knowing When To Move On
0:20:27 - Google For Startups
0:24:04 - International Startup Hubs
0:29:13 - Only 65% Of The World Has Internet Access
0:31:22 - Thesis To Invest Outside Of The Coasts
0:36:10 - Investing In A Distributed + Remote Work World
0:39:58 - Health Tech, Food Tech + SaaS
0:44:33 - Investing In Clipboards + Fax Machines
0:45:14 - Solo Capitalists + Creators Becoming Investors
0:49:22 - Learning How To Be A Good Startup Investor
0:53:36 - What Their Team Looks Like
0:54:38 - The Funnel of Dealflow To Get To 15 Startup Investments
0:56:38 - Being Proactive About Diversity In LPs, Founders + Hiring
1:01:26 - Close

Learn more about Bread & Butter Ventures:

https://www.breadandbutterventures.com/
https://medium.com/bread-and-butter-ventures

Thank you to our sponsors:

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://www.appsumo.com

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Ryan Berckmans is an ex-Amazon + fintech startup engineer. He's been involved with the Ethereum community for many years + invests in the crypto space.

He recently published a bullish thesis for investing in ETH at:
ethereumcashflow.com

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/u3IGTSBzwOk

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/RyanBerckmans

In this conversation you'll learn about:

blockchains, bitcoin + ethereum
difference between ethereum + ether (ETH)
ETH 2.0 + the transition from proof of work to proof of stake
how to earn 6-20% yield from ETH "staking"
applications of DeFi, peer-to-peer lending, smart contracts + NFTs
alternatives like Solana + what could still go wrong
side chains (Polygon) + layer 2 rollups (Arbetrum)

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet
0:01:18 - Intro To Ryan + What We’ll Cover
0:05:57 - Explaining Blockchain, Bitcoin + Ethereum
0:08:25 - Decentralization
0:13:57 - Difference Between Bitcoin Blockchain, Currency + Example Transaction
0:19:55 - Game Of Monopoly Example
0:21:50 - Ethereum Is Like The App Store + Uniswap Example
0:26:52 - What’s Being Built On Ethereum? ENS domains, Defi + NFTs
0:30:02 - Smart Contracts
0:31:24 - Decentralized Lending Through Code vs Banks
0:32:37 - “An App That Can’t Lie”
0:34:39 - Individuals Earning Yield Like The Banks
0:36:17 - Eco Is Like A Decentralized Venmo
0:37:26 - Ethereum Cash Flow Thesis
0:39:04 - Transition From Confidence To Cashflow Based Investment
0:42:06 - Replacing Basic Lawyer Tasks With Smart Contracts?
0:43:15 - Complimentary To Bitcoin
0:45:01 - ETH 2.0
0:47:03 - Consuming Less Energy + Impact On Environment
0:48:00 - Proof Of Work vs Proof Of Stake
0:51:10 - Solving For Scarcity
0:52:41 - EIP 1559 - Destroying ETH Tokens + How Fees Work
0:58:01 - How To Earn Yield By Staking ETH
0:58:50 - 3 Rewards As A Validator
1:03:34 - Staking Through Lido Without 32 ETH Minimum
1:05:11 - What % Yield Can You Expect From ETH? Why Will It Change?
1:09:56 - Currently 8 Day Wait To Be A Validator
1:12:29 - Why Yield Will Go Up + Down
1:14:16 - Summary Of ETH Bull Case
1:15:09 - What Could Go Wrong? Bear Case For ETH
1:17:25 - Why Can’t We Do This All On Bitcoin Instead?
1:22:29 - Network Effects + Head Start
1:23:15 - Promise Of Solana As An Alternative?
1:29:16 - Other Alternatives: DOT, Cardano, Binance Smart Chain
1:30:24 - Polygon/Matic + Side Chains
1:32:57 - Scaling Solutions + Rollups
1:34:48 - How Ryan Is Investing
1:39:41 - Do Your Own Research + Understand Risks And Downside
1:41:40 - Advanced Levels Of Yield Farming

Thank you to our sponsors:

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://www.appsumo.com

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Bilal Zaidi is joined by Jack Butcher, Trung Phan & Alex Cohen to discuss the latest in business, technology & memes.

Listen to the full convo on "Not Investment Advice":

Apple:
https://pod.link/notadvicepod.apple

Spotify:
https://pod.link/notadvicepod.spotify

YouTube:
https://youtu.be/t1MmZk6aWnI

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/bzaidi

http://twitter.com/trungtphan

http://twitter.com/jackbutcher

http://twitter.com/anothercohen

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Lenny writes the #1 business newsletter on Substack (Lenny's Newsletter) and previously sold his company, Localmind, to Airbnb.

He then spent 7yrs at Airbnb leading product + growth teams and now angel invests + works as a full-time creator.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/aogsYWWnq60

Get every episode + giveaways sent to your inbox: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe/

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/bzaidi

https://twitter.com/lennysan

In this conversation you'll learn about:

– the racecar growth framework:
growth engines, turbo boosts, lubricants + fuel

– core growth engines:
performance marketing, virality, content + sales

– examples from Airbnb, Zapier, Superhuman, Wish, Casper + others

– benchmarks for user retention + types of virality

– 3 steps to getting early users

– growing a newsletter + the differences in approach for creators vs companies

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet + What We Cover
0:01:28 - Sponsor Break
0:02:17 - Lenny Intro + Background
0:07:38 - Scale of Newsletter
0:09:17 - Questions To Ask Yourself When Figuring Out Your Next Step
0:12:18 - Energy + The Struggle Of The Content Treadmill
0:13:31 - Early Days Of Airbnb
0:15:09 - Creating Something Remarkable
0:17:22 - Racecar Growth Framework - Who Is This For?
0:18:20 - Early vs Late Stage Growth
0:19:48 - Engine, Turbo Boosts, Lubricants + Fuel
0:20:05 - Growth Engines - virality, performance marketing, content, sales + bonus examples
0:24:11 - “1st time founders focus on product, 2nd time founders focus on distribution”
0:28:09 - Becoming The Best In The World At 1 or 2
0:28:38 - Airbnb vs Booking
0:29:16 - Performance Marketing
0:30:51 - Wish + Casper - Built On Performance Marketing
0:31:42 - Feasibility When Bootstrapping
0:32:31 - If You Should Be Performance Marketing Driven: 1) Generating Revenue From Users 2) Not Something Users Are Looking For
0:34:01 - Growth vs Brand Marketing
0:35:37 - When To Expand To The Next Engine + S Curve
0:36:56 - Examples Of Virality - Word-of-mouth, referrals, inviting friends, etc
0:40:22 - Bottoms Up vs Top Down Virality
0:41:31 - Knowing When You’re Going Viral - K Factor vs % of people who came in thru referral
0:42:33 - % Benchmark To Aim For
0:43:24 - Companies Who Are Suited To Viral Growth
0:43:48 - Clubhouse + FOMO
0:45:17 - User Generated Content Loop
0:47:29 - Data Driven SEO - Zapier + Thumbtack
0:49:11 - Editorial SEO + Figuring Out Content Strategy
0:50:31 - Superhuman Example
0:51:13 - Desired Outcomes, Primary + Secondary KPIs
0:52:43 - Sales Channel
0:55:19 - Turbo Boosts + Lubricants
0:56:52 - Power Of Events
0:58:37 - Retention + Conversion
1:00:41 - Activation: Using Product For Its Core Purpose
1:02:03 - Superhuman , Creators + The Customers Who Care
1:05:38 - User Retention Benchmarks
1:07:44 - Common Pitfalls
1:09:36 - Getting First 1000 newsletter subscribers
1:11:20 - 3 steps to getting early users
1:14:45 - Creators vs Companies - Finding Core Users
1:19:27 - Would You Still Be Doing This With 1000 Subs?
1:20:55 - 5 “Jobs To Be Done” Of Content
1:21:49 - Newsletter Discoverability
1:23:42 - What Gives You Energy
1:25:23 - Airbnb Job vs Creator Life
1:26:22 - Tim Urban on Content That Spreads
1:27:18 - Creators: Value vs Support
1:29:22 - Decision To Stay On Substack
1:31:31 - Knowing What To Write About
1:35:57 - Longer-Term Plan

Thank you to our sponsors:

AppSumo - the marketplace entrepreneurs trust to buy and sell the products that grow small businesses into name brands:
https://www.appsumo.com

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

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Subscribe to "Not Investment Advice":
https://pod.link/notadvicepod

Watch + Subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/_pqfAU92ZGw

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

@bzaidi
@jackbutcher
@trungtphan

Jack Butcher, Bilal Zaidi & Trung Phan discuss the latest in business, technology & memes.

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet + What We Cover
0:01:40 - Best Bad Investments + The Surprise Gap
0:05:27 - Anti-Life Portfolio - Trung’s 20s In Vietnam
0:08:33 - Bilal’s 401k Mistake
0:12:33 - Paper Hands
0:15:34 - Immigrants + Property
0:17:21 - Jack’s 20s + Working On Brands
0:18:32 - Working on Ferrari
0:20:57 - “You’ll Never Work In This Town Again”
0:22:40 - Anti Warren Buffet Portfolio
0:27:43 - European Super League
0:39:03 - Meme School On The Blockchain
0:48:46 - Trung’s Comedy Script (Preview)
0:50:29 - Audience Question: Life 5yrs Ago Vs Now
0:54:14 - Jack’s 180
0:56:30 - Trung 5yrs ago vs now
0:59:18 - Useless Dads + Super Moms
1:02:08 - What Changed After Becoming A Dad

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Ben Tossell is the founder of Makerpad, the leading online community for No Code.

His company was recently acquired by Zapier, a $5bil+ tech company. Ben is also an educator + investor in the no code space.

In this conversation you'll learn about:

what it was like to get acquired by Zapier
developing the maker muscle by starting + launching projects
what it takes to build a paid learning community + knowing when to monetize
80/20 of learning no code
evolution of learning + membership models

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/ONh66pmDUwk

Get every episode + giveaways sent to your inbox: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe/

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/bentossell

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet + What We Cover
0:01:12 - Sponsor Break
0:02:00 - Ben Intro + Time In China
0:06:21 - Getting Acquired By Zapier
0:13:06 - Before Makerpad - 50+ Projects
0:17:11 - Knowing When To Move On From Projects
0:21:26 - Role Of Fear
0:25:02 - Motivation, Parents + Buying A Yacht
0:29:20 - Zapier - Expectation vs Reality
0:33:02 - Working With Someone Who Built A $5bil Company (Wade)
0:36:00 - No Code + Paid Learning Communities
0:39:57 - Size Of Makerpad + 10k Community Success Stories
0:46:12 - Reforge + Membership Models
0:48:21 - Evolution Of Learning
0:50:44 - Shishir (Coda) + Unbundling
0:51:58 - Masterclass, Edutainment + Netflix
0:54:03 - Paid Products - Make You Money Or Save You Time
1:02:36 - Knowing When To Charge
1:04:16 - Other Projects Ben Considered
1:07:16 - Types of entrepreneurs
1:16:09 - 80/20 of growing Makerpad
1:19:06 - Paid Acquisition
1:19:44 - Hiring Good People
1:22:17 - Working In vs On The Business
1:25:09 - Starting In 2021 - What Would You Do Differently
1:26:05 - “Hope No Code Isn’t A Thing In 5yrs”
1:30:15 - 80/20 of learning no code
1:33:31 - What’s Missing In No Code

Thank you to our sponsors:

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup:
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Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/ZNFxICgbkuY

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

@bzaidi
@jackbutcher
@trungtphan

This is an experimental episode w/ Trung Phan & Jack Butcher discussing the latest in business, technology & memes.

Expect a raw & uncut convo, mostly filled with silly, fun banter.

You'll hear us discuss:

behind the scenes look at Jack's recent NFT success & crowdsourced Figma experiment
Balaji's convo w/ Tim Ferriss
The Future Of Online identity: pseudonymous vs anonymous vs real names
Coinbase going public
WeWork documentary
Difference between Fyre Fest + Tesla
Potential for decentralized social networks + Bitclout
The mechanics of memes + what it's like to write a daily newsletter to 1.7mil people
Why Jack dubbed Trung "Fiat Phan"

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet + What We Cover
0:03:08 - Start
0:03:25 - Intros - Trung, Jack + Bilal
0:04:53 - ROI On Jack’s Tweets
0:06:26 - Inside Look At Jack’s NFTs
0:16:48 - NFTs Explained - Visualize Value
0:18:06 - Meme Mechanics + The Roast Of Jack Butcher
0:19:49 - Selling An NFT For $150k
0:20:49 - Trung’s Theory
0:23:03 - Jack’s Opinion On NFTs
0:29:13 - From Nations To Nodes
0:30:16 - Crowdsourcing Creativity On Figma
0:32:24 - What Goes Into Writing A Daily Email To 1.7mil People?
0:34:53 - “Give Me That Dopamine Son!”
0:37:26 - Ideas From Balaji’s Tim Ferriss Podcast
0:38:38 - “2020 is the year the internet starts”
0:40:23 - Pseudonymity + The Future Of Identity Online
0:49:03 - Bitclout + Moving Beyond Rented Platforms
0:51:59 - “Can I Get A Dollar Son”
0:54:58 - Bitclout, legit or scam?
0:56:15 - “Not Financial Advice”
0:58:36 - Fiat Phan
1:01:33 - US, China + Bitcoin
1:05:40 - Coinbase Going Public
1:12:04 - WeWork Documentary
1:15:57 - Reality Distortion Field
1:20:49 - Difference Between Fyre Fest + Tesla

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Kevin is the co-founder + CEO of Rally, a platform that allows creators to launch their own digital currency + build independent economies with their communities.

He's also Chairman of Gen.G, an esports enterprise bridging Asia and North America. Previously, Kevin co-founded Kabam, a top mobile gaming company that grew to $400M/yr in revenue, 500+ million players and sold for nearly $1 billion.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/mlSl5q_n9xU

Get every episode + giveaways sent to your inbox: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe/

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/kevinchou

In this conversation you'll learn about:

emerging waves like AI, crypto, climate change + biotech
evolution of the gaming industry + its business models
rise of social gaming, esports, live streaming + where we're today
gartner's hype cycle + how this applies to crypto
how Rally is empowering creators to develop their own economies
why there's a need for decentralized alternatives

Timestamps:

0:00:00 – Preview Of Convo
0:02:19 – Sponsor Break
0:03:08 – Intro + Kevin’s Interest In Gaming
0:07:00 – 50 Games + 500mil Users
0:08:23 – Moment You Understand Ownership
0:14:59 – Hype Cycles + “Finding Something New”
0:20:57 – Other Waves: AI, Climate Change, Biotech
0:23:11 – What Is Rally?
0:24:02 – How Creator’s Use Rally
0:31:02 – What Are The Alternatives?
0:33:22 – NFT vs creator coin + creating an economy
0:37:49 – Why is it beneficial for a game to have its own currency?
0:46:04 – Kabam – Building A Billion Dollar Gaming Company
0:48:39 – Evolution Of Gaming Industry – 2.5bil People Playing Games
0:52:06 – Impact Of Social + Mobile On Gaming
0:53:38 – Gaming Business Models – Virtual Goods, Micro Transactions, Ads
0:56:04 – Fortnight
0:57:24 – Psychology Of Buying Virtual Goods
1:00:31 – Streaming – Watching People Play Games
1:04:54 – Rise of esports
1:09:33 – esports vs traditional sports
1:12:25 – NFTs + Vectors Of Opportunity
1:13:16 – Crypto Transcends Nations
1:16:56 – Digital Gold + Oil
1:18:44 – Problems with government money printing, dollars are worthless
1:23:31 – Price Volatility + Stable Coins
1:25:59 – Putting Bitcoin On Your Balance Sheet
1:29:43 – What does a decentralized alternative look like
1:33:37 – Decentralized social networks?
1:34:43 – “there is no corporation who runs email”
1:37:07 – Investing
1:39:34 – How to participate in crypto

Thank you to our sponsors:

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup:
http://www.microacquire.com

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Get every episode + giveaways sent to your inbox: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe/

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/noahkagan

Subscribe to Noah's YouTube channel & Podcast:
https://sleek.bio/noah

Watch & Subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/mAnOqgH0OgA

Noah Kagan is the founder of AppSumo, an 8-figure business bringing in an estimated $70mil+ in 2021.

He was employee #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint.com and his popular YouTube channel has over 140k subscribers.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

the 80/20 of succeeding on YouTube
what he's learned from popular YouTubers like Mr. Beast and Ali Abdaal
how Noah tests topics, thumbnails + behind the scenes look at the master doc his team uses to manage his channel (watch screen share on YouTube.com/creatorlabfm)
growing through partnerships, newsletter swaps + ads
we get personal and talk relationships, his formula for freedom + how he invests

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Snippet + What We Cover
0:02:12 - Sponsor Break
0:03:01 - Intro + Booyakasha
0:03:32 - Number 30 Employee At Facebook
0:08:17 - What Is AppSumo? $70mil Revenue Business
0:10:15 - AppSumo’s Impact
0:13:19 - Is Noah 11/10 energy all the time?
0:16:27 - Inputs vs Outputs + Craft vs Metrics
0:19:01 - Formula For Freedom
0:20:26 - Knowing When To Stop vs Keep Going
0:24:16 - Finding What You’d Do For Free + As A Kid
0:27:51 - Understanding What Gives You Energy
0:37:09 - Rethinking Old Mental Models Of Money + Happiness
0:41:53 - What Will You Think About On Your Deathbed
0:44:40 - Tale Of Two Lives
0:50:15 - Growing To 140k+ YouTube Subscribers
0:53:34 - Investing $500k Into YouTube
0:56:07 - Who Is Doing YouTube Well?
0:58:42 - 80/20 of YouTube
1:00:41 - Mr Beast, 100 staff + treating it like a business
1:02:06 - His YouTube Creation Process
1:02:30 - Topic Selection
1:03:54 - Testing Topics, Thumbnails + CTRs
1:06:36 - Balancing What You Want To Make vs What Audience Wants
1:08:36 - Tools To Help With Topic Selection
1:09:18 - Screenshare - Noah Shares “Weekly Video Ideas” Planning Doc
1:14:32 - Partnerships + E-Mail Swaps
1:16:29 - Paid Ads
1:20:53 - Audience Questions
1:21:56 - Asymmetric Bets, Relationship With Money + Investing
1:26:29 - Wealth in Concentration, Preserve Through Diversification
1:28:08 - Where Do You Have An Advantage
1:28:50 - Why Noah Is Still Working

Thank you to our sponsors:

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup:
http://www.microacquire.com

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Alex Lieberman is the co-founder & CEO of Morning Brew. They're a leading new media startup with over 2.7mil newsletter subscribers, making them one of the largest daily newsletters around.

Alex & his co-founder sold a majority stake in the business to Insider Inc for a reported $75mil in Oct 2020.

After listening to this conversation, you'll understand:

growing from a newsletter to a full-on media business
3 step audience funnel: rented, owned + monetized
hub + spoke model
how they got their first 1000 subscribers by doing things that don't scale
growth stages: from 1k to 10k, 100k and 1mil+ subscribers
how to grow through email swaps, paid ads + partnerships
a framework to reinvent old formats like Shark Tank or QVC

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/businessbarista

Watch with visuals referenced on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/12KYBLPvEIg

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Preview + What You’ll Learn
0:02:17 - Sponsor Break
0:03:08 - Interview Start
0:03:44 - Grandma Likes Morning Brew
0:04:59 - Growing From Newsletter To Media Brand
0:07:23 - Acquired For Reported $75mil By Insider Inc
0:08:21 - Scale of Morning Brew: 2.7mil subscribers
0:11:28 - Audience Building Done Well
0:14:02 - Audience Funnel: Rented, Owned, Monetized
0:17:39 - “Who Is This NOT For?”
0:21:47 - Audience ≠ Distribution
0:25:25 - Unwritten Contract With An Audience
0:26:27 - Focus vs Breadth of Interests
0:29:05 - Ask Yourself Why 3x
0:33:14 - Hub & Spoke Model For Audience
0:38:23 - Getting First 1000 Subscribers + Growing Through Referrals
0:41:10 - Stages of Growth From 1k to 100k to 1mil
0:43:42 - When To Grow Through Paid Ads
0:47:20 - Growing Through E-Mail Swaps + Paid Ads
0:49:28 - Programmatic E-Mail Ads
0:50:43 - Snapchat Ads, YouTube Influencers + Channels That Worked
0:53:23 - Cross Promotion + Strategic Partnerships
0:55:59 - Signals Of Consumer Intent From E-Mail Clicks
1:00:13 - Multimedia + How To Grow A Podcast
1:02:11 - Re-Inventing What Worked In Legacy Media Business
1:05:05 - Macro + Micro Of Promotion
1:08:07 - 3 Types Of Content That Work Well For Podcast
1:08:38 - Timely News Hooks
1:10:26 - Evergreen “Service Content” - Solve Problem or Passion
1:13:35 - Vulnerable Content + Imposter Syndrome
1:19:04 - Future Of Monetization
1:24:14 - Talent vs Learned Skill
1:26:00 - Jay-Z, Mr. Beast + Ownership
1:30:03 - Building A Writing Habit + Ship 30 For 30
1:32:13 - Accountability
1:35:11 - Business Idea: Shark Tank For The Digital Age
1:39:09 - Re-inventing old formats: QVC + who wants to be a millionaire
1:42:51 - Dealing With Bad Times + His Dad’s Loss
1:48:01 - Survivor Guilt

Thank you to our sponsors:

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup:
http://www.microacquire.com

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Dru Riley is the founder of Trends.vc, a community + newsletter that helps 35,000 entrepreneurs discover new markets + ideas.

Trends makes tens of thousands of dollars/month in subscription revenue + was ranked "Product of The Month" on Product Hunt.

In this conversation you'll learn about:

– the meta-trends behind what Dru writes about, the things that don't change, after studying the things that do change

– democratization, positive-sum networks + fractional ownership

– trends he's excited about including: DeFi (decentralized finance) + DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) and NFTs (non-fungible tokens)

– the 80/20 of his research + editing process, including how he processed 172 podcasts for 1 recent report

– we go behind the mind & discuss some of his rules for life, we touch on incentives, stories + courage

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/DruRly

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/q5rdqLzy-Gw

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Preview
0:02:46 - Intro To Dru + Trends
0:04:57 - Scale of Trends
0:05:39 - Software Engineering Background + Knowing When To Leave
0:08:14 - Starting Books In The Middle
0:11:46 - Making First $15 after saving up $250k
0:21:00 - Rejecting An Offer Of Investment
0:22:22 - Decision Dilution + Stakeholder Types
0:25:14 - Content vs Trust Treadmill
0:26:01 - Refining Like A Standup Comedian
0:28:34 - Signals To Look For In Feedback
0:31:37 - Meta-trends
0:33:45 - Democratization
0:36:18 - Ability To Build Smaller
0:38:06 - Coders vs Builders - “Code Is Being Commoditized”
0:40:57 - Decentralization
0:43:06 - Positive Sum Networks
0:45:26 - What are DAOs (decentralized autonomous orgs)
0:46:53 - Fractional Ownership
0:48:45 - NFTs
0:51:41 - Direct To Consumer
0:52:44 - Research + Writing Process
0:54:57 - Processing 172 Podcasts
0:59:10 - Podcast Speed + Dopamine Hits
1:02:15 - Edit - “How Many, How Much”
1:03:52 - Filtering Feedback
1:05:49 - Constraints
1:08:34 - Starting From Scratch Today
1:11:37 - Behind The Mind - 100 Rules To Live By
1:12:15 - Hard choices easy life. Easy choices hard life.
1:13:05 - Think Grey, Not Black + White - Annie Duke
1:14:09 - Stories vs Insight
1:16:59 - Incentives
1:17:56 - “Life Is Short, Not Fair”
1:19:27 - Don’t Try To Change Someone’s Worldview
1:21:20 - “It’s Not About The Bag”
1:23:24 - Memento Mori
1:24:29 - Life Is Not Baseball - Play Asymmetric Games
1:25:23 - Courage

Thank you to our sponsors:

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup:
http://www.microacquire.com

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Lexi Lewtan the founder of Centered, where she's building the Masterclass for Mental Health.

Previously she ran operations for AngelList's Talent Platform, scaling it from zero to $20m
in revenue.

She has a deep background in the startup world, previously working at Hired & betaworks.

In this conversation you'll learn:

lessons in recruiting & the 80/20 of hiring
the business model behind AngelList Talent & Hired
tools to help you deal with focus, anxiety, depression & work stress
the difference between CBT & DBT
why depression feels like playing life on "hard mode"

Let us know what you think on Twitter, I'm @bzaidi and she's @lexilewtan

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Preview
00:02:12 Lexi Intro – Betaworks, Hired, AngelList, Centered
00:03:36 Hired Raised $150mil – What Went Wrong?
00:07:23 Moving to AngelList
00:09:34 Superpower
00:12:24 Experiments at AngelList
00:15:50 Hiring Pricing Model – 15% of salary vs flat fee
00:21:30 Lessons In Recruiting
00:23:54 Scraping & Growth Hacking
00:26:57 80/20 Of Recruiting
00:29:35 Advice To New Grads
00:33:46 Centered Origin Story
00:35:57 CBT vs DBT
00:40:17 Tools For Mental Health
00:42:54 Focus: Planned Obsolescence
00:44:45 Motivation + Values
00:48:04 Tool for managing anxiety – “shut the door”
00:49:28 Managing Depression
00:51:00 Inner Child Exercises
00:53:37 Journaling
00:56:08 “Life Becomes Hard Mode” - Defining Depression
00:59:55 Future Of Mental Health

Thank you to our sponsors:

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup:
http://www.microacquire.com

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Jake Gibson is the co-founder of NerdWallet & Founding Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures, a $75mil venture fund, investing in the future of Fintech alongside Sheel Mohnot.

He's been involved in fintech for over a decade. Prior to NerdWallet, he studied math and quantitative finance at MIT and traded interest rate derivatives at JPMorgan.

Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi & @iamjakestream

Full video with timestamps on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/s-Tcuootl7s

In this conversation we discuss:

NerdWallet's business model + growing to a $500mil+ valuation
the transition from founder to investor + the 80/20 of investing
mental models to figure out your next step
why "everything is fintech" + examples of this thesis
DeFi, NFTs, stock market highs & ideas from a global fintech market

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Preview
00:02:20 Intro To Jake + Nerdwallet
00:06:57 Nerdwallet Deep Dive + $500mil Valuation
00:15:02 Opportunity: Nerdwallet Model In Other Verticals
00:18:40 Audience First Business in 2021
00:22:24 Trend: Audience Business Selling To Software Companies
00:26:09 Founder To Investor
00:31:12 Mental Model For Thinking About Next Step
00:35:29 "I want to be rich" - more context
00:39:48 Finding Motivation In Struggles
00:42:43 Role of Luck, Golden Handcuffs + Lifestyle Creep
00:48:51 80/20 of investing
00:51:31 "Everything Is Fintech" - Raising A $75mil Fund
00:56:04 Starting A Neo Bank
00:57:48 Fintech Opportunity In Ridesharing, Tesla & Airbnb
01:02:37 Facebook + Whatsapp Payments
01:03:06 Asia Market + WeChat Model
01:05:24 Problem vs Product…Verb vs Noun
01:10:54 Jake's Take on DeFi
01:16:40 NFTs + NBA Top Shots
01:20:59 Tesla's Balance Sheet
01:23:00 Elon + Chamath: Meme Masters
01:23:19 Global Market Ideas
01:29:09 Why Do We Have Stock Market Highs?
01:31:54 Investing Advice To A 25yr Old

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Ana Lorena Fabrega is an EDUpreneur and former teacher known by little ones as Ms. Fab.

She's currently the Chief Evangelist of Synthesis School, an innovative online enrichment club started by the director of Elon Musk’s experimental school at Space X.

Synthesis helps students build decision-making & problem-solving skills through games.

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
@bzaidi & @anafabrega11

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Fo_CM01BNTQ

After listening to this conversation, you'll understand:

why the current education system needs an overhaul
the skills we should be developing in kids
unlearning & the future of education
the role of technology in learning
forest schools, micro-schools & alternatives for parents to consider
how games can be good for your kids
the lindy effect & ideas that will stick around in education
remote vs online education
recommended books for kids

Ana's Fab Friday Newsletter:
https://afabrega.com/

Book Recommendations:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio: https://amzn.to/3pNfneZ
The Man Who Walked Between The Towers by Mordicai Gerstein: https://amzn.to/3qSvnh3
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires:
https://amzn.to/3pStkbu
Fantastically Great Woman who Changed the World by Kate Pankhurst: https://amzn.to/3dG3nd3
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Keaty and David Roberts: https://amzn.to/3uuPZyk
What do you do with an idea? By Kobi Yamada: https://amzn.to/3qXaqSk
Zero and One by Kathryn Otoshi: https://amzn.to/3dKezoM
Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg: https://amzn.to/3bC898H

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Nick Huber is a real estate entrepreneur, self-storage owner & operator.

His commercial real estate portfolio is approaching $30mil in assets (as of 2021) & he's built a name for himself by championing "sweaty startups" aka unsexy businesses.

Nick has built a 100k following on Twitter by transparently sharing the lessons learned from his time in business & by simplifying concepts in the real estate game.

Let us know what you think of this convo on Twitter:
@bzaidi and @sweatystartup

Watch and subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/s9Wgw1GN9-k

After listening to part 1, you'll understand:

the equation for getting wealthy in the real estate game
the difference between creating vs growing wealth
categories of real estate beyond what 99% of people invest in, from self-storage, to cemeteries & tiny homes - you'll learn about niche opportunities with less competition
how real estate investors can make millions & legally pay little in taxes with depreciation, bonus depreciation & 1031 exchanges
Nick's unique approach to finding upside from day one in commercial real estate
why 100% occupancy rates aren't always a good thing & what Nick looks for in deals

In part 2, "behind the mind" (starting at 48min) Nick & Bilal discuss:

tribes, relationships & what truly matters in life
growing up, dealing with bullying & insecurities
choosing who you compete with
unique ways to connect with aging parents
why having kids is underrated & the importance of a supportive spouse

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:03:41 Who is Nick Huber?
00:11:00 What is a Cash-Out Refinance?
00:13:26 Growing Up in a Small, Rural Town
00:14:28 Having A Chip on Your Shoulder
00:18:28 Building vs Growing Wealth
00:20:31 Alpha vs Beta In Real Estate
00:21:02 Initial 700k Nest Egg
00:25:03 Initial Investment - Rule Of Thumb
00:27:25 Real Estate Investing On The Side
00:29:24 Nick's Real Estate Framework
00:33:55 100% Occupancy Isn't Always Good
00:36:45 Zero Income Tax With Depreciation & 1031 Exchanges
00:44:22 Conservation Easement
00:46:35 Real Estate Professional Status
00:47:52 Capital Gains
00:48:32 Part 2: Behind The Mind
00:51:02 Is Chasing Your Passions A Bad Idea?
00:55:35 "I Wanted To Call My Mother And Cry In Her Arms"
00:59:20 Giving Up Is Often The Best Choice There Is
01:01:38 Miami + Austin
01:02:48 "Nobody Cares About You Apart from A Handful Of People"
01:05:23 Google Maps Trick - Connecting With Parents
01:07:20 Dad's Twitter Post Went Viral
01:09:42 Having Kids is Underrated
01:12:29 The Tribe Makes The Place
01:15:04 Virtual Communities
01:19:48 Dealing With Bullying + Racism
01:23:43 The Importance of a Supportive Spouse
01:25:44 Advice For A Successful Relationship
01:28:13 Being An Opportunist
01:31:22 Wrap-Up

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Anne-Laure Le Cunff is the founder of Ness Labs, a community for knowledge workers to be more productive and creative while taking care of their mental health.

She's an ex-Googler and holds a MSc in Neuroscience from King's College London. Her work has been featured in WIRED, Rolling Stone, and more.

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
@bzaidi
@anthilemoon

In this conversation, you'll learn about:

focused vs diffused learning
common misconceptions about the brain
networked thought + idea sex
the Feynman technique
lucid dreaming + psychedelics
how to build a thriving community as an individual creator

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:03:49 Who is Anne-Laure Le Cunff?
00:06:49 Ness Labs Revenue Breakdown
00:09:18 Transition From Consulting
00:12:09 French Dad + Algerian Mother
00:13:36 London
00:15:31 Knowing When To Leave Your Job
00:17:34 Ness Labs Flywheel
00:20:28 If Starting From Scratch Today
00:22:54 Introvert vs Extrovert
00:25:24 Monetization
00:27:38 Part 2: Behind the Mind
00:27:50 Focused vs Diffused Thinking
00:31:42 Sleep + Learning
00:32:40 There's No Such Thing as "Learning Styles"
00:35:35 Tackling Procrastination
00:37:10 Chunking
00:37:56 Process vs Product
00:41:01 The Feynman Technique
00:45:07 Lucid Dreaming
00:50:38 Neuromyth 1: Using 10% of Your Brain
00:53:18 Neuromyth 2: Left Brain vs Right Brain
00:54:37 Neuromyth 3: IQ Tests
00:58:36 Networked Thought
01:00:16 Roam Research
01:03:25 Idea Sex
01:06:50 6 Factors of Happiness
01:09:16 Wrap-Up

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Watch the full convo and Q&A on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/gSVQHw-da5s

This is part 2, the Q&A of the live convo with Jack Butcher from Visualize Value. Listen to the previous episode to hear our live convo on the evolution of the creator economy & unique ways to monetize.

Who Is Jack Butcher?

Jack is the founder of Visualize Value, a company that builds content, community & courses for building independent income on the internet.

His Twitter + Instagram accounts have grown to 400k+ followers in 2yrs & his business earned $1mil+ in 2020.

This was Jack's second appearance on Creator Lab. This time, Jack & Bilal co-hosted a live recording with a virtual audience.

To join the next one, sign up at:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/live

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi
https://www.twitter.com/jackbutcher

Q&A Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:40 "A Niche Picks You"
00:02:55 Personal Brand vs Company Brand
00:04:21 Repurposing Across Platforms
00:13:21 Photographer - How To Productize a Service
00:15:23 "Why should I care?"
00:20:23 Music Industry example
00:21:00 Minimize Risk
00:24:07 Tactics To Get Momentum On A Project
00:26:11 Social Proof
00:28:32 Managing Relationships At Scale
00:32:53 Jack-of-all-trades
00:39:11 Wrap-up

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Watch the full convo and Q&A on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/gSVQHw-da5s

Jack Butcher is the founder of Visualize Value, a company that builds content, community & courses for building independent income on the internet.

His Twitter + Instagram accounts have grown to 400k+ followers in 2yrs & his business earned $1mil+ in 2020.

This was Jack's second appearance on Creator Lab. This time, Jack & Bilal co-hosted a live recording with a virtual audience.

To join the next one, sign up at:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/live

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi
https://www.twitter.com/jackbutcher

After listening to this conversation, you'll understand:

the evolution of the creator economy from 1000 true fans to 100 true fans
importance of "1 true fan"
content/product machine + "the factory is the product"
why an audience is like a stem cell
unique examples of creator monetization
the importance of packaging, owning phrases & outcome-based marketing
Jack's 2020 revenue breakdown

Part 2, the live Q&A is in the next episode (look in your podcast feed)

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:04:26 What is the Creator Economy?
00:07:49 Succeeding With A Smaller Audience
00:08:39 1000 vs 100 True Fans
00:10:03 Jack's 2020 Revenue Screenshare
00:11:38 1 True Fan + Hedging
00:14:51 The Permissionless Apprentice
00:22:25 Audience ≠ Distribution
00:27:49 Concentration vs Diversification Of Focus
00:34:34 Downsides of Building a Public
00:36:41 "The Factory is the Product"
00:40:41 Employee = 1 Customer
00:44:00 Packaging + Owning Phrases
00:47:52 Outcome-Based Marketing
00:49:47 Unique Examples of Creator Monetization
00:50:45 Audience is like a Stem Cell - Shaan Puri Example
00:51:54 Investing As A "Knowledge Influencer"
00:55:35 Reps, Consistency + A-Side Tracks
01:01:18 The Value of Services vs Ads
01:06:37 Social Impact + Charity
01:10:22 Strategic Partnerships + Distribution
01:13:55 Choosing Partners Is Like A Marriage
01:16:51 SMS + New Channel Experiments

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Mikael Cho is the co-founder and CEO of Unsplash. The world's leading image asset platform that boasts 100 million image downloads & 20 billion views per month.

Unsplash is used more than Flickr, Getty, and Shutterstock combined.

Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi and @mikaelcho

Watch the full convo on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/vtIGAEKxC0w

In this conversation, you'll learn:

how Mikael built Unsplash from a series of failed experiments
balancing focus with experimentation
how to create a growth flywheel
why good ideas are still undervalued
how to create a "superpower org chart" & find undiscovered talent
how to get a large scale advertising business off the ground

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:32 What is Unsplash?
00:06:17 Scale
00:09:24 Failed Experiments + A Side Project
00:10:15 Starting Crew
00:13:46 When Side, Becomes Main
00:17:20 Selling Crew to Andrew Wilkinson (Dribbble)
00:18:42 Balancing Experimentation + Focus
00:21:03 Competing With Adobe + Shutterstock
00:22:55 Creator Economy's Middle Class
00:25:37 Develop A New Advertising Model
00:28:29 Unsplash = Internet Real Estate Company
00:31:51 Simplifying Product
00:34:52 Aligning Your Team
00:37:09 Product Design Changes That Surprised Mikael
00:39:39 "Wow" Moments
00:41:46 Unsplash Growth Flywheel
00:43:56 API + Partnerships
00:45:01 Future of Unsplash
00:46:18 Mikael's Business Philosophy
00:48:29 Validate With No Code
00:49:41 Ideas vs Execution
00:53:27 Knowing When to Stop A Project
00:56:18 Recruiting Key Employees
01:00:24 Finding Undiscovered Talent
01:02:32 Superpower Org Chart
01:07:04 Life Design Philosophy
01:11:23 Incorporating Physical Health into Company Culture
01:15:43 "Inbox Zero is a Waste of Time"
01:19:11 "Text Edit is One of the Greatest Apps Ever Made"
01:21:25 Writing Like You're Texting A Friend
01:24:52 Proactive Actions
01:31:33 Wrap-Up

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Gagan is the co-founder & former President of Udemy, an online education company that's worth more than $2bil.

He later co-founded Sprig, a food delivery startup & went on to become the interim head of growth marketing at Lyft.

Gagan recently announced a new education startup with Wes Kao. They've raised $4.3mil from investors like First Round Capital, Naval Ravikant & Li Jin.

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

@bzaidi
@gaganbiyani

Watch the full interview on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/IifuGSaEkkU

In this conversation, we discuss:

lessons in building Udemy + Sprig, from high-highs to low-lows
why cohort-based courses will play a major role in the future of online education
what it was like being fired by a co-founder
the impact of financial struggles & the unique pressure of being the child of immigrants
perspective gained from traveling to all 7 continents

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:47 Who is Gagan Biyani?
00:05:20 Udemy Origin Story
00:10:54 Starting Up a Business When You Have A Work Visa
00:12:57 Setting A Timeline
00:16:54 Parental Pressure + Traditional Careers
00:20:53 Struggles
00:26:54 How Do You React To Financial Troubles?
00:29:27 Living Within Your Means
00:30:34 Being Content
00:33:27 Getting Fired By A Co-Founder
00:42:20 The Rise & Fall of Sprig
00:44:05 Chamath: "You're Going to Fail"
00:50:07 Failure + Cognitive Dissonance
00:52:40 3 Years of Travel
00:57:20 Finding Hidden Gems
00:59:24 Figuring Out What's Next
01:00:59 Naval's Advice
01:04:51 Evaluating Business Ideas
01:07:28 Gagan's New Startup: Cohort-Based Courses
01:13:37 Opportunities In Online Education
01:17:29 Formats That Work Best
01:21:19 Wrap-Up

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Andrew Wilkinson is the co-founder of Tiny. He owns 30+ companies, including Dribbble, Metalab, Girlboss & Castro. Collectively, these businesses bring in $100mil+ in annual revenue.

Andrew took WeCommerce public the week of this interview, with the most recent market cap hitting $800mil Canadian dollars (Jan 2021)

He's a leading expert in buying, starting & growing online businesses.

Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi & @awilkinson

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/QRIl2aGmzMc

In this conversation, you'll learn:

why Warren Buffet + Charlie Munger's approach inspired Andrew to create the Berkshire Hathaway of the internet
how mental models like "inversion" can help you think more effectively
the 4 types of entrepreneurs + understanding which type you are
how to hire key employees + a CEO to replace you
the importance of incentives + how to align employees around a shared vision

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Snippet
00:03:32 Who is Andrew? Buying, Building + Growing Companies
00:07:41 Mental Models: Studying Warren Buffett + Charlie Munger
00:10:22 Inversion
00:12:12 Make A Few Good Decisions A Year
00:13:54 The New Zealand Approach
00:15:30 Fishing Where The Fish Are
00:22:11 Controlling Emotions
00:24:50 When Deals Don't Go To Plan
00:26:07 How 2020 Changed Andrew's Strategy
00:27:40 The Value Of Service Businesses
00:32:08 Incentives
00:34:09 4 Types of Entrepreneurs
00:37:13 How to Hire a CEO
00:40:21 Working With Recruiters
00:41:42 Lessons on Firing
00:43:35 Incentivizing CEOs
00:46:20 Creating A Shared Vision
00:50:39 The Art of Delegation
00:53:33 "Twitter should be milking money"
00:56:38 Lessons From Shareholder Letters
00:58:49 The Future of Local News
01:00:39 Wrap-Up

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Polina Marinova Pompliano is the author of The Profile, a newsletter that profiles the world's most successful people.

She spent five years at FORTUNE, where she was the author + editor of Term Sheet, an industry-leading newsletter on dealmaking.

Polina has interviewed some of the most influential dealmakers in the world, including: Melinda Gates, Steve Case, Chamath Palihapitiya and others.

Watch & Subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/XFIPkG0rbvU

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

@bzaidi
@polina_marinova

Full show notes on creatorlab.fm
In the conversation, you'll learn about:

the rise of independent writers + the creator economy
evolution of the media landscape
future of media monetization
her writing process + the art of the edit
actionable lessons from The Profile, featuring: Malcolm Gladwell, Charlie Munger, Anthony Bourdain, Ira Glass, Elon Musk + more

Timestamps:

2:47 Intro
5:03 "Oprah is not JUST Oprah"
9:54 Leaving Fortune Magazine
15:44 Background On The Profile
19:09 Expectations vs Reality
23:43 Why Polina Uses Substack For Her Newsletter
27:13 Evolution of Monetization in New Media
36:20 Writing Process: Summarizing 128 Books
40:53 The Art of The Edit
44:13 Building Your Initial Audience
45:50 Growing An Audience

Lessons From The Profile:

48:30 Gladwell: "3 Hours of Thinking for 1 Hour of Writing"
51:55 "Interesting, Not Perfect"
53:54 How To Find Meaning In Your Work
55:32 Ira Glass: "Great Stories Happen To Those Who Can Tell Them"
58:00 Charlie Munger: Inversion + Avoidance of Stupidity
59:29 Survivor vs Victim
1:00:46 The Bourdain Principle
1:05:46 Lessons From Shonda Rhimes
1:09:02 "I'm No Longer Looking For An Enemy..."
1:11:23 Guy Raz: Stories We Tell Ourselves
1:13:32 Elon Musk: The Chef vs The Cook
1:16:34 Thinking From First Principles
1:19:04 Unconcious Bias
1:20:25 Human Hardware vs Software
1:22:16 Wrap Up

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Courtland founded Indie Hackers, one of the leading entrepreneurship communities on the internet.

Indie Hackers was acquired by Stripe in 2017. He's a Y Combinator alum & graduated from MIT.

This conversation is broken up into two parts.

In part one, we discuss:

the indiehacker philosophy
optimizing for freedom + becoming a time billionaire
capitalism + the american dream
diversity, race + culture
equality of opportunity vs outcome

Part Two - Business Idea Framework (starts at 1hr mark):

a four-step framework for brainstorming business ideas
difference between product ideas + business ideas
how to think about distribution from day one
finding a door before making a key
how to create an innovative solution

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:52 Who is Courtland + what is Indie Hackers
00:04:24 Background + Getting Acquired By Stripe
00:09:51 Differentiating
00:12:47 Unbundling Platforms + Creating Alternatives
00:16:03 Experience at Y Combinator
00:21:49 The Indiehacker Philosophy
00:25:02 "The Time Billionaire"
00:27:20 Skin In The Game
00:31:11 The Evolution of Capitalism
00:36:04 Equality of Outcome vs Equality of Opportunity
00:39:28 Objective Thinking + Confirmation Bias
00:41:40 Going Beyond Performative Diversity
00:44:32 The Nuance of Culture vs Race
00:51:10 The Value of Examples
00:54:48 Getting To The Root Of The Problem
00:59:13 Does The American Dream Exist?

Part Two: Business Idea Framework:

01:03:44 4 Part Framework: Problem, Distribution, Monetization, Solution
01:04:58 Product Idea vs Business Idea
01:06:38 What Makes A Good Problem?
01:08:53 Tribes, Channels + Distribution
01:14:17 Courtland's Checklist To Evaluate Problem
01:18:18 Where to Look for Problems
01:20:29 Sources To Find Rising Trends
01:25:23 Distribution From Day One
01:27:12 How To Share On Indie Hackers
01:32:55 Doing It Well vs Perfectionism
01:34:48 Wrap-Up

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Tim Urban is one of the internet's most popular writers.

His blog, Wait But Why, attracts millions of visitors including famous fans like Elon Musk. His talk on procrastination is the #1 TED talk on YouTube with 33mil+ views.

Subscribe + Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/tl2a6H1E7DU

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
@bzaidi
@waitbutwhy

FIVE THINGS YOU'LL LEARN:

his writing + research process
first principles thinking + lessons learned from Elon Musk + Tony Hseih (Zappos)
techniques to overcome low confidence + find your authentic voice
how he'd start from scratch today
how to explain complex topics like AI + Neuralink through storytelling

SHOW NOTES + TRANSCRIPT:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/tim-urban-wait-but-why-podcast/

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Preview
00:02:05 Intro + Tim’s Cuddly Toys
00:04:38 How Elon Musk Became A Fan
00:05:33 11yr Old Tim Meets The Internet
00:07:17 Trip Down Internet Memory Lane
00:09:39 “Underneath The Turban” + Finding A Creative Path
00:14:07 Micro + Macro Happiness
00:15:22 Finding A Voice + Getting Traction
00:17:39 “What Could I Do With 60hrs A Week?”
00:19:04 Tim’s Research + Writing Process
00:25:33 “Neuralink Is A Magic Hat”
00:26:53 Tools + The Magic of “Text Edit”
00:31:53 Talent vs Craft
00:34:12 “Writing For a Stadium Full of Tim’s”
00:36:42 Adam Grant’s Antidote to Paranoia
00:38:47 Vicious Cycle of Confidence
00:42:07 Headlines
00:45:36 Example: Fermi Paradox
00:47:58 Creativity vs Promotion
00:50:33 Starting From Scratch Today
00:51:51 Facebook Ads In 2013
00:53:57 Owned, Rented + New Platforms
01:01:01 Dream Person To Interview
01:03:37 First Principles + Learning From Elon Musk
01:08:37 Manage A Business Like Elon Musk
01:10:37 Latest on Neuralink + AI
01:15:37 Re-Thinking A Cyborg From First Principles
01:16:23 Memories + Lessons From Tony Hseih (Zappos)
01:22:19 Tony Hseih’s Relationship Ripple Effect

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Let me know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi

Subscribe + watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/jWYhsGaK3Qk

Chris Kuenne started Rosetta & grew it to become the largest independent digital agency in the world before selling to Publicis for $575mil.

Now he runs Rosemark Capital, investing in companies with revenues of $30–60mil. Chris teaches high-tech entrepreneurship at Princeton University.

In this conversation, we discuss:

how Chris pre-sold $1mil of contracts before launching his agency
four personality types of builders
the opportunity to solve expensive problems + merge software with services
how acquisitions fueled growth before selling for $575mil
lessons in hiring 1200+ people
breaking down implications of money raised + liquidation in his sale

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:23 Behind A $575M Deal
00:07:08 What Would You Do Differently?
00:11:01 Turning Down A Larger $600M Offer
00:13:49 How Much Does A Founder Keep After A Huge Sale?
00:19:18 Venture Waterfall + Preference Stack
00:22:13 What Changed After the Deal
00:26:45 Early Years At Rosetta
00:31:22 Pre-Selling $1mil In Sales Before Quitting His Job
00:34:55 Find An Expensive Problem - The Mckinsey Approach
00:38:36 Expensive Problems To Work On In 2021
00:41:27 Using Data To Create A Quantitative Persona
00:43:21 Opportunities To Combine Software + Services
00:45:35 Who's Doing It Well In SaaS?
00:50:01 Lessons In Hiring 1200+ People
00:56:40 The Right Way To Fire Someone
00:59:19 4 Builder Personalities: Driver, Explorer, Crusader + Captain
01:01:04 The Driver: Apple
01:03:44 The Explorer: Facebook
01:04:52 The Crusader: Google
01:05:50 The Captain: Alibaba
01:08:11 Wrap Up

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Matteo Franceschetti is the founder of Eight Sleep, the sleep fitness company at the forefront of sleep tech.

They’ve raised more than $70mil, came out of Y Combinator and are one of the leading companies at the forefront of sleep technology.

Time magazine named their product one of the best inventions of 2018 + 2019.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/vd3wXxYaAxc

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/m_franceschetti

In this conversation, you'll learn:

how they’re using AI + machine learning to improve sleep
the challenges of building hardware + software (smart mattress)
unit economics you should think about when launching a DTC brand
future plans to control oxygen levels, humidity + light to improve sleep
balancing organic growth vs paid acquisition
successfully partnering with influencers
actionable ways to improve deep + REM sleep

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Intro
00:03:07 What Is Eight Sleep?
00:04:34 Coming To America
00:08:01 4 Factors To Improve Health + Sleep
00:09:49 How To Start a DTC Company
00:12:05 Indiegogo Launch + Raising Money
00:13:07 Focusing On Thermal Regulation
00:14:10 Future Of Sleep Technology
00:15:58 Brand Partnerships
00:17:01 Using AI + Machine To Improve Sleep
00:18:02 Temperature's Impact On Sleep
00:21:14 Marketing a DTC Product
00:22:46 Organic Growth + Influencers
00:23:24 Balancing Paid Acquisition + Organic Growth
00:27:04 Reverse Engineering + Diminishing Returns
00:30:59 Measuring Word Of Mouth + 7 Touchpoints Rule
00:32:27 DTC Unit Economics
00:34:06 Peloton, Tesla + Price Sensitivity
00:37:38 Pros + Cons of Going Public
00:40:42 How To Get Better Sleep
00:42:30 Stages of Sleep: Light, Deep + REM
00:44:32 Sleep's Impact On Hormones + Junk Food
00:45:42 Factors To Improve Sleep
00:49:24 Stop Your Mind Racing
00:52:19 Caffeine + Alcohol
00:54:50 3 Roles Of A CEO
00:58:55 Board Meetings + Close

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Shaan Puri is an entrepreneur, investor & top 50 podcast host. He was the CEO of Bebo when they sold to Twitch (Amazon) where he's now a senior director of product.

He invests in startups + recently raised $2.5mil for his "rolling fund" in 11 days, just from a tweet.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/6Hoo38Fr07g

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/ShaanVP

In this conversation we discuss:

solopreneurship vs high growth startups
ideas + blueprints for solopreneurs
creating a life vision + the 3 stages of "becoming"
selling your company by creating your "Amazon buy button"
lessons in building trust, persuasion + social dynamics
how to get unstuck + the A, B, Z framework
why you should work like a lion, not a cow
how Shaan makes $50k/month by "working in public"

Timestamps

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:51 Shaan's Background
00:05:58 Startups vs Big Company
00:10:38 Babies, Teenagers + Startups
00:13:13 "Stay Hungry, Not Thirsty"
00:16:02 How To Correctly Slip Into The DMs
00:18:06 Raising $2.5mil In 11 Days From A Tweet
00:21:24 "Create An Amazon Buy Button For Yourself"
00:23:56 "Companies Are Either Bought Or Sold" - Selling To Amazon
00:31:02 Social Dynamics, Persuasion + Lessons From "The Game"
00:37:54 How To Come Up With A Life Vision?
00:45:19 $50k/Month To Work In Public – "1000 True Fans" Moment
00:48:24 Importance Of Emotional Juice In Decisions
00:51:33 Soloproneurship vs High Growth Startups
00:58:04 Ideas + Blueprints For Solopreneurs
01:03:14 Behind The Mind – A, B, Z Framework
01:10:27 "Work Like A Lion, Not Like A Cow"
01:14:22 "You Either Win Or You Learn"
01:15:15 Navigating "Should I Be Doing This?"
01:23:09 Feeling Down + How To Get Unstuck
01:30:11 3 Stages Of "What Do I Become"
01:31:26 Closing

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Steph Smith leads Trends at The Hustle. She’s a serial indie maker, writer + marketer.

She’s been a nomad since 2016 & has traveled to 50+ countries while working, learning to code + creating.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/qQtciVUeOMU

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/stephsmithio

What You'll Learn:

how to pre-sell + validate your idea
economics of self-publishing vs traditional book deals
what you can learn from games like chess
defining your personal monopoly
finding your first 1000 users
writing for humans vs google
leveraging communities + viral platforms

Timestamps

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:00 What You Can Learn From Chess
00:07:39 Chess vs Real Life
00:13:33 Pre-Selling An Idea
00:17:51 Economics of Book Deals vs Self-Publishing
00:19:23 “Steph is an animal…in a good way”
00:21:19 Healthy Competiton + Sibling Rivalry
00:25:38 Lifestyle Creep + Golden Handcuffs
00:27:14 Steph’s Book: “Doing Content Right”
00:29:09 Avoiding Scammy “Online Marketers”
00:34:08 Personal Monopoly + Your Differentiator
00:39:04 Example: Costco’s Differentiator
00:43:17 “What You Wouldn’t Do In Person”
00:46:34 Growth Models To Grow Efficiently + Compound Over Time
00:48:02 Bedrock Channels: Importance of SEO
00:51:09 Example: Writing For Humans vs Google
00:55:46 How We Do Keyword Research
01:01:43 Tools To Use + Ranking For Keywords
01:04:38 First 1000 Users – Do Things That Don’t Scale
01:08:40 Leveraging Communities + Viral Platforms
01:12:06 “How To Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatedly”
01:15:25 The Power Of Building In Public
01:19:22 Wrap-Up

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Mubashar Iqbal aka Mubs is a prolific creator. He was Product Hunt’s “maker of the year” + has built 90+ products including Pod Hunt + Founderpath

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/CHYNoO6jRiY

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/mubashariqbal

Five Things You'll Learn:

knowing when to take on a new project vs calling it quits
why “founder-product-fit” is as important as “product-market-fit"
example business ideas + how to validate their potential
how NoCode tools can get your idea off the ground
how to avoid procrastination, stay motivated + deal with fear

Time Stamps

00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:43 Who is Mubs?
00:07:48 90+ Projects
00:17:18 Most Important Factor When Taking On A New Project
00:19:13 Founder-Product Fit
00:23:55 Knowing When To Move Onto The Next Project?
00:27:31 Dealing With A Lack of Energy + Enthusiasm
00:29:12 How to Sell Your Projects
00:31:29 How To Value A Business
00:35:23 Business Idea Examples
00:39:54 Our Business Idea Lists
00:42:25 How To Validate An Idea?
00:45:20 Bilal's Idea: Real Estate + Airbnb Tool
00:49:58 Pros + Cons of NoCode Tools
00:52:34 FounderPath – SaaS Debt Funding
00:56:05 How Nathan Latka Pitched Mubs + Equity vs Salary
00:57:07 "Pay Is Not Always Financial"
01:01:27 Future Of Remote Work
01:03:26 Avoiding Procrastination + Dealing With Fear
01:06:54 Understanding Your Why
01:08:58 Wrap Up

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Pomp is a partner + co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital.
He hosts a top 10 podcast, has an audience of ~400k followers on Twitter + writes a daily letter to 80,000 investors.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/stlcZjTawvs

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
@bzaidi @creatorlabfm
@apompliano

Five Things You'll Learn:

actionable ways to grow a Twitter, YouTube & e-mail audience
subscriptions, ads + the future of media monetization
“digital art” + emerging trends to invest in
the pros, cons + innovation of "rolling funds”
staying motivated + perspective gained from serving in the army

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:12 Who is Pomp?
00:04:13 “Having an Audience is the New Currency”
00:06:08 Building an Audience is Hard Work
00:07:32 One Platform At A Time
00:11:48 Pomp’s Daily Routine + Staying Consistent
00:15:30 How To Get Twitter Followers
00:16:58 “Twitter Is What Linkedin Should’ve Been”
00:18:01 Links Hurt Virality
00:20:53 Behind The YouTube Algorithm
00:23:47 Editing For Social Media
00:24:52 How Pomp Grew His YouTube Channel
00:27:40 Writing Eye-Catching Headlines
00:30:36 Podcast Discoverability
00:32:06 Complete vs Perfect
00:35:52 “Trigger Fingers Turned To Twitter Fingers”
00:37:48 Navigating Platform Risk + Organic Reach
00:40:26 Future Of Monetization: Substack, Subscriptions + Ads
00:42:14 Investment Approach
00:44:13 Pomp’s 4 Rules To Wealth
00:48:21 Investing in Digital Art?
00:52:13 Why Use A Rolling Fund?
00:55:22 If Money Was No Obstacle…
00:58:08 Perspective Gained From Serving In The Army
00:59:52 Wrap Up

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Dr. Emily Anhalt is a psychologist, co-founder + chief-clinical officer of Coa, a mental fitness platform + community.

She’s conducted research with prominent psychologists + entrepreneurs on how leaders can improve their emotional fitness.

She's collaborated with companies like Google, Asana, TEDx, NASDAQ, Bloomberg, + True Ventures

Watch + Subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/8n4F_mS79gs

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
@bzaidi @creatorlabfm
@dremilyanhalt @joincoa

FIVE THINGS YOU'LL LEARN:
(1) how to be proactive about your mental health + emotional fitness
(2) identifying + dealing with anxiety
(3) actionable tips to deal with imposter syndrome
(4) dealing with co-founder breakups
(5) survivor guilt, sublimation + other psychological concepts that may impact your life

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro
00:02:09 About Emily + Coa
00:06:41 About Anxiety
00:10:04 Difference Between Depression + Anxiety
00:11:45 Where to Start with Therapy
00:14:19 Where to Find Therapy
00:16:59 Dealing with Anxiety
00:19:21 Trust Future You to Deal with Future Problems
00:20:25 Identifying Triggers for Anxiety
00:21:29 Healthy and Unhealthy Reactions to Adversity
00:24:22 Common Work Conflicts
00:28:12 Survivor Guilt
00:30:28 Does Gender Play a Role in Conflict Resolution?
00:33:11 Co-Founder Conflicts
00:38:02 Co-Founder Breakups
00:39:20 Imposter Syndrome
00:45:08 How Childhood Experiences Influence The Present
00:48:13 Affordable Therapy For All?
00:49:36 Wrap Up

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Sam Parr is the founder & CEO of The Hustle, an 8 figure media business. They have 1.5mil people subscribed to their daily email newsletter + are on track to hit 8 figures in revenue with their paid newsletter, trends.

Five Things You'll Learn:

how he’d build an audience differently today
starting a paid newsletter business + finding talented writers
copywriting + persuading people through the written word
incentives + the future of media
being emotionally stable while having a chip on your shoulder

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

@bzaidi @creatorlabfm
@thesamparr

Timestamps:

00:01:58 Intro
00:03:10 Sam’s Hot Dog Stand
00:07:53 The Hustle + Trends
00:11:01 Finding Great Employees + Writers
00:14:19 “The Dumbest Millionaires are in Real Estate”
00:15:50 Equity Splits In His Business
00:18:06 “Buzzfeed + Vox are Horrible Companies”
00:20:24 Subscriptions + Ads
00:24:23 Ad Incentives + Fake News
00:25:42 Free vs Paid Products
00:27:52 Example: Start a Million Dollar Paid Newsletter
00:34:20 Biggest Mistakes in Starting A Newsletter
00:34:46 Finding Traction
00:37:35 “Give People What They Need, Not What They Want”
00:38:37 Paid Ads For Growth + Sponsoring Dave Portnoy
00:40:04 Giveaways For Subscriber Growth
00:41:43 Paid Newsletters Category Ideas
00:44:24 How Copywriting Helped Sam Meet His Wife
00:47:01 AIDA + The Funnel
00:49:55 How To Write A Compelling Headline?
00:52:55 Finding Ideas To Write About
00:55:07 Editing + Content That Resonates
00:59:09 Platforms + Distribution: E-Mail, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok
01:04:37 Platform Risk – Owned vs Rented Channels
01:07:44 YouTube Algorithm: Views vs Time Spent
01:08:35 Sam Interviews Bilal: YouTube Growth From The Inside
01:11:25 Seeing Android Grow From 4% to 80% Market Share
01:13:42 Being Emotionally Stable
01:18:12 Dealing With The Chip On Your Shoulder
01:20:50 Chilling On 50 Mil

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Jack Butcher is the founder of @VisualizeValue, a Twitter/Instagram account he's grown to 100k+ followers in less than 2yrs.

His business brings in $100k+ month with 99% profit margins.

Five Things You'll Learn:

building an audience from scratch
transitioning from selling services (time) to products (value)
how to tell better stories
leverage, compounding + other ideas that changed his world view
naval’s tweetstorm on building wealth

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
@bzaidi @creatorlabfm
@jackbutcher @visualizevalue

Timestamps (YouTube)

https://youtu.be/bwBYNQGiOXo

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:49 Jack's Background
00:05:08 Naval's Tweetstorm
00:09:23 $100k/mo + 99% Profit Margins
00:11:27 Starting Visualize Value
00:15:16 Communicating Complex Ideas
00:17:37 Building an Audience from Scratch
00:22:09 Difference Between Twitter + Instagram Audiences
00:27:28 Constraints + Creating Consistently
00:29:49 Keeping A Brand Fresh
00:30:49 "Good Advertising Wears In, Not Out"
00:34:00 Finding Your Own Voice
00:36:54 Power of Visual Content
00:37:38 One Platform At A Time?
00:42:03 Platform Risk + Organic Reach
00:47:52 Jack's Creative Process
00:57:08 Lessons In Storytelling
01:02:45 How to Stay Consistent
01:08:07 Joe Rogan's First Podcast
01:10:17 Internal Motivation
01:11:30 The Future of Visualize Value
01:14:04 Behind The Mind: "Seek Wealth, Not Money or
Status"
01:20:16 "Do You Love The Poor or Hate The Rich?"
01:23:49 Understanding Leverage
01:26:26 Employee vs Owner Mindset
01:30:30 US vs UK culture
01:36:17 "When You're Finally Wealthy, You Realize It
Wasn't What You Were Seeking in the First Place"
01:39:19 Wrap Up + Book "The Almanack of Naval Ravikant": https://amzn.to/34uy7aE

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Who is Josh?

Josh Clemente is the founder of Levels. He’s a mechanical engineer, CrossFit L2 trainer + previously leads teams at Hyperloop + SpaceX where he developed life support systems for astronauts going into space.

In this conversation, we discuss the importance of optimizing your metabolic health, how software can drive behavior change + the future of health tech.

Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3B1RJvlff74

Topics We Discuss

what is metabolic health + why is it important?
stories from working with Elon Musk at SpaceX & Hyperloop
why you should monitor your glucose
the myth of the “balanced diet”
know who to trust when it comes to nutrition science
actionable advice on improving nutrition, exercise, sleep + stress
how software can help drive behavior change

Full Time Stamps (YouTube)

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:21 Welcome
00:02:26 What is Metabolic Health?
00:03:54 SpaceX
00:06:28 Hyperloop
00:08:21 Inspiration for Levels
00:17:17 The Myth of a Balanced Diet
00:21:29 Why You Should Monitor Glucose
00:25:07 Knowing Who To Trust On Nutrition?
00:27:52 Using Levels
00:36:50 Price Per User + Team
00:44:55 Funding Levels
00:47:04 The First 3-6 Months
00:50:52 Branding + Finding An Audience
00:54:03 Marketing Lifestyle Apps
00:57:25 The Future of Health Tech – Integrating Health Data
01:02:18 Collecting Health Data + Influencing the Health Care System
01:06:56 4 Parts of Health: Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep + Stress
01:15:08 Wrap-Up

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Subscribe + watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/42U2VfWp2Go

Let me know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi

Who is Jim?

Jim McKelvey is an entrepreneur, glass-blowing artist + philanthropist.

He’s most well known as the co-founder of Square, the financial payments company he started with Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter). Jim also co-founded the non-profit “Launch Code” and he’s an independent Director of the St. Louis Federal Reserve

Jim’s book, The Innovation Stack, is available for purchase. Or sign up to the email list at the bottom of this post to win 1 of 5 copies we’re giving away to listeners

Topics We Discuss:

the origin story of Square
Square's 14 part "innovation stack" that allowed them to win in this tough market
reducing the cost of a card reader from $1000 to $0.97
going up against Amazon + winning
examples of innovation stacks from other companies
the unbanked + underbanked
his thoughts on digital currencies
invention vs innovation
entrepreneurship vs owning a business
if "billionaires should exist" + his "billionaire moment"
why being a billionaire ≠ happiness

Book Giveaway
We’re giving away 5 copies of Jim’s book to email subscribers, details here:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/jim-mckelvey-square-co-founder/

Timestamps (YouTube)

https://youtu.be/42U2VfWp2Go

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:49 Welcome
00:01:50 Early Career as a Glassblower
00:03:10 Meeting Jack Dorsey
00:05:59 Beginning of Square
00:10:59 Underserved Markets
00:15:13 Studying a Market for Something That Doesn’t Exist
00:19:03 The Unbanked + Underbanked
00:24:49 Square’s Innovation Stack
00:28:21 Invention vs Innovation
00:30:21 Getting Square's First Users
00:33:38 What Were The Large Existing Players Missing?
00:42:22 The Delusion of Innovation
00:45:26 How Square Went Up Against Amazon + Won
00:50:43 Entrepreneur vs Business Owner
00:52:32 His “Billionaire” Moment
00:54:52 Being Treated Like a “Walking Wallet”
00:56:33 Should Billionaires Exist?
01:00:21 Industries That are Ripe for Innovation
01:05:30 Digital Currency
01:08:13 Advice on Investing
01:10:30 "If you inherit wealth, you're not rich"
01:12:24 Being Rich ≠ Being Happy
01:13:44 Philanthropy
01:16:39 Dealing with the hardest period of his life
01:19:33 Wrap Up

Thank you to our partner This week's episode is supported by InstaSleep Mint Melts, the drug-free, convenient sleep aid. They’re easy to take without water & melt in your mouth like a mint. They’re designed to help you fall asleep faster & wake up without feeling groggy in the morning. If you’ve had issues sleeping like I have, try them out - available at select Walgreens stores and their website: www.upgradeyoursleep.com

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Subscribe + Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/JcJIvhXdbt0 Let me know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi

Who Is Kat Cole? Kat is one of the most impressive business leaders in America. Fortune magazine named her on their 40 under 40 list & her story is often cited as an example of the “American Dream”. She worked her way up from being a waitress at Hooters aged 17, to an exec at 26 and a president at 31. Today, she’s the president of a parent company doing $4-5bil in sales in 60+ countries, across 6500+ locations.

Their 7 brands including Cinnabon, Carvel & Jamba Juice. In this conversation you’ll learn how she thinks about growth, adapting products to emerging trends, using brand partnerships to grow & the factors that go into expanding internationally. Five Things You’ll Learn * Lessons In Leadership – how to establish credibility, even as a young leader, to lead a team through any situation. * Emerging Trends + The Innovation Adoption Curve – how she thinks about adapting to emerging trends for brands like Cinnabon + Jamba Juice. Finding your place on the innovation adoption curve while holding onto where you came from. * Impact of Lockdown On Malls + Airports – how recent events have impacted their 6500+ locations in malls + airports, and where she sees opportunities * International Growth – the factors you should think through when expanding internationally, stories of mistakes made, and examples of situations she navigated in Argentina, Turkey + UAE * Brand Partnerships – controlling your brand when expanding with partners, and when to consider licensing vs franchising vs joint ventures

Time Stamps (YouTube) * 00:00:00 Preview * 00:02:04 Welcome * 00:05:01 From Waitress to Vice President of Hooters * 00:08:41 Invaluable Lessons In Leadership * 00:14:18 “I’m Friendly, But Not Your Friend” * 00:16:49 Blending Humility + Confidence * 00:20:57 Scale + Revenue of Focus Brands * 00:22:12 Case Study: Turning Around Cinnabon * 00:29:23 Opportunity = When Your Company Says “No” * 00:33:03 Approach To Testing New Products * 00:35:10 Adapting to Trends: Jamba + Cinnabon Example * 00:42:11 Jamba + The Innovation Adoption Curve * 00:48:54 Mall Traffic In 2020 * 00:51:47 Prediction On Airport Traffic * 00:53:22 Increased Search Demand For “Near Me” + “Delivery” * 00:54:35 DTC vs Third-Party Delivery Services * 00:57:25 International Growth: Hooters in Argentina * 01:01:11 Importance of Cultural Context: Turkey Example * 01:04:47 International Context – Asking the Right Questions * 01:06:29 Factors To Consider When Expanding Internationally * 01:12:08 Growing Through Licensing, Franchising + Joint Ventures * 01:14:51 Brand Partnerships – Controlling Your Brand * 01:17:34 Wrap-Up

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Who Is Ryan? Ryan Begelman co-founded Summit Series, described as “TED meets Burning Man” & “The Davos of Gen Y” by Forbes

They’ve become known for hosting incredible events with thousands of leading creators like Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos & Jessica Alba. Summit acquired Powder Mountain, America’s largest ski resort after pre-selling the opportunity to their community.

Ryan also bought into Bisnow Media, became CEO & sold for a reported $50mil+, all without venture capital.

What You’ll Learn Part 1: Business Frameworks + Backstory * Framework For Business Ideas – a technique to generate ideas: marketing, monetization + markets * Bootstrapping + Buying A Mountain – how they pre-sold an idea to their community to buy a mountain for $50mil + why you should consider bootstrapping too * Joint Venture Waterfalls – applying a concept from private equity to real estate + businesses * Dealflow – four ways to think about generating deal flow: hunting, trapping, farming, trading * Replacing Yourself – how to find, hire & train someone to replace you

Part 2: Holistic Entrepreneurship, Philosophy + Mental Fitness * Redefining Wealthy + Holistic Entrepreneurship – creating a well-rounded, fun & meaningful life through entrepreneurship * “Software For The Brain” – train your brain for mental fitness, developing awareness + neuroplasticity * Practical Philosophy – concepts from greek philosophy, Buddhism & stoicism to help you be less reactive + less annoyed * The Story of the Chinese Farmer – a parable about nature + grounding yourself in truth * Ego – is wanting to leave an indelible mark on humanity a form of ego or something to strive for?

Time Stamps (YouTube) * 00:00:00 Preview * 00:01:54 Welcome * 00:04:16 Summit Series * 00:10:12 Buying A Mountain * 00:12:18 Revenue & Size of Summit & Bisnow Sale * 00:15:28 Holistic Entrepreneurship: The Trap of Venture Capital * 00:22:43 Life Cycle of Real Estate Investing * 00:25:34 Joint Venture Waterfalls * 00:31:22 Business Idea Framework * 00:34:42 Pickleball Example * 00:41:01 Finding Trends * 00:42:39 Dealflow: Hunting, Trapping, Farming, Trading * 00:47:20 Hiring Someone to Replace You * 00:50:43 Part 2: Mental Fitness, Philosophy & Holistic Entrepreneurship * 00:58:16 Mindfulness * 01:05:53 Developing Awareness * 01:08:30 The Story of the Chinese Farmer * 01:11:14 “Don’t Be the Tree Limbs, Be the Trunk” * 01:14:12 Assumptions and Biases * 01:17:02 Dropping Your Concept of Right and Wrong * 01:18:48 Appeal of Stoicism: Controlling What You Can Control * 01:22:56 Training Your Brain * 01:24:36 Getting Out Of The Worst Phase Of Your Life * 01:28:37 Relationships Aren’t for Happiness * 01:32:11 Dealing with Ego * 01:34:00 Training Himself To Complain Less * 01:35:40 Is Making An Impact On The World Driven By Ego? * 01:37:30 Avoiding Unsolicited Feedback * 01:38:22 Alternative To Jumping To The Solve * 01:39:13 Wrap-Up

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SUMMARY:

In this episode, we discuss the world of micro private equity, buying existing companies with little money down & the philosophy of becoming an owner.

Ryan has a growing portfolio of 7 products, including fomo.com, a popular SaaS Shopify app. He’s doing 7-figures in revenue, all while living a nomadic life traveling the world, coding on-the-go & making music.

SHOW NOTES:https://www.creatorlab.fm/ryan-kulp-fork-equity/

WATCH + SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE:
https://youtu.be/yEaKaxRgjlQ

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

importance of ownership of your actions + becoming an owner in a business
building from scratch vs buying an existing company
thinking through career transitions + knowing when to leave your job
how to work with a romantic partner
partnering with investors to buy companies
his opinion on self-funding vs raising investment
why job security isn’t about the company you work for
breakdown of his first 6 figure acquisition
why someone would sell a business in the first place, and what to look out for
what is seller side financing + how can you use it to buy a company with little money down
SBA loans + how you can use one to acquire a company
dealing with people who have negative energy
scaling a team beyond yourself

TIME STAMPS FOR VIDEO:https://youtu.be/yEaKaxRgjlQ

00:00 welcome
01:42 why ryan landed in korea
04:46 learning languages
05:57 not pitching
08:43 ryan's background 09:31 learning to code + becoming an owner
11:40 bootstrap vs venture capital
15:07 pros + cons lists
17:14 raise to make your vision bigger
18:51 nuance + balance from extremes
22:42 importance of becoming an owner
25:33 54 side projects + 7 companies
28:13 7 figure revenue, 70% margin
28:49 running a business with a romantic partner
34:27 knowing when to leave your job
45:52 job security + your own skillset
48:42 why buy vs build from scratch
51:57 do I need money to buy?
53:22 buying fomo.com with no money down
59:23 how to value a small business
1:03:23 what is seller side financing?
1:04:33 what is a clawback provision?
1:05:33 why would someone sell a business?
1:07:43 "it's too good to be true"
1:11:32 two types of people, which one are you?
1:14:27 dealing with negative energy
1:16:36 debt vs equity to buy companies
1:18:01 using SBA loans to buy companies
1:26:26 business returns vs real estate vs stocks
1:27:31 be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful
1:29:57 partnering with investors to buy a company
1:32:59 scaling a team beyond yourself
1:37:32 being conservative in tech
1:39:47 types of luck
1:43:28 what's stopping you?

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Who Is Emily? "Most Important Entrepreneur of The Decade" - Inc Magazine Emily is a true branding expert.

She's helped to build brands like Allbirds, Casper & Boxed from the ground up & paved a new path for entrepreneurs building in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space.

Win A Free Book We're giving away 5 free copies of Emily's new book: Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love From Day One

What You’ll Learn The approach Emily and her team use to create brands that people love from day one.

Real-world examples from brands like: Apple, Nike, Warby Parker, TOMS, Allbirds, SoulCycle, Everlane, Thinx, and more.

You’ll learn:

3 pillars of brand strategy: mindset, key problem, brand idea
what you can learn about brand storytelling from stand up comedy
getting to the consumer need & “the why test”
knowing when you’ve got to the “core brand idea”
the difference between functional vs emotional brand storytelling
the best way to get customer feedback
how consumer expectations are being redefined
why brand consistency is no longer the only approach to take in 2020
how subtle language can make a huge difference in the tone of your brand communication

Time Stamps:

00:00 intro
1:24 who is emily?
2:00 equity vs agency fee
3:09 branding book
4:15 what is the importance of brand?
5:05 defining brand
9:08 3 parts to brand strategy
14:40 customer interviews
20:33 beyond functional benefits
22:51 casper + core brand idea
25:30 airbnb + the why test
29:50 evaluating brand idea
30:30 boxed + comparing to competition
32:30 allbirds examples
37:40 nike + laddering up value
38:10 apple + green text
41:35 soulcycle brand juxtaposition
42:50 breaking the rule of consistency
44:30 thinx
47:40 non-profits + cause
50:50 toms shoe
53:10 warby parker
53:37 bombas
54:55 everlane
59:40 cancel culture + consumer expectations

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Full show notes:

https://www.creatorlab.fm/hassan-yassine-gaia-interview/

Landing In Mexico City

There’s an energy that radiates through Mexico City that is unique to this part of the world. Colorful buildings paint the streets next to food carts full of locals trading stories from their day. Innovative design, delicious food & a rich culture is at the heart of this mega-city.

“Emerging Mexico” as I would learn, is alive and well. I could see why The New York Times named it the #1 place to visit in 2016.

But when I first visited in 2015 to hang out with my old friend Hassan, I knew little about what was bubbling under the surface. That was the halfway point of our now 10yr friendship, meeting as young, ambitious employees in Google’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin.

Bonding over Arsenal games, Fifa marathons & long chats in Slattery’s Pub, we talked about one day building companies that we would be proud of. And Hassan has stayed true to that vision ever since.

Finding Opportunities In Emerging Markets

Hassan co-founded GAIA, one of Mexico’s leading startups that is disrupting the furniture business. They’ve re-imagined what a vertically integrated player could look like: from designing & producing their own products, bringing technology to create new retail experiences & even having their own GAIA trucks to control the delivery experience for their customers – they’ve been a shining light of what the future of retail should look like.

In just over 5 years, they’ve grown to 18 stores, 350+ employees & built a multi-million dollar e-commerce business that has a healthy mix of online to offline revenue.

Hassan forged his own path. Leaving his safe job at Google in Europe, to move to Brazil to learn about startups in the region, before planting his own seed in Mexico.

It’s his ability to get up and run towards the action that I was most fascinated to dig into. In an age of endless debate around luck vs skill – Hassan shows what it looks like to take control of the decisions you have agency over.

But what I love most about this convo, is that we talk through some of the challenges that many of us face when trying to go down the entrepreneurial route.

Where do you start? What should you focus on? When is it safe to leave your job? What skills do you need to build & who are the people you need to look out for to turn your idea into a reality?

Five Things To Listen Out For:

(1) Emerging Markets – why he thinks there’s so much opportunity in emerging markets like Mexico

(2) Knowing When To Leave – how he thought through leaving his safe job, to move twice & settle into countries where he didn’t speak the language

(3) Preparing For Entrepreneurship – the skills you can develop in a job to become a better entrepreneur

(4) The evolution of the CMO role – how marketing is changing

(5) Growth Debt – and how to avoid making mistakes when growing so quickly

Subscribe and watch on:
YouTube.com/creatorlabfm

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/hassan-yassine-gaia-interview/

Links:

https://www.gaiadesign.com.mx/

https://twitter.com/ompaloempa

Connect with Bilal on social:
Instagram @bzaidi212 @creatorlabfm
Twitter @bzaidi @creatorlabfm

Thank you to our sponsors, who help make this show possible:
SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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“Silicon Valley’s buzziest start-up” - The New York Times

Rahul Vohra is no novice to the startup world. He previously built and sold Rapportive to Linkedin before setting out to build “the fastest email ever made” for the power users who fell out of love with Gmail, Outlook, and others.

You can’t argue with their results. Superhuman have 220k+ people on their waitlist, which costs $30/month and they’ve raised north of $50mil at a $260mil valuation from elite investors like First Round Capital & Andreessen Horowitz.

But what stood out most to me while meeting Rahul was his focus on the long term. We discussed “building a company that can last for 100yrs” while convincing his co-founders to “do their life’s work” with him. At one point, Rahul described sitting in front of his computer in tears because he realized he hadn’t built what he had set out to.

A Unique Approach

Sometimes, their unique approach can feel counter-intuitive. For example, what if I told you they are happy to turn away paying customers if it would distract them from their “high expectation customers”.

Or their mandatory human onboarding where a Superhuman employee takes a new user through a 30-60mins call to get them setup, understand how they personally use email & customize their experience vs a more scalable online experience that would save money in the short term.

Superhuman have turned paying customers into their biggest fans – on average, every new user of Superhuman brings in one new user down the road.

In this episode, we go deep into the engine they’ve built, how they design their product using video game dynamics and learning how to listen to the right customers.

Five Things To Listen Out For:

(1) Building a product-market-fit engine – we discuss several product-market-fit definitions and the approach Rahul took to understand when they had hit this point

(2) High Expectation Customer – what this is and why it’s important to find

(3) Turning Email Into A Video Game – how to design products to make you feel a certain way by taking principles from video game design

(4) Following Your Passion – is this misguided or good advice?

(5) Preparing For A Recession – is this something Rahul is thinking about and how he thinks this might impact the business world

Subscribe and watch on:
YouTube.com/creatorlabfm

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/rahul-vohra-superhuman-product-market-fit/

Links:

https://superhuman.com/

https://twitter.com/rahulvohra

https://firstround.com/review/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit/

Connect with Bilal on social:
Instagram @bzaidi212 @creatorlabfm
Twitter @bzaidi @creatorlabfm

Thank you to our sponsors, who help make this show possible:
SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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Hiten Shah has built multiple SaaS companies including Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics & FYI. In this conversation, we discuss the future of remote work and lessons learned from building, investing and advising 120+ companies.

63% of US companies now have remote workers and 96% of remote workers would recommend working remotely to a friend.

But what does “remote work” actually mean?

Many people think of digital nomads galavanting around tropical islands while fitting in some Wifi work time. Or freelancers working out of trendy coffee shops…

But as Hiten and I discuss, most of us are already participating in some form of “remote work”.

Whether that’s a remote meeting we have with external partners, flexible work schedules or simply, “working from home” – this is an important macro trend that is going to impact all of us as the nature of work continues to evolve.

Five Things To Listen Out For:

What remote work really means – Hiten’s team did a deep dive to uncover what remote work means in practice
Understanding intent through keyword research – how Hiten used keyword research to understand the specifics around what people are really looking for
Facts vs Feelings – mental frameworks to separate facts and feelings to make decisions
Dealing with loss – the lesson Hiten’s dad shared when his mother passed away at a young age and how that has helped shape him today
Why words matter – the difference between “self-funding” and “bootstrapping”

You can check out the full analysis Hiten and his team published here. Hiten on Twitter @hnshah.

Subscribe and watch on:
YouTube.com/creatorlabfm

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/hiten-shah-future-of-remote-work/

Connect with Bilal on social:
Instagram @bzaidi212 @creatorlabfm
Twitter @bzaidi @creatorlabfm

Thank you to our sponsors, who help make this show possible:
SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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I met Christophe when I first moved to New York.

I was drawn in by his infectious energy, French charm and distinct sense of humor. He had started multiple companies and our friendship grew over chats about life in America & the world of entrepreneurship.

One evening after an epic meandering night out, we landed in Koreatown to chow down on plates of bibimbap & bulgogi.

It was a few days before his life was about to change with the birth of his daughter and I asked Christophe about any regrets he had from the past…he started to share this story:

“This one time, I had a call from the CFO of Groupon and they had made an $80mil offer on our company, Totsy! It would have been a 10X return for our investors and it was going to be a life-changing moment for me”…

The table went silent as we crept towards the edge of our seats…

“But then my board blocked the deal, we had to say no! A short while after, we got crushed by Zulily and had to sell for much less. I made nothing from the sale.”

It was the sort of honest conversation you could only have with real friends. And yet, it was a familiar outcome that 90% of founders face when starting a company. The type of story that hasn’t been perfectly crafted by a PR machine or used as the tee-up to the inevitable “but look at me now!”

It was just plain, honest, truth.

In this episode, we revisit that story in more detail to share the stark reality of entrepreneurship – the high highs and the low lows, what it takes to bounce back and move on to a new adventure.

We also get into how his world has changed since having a baby daughter, why he thinks being a parent can make you a better entrepreneur and what his new company, UpFlex, is focused on.

I hope you enjoy the honesty that Christophe shares in this revealing conversation – if so, shoot me a note, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Five Things To Listen Out For:

Ups and Downs of entrepreneurship – the true reality for many entrepreneurs who start companies
$80mil acquisition offer – what really happened when he had to reject this offer and what you can learn from his experience
Being a parent and a founder – how to find your own balance and why Christophe says it makes him a better entrepreneur
Leaving Your Company – when and why you might ever leave the company you started
Upflex – his new company and why there’s a need for “Workplace-as-a-Service”

Subscribe and watch on YouTube.com/creatorlabfm

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/christophe-garnier-totsy-spark-labs-upflex/

Social:
Instagram: @bzaidi212 @creatorlabfm
Everywhere else: @bzaidi @creatorlabfm

Thank you to our sponsors who help make this show possible:

SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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Full video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/KCjMwDpDm7g

Steve Schlafman is a Partner at Primary Venture Partners. He’s been an investor in the NYC startup ecosystem for the last decade. Prior to his roles in VC, he was the Director of New Ventures at The Kraft Group, owners of the New England Patriots. He’s worked at startups like Turntable FM & began his career at Microsoft.

Steve has worked on investments in companies like TheSkimm, Bowery Farming, Breather, Giphy, Percolate & SmartThings (sold to Samsung). He also works with founders & CEOs as a qualified leadership coach.

In this revealing conversation, we discuss how he thinks about personal + professional growth, building healthy habits, navigating your career, the fear of death, dealing with anxiety, overcoming “functional addiction”, sobriety & why the best performers – people like Eric Schmidt & Lebron James, all work with coaches.

Five Things To Listen Out For:

Cornerstone Habits – habits that create a domino effect in other areas of your life
What Lebron James & Eric Schmidt have in common -we discuss why you might feel resistant to the word “coach”, what a coaching practice looks like & examples of common discussions you might have
Being A “Functional Addict” – dealing with addiction & why Steve has been sober for many years
Dealing With Anxiety + The Fear Of Death – how Steve has consciously worked on his anxiety and coming to terms with death
360 reviews – why Steve recommends doing this after a recent experience, dealing with constructive criticism & how you can do this too

Subscribe to watch the episode on YouTube here.

Steve:

https://www.schlaf.me/

https://www.primary.vc/

https://twitter.com/schlaf

Bilal:
@creatorlabfm
@bzaidi212 (Instagram) & @bzaidi everywhere else

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/steve-schlafman-primary-venture-partners/

Thank you to our sponsors who help make this show possible:
SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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Oz Pearlman is an Emmy award-winning mentalist & magician. He captivated millions across the world as the runner up & finalist on America’s Got Talent.

In this episode, listen carefully as Oz baffles the senses by performing mentalist tricks live on air.

From reading Bilal’s mind, to elaborate tricks that you have to see with your own eyes to believe (youtube.com/creatorlabfm) & an epic conversation discussing human psychology, non-verbal communication & turning your side-hustle into a lucrative business – there’s so much to take away from this revealing conversation.

Five Things To Listen Out For:

Tricks – 3 mind-blowing tricks performed live
Side Hustle – Turning a side hustle into a lucrative business – from hustling in restaurants as a kid, to captivating millions on TV
Social Dynamics – from cat string theory to time constraints & appearing to be a scarce resource
Remembering People’s Names – how Oz approaches this in his work & what you can take from it
Psychology – behind success + happiness

Subscribe to watch the episode on YouTube here.

Social:
@OzTheMentalist
@creatorlabfm
@bzaidi212 (Instagram) & @bzaidi everywhere else

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/oz-pearlman-mentalist-magician-interview/

Thank you to our sponsors who help make this show possible:
SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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Nigel Eccles is best known for being the co-founder of FanDuel, a company that pioneered the daily fantasy sports market in the US.

You may have seen their high impact commercials on TV, heard of them becoming one of the few unicorn $1bil startups to come out of Europe or their eventual sale to Paddypower/Betfair for $465mil. You may have even seen him featured in the infamous John Oliver “This Week Tonight” episode covering the industry he helped to create!

It’s safe to say – there are not many people on the planet that have the experience that Nigel has – after starting & selling multiple companies – he’s been around the block & back as a serial entrepreneur.

At Fanduel his experience includes raising $400mil+ in venture capital, competing with their closest rival, Draft Kings who raised over $1bil+, to investing hundreds of millions of dollars in customer acquisition on channels like TV, radio & paid digital.

In this revealing conversation, he opened up to share his perspective on:

how to come up with business ideas in the first place
raising venture capital vs bootstrapping
how to accelerate paid customer acquisition & measure your marketing effectively
building a high growth team
the highs & lows of selling a company & lessons learned
why founders & early employees might not always make a return from a sale because of preferred vs common stock
creating a new market vs capturing an existing one
why “going viral” isn’t a good strategy for paid products
what to do if you’re a non-technical founder
the process of taking an initial idea & evaluating its business potential
applying the same logic to his new company, Flick, going after the podcast market

Subscribe to watch the episode on YouTube here.

Thank you to our sponsor who helps make this show possible -SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/muxEUNAaLTE How many times have you heard bitcoin, crypto, blockchain and thought to yourself – “what the hell are they talking about?”

Well, you’re not the only one. This is a topic that has a lot of value but too often you’ll find so-called “experts” using complicated jargon to make things sound more complicated than it is.

In this conversation with Ali Hassan, an ex-Goldman Sachs banker & venture capitalist, turned entrepreneur – we try our best to simplify and discuss what bitcoin and blockchain is in simple terms and explore the practical applications of this technology.

Going beyond definitions – we discuss real use cases, why the value of bitcoin fluctuates so much, if bitcoin is a direct alternative to the traditional money supply system, comparing it to other assets like gold, and how his team has developed one of the leading passive index funds for investing in cryptocurrency

Here are five things to listen out for: 1. What is Bitcoin? And what is Blockchain in simple terms? – Ali describes in easy to understand language and with examples, what bitcoin is and why it’s a valuable asset & technology 2. Comparing Bitcoin to Gold – what makes an asset like gold valuable and why that idea can be applied to an asset like bitcoin. 3. Real World Applications – where can bitcoin and blockchain be useful in the real? From the idea of a bitcoin being a store of value, to ethereum helping to automate processes through smart contracts, to helping the unbanked people of the world – we discuss where blockchain could provide real utility in the long run 4. Comparing Ethereum to the Apple app store – we discuss in simple terms what ethereum is and why it’s allowing people to build on top of their ecosystem, similar to how Apple did with their app store 5. Creating An Index Fund For Crypto – why Ali and his team left their traditional finance roles at companies like Goldman Sachs & VC firms to create a leading passive crypto index fund, Crescent Crypto.

Subscribe to Creator Lab videos on YouTube here. Thank you to our sponsor who helps make this show possible, SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

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Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/SGPMfHxFmgo

Fabrice Grinda has been called the most prolific angel investor in the world, even being ranked #1 in Forbes based on investment volume + number of exits.

He’s exited hundreds of millions of dollars from 500+ investments in companies like Alibaba, Viagogo, Tencent, Airbnb, Betterment, Uber, Fanduel & Palantir.

Before setting up his “startup studio” & investment fund, he started and sold multiple companies including OLX, the leading “Craigslist” marketplace of countries like India, Brazil & Pakistan.

But things weren’t always so rosy.

Fabrice shares stories of living on $2/day, living in his office because he couldn’t afford an apartment & missing payroll 27 times!

We also discuss the future of marketplaces, how he’d think of business ideas if starting today, the science of happiness, minimalism, and why we’re still at the very beginning of the tech revolution.

Here are five things to listen out for:

Reasons to be optimistic – why we’re the luckiest people in the world to be alive at this time and why we’re only at 1% of the tech revolution
Minimalism – from living on a 20-acre estate in Bedford, New York, to “island shopping” and then selling all his possessions – Fabrice has lived both extremes and shares his perspective on a healthy balance
The Science of Happiness – factors that make people happy and hacks to maximize your own “mean level of happiness”
The Future of Marketplaces – 3 trends in marketplace businesses and a framework for thinking about business ideas
How Venture Capital Works – the typical startup fundraising cycle, from initial investment to venture capital at series A, B, C etc.

CONNECT ON SOCIAL:

https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm

https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/fabrice-grinda-fj-labs-interview/

Thank you to our sponsors who help make this show possible:

SquareFoot, where growing companies find their place, check out SquareFoot.com/creatorlab to find your next office space

Instasleep Mint Melts, the drug-free sleep aid that melts in your mouth. Use the code “creator8” to get 20% off your order on Amazon.

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Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Lc07mxx3CII

Nathan Latka is making more than $100k/month from 30+ revenue streams. We go into all of the details documented in his book: “How To Be A Capitalist Without Any Capital”

From his approach to building systems that scale beyond himself, growing his podcast to 10+mil downloads, investing in real estate, food trucks, buying software companies, building teams around the world and even landing a TV show – there’s so much packed into this conversation!

We also go into why someone should be a capitalist in the first place, the pros, and cons of capitalism and the many creative ways he's finding success in many different areas.

Nathan is a true capitalist in every sense of the word & a savvy entrepreneur that likes to break the rules.

You can check out his WSJ bestselling book, “How To Be A Capitalist Without Any Capital”, on Amazon here

Five things to listen out for:

Capitalism vs Socialism – why you would want to be a capitalist in the first place and the pros & cons of a purely capitalist society.
Making $100k/month – why he chooses to spread his risk by working on many things at once and examples of investments you can make to generate income
Systems vs Goals – why you should focus on building, multiplying & stacking systems instead of setting goals
“My Podcast Is A Massive Front” – how he’s developed a piece of code to automatically turn his daily podcast into a database that he sells to VCs for $20-30k/month
His Book – what you can expect, including specific page numbers you can skip ahead to

CONNECT ON SOCIAL:

https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm

https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

Full show notes:

https://www.creatorlab.fm/nathan-latka-capitalist-book-interview/

Thank you to our sponsor, Instasleep Mint Melts, the drug-free sleep aid that melts in your mouth. You can check them out on Amazon here

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Watch the full episode on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/qpA2CEoDg-M

Faraz Zaidi, is the founder & creative director of Profound Co, a multi-million dollar fashion brand that sits at the intersection of streetwear and high fashion.

Profound has built a loyal following over 10yrs+, with celebrity fans like Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar and Justin Bieber wearing their clothes. They’ve been featured in Time, Fast Company & Forbes and have collaborated with leading musicians & major brands like Pepsi.

In this in-depth conversation, Faraz shares the full backstory of their humble beginnings, scaling their business and how he would approach building a fashion brand from scratch if he was starting again today.

Five things to listen out for:

Genesis – how Faraz started with a couple of t-shirts & a printer
Starting a Brand – how he would start a brand from scratch today
Celebrities + Influencers – how a Profound intern landed a connection to Rihanna and their approach to working with influencers
Retail – getting into physical stores like Selfridges & boutiques around the world.
Struggles – examples of when things haven’t gone so well, mistakes made and how he mentally deals with the lows

CONNECT ON SOCIAL:
https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm
https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/profound-aesthetic-co-faraz-zaidi/

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Subscribe and watch the full video interview on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/GZAgTCFPxxk

Tyler Riewer (head of creative at charity: water) shares 5 principles that can make you a better storyteller. We discuss the concept of the "hero's journey" and how the best brands, writers & politicians use this idea to tell effective stories.

Five Things To Listen Out For:

Role of storytelling – and its impact on every part of an organization
The Hero’s Journey – how savvy brands, politicians, and writers use the concept of the hero’s journey to tell effective stories
5 Principles – that Tyler has picked up along the way as a professional storyteller that you can apply to your own life and work
From Concept to Campaign – how they took an inspirational letter from a 6yr old and turned it into a successful brand campaign through the principles we discuss
Stories from his travels – and the stories that make up the 663 million people that lack access to clean drinking water

SOCIAL:
https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm
https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

TYLER:
http://tylerriewer.com
https://twitter.com/tylerriewer

charity: water
Watch The Spring: https://cwtr.org/2lJhZix
Nora's story: https://www.charitywater.org/world-wa...

Full show notes:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/where-do-good-stories-come-from-tyler-riewer-charity-water/

Thank you to our sponsor, Instasleep Mint Melts, the drug-free sleep aid that melts in your mouth. You can check them out on Amazon or instasleep.us

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Watch the full video interview & subscribe on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgDgNfvm4qY

Jane Lu has been named “Cosmopolitan’s Girl Boss of the Year”, “Forbes 30 under 30” and her company, Showpo, was crowned Australia’s “Online Retailer of the Year” in 2018.

But rewind a few years and Jane was struggling for motivation in her accountancy career. We discuss what it took to take a risk to go all in on her business while having to hide it from her parents while living in their house!

We dig into the details of how she took her first steps, grew the company with zero investment, built an audience on social with millions of followers, and how she would approach starting an e-commerce business from scratch today.

Show Notes
Here are five things to listen out for:

Leaving her job + keeping it a secret from her parents – how Jane plucked up the courage to leave her job in the middle of the financial crisis
Her first failed business – connecting the dots from her first failure, getting out of debt and launching Showpo
Working ON her business vs IN her business – how a trip to Ultra Music Festival forced Jane to replace her work by hiring someone full time and the lessons from that experience
Growing to $60mil with zero investment – we go into detail from when she was bringing in $5k/month, and the things she did to grow step-by-step, why she chose to never raise money, keep control and grow
If she started again today – how she would start an e-commerce business today & actionable tactics around growing a social following, paid vs organic, youtube content strategy & more

Thank you to our sponsor, Instasleep Mint Melts, the drug-free sleep aid that melts in your mouth. You can check them out on Amazon or instasleep.us

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Watch full interview on video:
https://youtu.be/3BHdnOiYym4

Full show notes & timestamps:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/ronnie-madra-1oak-earos/

Ronnie Madra is the co-founder of the Butter Group which has an extensive portfolio of brands including legendary nightclubs 1OAK and Up and Down.

They’ve hosted after-parties for events like the Oscars, Met Gala & Cannes Film Festival attracting A-List celebrities along the way. Alongside business partner, Richie Akiva, they’ve developed properties in NYC, LA, Las Vegas, Tokyo, Dubai & Maldives – building one of the leading food & beverage (F&B) brands around.

However, after 25+ years in nightlife – Ronnie developed a severe hearing issue which causes constant ringing in his ears. To address this issue for the 1.1bil people who will develop hearing issues in their lifetime – he created, EAROS, an in-ear protection system & an acoustical filter.

Ronnie shared stories he has never shared before. He opens up about growing up on a coconut plantation in Guyana, landing in NYC as a minority amongst minorities, personal stories about dealing with bullies as a kid, running into trouble with a gang & landing on his feet into nightlife in NYC.

FIVE THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR:

Childhood – growing up with no electricity in Guyana, landing in NYC and how his early experiences shaped his outlook
Fitting in & dealing with a bully – a raw and honest chat about dealing with bullies, trying to fit in and finding the confidence to be yourself.
Building a name – alongside Richie Akiva, Ronnie has built a name for himself in the nightclub space, attracting A-List celebrities like Jay Z, Pharrell, Rihanna, Kate Hudson, Kanye, Gigi Hadid, Virgil and others to their venues. We go into all the details of how they started and built a name for themselves.
Coming up with business ideas & developing a product – scratching his own itch, why he started EAROS, ways you can think about finding inspiration for ideas and knowing how to take action.
Building Brand & Service – learning from his experience in creating a brand, product development, making people feel safe.

TIME STAMPS:

2:34 – What Ronnie is known for: 1OAK, Butter Group & Earos
5:25 – Scale of their nightclubs & restaurants
7:42 – Growing up on a coconut plantation in Guyana
11:16 – Landing in Queens, NYC
13:15 – Teenage Ronnie
13:55 – Dealing with bullies
19:38 – Early signs of entrepreneurship
23:02 – Listening to all types of music and wanting to fit in
26:32 – Becoming comfortable not fitting in
31:26 – What lead to 1OAK being formed? Finding an A-Team.
36:15 – Starting 1OAK with Richie Akiva & early investments
38:06 – “Pioneers of the pop-up”
41:40 – How to choose partnerships
44:24 – What is next for 1Oak?
47:40 – Attracting A-list celebrities
51:20 – New venture – Earos
55:10 – Developing hearing issues – tinnitus
58:52 – Idea and need for a new type of ear protection
60:50 – Going beyond looking like a hearing aid
66:48 – The process of developing a new product
69:45 – Sound vs. noise
71:35 – The process of reaching out to great people through Linkedin
75:58 – Working day vs. night
79:44 – Pitching the idea to investors
85:16 – When do you know you’re finished?
87:06 – 20 years into the future
91:10 – Closing remarks

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Erika Alexander is an actress, writer & co-founder of Color Farm Media. She’s well known for her role as the iconic character Maxine Shaw, Attorney-at-Law in the 90s sitcom Living Single. She was a regular as Cousin Pam in The Cosby Show & appeared in the Oscar-winning film Get Out (2017).

Full show notes & timestamps:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/erika-alexander-actress-get-out-cosby-show/

Here are five things to listen out for:  1. **Childhood –** her candid experience growing up as a child actor from the age of 14, her relationship with her parents & how this impacted her throughout her life.

Being the “other” – feeling like an outsider when she first had some success
Importance of Diversity in Film & Media – how she’s approaching this challenge with Color Farm Media, why it’s important to hire the best people regardless, but find a balance to tell diverse stories
Role of Therapy – how she dealt with depression, navigated lows and the importance of mental health
The Future – hip-hop in Bollywood, collaborations of color, the projects she’s working on with Lionsgate & the importance of long-form conversations

Time Stamps:

2:32 – Introduction of Erika
4:45 – Her role on Living Single
8:38 – Erika’s childhood
12:15 – Was Erika always outgoing?
15:36 – The “look at me” gene
18:26 – First time acting
23:12 – Erika’s mom’s influence
25:46 – Becoming famous and losing her family
27:31 – Religion and belief when growing up
30:40 – Early pain struggle & depression
32:40 – Being the “other” in the family
36:45 – Ways to cope with parent pain
41:05 – Therapy and mental health
50:41 – Race and misrepresentation in work
51:52 – Race is an illusion
54:13 – Color Farm Media & it’s mission
57:06 – Ben Arnon help & info
61:17 – Current work
66:25 – Black Lightning
71:53 – Making diversity authentic
77:02 – Importance of diverse writers
82:25 – How to change in industry
85:33 – “I’m a badass at acting”
93:00 – Collaborations of color
95:50 – Hire the best writer, but include all
98:14 – The impact of long-form conversation
101:56 – Looking to the future

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I visited Ben Van Leeuwen at his Brooklyn-based ice cream factory! They have a truly remarkable story, starting from a single ice cream truck 10yrs ago, to building an epic brand with a cult following. They’ve since grown to a $20mil business, going from 15 stores to 25 in the next few months after taking investment for the first time. They’ve also grown their wholesale business where they now sell their ice cream in over 1000 stores across 44 states. We discuss their humble beginnings, meeting his co-founder, falling in love, a focus on product excellence by sourcing the very best ingredients & you’ll hear what it took to build their business with zero investment after their modest friends and family round. SHOW NOTES Here are five things to listen out for: (1) Travel – Ben leaving college to travel and explore the world. (2) Kaizen vs 10x Moonshot Thinking – continuous improvement in all aspects of their company vs a mindset of massive transformational change (3) Starting a business with his wife & brother – navigating a breakup, working with family & how they’ve made Van Leeuwen a huge success (4) Product & Customer Excellence – focusing on using only the very best ingredients & bringing joy to their customers (5) Growth – stories from starting their first ice cream truck to growing to 25 stores & 44 states & why they decided to take major investment for the first time Times Stamps * 3:02 – Who is Ben Van Leeuwen * 3:58 – How did Ben get into ice cream * 10:45 – Where Ben’s food awareness came from * 13:23 – Ben’s parents and his upbringing * 16:56 – How Ben developed his entrepreneurial spirit * 18:00 – The “ice cream idea” * 20:44 – Being healthy in an ice cream world * 23:46 – Ben’s travel memories * 26:38 – Ben’s craftsmanship in his work * 29:35 – Company values * 30:54 – Ben meeting his cofounder * 33:10 – How the company began * 36:21 – Writing initial business plan * 42:09 – Logo, branding and naming * 45:55 – Tactically building your team * 48:34 – Beginnings of the business * 50:25 – Putting the best ingredients into their first chocolate ice cream * 55:47 – First real day of business * 65:19 – What the business looks like today – 15-25 stores, selling in 1000 stores across 44 states * 67:02 – Ben’s thoughts on expansion * 70:38 – First year revenue numbers * 71:33 – Focus moving forward * 73:30 – Working with brother and wife * 74:35 – Working with ex-wife * 75:42 – Difficulties with raising money * 79:18 – Dealing with rejection * 80:58 – 20 years from now… * 83:45 – Admirable trait: not taking shortcuts * 84:54 – Other products for Ben to explore * 86:29 – Final remarks and advice

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Edgardo embodies the word creator. He’s a writer at Marvel Entertainment, Editor-in-Chief at Darryl Makes Comics working with the legendary hip-hop icon: DMC from RUN DMC, Art Director & founder at Somos Arte production studio, and the creator of La Borinqueña, an original comic book character that has grown into a cultural phenomenon and a nationally recognized symbol of Puerto Rican patriotism, social justice, and equality for all. His work has been featured on CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic. Full show notes and time stamps: https://www.creatorlab.fm/edgardo-miranda-rodriguez-activism-art SHOW NOTES: Five things to listen out for: 1. Growing up as a Puerto Rican in NYC – what life was like growing up poor in the Bronx, memories from being a young activist, poet, and creator. 2. Comic Books – how he got into creating comic books, writing for Marvel + creating his own publication: La Borinqueña. 3. Teaming up with DMC from RUN DMC – how they met, their creative process and how they split up responsibilities. 4. Direct-to-Consumer – publishing directly to people and spreading his creative work to fans. 5. Generating Buzz + Press – Edgardo has been featured on CNN, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and more – how did he approach this and get his work out there?

TIME STAMPS * 2:38 … who is Edgardo and what does he do? * 4:14 … Edgardo describing pictures Bilal shows from growing up * 9:50 … power of the arts, reflecting on what’s going on in society * 10:09 … challenge of being viewed as a second class citizen * 11:10 … hypocrisy within Latin American communities and media * 12:05 … “I’m not a race, I’m an ethnicity” * 13:31 … stories as a form of evolution * 15:00 … self-awareness from an early age + growing up * 17:03 … learning about Mandela + apartheid * 17:57 … college + local activism * 23:30 … comic book has become a symbol for people + the women’s march reaching out to him * 27:19 … being proud of his heritage * 28:40 … distributing book directly to the people + direct to consumer trend * 30:37 … comic book world / who’s buying books * 35:36 … working alongside DMC from legendary hip-hop group: RUN DMC * 40:12 … our heritage and culture is the true superpower * 40:38 … approaching press and social media to promote his book * 42:13 … people want to know who you are and “why” you create … not “what” you create * 49:51 … an ask for the people who are listening

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Julien Smith is the co-founder & CEO of Breather. They provide an on-demand network of private meeting rooms designed for work, meetings and focus. They’ve raised over $80m to date and are on a strong trajectory of growth. Before that, Julien was a best selling author, speaker & podcaster. In this conversation, Julien and Bilal discuss how he thinks about pattern detection, how he used these frameworks to develop the idea for Breather & how you can apply this to your own work.

Full show notes & timestamps:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/julien-smith-breather-detecting-patterns/

Time Stamps:

1:52 - Who are you/what do you do
2:30 - Detecting patterns. Is that that what you’re good at?
4:10 - Scale & growth of Breather, how did Julien get there
6:43 - When Julien started Breather, how many units did he start with & how do they keep them secure?
8:09 - What does Breather's customer base look like? What are their customer segments?
8:58 - How big is this market? How do you estimate market size?
9:50 - Thinking about security for a physical space - digital vs analog locks.
11:30 - Growing up in Canada & what did Julien want to be when he grew up?
13:20 - Learning what you’re good at and 360 reviews
17:10 - How Julien thinks about detecting patterns? Is this something we can learn to become better at?
20:25 - Is detecting patterns a skill or luck?
24:10 - Detecting patterns: is it a learned behavior? Discussing Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet.
28:30 - the value of the expert generalist
30:00 - What sources of information do you follow? Books, podcasts, people, etc?
33:30 - What can people do to accelerate the process of growing and connecting with people they can learn from?
36:00 - Jeff Bezos story of the regret minimization framework
39:30 - What were some of the macro trends he identified to help start Breather? Are there certain macro trends that he sees right now?
42:20 - Cities + network effects + timing
46:02 - Bilal discusses idea for supper clubs platform
47:50 - Omnifocus app he uses for tasks
48:10 - Developing healthy habits? Streaks app
51:40 - What is Julien’s routine and a typical day? Morning pages. The creative habit.
55:05 - What is motivating Julien right now?
56:30 - What does success mean to you?

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WHO IS GARY?

Just out of college, Gary grew his family wine business from a $4M to a $45M business in five years. Now, he runs VaynerMedia, one of the world’s hottest digital agencies with more than 800 employees and $100m in annual revenue. Along the way, Gary became a prolific investor. He’s investing in companies like Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Uber and Venmo.

He’s a 4x NY Times best-selling author & recently starred in Apple’s original series: “Planet of the Apps”, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and will.i.am.

FIVE THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR:

(1) Childhood stories – before the lemonade stands, what Gary was like as a kid

(2) Luck – believing in luck, but wanting to eliminate excuses

(3) What matters most – if this was his last Thursday, how would he spend his last week?

(4) Depression – Gary discusses a recent suicide and why he thinks the culture of entrepreneurship being cool isn’t necessarily helping

(5) Legacy – how his view of legacy has changed over the last 10yrs

TIME STAMPS:
-Gary shares some childhood stories [1m36s]
-Before the lemonade stands [4m19s]
-Trading attention [5m27s]
-Thoughts on luck and eliminating excuses [6m9s]
-“I take no credit for my success” [8m46s]
-If this was his last week to live, what would Gary spend his time doing? [12m4s]
-A reoccurring nightmare as a child [15m52s]
-Entrepreneurial depression + suicide [17m27s]
-Navigating self-doubt vs self-awareness to know you’re not doing the right thing [20m54s]
-How Gary’s view of legacy has changed over the last 10 years [22m46s]
-Building a business that lives on without you [25m56s]

Connect on social:

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https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212
https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi

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Jos White is a serial entrepreneur and investor at Notion Capital. In this interview, he shares his life story from growing up in England, to getting expelled from school, starting businesses with his brother & how they managed to sell 3 different companies for more than $800 million.

5 THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR: (1) Growing up in England – going to the same school as Richard Branson and getting expelled from school. (2) Starting a business with his brother – early signs of entrepreneurship and what it was like setting up a company with his family. (3) Multiple exits – most entrepreneurs dream of having a multi-million dollar exit once. But Jos did this time and time again with 3 different companies. We go into what he built and how he sold the companies. (4) Learning from his entrepreneurial journey – funding their businesses, finding a CTO, navigating the crash of 2000, knowing when it was the right time to sell, common mistakes people make when pitching for investment (5) Legacy – what he cares most about, what makes people happy & how we wants to keep having an impact TIME STAMPS * [3m38s] What he was like as a kid * [5m35s] Going to same school as Richard Branson and getting expelled from school * [9m33s] Can you learn to be an entrepreneur and what he studied at school * [10m58s] Earliest exposure to business * [15m10s] Moving to Thailand * [17m29s] Genesis of RBR Networks * [20m25s] Making more than £1m a month and getting their first sale * [22m02s] Splitting up responsibility * [23m03s] Transitioning from marketing person to leader * [24m50s] Knowing his weaknesses * [27m17s] How they funded their business * [31m42s] Hiring good people * [34m06s] Selling the company for $50M * [35m47s] What they did the day they sold the company * [38m44s] Coming up with the idea for Message Labs * [42m05s] Finding a CTO * [47m03s] Navigating the crash of 2000 * [48m21s] Knowing when to sell a company * [54m59s] Switching to an investor, what he looks for in an investment * [56m56s] Common mistakes people make when pitching for investment * [58m52s] What is keeping him motivated? Having a chip on your shoulder * [1hr] What success means to him * [1hr2m] Having financial success & social responsibility * [1hr5m] Legacy

Connect on social: https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm https://www.facebook.com/creatorlabfm https://www.twitter.com/creatorlabfm Connect with Bilal: https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

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This is a new format where I bring experts from different fields to have a roundtable discussion on a particular topic. Today we speak about the state of transatlantic tech and what you should be thinking about if you’re looking to expand internationally. Note that this was recorded late Dec 2016 just before President Trump came into office.

MY 3 GUESTS:

(1) Daniel Glazer – partner at Silicon Valley-headquartered law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he leads the New York office’s Technology Transactions practice. He also helps lead WSGR’s US Expansion practice, advising UK and other non-US technology companies on US expansion

(2) Pru Ashby – head of North America at London & Partners who are the official promotional company for London. She works on attracting and advising US companies to set up and grow in London

(3) Alliott Cole – director at Octopus Ventures, one of Europe’s largest venture capital teams. Some of their investments include: Secret Escapes, yPlan, Zoopla, Swiftkey (sold for $250M to Microsoft) & Lovefilm (sold to Amazon for $200M)

FIVE THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR: (1) Similarities and differences between US and UK/European markets
(2) Startup ecosystem post-brexit
(3) Future outlook under a Trump presidency
(4) How do you structure an expansion into US or Europe
(5) What companies have done this well?

TIME STAMPS

[3m21s] Intros
[6m16s] State of UK post brexit
[18m49s] Investment growth in London since 2010
[19m28s] It takes 10.2yrs for companies to IPO on average
[20m23s] Has the market overreacted to Brexit?
[23m9s] Mood post US election
[24m16s] How will entrepreneurs think about globalisation
[30m9s] Similarities and differences in business culture in US vs UK
[42m11s] Recommendations on hiring people in US when you’re a startup
[43m35s] How do you structure an expansion
[48m27s] Where do you start your first US office
[51m41s] When do you know it’s the right time to move
[58m36] Examples of companies that have done a good job of expanding
[1hr6m] What do companies struggle with when they move
[1hr14m] What should US companies think about when expanding to UK
[1hr18m] Looking forward

Connect on social: https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm https://www.facebook.com/creatorlabfm https://www.twitter.com/creatorlabfm https://www.snapchat.com/add/creatorlabfm Connect with Bilal: https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

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Daymond John is a rare force of nature. He’s a true serial entrepreneur involved with more than 80 businesses & investments. He founded FUBU, the lifestyle fashion brand that has brought in more than $6 billion in sales. He’s a regular on the Emmy award winning show “Shark Tank” and has published three books including the NY Times best seller: The Power of Broke. He was named by President Obama as a “Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship” and travelled with him on his historic trips to Cuba & Kenya.

We discuss what he’s learned from all those years, how he thinks about new business ideas, applying the “power of broke” to test out customer needs, focusing on the best opportunities, his role as a leader in the current political climate & his latest venture, a co-working space in NYC called Blueprint + Co.

5 THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR: (1) Ideas – how he thinks of business ideas & focusing on the most important opportunities (2) Blueprint + Co – why he’s opening a co-working space and how he thinks about differentiating from WeWork and startup spaces (3) Power of Broke – why it’s important and how he applies this mindset to all his businesses (4) Role In Society – thoughts on the current political climate and how he sees his role as an entrepreneur & leader (5) Fear – using knowledge to combat fear TIME STAMPS: * Who is Daymond? [1m22s] * What is Blueprint + Co and similarities to FUBU: For Us By Us [2m14s] * Where the idea came from & differentiating from WeWork / startup co-working spaces [3m41s] * Having a need yourself and turning it into a business [3m58s] * Members of blueprint + co include: Ashley Stewart & Leesa mattress [5m5s] * Focusing on best opportunities with 80 businesses & investments [7m37s] * Investing vs starting business himself [9m17s] * What he enjoys most: starting, investing or corporate? [10m31s] * What is the power of broke? [11m51s] * Problem for small businesses when they are overfunded [13m35s] * You cannot buy your customers & thoughts on customer acquisition [14m4s] * Selling one hat at a time, comparisons to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook [14m27s] * Applying power of broke to blueprint + co [14m36s] * Finding product market fit for blueprint + co and thoughts on adapting product over time [17m6s] * What matters to him most and what keeps him going? [18m41s] * Current political climate and what he thinks his role is as and entrepreneur and leader [20m39] * Dealing with fear [23m44s] * Knowledge + Fear [25m21s]

All show notes and other episodes available at:
https://www.creatorlab.fm

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Sushi Nakazawa stunned the restaurant world when they were awarded a notoriously difficult 4 star review in The New York Times by legendary food critic Pete Wells. But what really goes into creating such a world class restaurant? We get to hear directly from Alessandro (Alex) Borgognone, co-founder of Sushi Nakazawa, famous for its all star chef, Daisuke Nakazawa, who was the protege of Jiro One, the renowned chef from the award winning documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." This is a remarkable story like no other. From tracking down Nakazawa on Facebook, to using Google Translate to communicate & convincing him to start a restaurant in NYC - Alessandro personifies the entrepreneurial spirit that’s needed to make a fine establishment like this a reality. Here are five things to listen out for: (1) Early Years - starting in the family business aged 13 & what growing up in Brooklyn as an Italian American taught him. (2) Genesis of Sushi Nakazawa - how the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi inspired Alex to find Chef Nakazawa on Facebook, communicate via Google translate to turn his vision into one of the best restaurants in NYC. (3) The Restaurant Business - with 10 restaurants under his belt including Chumley’s and Sushi Nakazawa - how does Alex think about building a restaurant concept from scratch? Finding a chef, location, naming, costing, crating a menu, launching, promoting and getting people through the door. (4) Personal - what he thinks about success, what motivates him, his daily routine and why legacy matters. (5) Fun Questions - his favorite NYC restaurant, pizza places & how his worst job ever involves getting a car stolen! TIME STAMPS: * What is Sushi Nakazawa and intro to Alex [1m51s] * His 10 restaurants, including Chumleys and Nakazawa [2m24s] * Starting in the restaurant business at 13 yrs old [3m19s] * What he loved about the food business [3m44s] * Growing up as an Italian American in Brooklyn [4m13s] * Working in the family business [5m33s] * Bringing back ideas from summer trips to Italy [6m30s] * What he wanted to be when he grew up [7m26s] * What he learned from the family businesses that he applies to his business today [8m58] * Genesis of sushi nakazawa - watching jiro dreams of sushi, using google translate to send a message on facebook to Nakazawa [9m50] * Who is and what is the significant of Jiro Dreams of Sushi [11m9s] * Who is chef nakazawa from jiro dreams of sushi [12m6s] * Navigating Japanese vs Italian culture [12m33s] * Using google translate to communicate on a daily basis [14m45s] * What does it take to start a restaurant in New York & why sushi is different [16m24s] * Deciding on a location [17m54s] * His thought process & attention to detail with Nakazawa [18m15s] * What it takes to create a menu and what they did differently [20m26s] * Importance of sequencing [21m22s] * Comparing business partnership with marriage [21m57s] * Launch - 3500 requests on open day [22m24s] * What they did to build up buzz [23m27s] * Hiring good people for a restaurant [25m35s] * Getting a 4* review from Pete Wells of The New York Times [26m54s] * Marketing & how to stay relevant [30m12] * How much does it cost to start a restaurant in Manhattan? $500k-$750k benchmark [34m31s] * Why is it harder to start a restaurant business now than in the past [36m25s] * What are some hidden costs of starting a restaurant [37m33s] * What numbers (KPIs) are they looking at to work out success [38m32s] * What is the role of technology in restaurant business [39m47s] * How do they think about and manage reviews on yelp, foursquare etc [41m19s] * What is driving him and keeps him going, how to be content [44m33s] * Daily routine [46m42s] * Restaurants he likes in NYC & talking about David Chang [51m11s] * “Do you like chick filet or fuku better” [52m27s] * Franchise vs creating your own brand - making a statement [52m48s] * What is motivating him, leaving a legacy, making a statement [54m01s] * What does success mean to him & who are others he thinks are successful? [55m03s] * Common traits amongst successful people [56m33s] * Best advice he's ever received - cameo from his best friend Tom & partner at Chumley’s [56m58s] * Word association game, fav restaurant, best slice of pizza, best food publication, worst job & favorite chef [58m32s]

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THE WEED BUSINESS: Analysts are calling it the country’s "fastest-growing industry" and Arthur Frommer (godfather of the travel industry who founded the Frommer's guide) said “get ready for the era of marijuana tourism”. In the US, 8 states have legalized its recreational use and more than half of all US states permit it for medical purposes. In Dec, The New York Stock Exchange listed its first public marijuana company. Times are changing, so I sat down with Joe Dolce, author of “Brave New Weed” to explore the future of the weed business and its social impact. WHO IS JOE? Joe Dolce is a seasoned journalist who worked with Anna Wintour at Vogue, introduced Jamie Oliver to the US audience as the chief of Gourmet magazine and spent a week in Mexico trying to outdrink Anthony Bourdain. He has a treasure trove of stories spanning an impressive 20yr career as a journalist. For the last 3yrs, Joe travelled the globe researching the uncharted world of the cannabis industry. From legal states in the US, medical research in Israel, weed tourism in Colorado & the criminal justice system - Joe has dug deep into this topic. 5 THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR: (1) His Journalist Background - stories of interviewing Hugh Hefner in the playboy mansion & Anna Wintour eating cheeseburgers at her desk. How his background in journalism got him onto this topic for his book. (2) History - Why has it been such a taboo subject, what is changing now, legalization vs decriminalization, positive & negative impact. (3) Current Landscape - what does the landscape look like right now? How are people like Snoop Dogg, Whoopi Goldberg & The Marley Family setting up to profit? (4) Future Growth of the Weed Business - comparing it to the beer business & wine country, big pharma, tobacco companies, investment, weed tourism & medical use. (5) Social impact - the US has 5% of the global population but 25% of its prisoners, what impact will legalization have on the criminal justice system? How will it impact people of color who are disproportionately impacted by minor drug offenses? TIME STAMPS * [1m32s] - Who is Joe Dolce * [2m51s] - Stories from being a journalist -Anna Wintour eating cheeseburgers * [3m27s] - Interviewing Hugh Hefner at the playboy mansion * [5m44s] - Hanging with Jamie Oliver in Essex * [6m54s] - Why did he start writing this book * [7m56s] - Importance of language, plant vs drug * [9m38s] - History, why it has been a taboo subject & the war on drugs * [13m37s] - Legalized states * [14m34s] - Difference between decriminalization vs legalization * [15m53s] - Parallels between alcohol prohibition * [17m27s] - Why has it taken so long to legalize * [19m10s] - Gateway drug & negative impact * [24m23s] - What Obama had to say about it * [26m27s] - Positive uses that researchers have found * [29m31s] - What is THC and CBD? * [31m53s] - Painting a picture of current business landscape * [35m16s] - Future of business, comparing it to the beer industry * [37m47s] - Future of weed tourism, comparing to wine country * [40m04s] - Big pharma and alcohol companies stance * [43m38s] - Tax revenue & growth, estimates for California being a $30bil market * [45m16s] - How Snoop Dogg, Marley Family, Whoppi Goldberg and more are investing * [46m59s] - US is 5% of global population, 25% of prisoners, impact on criminal justice system and people of color * [52m24s] - Impact of decriminalization of all drugs * [58m05s] - About his book: Brave New Weed - link here:
https://www.creatorlab.fm/recommends/joe-dolce-brave-new-weed

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In many ways, Avinash is the king of "the side hustle": * Speaker & Advisor - An established speaker who has consulted for some of the world’s largest brands * Entrepreneur - Recently sold the education company he co-founded for a reported $10M * Writer - A thought leader in the world of analytics who wrote the best selling book: “Web Analytics: An Hour A Day” as well as building a large following on his blog: Occam’s Razor * Googler - Leads a team of 70 story tellers, as Google’s Digital Marketing evangelist

I’ve known Avinash for a few years from our time at Google. But in prep for our interview, I realized how little I knew about his personal story. * Who was the real Avinash behind the guy on stage frantically shouting out "THIS SUCKS" to bewildered CEOs? * What experiences shaped his outlook and how did he end up in such a unique role at Google? * What role did his writing play in shaping where he is today?

He hasn’t shared much of this before so I’m thankful we had a chance to get personal & discuss his incredible journey. From living in a factory as a kid in India, to building a life in the US, becoming a best selling author & thought leader in his space. Here are five things to listen out for: (1) Early Years - Growing up poor & living in a factory in India (2) Starting his career - Moving to Saudi Arabia, the US & why he was attracted to web analytics (3) Writing & Building An Audience - How he built an audience of 150k monthly readers on his blog, wrote a book & landed a high profile role at Google (4) Starting From Scratch - If he was starting again, how he would focus his time to build his brand and audience again? (5) Personal - His fear of being broke, what motivates him & what success means to him personally. All show notes and details can be found on: www.creatorlab.fm Time Stamps: * Background of how Bilal & Avinash know each other [1m38s] * Explaining what his job is to his mum [2m51s] * How he got his job at Google [3m44s] * Growing up poor in India & living in a factory [5m16s] * What he wanted to be when he grew up? [7m38s] * Where his work ethic came from [10m31s] * Moving to Saudi Arabia & the USA [12m44s] * Earning $500/month - still 7x more than he would have made in India [14m16s] * What it felt like to be poor [18m10s] * How he uses the fear of going broke and losing his job to motivate himself [20m45s] * Losing his job again at Silicon Graphics [26m17s] * Why it can make sense to take a title & pay cut [28m40] * What attracted him to web analytics [29m46s] * Taking the plunge to start a company and knowing when it’s the right time to go for it [30m28] * Starting a blog and role of personal branding [32m40s] * Why he was wrong about people not wanting to pay for a book when they could get it online for free [38m22s] * Taking 6months to get to 1000 visitors, now at 150,000 visitors a month [41m15s] * Content vs Amplification [43m39s] * “If I can listen to 50 podcasts, why should I listen to you” [45m35s] * Career limiting moves [51m33s] * Owned vs Rented platforms, eg. email vs social [58m39s] * Why he gets more engagement from 9.5k email subscribers than 200k twitter followers [1hr47s] * Advice for growing an email list [1hr2m14s] * What’s motivating him [1hr3m53s] * Can you be happy if you always want to stand out? [1hr5m43s] * Spending 4 hours a week to learn something new [1hr7m12s] * Advice to 18 year old Avinash [1hr8m15s] * What success means to him [1hr9m28s] * 4 people he mentions: [1hr9m40s] + 1) Thomas Baekdal writes about media, analytics, social and broad digital trends: 2) Mitch Joel is a marketing rockstar, his blog illustrates why: 3) Seth Godin’s incisiveness and pithiness, and of course his take on marketing is legendary 4) Kaiser Fung is incredible with big data, advanced math and visualizations * Examples of failure [1hr10m38s] * What matters most [1hr15m5s]

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Fereshteh Forough is the founder & CEO of Code to Inspire, an award winning organization that is empowering Afghan girls by teaching them how to code. Fereshteh was a TED speaker on digital literacy & communication without borders in 2013. Code To Inspire was awarded a Google Rise Award for their work & she was recently featured in a “change is made with code” campaign linked on the Google homepage in Sep 2016. In this incredibly raw conversation, we discuss everything from growing up as a refugee in Iran, to her struggles overcoming gender bias in Afghanistan, to what it took to set up Code To Inspire. We discuss why she thinks girls aren’t encouraged to go into technical fields like coding & what we can do to change that. 5 things to listen out for: (1) Growing up - as a refugee in Iran & what it was like to return home to Afghanistan after the Taliban rule where female students made up 0% of the population. (2) Getting into computer science by accident - why she hated it at first and the story behind how she ended up becoming a computer science professor. (3) Unique challenges of setting up in Afghanistan - overcoming growing up with only 3hrs of electricity per day, dealing with gender bias & the cultural stigma attached to women in the work place. (4) Embracing negativity to motivate yourself - how she uses negative comments to fuel her mission! (5) Women in technology - why she thinks there are less females in technical fields & what we can do about it. This conversation reminded me how much I take for granted & I hope it does for you too! Time Stamps: * What does Fereshteh (her name) mean? [1m30s] * What problem are they trying to solve [2m] * Out of 900k students, zero were women during Taliban regime [2m26s] * Growing up as a refugee in Iran & returning to Afghanistan [3m40s] * Not liking computer science and how she accidentally got into it [11m11s] * Challenges of being a girl learning in Afghanistan [14m25s] * Having 3hrs of electricity a day [14m46s] * Becoming a professor [16m48s] * Genesis & where she got the idea for code to inspire [21m15s] * Finding what you’re passionate about and dealing with a slump [22m41] * Supporting herself with little income [24m28s] * Process of fundraising [25m30s] * Challenges of shipping laptops to Afghanistan [29m12s] * Being awarded the Google Rise award and being featured on the homepage [29m47s] * Recommendations on fundraising for other people [31m15s] * What it takes to make a coding school [36m21s] * When do you know when to pay yourself a salary [38m35s] * Security & stigma attached to education for girls [40m36s] * Dealing with negative comments on social media [43m11s] * What does the future look like [47m25s] * Academic vs practical learning [48m47s] * Why are there fewer women in technical fields and can we do to impact this [52m12] * Remembering women in the history of computing like Ada Lovelace [59m] * What success means to her [1h] * Last time she felt lost and dealing with it [1h2m] * Books that have impacted her [1h2m50s] * What she wants people to think of Afghanistan [1h5m]

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Daire Hickey was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2016 for his incredible work in helping Web Summit grow from 200 attendees 6years ago, to 50,000 attendees in Lisbon this year. They are on course to achieve double digit millions in revenue ($XXm) and have had everyone from Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Chris Sacca & Eva Longoria attend their events. 5 things to listen out for: (1) Starting up - how Paddy, Daire and Dave started Web Summit in Dublin, where they quickly established themselves as the hottest event in town. (2) Hanging Out With Al Pacino - how he tracked down famous celebrities like Al Pacino to get them to attend events at Trinity College. And later, using those same skills to convince the world’s press & top entrepreneurs including the founders of Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Tesla and more to attend their events. (3) Reinventing The 'Tech Conference'- how they use technology to be smarter about marketing, logistics, attendee experience and more. (4) Growing into emerging markets - how they’ve grown into building events around the world in India, New Orleans, Madrid, Hong Kong and more. What were the mistakes made along the way and what he would do differently? (5) Getting Personal - What does success mean to him? Who does he look up to? What does his future look like? We even get to talk about his favorite 27 course restaurant in New York. And some taco recommendations to finish off! Time Stamps: * Myspace pics [5m24s] * What did he want to be when he grew up? [11m42s] * Hanging out with Al Pacino [14m59s] * Finding email addresses for publicists & getting in contact [21m19s] * Starting the Web Summit [22m13s] * Convincing the world’s press to attend their event [29m36s] * Events that went wrong [43m38s] * Fire in Paddy’s house! [44m10s] * Story of Drew Houston, the founder of Dropbox singing Oasis to a bar full of people in Dublin [46m30s] * Hiring good people & the future of Web Summit [47m] * What they have engineers working on [49m10s] * What makes a great story [52m35s] * What is he most excited about in the technology space [56m] * Emerging markets [58m52s] * Meeting Elon Musk [1hr1m] * The market is giving Twitter a rough time [1hr3m47s] * Story of Uber closing Series B round in Dublin [1hr7m44s] * What does success mean to him [1hr8m43s] * What are his future plans [1hr17m12s] * Quick fire questions [1hr18m12s] * Favorite NYC restaurant & favorite taco place [1hr22m37s]

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Ever wondered where that barely-used bar of soap went after your last hotel visit?

Erin Zaikis goes into her incredible journey in founding Sundara: a nonprofit organization that partners with slum women in India, Myanmar & Uganda to recycle soap & provide hygiene education to the communities that need it the most.

5 things to listen out for:

(1) How a trip to rural Thailand inspired her to take action and start a soap company

(2) Making bars of soap in her Manhattan apartment and why she transitioned from a social business to a non-profit

(3) Why soap is often overlooked and why it is so powerful in preventing disease, empowering women and saving lives

(4) The steps she took to fundraise, spread the word and build her nonprofit

(5) Personal: what inspires her, what success means to her, what her plans are for the future, what makes a happy life, books that have helped her through the process and more

I hope you enjoy the conversation - please share this with your friends and help spread the word!

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What does it take to get to 5 billion views? Cenk Uygur goes into his story and explains what it took to build the number one news channel online: 'The Young Turks'. 5 things to listen out for: (1) Coming to America - Cenk talks about growing up in Istanbul and his 'coming to America moment' (2) How he got started in media after sending 400 tapes to radio stations (3) Starting 'The Young Turks' & bootstrapping their business by spending only $25k in 4 years (4) Growing from hundreds, to millions of views! What were those pivotal moments that moved their business forward? (5) Personal - we talk about what success means to him, his day-to-day routine, his thoughts on meditation, managing stress, how much of his progress came from chance vs his own skill. Stay connected: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe https://www.facebook.com/creatorlabfm https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm https://www.twitter.com/creatorlabfm https://www.snapchat.com/add/creatorlabfm Connect with Bilal: https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

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Nico Perez and the Mixcloud team have managed to get to 17M monthly visitors with zero outside investment. We talk about how they bootstrapped their way to a unique and profitable business. Listen out for when they lived in a 60k square foot warehouse.

   We go deep in this conversation, so 5 things to listen out for:

1) Living in a warehouse and having no internet connection – many people say they “had no money” when they started, but Mixcloud really had to live that mantra when they failed to raise any investment. We go into how they paid their rent every month with limited income after Nico quit his job to go full time.

2) Getting rejected by Y Combinator and other investors – how they turned that into positive momentum and became revenue generating early on.

3) How he found a technical co-founder – in today’s digital world, a common question that comes up time and time again is “how do I find someone to help me build this” – we go into how Nico approached this problem with a “skill share”.

4) How they got the head of growth at Facebook to be on their advisory board – Building a great team isn’t just about the employees and founders of an organization. There are mentors, board members and in many cases: “advisory boards”. Nico tells us how they organically made relationships to convince smart people to be a part of their advisory board.

5) Other Topics – We had a free-flowing discussion with a few other topics we touched on: getting more women on their advisory board, artificial intelligence, building an MVP (minimum viable product), splitting up equity amongst co-founders, benefits of having 3 co-founders, books that have impacted him & what success means to him

   Stay connected: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe https://www.facebook.com/creatorlabfm https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm https://www.twitter.com/creatorlabfm Connect with Bilal: https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

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After 10yrs as a New York party promoter, Scott Harrison went on an epic journey that turned his life around. We talk about how he built charity: water, one of the most impactful and innovative non-profits around.

We discuss:

–Water Problem & Non-Profit World – the global water problem that impacts 1 in 10 people and its disproportionate impact on women, education & disease

–What changed him – what changed him to start charity: water, from a life of bottles and models as a New York party promoter, to completely changing his life around 180

–Convincing top entrepreneurs to back him – how he got people like Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Sean Parker (Facebook), Chris Sacca (famous investor) and Daniel Ek (Spotify) to back charity: water

–Birthday campaigns – how the famous birthday campaigns started & what is next for them with “The Spring”

–Private sector – what he’s learned from the private sector and the role technology plays in their org, eg. how they use virtual reality for story telling

–Social businesses – what he thinks of socially conscious businesses like Warby Parker & TOMS Shoes and if he thinks the term non-profit need a rebranding

–Personal – why he could drive a $70k volvo but not a $25k mercedes, always flying coach/economy class and the pressure to be frugal while running a non-profit,

–Success – what success means to him and common traits amongst successful people he knows

-Books that have impacted him

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I speak to Brian Wong, the CEO & Founder of Kiip on what he learned from building his company, being one of the youngest people in history to raise venture capital and we get a preview of his new book: 'The Cheat Code'

Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders: Recent Episodes

Bilal Zaidi