My guest this week is David Epstein. David is a writer and researcher extraordinaire and the author of two great books. His second, Range, is out today and I highly recommend it.
We discuss the pros and cons of both the generalist and specialist mindsets in detail and go down many interesting trails along the way. Please enjoy our conversation.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:12 - (First Question) – What he uncovered in “The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance” that led him to his latest book
2:38 – Debate with Malcolm Gladwell (YouTube)
4:12 – What did the public pay most attention to and what did they gloss over
7:56 – How his views on nature vs nurture shifted during the process of writing The Sports Gene
10:05 – Blending practice with your nature
13:04 – His process of reading 10 journal articles a day as part of his research
19:06 – Exploring his new book “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World”, and his idea of Martian tennis
23:03 – Idea of the cult of the head start and how we set up our own feedback loops
28:58 – What does his research say about the nations education system
30:42 – The Flynn Effect chapter
33:54 – Hacks for learning
37:52 – The concept of struggle and harnessing the power of it
46:31 – Personality changes and how to drive those changes in a positive way
52:00 – Using the outside perspective in businesses for more productive outcomes and how it applied to Nintendo
52:59 – Josh Wolfe Podcast Episode
1:04:45 – Other examples of using withered technologies, 3M
1:09:00 – The arc of his work and how it has evolved
1:13:54 – Taking a different view on problems
1:17:52 – Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives
1:18:04– Anyway to change these bad trends with new strategies
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
This week I’m hosting an investor retreat and so thought it fitting to release this conversation with Priya Parker on the art of gathering.
I’ve been interested in the topic of community and gathering for some time and along with the book The Art of Community, Priya’s book on the art of gathering is by far the best I’ve read. It is both conceptually interesting and extremely practical. In the book there is literally a table for how big a gathering space should be per person, sorted by the type of vibe you are after.
We had a time constraint but I could have talked to Priya for much longer. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did, and that it inspires you to do something new and different with friends, family, or colleagues.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:23 - (First Question) – Overview on what she does as a conflict resolution facilitator
1:38 – The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters
4:45 – Lessons about structuring a gathering from her early very difficult work and the idea of sustained dialogue
7:43 – First event she facilitated
9:38 – Importance of a good opening for any gathering
12:30 – Identifying a good purpose for a gathering
15:06 – Why being specific on rules/code of conduct leads to more success
18:54 – Do rules help facilitate more creativity in groups
21:22 – Segregating a good from bad purpose
24:34 – Identity and good/bad gatherings
26:50 – Purpose and the guest list for a gathering
31:03 – Community building is line drawing
32:27 – Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
34:29 – Importance of well crafted invitations
35:17 – Making the middle of gatherings interesting
39:21 – Exploring risk at gatherings
41:28 – Patterns of Transformation
41:43 – The hero’s journey
46:54 – Making a meaningful transition out of these gatherings
52:39 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Priya
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
This week’s conversation is about artificial intelligence and interplanetary travel. Its about content creation, thinking from first principles, and death progress units. Its about brain machine interfaces and why it is crucial that you be a chef and not a cook.
My guest is Tim Urban, along with his business partner Andrew Finn. Tim is the most entertaining writer I’ve come across in years, who explains complicated and interesting topics to his millions of dedicated readers on the website “Wait, But Why.” As an example, Tim’s last post on Elon Musk’s neurlink venture is 40,000 words long, roughly the length of a short book. It explains almost all of human progress and our potential future using drawings and cartoons. Its impossible to stop reading.
While this conversation is wildly entertaining, it is also chock full of metaphors and lessons that will be useful to anyone doing creative work or building a company. I hope this leaves you as energized as it left me. I called this episode Grand Theft Life because that is the name that Tim and Andrew give to their worldview, which I think will change the way you behave, too. Please enjoy my conversation with Tim Urban.
For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/urban
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
Links Referenced
The Cook and the Chef: Musk’s Secret Sauce
Neuralink and the Brain’s Magical Future
YouTube Channel Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Show Notes
1:50 – (First question) – Explaining his concept of planets 1, 2, 3 and 4 and understanding the human colossus
5:46 – Tim’s favorite idea of the human knowledge compounding
7:52 – Die Progress Units (DPU)
9:45 – Different stages of AI and the positives and negatives of each stage
14;04 – What happens when AI gains breadth and general intelligence
16:23 – The idea of a cook vs a chef and how Tim had the chance to interview Elon Musk
17:48 – Why you should reason from first principles instead of reasoning by analogies
25:19 – Why it’s possible to turn a cook into a chef
30:08 – Why being a chef is the safer route in a world with AI and what Tim has changed in himself as to why.
31:22 – Looking at the discovery process
34:39 – Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies\
40:01 – Being the person who creates the metaphor vs being the people who simply using them
43:41 – YouTube Channel Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
44:54 – Most fun that Tim has had researching a topic
46:08 – Musk model for attaining your goals
53:43 – Why not caring what people think is one of the world’s best superpowers, grand theft life
56:50 – Neuralink – what is it and how did Tim come to research it
1:02:38 – Elon Musk’s concerns about AI
1:14:28 – What then if the Neuralink concept works out
1:18:02 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Tim
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
My guest this week is Stephanie Cohen, who is the chief strategy officer for Goldman Sachs and a member of their management committee. Prior to her current role, she spent the majority of her career in the investment banking and M&A divisions at Goldman.
We discuss lessons learned from her career in M&A and the many initiatives she now leads at the firm. I really enjoyed her perspective on how a big, established firm like Goldman can balance innovation with improving existing businesses. Please enjoy our conversation.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:15 - (First Question) – Motives on both sides for doing M&A
3:26 – Most difficult deal she worked on
4:50 – Biggest value add she brought from her seat on the Fiat deal
5:59 – Biggest changes since she started to today
8:31 – Smartest ways for companies who want to be acquired to be prepared
10:14 – Best M&A banker she’s seen
11:13 – What should businesses looking to make an acquisition be thinking about
15:16 – What does a strategy from her perspective mean
17:16 – Tension between innovation and change
19:46 – Difference between bottom-up and top-down components of strategy
22:15 – Exploration vs exploitation
26:28 – Submission process within accelerate
29:37 – Next step after you see a good idea
31:05 – Her take on FinTech and Industrials and their collision
35:15 – Lessons from elite early stage investors
37:21 – The origins of the LAUNCH program
40:06 – Important pieces beyond just the capital
42:42 – How they market to women starting business
44:56 – Lessons that she has learned about narrative and communications
47:07 – How she handles developing talent internally
49:28 – Managing her time
59:28 – Biggest concerns about OKR’s?
52:09 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Stephanie
53:07 – Kids in the area of competing
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag