Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

Shopify: trusted by millions of entrepreneurs to create their online store and more - signup for a free trial at shopify.com/creatorlab
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Tom Osman, Shiny // AI Co-Pilots, Web3 & Online Communities 0

Nov 21, 2022

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

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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Mike Evans, Grubhub // Building A $2bil Company, Going Public & Leaving It All Behind 0

Nov 7, 2022

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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Michael Brandt: Ketones, Stem Cell Preservation, 7-Day Fasts & Micro-Dosing 0

Oct 17, 2022

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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Annie Duke: When To Quit, Monkeys vs Pedestals & The Dark Side of Goals 0

Oct 10, 2022

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

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Elijah: History of UK Grime, Pirate Radio & The Future of Music 0

Sep 26, 2022

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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Trung Phan: Backstory, Writing in Public, Twitter Growth & Power of Memes 0

Sep 12, 2022

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 Aoun, Forward + Sidewalk Labs // Smart Cities + The Future of Healthcare 0

Aug 15, 2022

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

Download this Episode

Kathryn Minshew, The Muse // Future of Work, Attracting Talent + How Job Sites Make Money 0

Jul 12, 2022

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

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 // Building a Second Brain in Practice + Sustained Behavior Change 0

Jun 23, 2022

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/

Download this Episode

Sam Corcos, Levels // Metabolic Health, CGM Market & Growing A Health Tech Company 0

May 27, 2022

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

Download this Episode

Colin Sapire, Beast Health + Nutribullet // Scaling To $500mil & Launching A Physical Product Business 0

Apr 28, 2022

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:

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

Download this Episode

Ramon van Meer, Alpha Paw // Bootstrapping To $35mil+ Revenue, Buying vs Building + DTC Growth 0

Dec 16, 2021

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:

Grab NordVPN’s Cyber Month Deal. Go to nordvpn.com/clab or use code CLAB to get up to 73% off your NordVPN Plan + a bonus gift

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Eric Jorgenson // Philosophy of Wealth + Happiness // The Almanack of Naval Ravikant 0

Nov 15, 2021

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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Future Of Advertising: Google + YouTube Breakdown 0

Aug 10, 2021

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:

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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Trung Phan, Jack Butcher + Bilal Zaidi // Not Investment Advice 0

Apr 16, 2021

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

Download this Episode

Noah Kagan, AppSumo // Growing On YouTube + Building An 8-Figure Business 0

Apr 2, 2021

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

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Alex Lieberman, Morning Brew // Building A Digital Media Empire, Growth Playbooks + A $75mil Sale 0

Mar 25, 2021

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:

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Dru Riley, Trends.vc // Meta-Trends, Paid Newsletters + Crypto 0

Mar 18, 2021

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:

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Lexi Lewtan, Centered & AngelList // Hiring For Startups & Tools For Mental Health 0

Mar 11, 2021

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:

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Jake Gibson, NerdWallet + Better Tomorrow Ventures // Investing In The Future of Fintech 0

Mar 4, 2021

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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