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Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

Revealing conversations with the leading creators of our time. From proven entrepreneurs building the companies of the future, to non-profit founders creating change and the artists shaping our culture - we go beyond the surface to find the nuance in what it takes to turn your ideas, into action.
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Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders
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Now displaying: April, 2021
Apr 29, 2021

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
Apr 23, 2021

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:
http://www.microacquire.com

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
Apr 8, 2021

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

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

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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