Thanks so much Christian! I was pretty digressive (as I often am), so I walked out of it hoping I'd said something coherent. Really appreciate the kind words.
I enjoyed every minute of it. Podcasts should be exploratory in my opinion. The scientific breakdown of the 10,000-hour rule was especially insightful.
"Podcasts should be exploratory in my opinion." ...You are speaking my language! Sometimes I'm not even entirely sure what I think about aspects of my own ideas until I'm forced to write or talk about them, so I often learn from the exploratory interviews, even when I'm the interviewee.
I totally agree. On my show, I enjoy overpreparing and usually have 40-50 questions ready. My worst nightmare is running into awkward silence on a live stream. My speakers seem to "love" the preparation process.
And then, I often find unexplored aspects in their answers and think, "Oh my, let's dig into this a bit more..." and suddenly, 2-3 hours have passed.
Listening to your episode during my morning run today was particularly helpful.
In 2024, I read some biographies to find an answer to the question: "What makes a successful founder and/or investor?"
Most books describe entrepreneurial/investing geniuses as multidisciplinary characters.
This is in stark contrast to the current "niche down" sentiment in the market.
Whether it's Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, or Charlie Munger, their biographers describe them as Jacks of all trades.
The question I had was: Is it really true that multidisciplinary characters succeed in this world?
Your episode answered some of my questions in this area. The parts about pattern recognition and the breadth of knowledge needed to identify certain patterns made particular sense. It connected well with William Green's book about investing.
I have your books on my reading list and will dig into them next.
Hey David 👋 really looking forward to watching this over the next few days, nothing mind boggling comes to mind for a surprise question.. I think I'd just go with something a bit clichéd by asking: "what does a 'perfect' or just a really, really good day look like for you?" Ps how is the new book project coming along? I'm excited to hear you mention that some of the ideas are touched on in this interview!
William, I think that's a fantastic question. I think I and others may try to be a bit too clever with our questions in this scenario, when it should be about the answer you provoke, not the originality of the question. I'll share mine soon, once we get some other suggestions. ...I'm about 75% of the way through my book draft, and have to turn it in end of the year...which I will do at 4:59 p.m. on Dec 31;) I've lost some perspective about how I'm doing, but, as usual, I'm finding the research fascinating and the organization of information extremely challenging. I just this week started to sense the finish line, but I'm trying to ignore it and stay in the "cutting stone" mindset, one small strike at a time.
Thanks David, I'm glad to hear that you are making good progress with the book! I know you mentioned before about some structural changes, I think doing chapters 1,2,3 etc. in order rather than trying to organise large volumes of material into chapter order later on which you felt was helping in the process. "Cutting stone" mindset, I like that and will try to factor it into my own working day!
Can’t wait to listen. My favorite question is, “Who’s someone you admire, and why?” Tells you so much about their values and what kind of person they want to be, and is guaranteed to create a positive association.
For a surprise question, I think it'd be hard to outdo Patrick O'Shaughnessy's traditional closing question: "What's the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?" The responses it yields often fall into a couple of buckets (parents, mentors, the kindness of a complete stranger, etc) but it's both a very thought-provoking question and almost always leaves me, the listener, feeling better about the world. I've been so inspired by the question that I gave my own answer to it in the opening commentary on my own podcast a few months ago: https://www.writtenbyrufus.com/episodes/cot-chapter-8
This news made my week, I was lucky enough to meet Steven and his team last year, and have been DMing constantly telling them to get you on! "Range" wasn't only a book I wish I read when I was 21, but inspired me to get into writing myself, awesome news!
Thank you! I will check it out. FYI, I first became familiar with your work when the head of my children’s elementary school recommended “Range” to me. You probably know this already, but you have some lots of fans in the educational community.
Hi David, Buzz Langton here.. startup publisher and multilingual content creation agency out of BKK.
Great interview btw. Very interesting.
Hence…
A question for you regarding ages of successful start-up entrepreneurs, I’m not fintech per se, other than using AI tools where necessary in production.
Do you have any data on how the 50+ brigade did in your research?
There aren't many 2 hour interviews I could watch--no surprise, I'm more of a reader than a video watcher. And despite my general homebodyness, there is something magical about seeing someone speak in person rather than on a screen. I once got to see Malcolm give a talk in London and it's still a peak memory. And yet! I watched this interview to the end and took pages of notes, despite knowing your work as well as I do. You do a wonderful job of making it all fresh and interesting, drawing slightly different connections and conclusions. I think I got ideas for my next 3-4 newsletters, so I'm grateful!
I also applaud you for being so vulnerable with the final question. I think the question I would have left (albeit tainted by the fact I would know you were the next guest): is there anything you've been wanting to learn, but have put off because you're intimidated by it? This comes up because I've just discovered a topic I'm intimidated by that surprised me: canning! I started my first vegetable garden this year and the next natural thing to learn was canning. But as soon as I learned that jars break (and then you lose the precious contents you spent months growing) and if you mess up the recipe you run the risk of poisoning everyone who eats it, well, I ended up saying, "Maybe next year!" But I'm interested in the intimidation and wonder if there are more subjects like that, that I simply haven't uncovered yet in my explorations because they have still been largely limited to the professional realm? Side note: I initially found the idea of writing fiction intimidating, but it passed rather quickly, presumably because I have so much experience writing. And even though I said I was 100% architect, and I now have a long synopsis of my novel, I've signed up for a "Write Your Novel in a Month" class to force myself to write quickly and generatively, hopefully without judgement. Now that's intimidating! Haha
I have been a fan of this podcast for some years. Just listened to your episode and it's definitely a favourite. Especially enjoyed the stuff about learning. I'm a medical student and fascinated that many of my classmates dislike the most effective learning methods, to the point professors who teach with those methods will be pushed out from teaching certain classes due to low student ratings. Makes sense that med students as a group would favour learning methods that are easier in the short-term rather than those that pay off in the long-term. We certainly are familiar with spaced repetition though. Anyway, you smashed it!
Great interview David. I'm curious if you have specific ideas for your fiction book? Do you plan to blend in your current expertise, or is it really something completely different that you're envisioning?
Thanks so much Rufus. I listened to about one minute and was annoyed at how fast I talk. It doesn't sound that way in my own brain when I'm doing it! ...In any case, indeed I do have a specific idea. Other than a facility with writing and research (would need some historical research), I don't plan to blend in any of my content expertise, particularly. But I really don't know, honestly. I think I'd want to be a bit more of what George RR Martin calls a "gardener" (throw a seed down and see where it goes), than an "architect." Speaking of, I plan to do a post on that someday.
Haha, I'm pretty sure I listened to your interview at 1.5x and it sounded totally reasonable to me. I'm neither particularly enamored, nor distressed by the sound of my own voice, but when editing my podcast it does often feel that I speak fast; I wonder if the perception that one's own voice is fast is a common thing.
Very curious to read your post on writing whenever it happens. I assume George RR Martin's "gardener" is akin to the traditional "pantser", though writing being rewriting the two tend to converge in my mind. In any event, I find it more or less impossible not to incorporate my past expertise into my own works ... the content seems to just find it's own way in there. I assume it's a reflection of my mind being the well my stories are being drawn from. In any event, I'm curious to see what your efforts turn out :)
Once when I was stuck in book writing, I took an online beginner's fiction course, and it was a total revelation for me. I've been curious to give it a go ever since, not because I think I'll publish a novel necessarily, but it just made me realize I'd gotten complacent in terms of experimenting with writing.
I absolutely loved this interview! Great stuff. Is there a book or articles or a few of each that outline the process you describe for improving? I don't remember that from your books, and my mind was blown. Thanks.
Fantastic episode.
Thanks so much Christian! I was pretty digressive (as I often am), so I walked out of it hoping I'd said something coherent. Really appreciate the kind words.
I enjoyed every minute of it. Podcasts should be exploratory in my opinion. The scientific breakdown of the 10,000-hour rule was especially insightful.
"Podcasts should be exploratory in my opinion." ...You are speaking my language! Sometimes I'm not even entirely sure what I think about aspects of my own ideas until I'm forced to write or talk about them, so I often learn from the exploratory interviews, even when I'm the interviewee.
I totally agree. On my show, I enjoy overpreparing and usually have 40-50 questions ready. My worst nightmare is running into awkward silence on a live stream. My speakers seem to "love" the preparation process.
And then, I often find unexplored aspects in their answers and think, "Oh my, let's dig into this a bit more..." and suddenly, 2-3 hours have passed.
Listening to your episode during my morning run today was particularly helpful.
In 2024, I read some biographies to find an answer to the question: "What makes a successful founder and/or investor?"
Most books describe entrepreneurial/investing geniuses as multidisciplinary characters.
This is in stark contrast to the current "niche down" sentiment in the market.
Whether it's Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, or Charlie Munger, their biographers describe them as Jacks of all trades.
The question I had was: Is it really true that multidisciplinary characters succeed in this world?
Your episode answered some of my questions in this area. The parts about pattern recognition and the breadth of knowledge needed to identify certain patterns made particular sense. It connected well with William Green's book about investing.
I have your books on my reading list and will dig into them next.
Hey David 👋 really looking forward to watching this over the next few days, nothing mind boggling comes to mind for a surprise question.. I think I'd just go with something a bit clichéd by asking: "what does a 'perfect' or just a really, really good day look like for you?" Ps how is the new book project coming along? I'm excited to hear you mention that some of the ideas are touched on in this interview!
William, I think that's a fantastic question. I think I and others may try to be a bit too clever with our questions in this scenario, when it should be about the answer you provoke, not the originality of the question. I'll share mine soon, once we get some other suggestions. ...I'm about 75% of the way through my book draft, and have to turn it in end of the year...which I will do at 4:59 p.m. on Dec 31;) I've lost some perspective about how I'm doing, but, as usual, I'm finding the research fascinating and the organization of information extremely challenging. I just this week started to sense the finish line, but I'm trying to ignore it and stay in the "cutting stone" mindset, one small strike at a time.
Thanks David, I'm glad to hear that you are making good progress with the book! I know you mentioned before about some structural changes, I think doing chapters 1,2,3 etc. in order rather than trying to organise large volumes of material into chapter order later on which you felt was helping in the process. "Cutting stone" mindset, I like that and will try to factor it into my own working day!
Can’t wait to listen. My favorite question is, “Who’s someone you admire, and why?” Tells you so much about their values and what kind of person they want to be, and is guaranteed to create a positive association.
Great interview David. As a generalist wrestling with scattering efforts too widely, I look forward to your next book. Favorite quotes I wrote down:
"Be a scientist of your own development."
"There are as many ways to the top as there are human beings."
"We learn who we are in practice not in theory."
"Exploration precedes a hot streak."
"An unfinished task leaves a residue on your brain."
"What are you good at that we're not using?"
"Sometimes what seems best in the short term will undermine long term development."
"Take something well understood, and move it somewhere it's seen as invention."
"I would not start your day with something that is inherently multi-tasking."
"The biggest problem for young people is sitting around introspecting. Go and try something."
For a surprise question, I think it'd be hard to outdo Patrick O'Shaughnessy's traditional closing question: "What's the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?" The responses it yields often fall into a couple of buckets (parents, mentors, the kindness of a complete stranger, etc) but it's both a very thought-provoking question and almost always leaves me, the listener, feeling better about the world. I've been so inspired by the question that I gave my own answer to it in the opening commentary on my own podcast a few months ago: https://www.writtenbyrufus.com/episodes/cot-chapter-8
This news made my week, I was lucky enough to meet Steven and his team last year, and have been DMing constantly telling them to get you on! "Range" wasn't only a book I wish I read when I was 21, but inspired me to get into writing myself, awesome news!
Terrific interview! What is the name of the book you reference that talks about “narrative values”?
Thanks Jeff! The book is A Significant Life by Todd May. It's not for everyone, but it's been really meaningful to me.
Thank you! I will check it out. FYI, I first became familiar with your work when the head of my children’s elementary school recommended “Range” to me. You probably know this already, but you have some lots of fans in the educational community.
Thank you for this David.
Will watch it for sure.
Hope you enjoy my digressive ramblings Nazir;)
Hi David, Buzz Langton here.. startup publisher and multilingual content creation agency out of BKK.
Great interview btw. Very interesting.
Hence…
A question for you regarding ages of successful start-up entrepreneurs, I’m not fintech per se, other than using AI tools where necessary in production.
Do you have any data on how the 50+ brigade did in your research?
Good job! Listening right now! 👏🏼👏🏼
Just listened to this - thought provoking. Found it inspiring as I'm in the process of transforming from ecologist to journalist.
There aren't many 2 hour interviews I could watch--no surprise, I'm more of a reader than a video watcher. And despite my general homebodyness, there is something magical about seeing someone speak in person rather than on a screen. I once got to see Malcolm give a talk in London and it's still a peak memory. And yet! I watched this interview to the end and took pages of notes, despite knowing your work as well as I do. You do a wonderful job of making it all fresh and interesting, drawing slightly different connections and conclusions. I think I got ideas for my next 3-4 newsletters, so I'm grateful!
I also applaud you for being so vulnerable with the final question. I think the question I would have left (albeit tainted by the fact I would know you were the next guest): is there anything you've been wanting to learn, but have put off because you're intimidated by it? This comes up because I've just discovered a topic I'm intimidated by that surprised me: canning! I started my first vegetable garden this year and the next natural thing to learn was canning. But as soon as I learned that jars break (and then you lose the precious contents you spent months growing) and if you mess up the recipe you run the risk of poisoning everyone who eats it, well, I ended up saying, "Maybe next year!" But I'm interested in the intimidation and wonder if there are more subjects like that, that I simply haven't uncovered yet in my explorations because they have still been largely limited to the professional realm? Side note: I initially found the idea of writing fiction intimidating, but it passed rather quickly, presumably because I have so much experience writing. And even though I said I was 100% architect, and I now have a long synopsis of my novel, I've signed up for a "Write Your Novel in a Month" class to force myself to write quickly and generatively, hopefully without judgement. Now that's intimidating! Haha
Hey David — this was my favorite interview of you minus the one on Attia’s the Drive! Loved all the ground y’all covered
I have been a fan of this podcast for some years. Just listened to your episode and it's definitely a favourite. Especially enjoyed the stuff about learning. I'm a medical student and fascinated that many of my classmates dislike the most effective learning methods, to the point professors who teach with those methods will be pushed out from teaching certain classes due to low student ratings. Makes sense that med students as a group would favour learning methods that are easier in the short-term rather than those that pay off in the long-term. We certainly are familiar with spaced repetition though. Anyway, you smashed it!
Great interview David. I'm curious if you have specific ideas for your fiction book? Do you plan to blend in your current expertise, or is it really something completely different that you're envisioning?
Thanks so much Rufus. I listened to about one minute and was annoyed at how fast I talk. It doesn't sound that way in my own brain when I'm doing it! ...In any case, indeed I do have a specific idea. Other than a facility with writing and research (would need some historical research), I don't plan to blend in any of my content expertise, particularly. But I really don't know, honestly. I think I'd want to be a bit more of what George RR Martin calls a "gardener" (throw a seed down and see where it goes), than an "architect." Speaking of, I plan to do a post on that someday.
Haha, I'm pretty sure I listened to your interview at 1.5x and it sounded totally reasonable to me. I'm neither particularly enamored, nor distressed by the sound of my own voice, but when editing my podcast it does often feel that I speak fast; I wonder if the perception that one's own voice is fast is a common thing.
Very curious to read your post on writing whenever it happens. I assume George RR Martin's "gardener" is akin to the traditional "pantser", though writing being rewriting the two tend to converge in my mind. In any event, I find it more or less impossible not to incorporate my past expertise into my own works ... the content seems to just find it's own way in there. I assume it's a reflection of my mind being the well my stories are being drawn from. In any event, I'm curious to see what your efforts turn out :)
I didn't realize you'd planned to try your hand at fiction. How exciting!
Once when I was stuck in book writing, I took an online beginner's fiction course, and it was a total revelation for me. I've been curious to give it a go ever since, not because I think I'll publish a novel necessarily, but it just made me realize I'd gotten complacent in terms of experimenting with writing.
I absolutely loved this interview! Great stuff. Is there a book or articles or a few of each that outline the process you describe for improving? I don't remember that from your books, and my mind was blown. Thanks.