Listener #7: Generalism, the value of getting into ears, and focusing on what matters (it's probably not your shirt design or your headshots)
Pat Flynn, Shaan Puri, Marc Randolph, and Jerrod Carmichael
Trying to make notecards that show this information:
Person + Podcast title (black + white strip in top-left corner)
Topic (Big letters)
Actual quote (main body text)
Some highlight from the actual quote (yellow highlight)
I’ll continue working on how these cards look.
Anyway. On to this week’s recommendations.
“I think that itself is kind of a skill. And really it's kind of the skill of analogy, and taking what is already clear to you and using it to shine some light on what is unclear.”
Pat Flynn • “EP 393: Dr. John Berardi on Why Generalists are the Future of the Fitness”• The Pat Flynn Show
They also talk about David Epstein’s book, Range. Here’s an excerpt from the book about humans, specialization, and integration:
“In 2019, in a limited version of StarCraft, AI beat a pro for the first time. (The pro adapted and earned a win after a string of losses.) But the game’s strategic complexity provides a lesson: the bigger the picture, the more unique the potential human contribution. Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialization. It is the ability to integrate broadly.”
And it can go back the other way where things you learn in Starcraft don’t just need to stay in Starcraft. Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify, has often talked about learning a ton of life and business concepts through Starcraft.
(A personal to-do for me: Listen to Tobi Lutke’s interview on The Pylon Show, diving deep into lessons learned from Starcraft.)
“For podcasting, you get this base and it's the sticky, sticky base of people who listen to it all the time, it becomes a part of their routine, they start to really love you, that sort of thing.”
Shaan Puri • “#67- A Very Random Episode” • My First Million
It’s been cool seeing “My First Million” evolve from an interview/narrative show like How I Built This (the core question: how’d you make your first million?) to a 2-host show with Shaan and Sam Parr (The Hustle).
In part of the above episode, they talk about the value of doing the podcast and if they think it’s worth it.
The podcast would not be a good standalone business. But it’s worth doing because (1) They have fun doing it and have these kinds of conversations anyway and (2) They’re building an audience of smart people. More ears, more opportunity.
Also check out the episode where Sam was a guest (#3 - Making Millions off an Email Newsletter?! Sam Parr from The Hustle Tells All) before becoming the co-host.
"Every moment you’re thinking about what you’ll do once you’re successful is taking away from the likelihood that you actually will be successful.”
Marc Randolph • “Marc Randolph on the creation of Netflix” • Finding Mastery
I finished reading “That Will Never Work” this week and was excited to see an interview with the author in my feed. I clipped this part about how easy it is to get distracted by things that seem good, like working on t-shirt designs before actually having people who would wear them.
If you’re building a business, work on the business.
Along the same lines, if you’re working on improving as a comedian, work on your comedy. In 2017, Jerrod Carmichael talked about new stand-up comics focusing on the wrong things:
“People focus on the wrong things. There are a lot of comedians who aren’t funny at all or who don’t have stage presence. But have excellent websites. You know, they have excellent websites. And the shiniest business cards and the headshots are impeccable. And… who gives a fuck? You know what I mean?”
Jerrod Carmichael • "Uber-Productivity and Dangerous Comedy (#222)" • Tim Ferriss Show
I’ll try to stay focused on writing about things I enjoyed listening to.
My version of the impeccable headshot is trying to create the best timelapse GIFs of someone writing a newsletter…
… and the best setup shots of someone creating the best timelapse GIFs of someone writing a newsletter.
Catch you next week!