The Tim Ferriss Show

#828: David Senra — How Extreme Winners Think and Win: Lessons from 400+ of History’s Greatest Founders and Investors (Including Buffett, Munger, Rockefeller, Jobs, Ovitz, Zell, and Names You Don’t Know But Should)David Senra is the host of the Founders podcast. For the past nine years, David has intensely studied the life and work of hundreds of history’s greatest entrepreneurs. His new podcast, David Senra, showcases conversations with the best-of-the-best living founders and extreme winners. This episode is brought to you by: Cresset family office services for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs Our Place’s Titanium Always Pan® Pro using nonstick technology that’s coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals” AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement Timestamps: [00:00:00] Who is David Senra? [00:01:11] Brad Jacobs: Roll-up king and positive-driven billionaire founder. [00:02:26] Rare positive archetypes: Ed Thorp, Sol Price, Brunello Cucinelli. [00:06:04] Michael Dell as another exception; fear of failure and motivation. [00:06:47] Negative self-talk, excellence, and its ripple effects. [00:08:26] Jensen Huang story: “Why do you suck so much?” [00:08:54] Inspiration from Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. [00:10:00] Derek Sivers: unconventional, philosophical entrepreneur. [00:11:04] Learning equals behavior change, not memorization. [00:11:48] Jeremy Giffon insight: biographies as substitute mentors. [00:12:37] Reading biographies as one-sided conversations. [00:13:16] The chain of influence. [00:14:09] Podcasting as “relationships at scale.” [00:14:28] Coping with trauma and breaking cycles. [00:20:18] Note-taking process: books, Post-its, ruler, Readwise. [00:29:27] OCD tendencies and love of doing things the hard way. [00:31:04] Comparing our reading/re-reading workflows. [00:35:04] A family falling out and the randomness of student housing. [00:38:58] David’s introduction to my work during his MySpace-era college years. [00:40:07] Podcasting influences: Jocko Willink, Kevin Rose’s Elon Musk interview. [00:44:14] Five-and-a-half years of obscurity before breakthrough. [00:46:50] Graphtreon and experiments with subscription models. [00:49:25] Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s endorsement sparks growth. [00:51:23] Sam Hinkie and Patrick connections fuel momentum. [00:52:19] Transition to ads and joining Patrick’s network. [00:55:17] Edwin Land: patron saint of founders and Steve Jobs’ influence. [00:57:02] Lessons from Sam Zell, Jay Pritzker, and William Zeckendorf. [00:58:48] Need a generous, well-connected person? You can’t go wrong with Rick Gerson. [01:03:04] Edwin Land’s philosophies: Differentiation and doing to excess. [01:04:30] Entrepreneurial archetypes and conflicting advice. [01:06:00] Daniel Ek as an alternative founder archetype and mentor. [01:10:59] Further founder archetypes and contrasts. [01:13:41] What is an anti-business billionaire? [01:19:55] Advice from “shark” Michael Ovitz about the value of truth in one’s inner circle. [01:22:30] The hands-on approach of practical founders who live for the love of their business. [01:23:28] Doing one thing relentlessly. [01:23:51] “This can’t be my life” as a powerful motivator. [01:26:57] Low introspection as a common trait among founders — and its implications about human nature. [01:30:15] Robert Caro: The only writer David believes should be allowed to write thousand-page biographies. [01:32:40] James Dyson’s persistence vs. the risk of blind stubbornness. [01:34:22] Todd Graves (Raising Cane’s) as an example of relentless focus on one idea. [01:35:41] Separating fact from fiction in biographies/histories. [01:41:55] Considering trainable vs. non-trainable attributes in potential role models. [01:46:11] Perusing Charlie Munger’s library. [01:49:35] Dealmaking lessons on Eddie Lampert’s superyacht. [01:55:34] The smartest person David knows. [01:56:55] David’s obsessive craftsman approach to podcast creation. [01:58:51] Why David decided to begin a second podcast. [02:01:21] The economics of trust. [02:03:40] The benefits of cultivating a purposeful aloofness about current events. [02:07:11] Using the pulpit of publicity for good, not evil. [02:09:57] New show frequency/dynamic and how David plans to balance the burden of running two shows. [02:13:30] Teamwork with essence of turtle. [02:15:40] Adapting the Rockefeller “secret allies” strategy to podcasting. [02:17:56] Chris Hutchins: The mad scientist of podcasting? [02:18:30] Working with Rob Mohr and Andrew Huberman of SciComm. [02:20:54] Why David focuses on 24-hour cycles over long-term planning. [02:24:54] Does David worry the extra workload will disrupt his lifestyle? [02:30:18] What makes one potential guest more interesting to David than another? [02:34:34] Making an impact vs. happiness. [02:36:32] Playing the status game when your heart’s not in it is for suckers. [02:44:23] Travel observations and the rarity of truly unique experiences. [02:46:26] Books as philosophical operating systems. [02:48:39] Parting thoughts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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2H 55min

#821: My Two-Year Secret Project, COYOTE — The Strategies and Tactics for Building a Bestseller from Nothing with Elan Lee of Exploding KittensThis is a very special episode for me. My brand-new card game, COYOTE, created in collaboration with Elan Lee and Exploding Kittens, is here. It is available in ~8,000 locations worldwide, including Walmart, Target, Amazon, and many others. Learn more: https://coyotegame.com. This episode is brought to you by: Gamma AI design partner for effortless presentations, websites, social media posts, and more: https://gamma.app (Use code TIM at checkout for 30% off any plan.) Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business: https://shopify.com/tim (one-dollar-per-month trial period) Wealthfront high-yield cash account: https://Wealthfront.com/Tim (Start earning 4.00% APY on your short-term cash until you’re ready to invest. And when new clients open an account today, you can get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more.) Terms apply. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage, LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here. Timestamps: [00:00:00] Start. [00:05:21] Coyote: a game 47 years in the making. [00:08:41] Who is Elan Lee? [00:09:37] How our motivations behind game creation intersect. [00:12:41] The nutshell view of pitching a game to a retailer. [00:14:40] Salesmanship is a learnable skill, but Elan’s a natural. [00:15:53] Why I’ve always wanted to make my own game and how development began in earnest. [00:26:00] First contact with Elan and our fast-forged, fun-focused friendship. [00:32:28] The Hanabi and Rock, Paper, Scissors-inspired Toronto trip breakthrough. [00:39:40] Early prototyping and testing. [00:45:34] The Zero Effect. [00:47:37] Recommended game design rationales, resources, and reading. [00:53:00] The beginner’s mind approach to writing effective game instructions. [00:56:26] A simple fact: less complication = more fun. [00:57:49] Cooperative vs. competitive play. [00:58:24] Leveling the playing field with attack cards and sabotage mechanics. [01:01:34] Tricking people into cognitively bettering themselves by gaming. [01:08:04] Finding the sweet spot. [01:10:44] It takes a lot of work to make a game effortlessly fun. [01:13:40] How many games does Exploding Kittens publish per year? [01:14:36] Exploding Kittens’ number-one seller was designed by Elan’s four-year-old daughter. [01:18:30] Prototypes and pitching. [01:22:26] Improving on the industry’s fundamentally flawed testing procedure. [01:24:58] Analyzing passing/failure with play testers’ video and feedback. [01:28:41] Risks of internal testing. [01:31:47] Coyote’s first positive signs from the wild. [01:34:22] Online vs. physical store sales and tweaking variables to gauge market interest. [01:41:22] What a successful line review looks like. [01:43:51] Line review hoops through which lesser-proven companies have to hop. [01:48:04] Elan’s field-tested line review meeting strategies. [01:54:15] The importance of finding proper agent representation. [01:59:35] In modern marketing, social media (especially short-form video) is king. [02:04:48] The best and worst ways for an aspiring designer to sell a game. [02:13:05] Crowdfunding pros and cons, and Kickstarter alternatives. [02:19:57] Dealing with deal terms. [02:23:56] The Exploding Kittens attitude toward rare partnerships. [02:25:45] The types of games that capture Elan’s attention. [02:27:40] Common game design mistakes. [02:29:49] How we tried to avoid these mistakes when packaging Coyote. [02:33:55] Self-publishing vs. conventional publishing. [02:38:40] Business considerations and risks. [02:44:59] Parting thoughts and a tantalizing offer. * For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast. For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday. For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts. Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books. Follow Tim: Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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