The Power Of Saying I Don't Know

Lying, faking, and hiding is rampant. It permeates every industry and every company across the globe. When stress levels hit high enough it can affect any employee in a company. At times executives and founders are the ones that encounter the most stress and can therefore be most guilty of it. It is called imposter syndrome. It turn's out that there is one simple silver bullet answer to this problem and it is saying: 

I don't know. 

These 27 minutes of wisdom and honesty by Meghan Messenger exemplify why Meghan is one of the best leaders out there in 2016. Harvard Business Review just named Next Jump as one of it's only three Deliberately Developmental Organizations. 

It turns out that lying takes twice as much energy in your brain than telling the truth and it is done to avoid being judged. Here is what you can do instead: 

1. Listen: Do not default to just repeating what you have heard, actually listen.
2. Internalize: Personalize what you have just heard to your own life. (Use empathy)
3. Operationalize: Go execute with a real understanding. 

Along with the benefit of actually understanding each unique situation your in, there is one more key advantage as well. When you say "I don't know" you open yourself up to get help and feedback from other people. This is the most powerful benefit to keeping this mentality. It will open you up to new knowledge and therefore help you grow as an individual extremely fast. Check out Meghan's video below to hear the full story and a bit more of the story behind the the power of saying I don't know . 

Note: TP stands for Talking Partner. Its a program where Next Jumpers are paired off and meet daily. These partners develop relationships of trust and help each other grow through advice and support.

Work The Problem: Advice From An Astronaut

Last year I read An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth by Chris Hadfield. In it he talks about the NASA strategy of working the problem. This very technique ended up aiding Commander Hadfield when he went blind in space. Here is an excerpt from Chris Hadfield's book that offers you a brief explanation of what exactly working the problem means is in his own words: 

“Working the problem” is NASA-speak for descending one decision tree after another, methodically looking for a solution until you run out of oxygen. We practice the “warn, gather, work” protocol for responding to fire alarms so frequently that it doesn’t just become second nature; it actually supplants our natural instincts. So when we heard the alarm on the Station, instead of rushing to don masks and arm ourselves with extinguishers, one astronaut calmly got on the intercom to warn that a fire alarm was going off – maybe the Russians couldn’t hear it in their module – while another went to the computer to see which smoke detector was going off. No one was moving in a leisurely fashion, but the response was one of focused curiosity; as though we were dealing with an abstract puzzle rather than an imminent threat to our survival. To an observer it might have looked a little bizarre, actually: no agitation, no barked commands, no haste."

Chris Hadfield - Excerpt from An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

This work the problem NASA mentality of descending down one decision tree after another until you reach your solution is something I learned and practiced first hand during my time as a Fireman and EMT. The main reason I think the idea of working the problem has stuck with me so much over the years though is because it is so similar to entrepreneurship. With each problem you conquer there will be a new one that arises. And just like the the limited oxygen supply in space, with entrepreneurship you can be limited by the year, month, or week of runway you have left in your business.

Applying this work the problem mentality to problem solving in business can be extremely useful. I was solving a problem recently, but was not really making any progress toward a solution. I stopped, took a step back, and realized I found myself too fixated on the problem. I was analyzing the problem over and over again as if some magic answer was just waiting to reveal itself to me. It can be so easy to get caught up on the problem when problem solving. I wasn't working the problem toward a solution like I needed to be one decision at a time. While it is important to understand a problem you are facing, once you have extracted the main knowledge you need to move forward there is often very little value remaining.

During the New York City blizzard this weekend I watched The Martian with Matt Damon (I promise no spoilers). Being as it is a film about Mars filled with teams of astronauts the strategy of working the problem is a common theme throughout the movie. It reminded me of the lessons learned over the years. After the movie I revisited the problem I was stuck on and solved it. 

Work the problem is a good tool to keep around, whether you are an astronaut or not. Remember, no matter what the problem is you are facing, whether it be with your company or in your life, take the time to understand the problem and then be done with it. Take your new found knowledge and focus it, descending one decision tree after another until you reach you solution. Work the problem!

The Future Is Empathy

Merriam Webster simply defines Empathy as:

"the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions : the ability to share someone else's feelings"

Empathy requires a deeper level of realism than sympathy. It requires the ability to look from another persons perspective, not to it from your own perspective. 

Monday of this week started with honoring Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. and his dream.  Dr King was able to lead during his lifetime because he had a deep empathy for the other people in this world going through similar struggles. The greatest leaders of our time use empathy to gain followers and with those followers collectively solve large problems.

Today Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released a new song about the role white privilege has played in their life. The song chronicles Macklemore's recent experiences marching in Black Lives Matter protests and being a part of the hip hop community. The song shows an understanding and empathy of both sides of the table. The greatest artists of our time use empathy to create great and relatable work. 

Steve Job's knew empathy in design was the path to creating groundbreaking new products. The best product designers know their customers because they are their customers. Empathy guides the creation of the product. The greatest products of our time were built by founders who had the ability to empathize with the customers they are helping.

Last week I stood in the middle of a field in Africa while a plane flew overhead and dropped bags of food to the ground. Myself and others began to run, grab as much as we could, and carried home what we had picked up to feed our families. I experienced this shockingly first person perspective while wearing a $20 Google cardboard Virtual Reality headset in my living room. I was amazed at how real it felt. You should have seen the look on my Grandfather's face when I had him try it too. 

Technology enabled me and the others who tried it, to in that moment empathize immediately in a way that reading text simply never could do as powerfully or effectively. Empathy is an incredibly powerful ability. With constant new technology and the increasing free flow of information on the internet I expect empathy to grow to be a more naturally occurring and common part of society. The earliest test of this theory is and will be the attitude of Millennials as they have had the greatest exposure to new technologies and open information. In the next few years we will see if I am right, but I believe an open mind and empathy are the way of the future.  

Don't Forget To Look Up

The irony is that I am about to ask you to look at screen in order to tell you to "Look Up". You have 2 options as I see it. You can put your technology away right now and go experience the world. Or you can watch this video, and then go experience the world. Either way, get out there. This is your friendly reminder, do not forget to look up. 

Time Management For Entrepreneurs

I believe there is tremendous value in optimization. Increasing effectiveness even by a slight amount can have exponential effects as a result. Since taking a step back and thinking about planning my life in 2016 I have been working on ways to optimize life. One of those is time management, which I feel is something that can have a profound impact on most entrepreneurs. 

I value time as the most important asset in my life. It is finite. The fact is that there is no Department of Time to print more hours, days or years like there is a Department of Treasury to print more money when the supply runs low. 

There are 24 hours in a day. That is all you get. Make sure you spend each one of those hours wisely. We have been given the gift of time and it is our duty to make the most of it. Those 24 hours will be spent on either sleep, work, exercise, family, fun or free time.

I was originally going to elaborately detail my own day for this post but I have really liked the way Casey Neistat broke down his daily routine using the painted domino's visually in the below video. I have skipped ahead to the good part of the video (3:32) so you can jump right in. My routine in 2016 has been very similar to the image above. The major difference being that I swap vlog time with blog and podcast time. Also a night or two a week family time gets swapped for me with running event's in the evening around New York. 

I like the balance that routine brings to the day in order to allow for more productivity in the long run. It also helps reduce burn out, which can be a real issue for entrepreneurs if not addressed. I look forward to continuing to maximize each day to the fullest potential I can. Let me know if you have a routine or any suggestions on maximizing the day. Feel free to put them in the comments below. 

Build Online Websites Like Offline Real Estate

The real estate industry is a much older industry then the current technology industry most of us interact with everyday via our phones and computers. Tonight I heard an interesting perspective from David Karp, the Founder of Tumblr, connecting the two industries in regards to how we should think when building digital real estate (online platforms & communities) within the technology industry.

Tumblr as you know was acquired by Yahoo for $1.1 Billion and the community at that time was reported around 300 million monthly unique visitors. That is a pretty big chunk of virtual land. The analogy David made was comparing the similar way an online community of people hang out on their favorite website to the way an offline community of people hang out at their favorite bar.

Let's play this analogy out and throw in a main character here. We can call the main character in this analogy Ted. Now say Ted goes to MacLaren's Pub every week to meet up with his friends. For the sake of adding a bit more realism to this story, let's give Ted's friends names too. We can call them Marshall, Robin, Barney, and Lily. I just came up with those on the fly, pretty good right? Now, each time this group of friends comes to MacLaren's Pub they sit in their favorite booth. They get drinks, order food, and good times are had whenever visiting MacLaren's Pub. This is their bar. This is their community. 

Then one day the owner of the bar decides it's time to move some furniture around. He bought some fancy new tables and chairs which will increase the revenue per square foot of the pub. In comes the new tables and chairs and out goes the booth. It gets thrown out. 

The next day Ted, Robin, Marshall, Lilly, and Barney all come back to visit their favorite booth at MacLaren's Pub to find that it is now gone! The food is as good as it was before, the drinks are the same temperature, the walls are the same color, but now their favorite booth is gone. And the first thought that crosses the mind of Ted, Robin, Marshall, Lilly, and Barney is the thought: "They can't do this to us, this is our bar! This is our community!"

Now re-read the above HIMYM metaphor and replace MacLaren's Pub with a website and the friends with that website's users. I really like this analogy. It makes you always remember that there are humans making up the loyal online community of most websites. It can be easy to forget this at times when just viewing click maps, analyzing Google Analytics, checking cost per user acquisition models, and judging conversion data. Just like re-arranging the furniture in your house, you need to always be thinking about how that change will affect the people who spend the most time in that space. So next time you are thinking about pushing a big release to your website or product that could alter the way your community uses it, make sure you think carefully about how you do so or your visitors might just go to another bar.

Plan Your Life In 2016

We are almost 2 weeks into 2016. Can you believe that? Now about those resolutions... Is 2016 the year you start a new company, write a book, do your first Tough Mudder (you should because Tough Mudder's are awesome, finishing a 2nd race is a goal of mine for 2016), or maybe you just want to go to the gym more. Well in order to accomplish your goals this year you are going to need to change things up a bit. Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is:

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

- Albert Einstein

So you know its time for some changes and in order for them to be long lasting you are going to need to work them into your daily routine and be honest with yourself. Though that self work can seem like a lot at times, I have found something to make it a bit easier. Recently I stumbled upon "The Best Life Planner for 2016" on Product Hunt by @melissajoykong. Just like a Product Manager sets the roadmap for a company's future product developments, Melissa says she created the Best Life Planner to help you: 

1. Reflect on the past year with a 2015 Annual Review
2. Identify the intersection between your strengths and passions
3. Discover your unique purpose for the year ahead
4. Change 12 key habits in 2016
5. Optimize how you spend your time every day
6. Create seasonal roadmaps to turn your big goals into actionable plans
7. Learn how to build a morning routine that will change your entire day

You can supercharge your focus on your achieving your goals in 2016 with the Best Life Planner 2016 here. And if you need to add some extra Ambition added to your day while you fill it out, I have you covered for that too. 

3 Minutes Of Your Time: I Dare You To Watch This Entire Video

We all know its happening. It started somewhere between 2005-2010 when you bought your first smartphone. Over the next year, the way your brain worked began to change.

You probably noticed that your brain had a new friend through out the day, dopamine. Constantly fueled by Angry Birds, E-mail, the internet, Facebook, etc. Unfortunately, around that time you also stopped using your imagination in the same way. Unless you worked in a creative industry, you didn't need it anymore. If you had a burning question about life or that meal you just ate you could simply reach in your pocket and Google it. Voilà, the answer and some more dopamine are a mere reach away! No more waiting for and wondering what the answer could be. No more using your imagination to come up with creative solutions to the questions in your mind. I am not quite sure what the long lasting loss of imagination will be on society as a whole, but I don't imagine it could be too good. 

That being said, the mass granting of access to information has been a powerful movement since web 1.0, but it has been a few years now. We need to ask ourselves is the knowledge we soak up like a sponge from the internet everyday the best use of our time, the most precious resource we are ever given. We must remember to protect our time.

So how bad have you gotten and how bad is your old friend dopamine affecting you today? Let's find out. I recently watched a video from Adam Conover who is the host of TV's Adam Ruins Everything, a pretty brilliant show if you haven't checked it out yet. In this video Adam asks for 3 minutes of your time. 3 minutes of your focused, attention, distraction free time. The best part of this video isn't actually the video itself, it is the self awareness that is created with every little lunge for your phone, browser tab you think to open, or fear of boredom you experience while you are watching. So give it a shot. I dare you to watch this entire video.

Education vs Experience

@TheSiskar

Many entrepreneurs, or just people for that matter, spend time educating themselves when they come up against an obstacle. They spend time researching online, asking friends and family, reading books, and more. Education can be a powerful force when you are working to solve a problem. The key word in that last sentence though is work. 

Education is a tool that can be leveraged through experience. Without acting on new knowledge, the energy you put into educating yourself with new information is not that useful. It could even paralyze your efforts without you realizing it. This is why it is so important to act on and work through your problems while you educate yourself. 

Here is the secret though. While education needs to be applied through experiences to be effective. Experience does not require education to make progress toward your goals. 

Experience through action can still be useful even if you are not educated. It is obviously not as powerful as when education and experience are combined, but still better than just endlessly educating yourself. On it's own pushing through with pure experience may be harder at first, but it will still result in progress toward your goals. Also an added bonus, experience can even sometimes cause education as a by product of jumping in. 

Have I mentioned before that I minored in Philosophy? I know this is a bit of a deep logic piece about casual inference, but if you are still following me here, the point I want you to take away is this. 

The next time you find yourself searching the internet for an answer while dazed and confused and all progress toward your goals has ceased, stop what you are doing. Take a step back and ask yourself if you can just move forward. If so, go for it. Jump in and move forward with the next or another step. More often then not, the best educational answers you were searching for will reveal themselves to you on the other side of experience anyway. 

P.S. You can listen to this for a little extra motivation when pushing toward those harder goals. 

Investing In Moonshots

There is a reason that the header image on this site is a scene from the movie Tomorrowland. I believe thats startups can work to build a better tomorrow. I believe when that work is applied to tremendous goals, like moonshots, it can result in incredible outcomes for a better world. 

Moonshots focus on a huge problem, a radical solution and breakthrough technology. It usually takes a particular type of fresh, audacious thinking to even conceive of a moonshot, and then an amazing team with passionate leaders to pursue it. 

Urban Enhancement

Human Enhancement

One of the best new ways to think about moonshots is the concept of 10x thinking or thinking exponentially. This weekend I mentored a Team X event in New York City which had 2 challenges. The Urban Enhancement challenge was to focus on a 10x improvement to resolve safety, security and health challenges through Robotics, AI and Biotech. The other challenge was to figure out a Moonshot solution for Human Enhancement, to resolve accessibility and mobility challenges through Robotics, AI and Biotech. Teams for both challenges had some BIG solutions that could change the lives of billions of people on earth.

It is always interesting to encourage people to think bigger. Exponential thinking is a mindset and when applied it can result in 10x or even 100x results. A great example explored this weekend was of what Tesla did with the electric motor and vehicle. Tesla committed to the moonshot. Their mission statement was to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible. Tesla is now the premier luxury vehicle. Recently it broke consumer reports rating system scoring the car 103 out of 100. 

Meanwhile competitor Fiskar built a hybrid gas and electric vehicle. Many investors played it safe and invested in Fiskar as it seemed like a smoother and safer transition to an electric motor future. However, Fiskar failed and went into bankruptcy. 

"If you invest in a bridge technology you are likely to be left behind, think 10x" - @jackhidary pic.twitter.com/G5a61dDCl0

— Kevin Siskar (@TheSiskar) November 7, 2015

A trend is happening where moonshots are increasing in their success rate over less ambitious ventures. This is enabled by the rapid growth in access to new and emerging technologies. If you invest in a bridge technology you are likely to be left behind. So if you are going to do something, it is time you start thinking bigger about it. Think exponential. Think 10x. 

Tim Ferriss and Naval Ravikant Teach You About Life, Startups, And The Future

If you haven't listened to Tim Ferriss and Naval Ravikant recently on the Tim Ferris Show, you should. You can listen to it here: 

Get ready to learn about life, startups, and the future. Some of my favorite quotes from the conversation were: 

"You have to live in the now in order to be happy." 

"The key to the American Dream is balancing work and non work."

"The Information Age is undoing the industrial revolutions. Company sizes are shrinking and we are trending toward more and more people working for themselves." 

"Time is more scarce then money, make sure you spend it wisely."

Tim Ferris on each episode, deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, sports, business, art, etc.) to extract the tactics and tricks you can use.

Naval Ravikant is the CEO and a co-founder of AngelList, an online platform helping you find a great startup job, invest in a startup or raise money for your own startup. Naval has invested in Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Postmates, Wish, Thumbtack, and OpenDNS.

Thank You Jon Stewart

I have no idea when the first time I watched the Daily Show was. I know that I got really into it during college. It played a massive role in helping shape my political views. There is one view that has stuck with me. You do not need to pick a side. You have the right to make your own decisions, think about each event individually, and then form your own opinion. 

To often, every political event in America has a filter placed over it before it is even presented the public. Most often, the Democratic filter is placed by MSNBC and the Republican filter by Fox News. Jon Stewart went after everyone though. If someone did something that wasn't decent they were on his radar. The filter that Jon placed on the media he delivered wasn't Republican or Democratic. It was an empathetic filter. He would put himself in the shoes of who was being affected and if it needed to be done, he would call bullshit.

It seems ironic that a fake news show on Comedy Central is the one that actually most closely resembled what we used to view as journalism in this country. There is a reason for this though. Jon understood how the media works. There are plenty of people doing great journalism in America, but their voices struggle to break through the click bait, sensationalism, advertising driven media world that has been created. What Jon figured out was how to use comedy as a narrative to elevate and communicate stories that would not have other wise broken through the tradition media filters and into the public eye. 

I truly hope that the narrative Jon Stewart and the Daily Show team created does not die with him leaving though the show. I do not think it will though. Off the TV it lives with all the viewers who tuned in every night and loved the show. On TV, Jon Oliver is already doing a truly incredible job carrying on the narrative on HBO with Last Week Tonight. Colbert will be taking over the Late Show on September 8th. Lastly, Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart on the Daily Show on September 28th. 

If you haven't checked out Trevor Noah yet, you can do so on Netflix. I am confident that Noah will do a great job. He speaks 7 languages/dialects. He grew up in South Africa where his actual life was illegal due to apartheid and growing up with a white father and African mother. I personally do not know any experience which better instill's empathy in a person then traveling the world and having experiences across cultures. Noah has these experiences and on top of it is actually pretty funny. 

So in the end Jon said: "Nothing ends, it’s just a continuation. It’s a pause in the conversation. So rather than saying goodbye or good night, I’m just going to say: I’m going to go get a drink. And I’m sure I’ll see you guys before I leave.”

I just wanted to say thank you Jon. I feel the same as Colbert. The world is a little bit better off for having you done your job. I'll see you at that drink you owe us soon.

Make It Count

This is a brief post but I still feel it is worth sharing. I am a big fan of Casey Neistat and all things motivational. Both of which are in this video. Take a few minutes and watch the "Make It Count" video Casey produced for Nike below. Surprisingly you can see a lot of the world when you blow an entire marketing budget in 10 days. And you have to love the "Do More" tattoo.

What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur? Circumstance, Genetics, and Perseverance

Steve Jobs 

Recently Adeo Ressi, Founder of the Founder Institute, was asked, “what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?”.

In Adeo’s opinion, his answer was successful entrepreneurship is a combination of three things: Genetics, Circumstance & Perseverance.

Let’s go through all three.

Adeo Ressi

1. Genetics

The Founder Institute has completed social science testing on over ten thousand prospective entrepreneurs, measuring things like “Big 5 Personality Traits”, Fluid Intelligence, IQ, and more. The Institute then watched who became successful, and correlated back the measured traits that best predicted success, in a scientific process.

The traits that best predict entrepreneurial success are genetic, such as Fluid Intelligence and Openness. BUT, just because you have traits that MAY make you successful as an entrepreneur, does not mean that you WILL be successful. Similarly, just because you are tall does not mean that you are good basketball player.

In other words, you need the raw materials, but you also need other things.

2. Circumstance

Being in the proverbial “right place at the right time” matters a lot towards your ultimate success as an entrepreneur.

Timing is everything (..almost).

For example, Michael Diamant started iClips, a site exactly like YouTube, a few years before YouTube launched. iClips was a truly well-executed business, but the necessary bandwidth, camera penetration, and streaming technology adoption did not yet exist for it to gain massive traction. He was simply too early for the market.

Circumstances are not all market-specific, either. You can have perfect market-timing, but your personal circumstances might not be optimal. For example, you could have the best idea and timing while you are a high school student, and start to execute on that idea to the the best of your ability — but then a veteran entrepreneur does the same business with millions in venture capital and captures the whole market.

Some circumstances are in your control, and some are simply outside of your control, but most successful entrepreneurs will concede that some of their success is attributable to circumstance.

3. Perservance

You only fail in your business when you actually give up, so, in fact, no business would ever fail if people persevered.

When you look at the Founders of some of the most successful technology companies in the world, and there almost always were (and still are) times when the Founders simply refused to give up despite unbelievable problems, stress, and negative signaling

“Entrepreneurship is like eating glass and walking on hot coals at the same time” — Elon Musk

Elon Musk

An entrepreneur faces all of the debilitating problems of their own life, coupled with all of the personal problems of their team, as well as hostile operating environments, limited capital, stretched resources, no time, regulatory burdens, changing technology… the list is endless.

The loneliness and darkness of entrepreneurship is not discussed very often, but it is very, very real.

Those that persevere succeed. Those that do not, do not.

What A Birthday Taught Me

Today is my Birthday.

However, the fact that today is my birthday is only the foundation here. The main point is that when I woke up today I was excited. Before I spoke to anybody that day I took a deep breath and I felt confident in the day ahead of me. I could probably best describe this feeling as “Carpe Diem”. For my birthday I am not expecting anything extravagant. I don’t plan on receiving any lavish gifts. Still though, I feel excited. Energized. And I feel this way year after year.

I think most of us are hyper aware of our surroundings on special or unique days. Holidays are a good example. The have a similar special feeling. You know when you wake up this isn’t going to be an ordinary day. As you experience holidays the special feeling you have is shared among everyone celebrating the holiday that day. The interesting and unique thing about birthdays though is that you are the only one the day is about. There are multiple people involved in the celebration but at the end of the day your this day on the calendar solely belongs to you. That excited and energized feeling you get from the day is only inside you.

So I got to thinking and questioning myself. Why can’t everyday feel as unique as how I feel on my birthday. Why am I not giving everyday of my life the same sort of energy, excitement, and thrill?

I think it could possibly be that the level of reflection that one has on their life during their birthdays is somehow refreshing from other days of the year. A sort of mentally breaking the normal routine of life.

If simply labeling and viewing the day differently in our minds can break the routine of a normal day (while still having the same routine) and at the same time make life more exciting, then shouldn’t we be doing that everyday? Wouldn’t it be nice if everyday felt like we existed with as much purpose and excitement as we feel on birthdays?

I think I am going to give it a try. Carpe Diem.