The VC's Customer, Micromanaging, the 'Silicon Prairie', and the CEO Coach

Social Leverage Letter | Issue #79

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A quick look the relationship between venture capitalists and their customers/shareholders, particularly in light of recent funding difficulties. Some argue that venture capitalists work for their limited partners, others believe that both the LP and the founder are customers the venture. Howard believes the best venture capitalists understand these dynamics and know how to treat both founders and LPs as customers at the right times.

In this interview, Jerry Seinfeld discusses his career in comedy, including the creation of his sitcom Seinfeld and his show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. He also shares his thoughts on innovation, micromanagement, and the components of humor.

The Midwest is becoming a hub for tech startups due to a favorable entrepreneurial climate, a lower cost of living, and a robust pipeline of top tech talent from world-class universities. Founders are attracted to the slower pace of life and relatively lower-stress business environment in the region. As more startups locate their operations in the Midwest, the region is evolving from ;Flyover Country’ into a thriving tech scene known as the ‘Silicon Prairie.’

LISTENING

#658: CEO Coach Matt Mochary — Live Coaching with Tim, Why Fear and Anger Give Bad Advice, How to Perform Personal Energy Audits, The Power of Accountability Partners, Delegation Tips, Strategies for Hiring the Right People, and More

Listen to this episode from The Tim Ferriss Show on Spotify. Brought to you by Athletic Greens’s AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, Helix Sleep premium mattresses, and FreshBooks cloud-based small business accounting software. Matt Mochary (@mattmochary) coaches the heads of top Silicon Valley tech investment firms and companies on how to be the best leaders and build the best organizations possible. His philosophy and method are captured in both the Mochary Coaching Methodology (which is available as a free Google Doc) and in his book The Great CEO Within, which is available on Amazon and online (also as a free Google Doc).As a former founder, CEO, and investor, Matt knows firsthand the challenges of those roles as well as solutions to the most commonly encountered problems. His coaching is not questions-only; there is real guidance. Matt specializes in helping CEOs and their companies (or investment firms) transition from freewheeling startups to dominant enterprises.Please enjoy!This episode is brought to you by FreshBooks. I’ve been talking about FreshBooks—an all-in-one invoicing + payments + accounting solution—for years now. Many entrepreneurs, as well as the contractors and freelancers that I work with, use it all the time.FreshBooks makes it super easy to track things like expenses, project time, and client info and then merge it all into great-looking invoices. And right now, there’s a special offer just for my listeners. Head over to FreshBooks.com/Tim to get 90% off your FreshBooks subscription for 4 months.*This episode is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and 5 free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.*This episode is also brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the #1 overall mattress of 2020 by GQ magazine, Wired, Apartment Therapy, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.*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-sponsorsSign 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/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast 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.

Downtown Josh Brown on the Past, Present, and Future of Finance Media (EP.243)

Listen to this episode from Panic with Friends - Howard Lindzon on Spotify. I couldn’t be more excited to have my good friend Downtown Josh Brown on the show! Josh and I go way back to the early, early days of Stocktwits. He’s built what’s probably the biggest financial media brand outside of CNBCq and has managed to thrive amidst the people who like to hate on people who are doing well on social media; so I’ve got lots and lots of questions about the finance industry and media. We dig a bit into AI, crypto, web2 survivors, and where we’re at with web3. You’re going to really enjoy our conversation. Guest - Josh Brown, Co-founder & CEO at Ritholtz Wealth Management, Host of The Compound & Friends Podcast howardlindzon.com, ritholtzwealth.com, thereformedbroker.com/podcast tiktok.com/@downtownjbrown Instagram: @downtownjoshbrown Twitter: @howardlindzon, @reformedbroker, @ritholtzwealth, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/joshua-brown-96a5569b #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:37) Welcome Josh (03:30) Comparing T scores (03:48) Early days nostalgia (08:33) Building the tribe (09:47) Social Media wild west (13:16) Picking the right social platform (18:19) LinkedIn - the next generation (21:17) Building Finance/Media culture (28:30) Josh makes a comeback (29:34) Birth of Ritholtz Wealth Management (31:40) Opportunity in Wealth Management (34:02) web2 survivors (36:32) Evolution of web 3 (36:51) DeFi not working as intended (38:00) Josh’s thoughts on Oculus (39:13) Diving deeper into web 3 (39:26) ChatGPT changing everything (41:01) The promise of crypto (42:33) AI tools cut advisor workloads (44:27) Days of arbing algo’s are over (45:63 Wrapping it up. (47:11) Closing thoughts. (50:17)

WATCHING

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