Outlier Academy 🏛 Iconic Founders, Investors, and Thinkers

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview one of the world’s leading design thinkers, Clearleft founder Andy Budd, to decode what he’s mastered and what he’s learned along the way. From his design principles to his favorite books, superpowers, biggest lessons learned, we cover it all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we sit down with iconic design studio Clearleft’s Founder Andy Budd to learn the approach to designing and building products he’s honed over decades. We go deep on everything from the design process to what makes a product great, and how Andy approaches managing and building design teams. It’s a masterclass in product design from one of the world’s best at it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Bill Moses, Founder & CEO of Kevita and Flying Embers. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as a serial entrepreneur to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we profile Kevita and Flying Embers—two innovative beverage companies that have built big businesses focused on fermentation. Kevita created an entirely new category with their sparkling probiotic drinks with live cultures, and it was sold for $200M. Flying Embers is picking up where Kevita left off and applying novel fermentation technologies to create an entirely new class of fermented alcoholic beverages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Eric Tarczynski, Founder & Managing Partner of Contrary. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as an early-stage investor to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Investors, we decode how Contrary is building an entirely new type of VC firm — one that invests in people before they even start their first company. Learn how Contrary finds the world’s best talent and gets the conviction to invest before they even start a company. To date, Contrary has raised more than $100M and has invested in Ramp, Anduril, DoorDash, and Replit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Ari Tulla, Founder & CEO of Elo Health. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as a serial entrepreneur to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we decode how Elo Health has created an entirely new Smart Nutrition category. Elo’s Smart Supplements and Smart Protein improve your energy, focus, and more with vitamins and supplements made just for you. Elo finds and fills your nutrient gaps with a mix of blood testing, your wearable activity data, and one-on-one dietitian support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Michael Sheetz, Space Reporter at CNBC. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as a journalist to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Originally recorded on October 25, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders we sit down with Michael Sheetz, CNBC’s Space Reporter, to explore the Cambrian explosion that’s taking place in space. We break down the landscape of companies, from launch providers to imaging and communication satellite companies, to understand the future of space. We explore the intertwined web of science, technology, and defense focuses that’s powering the next phase of space companies, and we dive into how space will shape all of our lives and careers in the decades to come. Originally recorded on October 25, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview the bestselling author and former Huffington Post Managing Editor Jimmy Soni. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as an author to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Great Books Distilled, we explore Jimmy Soni’s bestselling book, The Founders. The Founders tells the founding story of PayPal and the personalities who shaped it, including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Reid Hoofman. To write the book, Jimmy Soni conducted hundreds of interviews and had unprecedented access to thousands of pages of internal material. In this interview, we explore the most interesting aspects of this incredible story and what we can learn from it, and we go behind the scenes to explore the five-year story of writing the book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Leo Polovets, who is a Founder & General Partner at Susa Ventures. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from his biggest lessons learned as a venture investor to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Investors, we decode how Susa Ventures is building the next great seed-stage venture capital firm. Learn about Susa’s playbook for finding the best seed-stage companies, discovering their focus areas and industries, creating their investing algorithm, approaching due diligence, thinking about pro rata follow-on investments, and more. To date, Susa Ventures has raised more than $600M and has invested in companies including Stedi, Flexport, and Robinhood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of 20 Minute Playbook, we interview Jannick Malling, Public’s Cofounder & Co-CEO. We decode what he’s mastered and learned along the way—from lessons as an entrepreneur to his favorite books, his superpowers, the advice he’d give his younger self, and more—all in 20 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we decode how Public is building the investment platform of the future — from their initial focus on fractional shares, to adding alternative assets, how they’ve built social features and community into their platform, and more. Learn Public’s playbook for finding product market fit, achieving viral growth, building a multi-sided product, as well as their unique approach for driving accountability and ownership across their team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone shares the lessons he’s learned as an award-winning designer, the Founder & CEO of Baronfig, and the author of The Laws of Creativity, including why he’s fascinated with the juxtaposition between skill and renown, how he worked with James Clear to design the Clear Habit Journal, why experimentation is Baronfig’s most important value, how rock bottom taught him how to take risks, and so much more. “There’s a stereotype of creatives, which is that they’re just flying by the seat of their pants. I’m here to tell you that it’s absolutely not true. We need to separate that from what creativity is. We need to decouple this ridiculous stereotype so that more people can blossom creatively.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook-transcript CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:08) - Wrestling with Skill vs Renown (00:02:57) - Why People Would Be Surprised at Joey Cofone’s Daily Discipline (00:04:04) - Why Joey Cofone Has Been Tracking His Habits for 13 Years (00:05:21) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Baronfig Products (00:07:23) - How Joey Cofone and James Clear Designed the Clear Habit Journal (00:10:46) - The Laws of Creativity by Joey Cofone in 90 Seconds (00:12:51) - How Rock Bottom Taught Joey Cofone How to Take Risks (00:16:07) - Why the Most Important Value at Baronfig is Experimentation (00:22:08) - Joey Shares His Favorite Books Including Radical Candor and The Phantom Tollbooth (00:23:47) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Advice From His Barber and Malcom Gladwell (00:26:11) - How Joey Cofone Learns From Failure at Baronfig ABOUT THE GUEST Joey Cofone is the Founder & CEO of Baronfig and an award-winning designer and entrepreneur. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, Quartz, Mashable, Gizmodo, and Print, among others. Joey was named a New Visual Artist and, separately, Wunderkind designer by Print magazine. He strives to make work that appeals to curious minds—work that’s beautiful, smart, and communicative. He believes that design is the least of a designer’s worries, that story is at the heart of all tasks, and jumping off cliffs is the only way to grow. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Joey Cofone, Founder & CEO of Baronfig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone, Founder & CEO of the much loved “tools for thinkers” company Baronfig, joins me on Outlier Book Club to decode his new book, The Laws of Creativity. We cover why creativity isn’t magic, how creators across history from Albert Einstein to Grace Hopper and Bruce Lee wielded creativity to reach incredible heights, practical ways to hone your creativity, a framework for generating ideas, Joey’s process for writing the book, and so much more. “At this point in my career, I have art directed over 100 products from a rough idea into consumer’s hands. I’ve collaborated with incredible creators like James Clear and Roxane Gay. There came a point where it was very obvious how it all worked and fit together—because I was always interested not just in what I was doing but how I was doing it.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laws-of-creativity-joey-cofone-transcript CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:49) - Origin Story of The Laws of Creativity (00:06:39) - Distilling Down the Laws of Creativity (00:08:17) - What Creativity Is and Why It Isn’t Magic (00:18:17) - On Zeno’s Paradox and Choosing to Finish (00:22:58) - The Laws of Mindset, Action, and Greatness (00:25:57) - Joey’s Favorite Law: The Law of Competition (00:29:55) - The Law of Precision (00:33:00) - The Law of The Muse (00:36:06) - On Borrowing vs Stealing Ideas (00:39:42) - The Law of Simplicity (00:42:56) - The Law of Good Enough (00:46:51) - Joey’s Process for Writing the Book (00:55:54) - Knowing When the Book Was Done (01:02:07) - The Highs and Lows of Creating Baronfig (01:04:54) - Creativity vs Business (01:08:21) - Baronfig: The Idea Company ABOUT THE BOOK In his book The Laws of Creativity, Joey debunks why creativity isn’t magic and shares what it is, how it works, and how you can harness it in your everyday life. Learn how to unlock your originality and awaken your creative genius with Joey Cofone—award-winning designer and Founder & CEO of the much loved “Tools for Thinkers'' brand Baronfig. Each of the 39 Laws of Creativity are illustrated with inspiring, enlightening, and surprising stories of iconic creators across history—including Albert Einstein, Serena Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Houdini, Grace Hopper, Bruce Lee, and many more. Joey breaks down how these titans of history wielded creativity to reach incredible heights. “Drawing on decades of experience, Joey Cofone has distilled the elements of creativity into an excellent, easy-to-use guide. The Laws of Creativity provides a roadmap for unleashing the creative force inside you.” — James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s episode featuring Joey Cofone, author of The Laws of Creativity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices