Tim has deeply impacted me as a friend and a collaborator. Whether teaching me how to melt 23 pounds off my weight (who is counting?), encouraging me to not be my inbox's bitch, working together on our hottest investments like Uber and Twitter, or letting me in on the secret that the best scrambled eggs in the world have two yolks per white, I always learn from Tim.
This television project highlights his insatiable curiosity and his skill for reducing even the most complex endeavors down to the most approachable steps. It's great content. But I think even more important for PH users is the entrepreneurial journey Tim took to get this show made and then to wrest it from the hands of the corporate interests who held it hostage.
Tim is a founder through and through. Just when life gets comfortable, he risks it all over again. Hell yeah.
@sacca Thank you so much for the incredibly kind words. You've taught me so much over the years. Swimming and investing are just the tip of the iceberg. Watching you grow as a dad and family man -- while continuing to slay it -- has been a huge inspiration and made me think about kids again. This is a big deal for me. Thanks for doing what you do.
@sacca@tferriss Don't forget tarragon with the eggs.
I second everything @sacca said. Tim, you've influenced me a ton! Excited for your latest project.
@tferriss Same for me and I don't know him on a personal level. He has inspired more than he realizes I'm sure. Exact same for you also Tim Tim (using @kevinrose pet names for you makes me feel more a part of your circle).
Two part question:
1. Who's the coolest #1 best selling author you know? (If it's not me, please ignore this question)
2. Seriously though, I think a lot of people will be interested in this: if I was in my 20s and looking for a really promising area to focus on, what should I pick? Not to invest, but to work in? In other words, if you were to start again today, what fields would you focus in and why? (I get this question all the time, I think it's a really good one)
@tuckermax
#1) 100% Tucker Max, obviously. He's also 10x the man I'll ever be :)
#2) I've thought about this. I would say any 15-25-person startup that is growing super quickly, where you'd be able to observe (or ideally report to) the principal dealmakers (CEO, COO, VP biz dev, VP sales, etc.). The "hot" sectors change so quickly in tech, and you can definitely choose a great industry but a bad company with bad leadership. I prefer to focus on size and growth rate. That will max out your learning and skill acquisition, even if it's a waste disposal company.
Note: Tim will be doing an AMA at 730 AM PST. If you have a question, start your comment with "AMA:”
AMA: 1) Congrats on the launch Tim! You touch upon a bit in our podcast that you hope this launch serves as an example for other artists & creatives — who’ve similarly had projects shelved — to launch in novel and groundbreaking ways. What advice/recommendations would you give to those people? What are some of the biggest principles you abide by when launching?
2) For this show, what does success look like for you?
For those who want to hear more about the show and get deep inside @tferriss mind, we have a deep chat here: https://soundcloud.com/product-h...
@eriktorenberg
For #1 and launching) I think Change.org and Kickstarter can be used respectively to petition larger companies with public pressure and raise funds (e.g. for licensing rights) to get deals done. I didn't do this, but it was a backup plan. Separately, read "1,000 True Fans" ten times before planning your launch.
#2) Success for me with this show is getting it to as many people as humanly possible. 25% of all launch week profits for the TV show go to After-School All-Stars (http://www.afterschoolallstars.org/), which supports after-school programs for at-risk youth who need mentors. They do amazing work, and I recognize how a few mentors steered me from disaster early in my life. I want everyone to have that opportunity.
I remember hearing about this upcoming show on an episode of This Week in Startups with @Jason. Here's the teaser video:
@tferriss - what do you wish you could have done on the show that you legally (or for other reasons) could not do?
@Jason@rrhoover Hey Ryan and Jason -- I wish I could have done a wing suit episode, but we ultimately decided the high risk of death wasn't worth it :) I also wanted to do a few things internationally (e.g. polo in Argentina), but we had to constrain for budget and deadline reasons.
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@Jason@rrhoover@tferriss I'm curious who you spoke with regarding wing suits. Are you specifically talking about the crazies that jump off cliffs and mountain flying? If you are interested in learning to fly a wing suit out of a normal plane, I could get you in contact with the right people. My girlfriend was a Golden Knight for 4 years and I see many of the active team regularly as they train a few miles away from me. They're the best skydivers in the world and I can guarantee they'd teach you whatever you wanted to learn.
@Jason@rrhoover@schnelle Thanks so much for the offer, Jared! I would DEFINITELY use a wing suit out of a normal plane. I was referring to the crazies who splatter themselves on mountains.
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@tferriss My email address is my last name at gmail dot com. Send me some contact info for you or an assistant and I'll pass it along to the GK Tandem Team (they are the ones that jump the President). Many of those guys fly wing suits and you can take it from there!
Congrats on the launch @tferriss!
AMA:
1. Why did you choose to go the TV route and not release this series on YouTube/vimeo/iTunes from the start on?
2. If Tim Ferriss was an unknown guy in 2015, which platform would you focus on, to build your audience?
@freshfey
1. Why did you choose to go the TV route and not release this series on YouTube/vimeo/iTunes from the start on?
TIM: I wanted to give broadcast a shot, as it was always a fantasy, but I've changed my tune. Too many things outside of my control. Going digital is the only smart option with my core audience being tech-savvy 20-40-year olds.
2. If Tim Ferriss was an unknown guy in 2015, which platform would you focus on, to build your audience?
TIM: Hard to say, but I'm inclined to still focus on long-form content. The world of short-form (Snapchat, Twitter, FB, IG, etc.) is too competitive and not my forte. The blog (fourhourblog.com) is the heartbeat of everything that I do, and some of the posts are 5-15 pages. I try and zig when everyone is zagging. Right now, "zagging" is short-form content.
AMA: There seems to be a bit of a cabal between yourself, Neil Strauss, Tucker Max, Ryan Holiday and (I think) Robert Greene - who am I missing and how often do you all actually work together or catch up? Is there a Slack group I can get in on?
@rossdcurrie Haha... we're friends. No Slack group, but we trade learning a lot (via email, text, etc.), and Ryan has helped me with my last two book launches, as he's a good strategist.
@tferriss Yeah - I thought that might be the case. When you read your respective books, there's lots of hints that you help each other out. Some overt, some veiled where your brands don't align.
I just finished Trust Me I'm Lying a couple of days ago. In addition to ruining the Internet for me and instilling a deep fear of where things are headed, I really came to appreciate the way Ryan thinks. I'll definitely be making contact for future product launches.
Keep up the good work Tim. Within a month of reading 4HWW 5 years ago, I was working from home.Within 2 years I'd almost tripled my salary. You were a great intro for me to success hacking... let me know if you guys ever start that Slack group :)
@tferriss@ryanholiday Tomorrow on Gawker: "Tim Ferriss heads mysterious cabal of infamous writers"
2016: @neilstrauss writes tell-all book exposing the secret underground society of writers and how they manipulate their way to #1. Stays at top of NYTimes best selling list for record 6 years
You ruined my life, @tferriss.
I've read your books, followed your blog, and listened to your podcast. And after hours of reading, listening, practicing, re-listening, and experimenting, all I got out of it was a completely new perspective on my life goals, endless inspiration, and a monkey on my back constantly pushing me to challenge the status quo. In tough situations where I might otherwise complain or quit, I find myself asking WWTFD? And the answer is usually something like, "he would fuckin' deal with it immediately and move on." So that's what I do.
But the worst part is the sense of urgency regarding my goals and dreams. It's really hard to concentrate on a 9-5 consulting gig after you realize and truly understand that you can do anything. It sounds cliche, but your work pushed me to reflect and define what I really wanted, and showed me it was entirely possible to attain.
So thank you for that, and looking forward to the show!
Congrats on the launch @tferriss! Show looks great. Such a shame us Brits can’t watch it just yet. Fingers crossed you manage to get the international rights soon.
Congrats @tferriss! I remember watching a few of these episodes when they were first on TV. I'm glad I get to finish the rest of the season now.
AMA: Any plans for more episodes?
@aschuen I'm taking it one step at a time. If people really love this show and let me know, I might use Kickstarter to raise funds and produce another show on my own. I'm tired of the network machine.
AMA: @tferriss I know you had to do a lot of work to get the digital rights for this in the US only. But, especially given all the comments you got when the podcast was going out, why focus on making it available via iTunes as the lead platform again? And do you have an alternate destination for Android, MS, and other users?
@therealsjr iTunes has been super supportive, and I also want to send a message to Hollywood by crushing the charts. I might do something with the episodes in a few weeks or months, but iTunes will be my focus for now. That said, I'm also putting a lot of bonus footage and extras on Vessel, which people can get for 30 days for free: https://www.vessel.com/timferriss
@tferriss Thanks Tim. I get the 'super supportive' thing - I really do. All I'd add is to remember that your books are accessible to almost 100% of the population (100% if you add in the audiobook editions). By going on iTunes first/only, you're stopping a lot of existing fans from accessing this awesome content. I honestly believe you could crush all the charts, rather than just the one, fruit-flavored chart.
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