ER 004: How to Create Revolutionary Innovation Running a Software Business with Adam Simon of Matryx (Part 2) - Echo Radio hosted by Adrien Harrison
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Welcome to Echo Radio!
Where we go over the most effective ways of running an online business so you can work smart and live free.
This is THE podcast for entrepreneurs who want to create, launch, and run an online business WITHOUT years of trial and error.
Hosted by me, Adrien Harrison.
Hello and welcome to all of you devilishly handsome Cats and Kittens, and welcome to another episode of ECHO RADIO where it is my job to share the struggles, joys, failures, and triumphs of anyone who embodies pursuing their passion in some form or another.
We tease out the thoughts, routines, and strategies that have gotten these entrepreneurs to where they are now, so that, YOU, may learn and apply some of their valuable lessons back to your own lives.
This episode is the most amazing and revolutionary to date.
You'll be listening to my interview with Adam Simon of Matryx.ai: A Collaborative Research & Development Engine Optimized for Virtual Reality Interfaces (and potentially the key to future technological innovation on a massive scale)... "whoa", I know.
This interview is so JAM-PACKED with goodness. Originally weighing in at 2h25min raw it's quite the monster, so you may have to listen to it in multiple sittings. Consider yourself entertained for your next 3-4 commutes.
If you're not a fan of listening to the whole thing, I invite you to check out the show notes below (echostudio.co/podcast) or in the episode description if you're listening to the Podcasts app or watching on YouTube to see all the topics discussed with marked time-stamps you can skip to.
Although, for this episode, you should definitely check out the show notes here because they are EXTENSIVE.
There are tons of videos, books, articles, and links, all documented and explained, that you DO NOT want to miss because they play an integral role in understanding the episode and will teach you so. freaking. much.
Adam and I have also prepared an incredibly valuable free resource for all of you dedicated aspiring entrepreneurs as a thank you for supporting us.
It’s called: The Ultimate Product Pre-Validation Calculator.
It’s a worksheet both Adam and I use to test the validity, costs, projected reach necessary and revenue of a proposed product before investing any resources.
That means you can use it to test any and all of your ideas before wasting any time or funding.
On top of that, Matryx’s Token Sale ENDS on Wednesday, November 15th at 10am EST sharp, so if you want to get in on the ground floor before this colossus takes off I would definitely visit matryx.ai before then.
These show notes are like an encyclopedia made especially for the needs of aspiring tech entrepreneurs.
It was an absolute honor and really fun to record, and I'm sure you'll pick up on how much Adam and I got along vis-a-vis our tendency to jump and build on each other's ideas.
SO, now that you're salivating in anticipation as much as I was, I present to you episode four of ECHO RADIO: How to Create Revolutionary Innovation Running a Software Business with Adam Simon of Matryx. Enjoy.
Listen to the full episode on Youtube or Soundcloud:
Or listen to Part 2 below or on iTunes:
We cover too damn much in this episode, it's insane...
TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
Introducing Adam Simon, Nanome.ai and Matryx.ai (6:15)
Explaining: "What is Blockchain?" (7:46)
Getting Introduced to the Top - How Adam got involved with Keita Funakawa, Steve McCloskey, and Nanome.ai (9:56)
Why you should work for free when starting out (16:26)
How to add value to companies much bigger than you (20:03)
Why you should be using LinkedIn (29:49)
Why it's important to take a break (35:46)
How to land the best internships (36:58)
How to learn from the executives at your job (43:06)
Adam's best resources for getting started (44:45)
How to learn to LOVE reading (45:28)
How to get involved in tech entrepreneurship or your field of choice (46:58)
How to master the basics first so that everything becomes easier (49:54)
Why no one knows what they're doing when starting out and why that's a good thing (53:56)
How to overcome any tough decision using two Stoic exercises (56:18)
How to create a team working environment that works for you, even when you have "less experience" than your employees (58:41)
3 crucial qualities for getting hired by the best companies (01:04:22)
Mark Zuckerberg's hiring rule (01:07:48)
What activity bears the highest return on investment? - See Market Research, Immersion, and Validation (01:09:13)
Create quality content - How to audit your strengths and personality type to figure out what kind of content creation is right for you (01:13:47)
The Law of Category - How to rise to the top despite competition (01:20:42)
Why engagement is more important than quantity (01:22:32)
ICOs, Token Sales, and Pre-Selling - How to fund your startup without trading equity (01:24:20)
How to pick the right investors for you (01:30:52)
How to communicate effectively and inspire people with narrative (01:33:48)
Adam's proposed 12 week mentorship program - The most important things to start with (01:41:21)
How to avoid burnout - Introducing the concept of play (01:42:11)
How to vet potential hires (01:46:36)
Bad advice for getting started and how to avoid it (01:48:04)
Common mistakes to avoid when starting a software company (01:50:07)
What is lacking in tech entrepreneurship? - And how to add value by filling those gaps (01:53:40)
Don't be the stereotypical stoic (01:58:01)
The leaders of the blockchain movement - Adam's biggest influences in tech entrepreneurship (02:00:17)
Adam's definition of success (02:05:29)
All meat diets, microdosing LSD, and not answering your text messages (02:06:11)
The blank billboard - a moment of pause from advertising (02:08:14)
Follow up with: Matryx.ai and @matryx_ai, Adam's work on Medium, Twitter, his blog, his site, and his most recent project Roll with Alice (coming soon) (02:09:08)
Things to think about: reading, meditation, and minimalism (02:10:27)
Thank god we've got all the show notes right here.
RESOURCES DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE
- What is the Blockchain? - Explaining the concept in layman's terms
- Junior Ruckus - Adam and Keita Funakawa's not-for-profit started at the ripe age of 16
- Promo Video for Nano VR - The original "tacky" video Adam and Keita agreed to make for Steven McCloskey for FREE in the early days of Nanome
- Seed Rounds & Series A - Different kinds of venture capital funding
- What is Ethereum? - As explained by its creator: Vitalik Buterin
- Adam's Sarcastic LinkedIn Profile - Made in an effort to mock LinkedIn users but ended up gaining him success
- New York City's Internship Laws - Read before getting taken advantage of
- Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders - Short story by David Foster Wallace (Adam's reminder that, most of the time, there is nothing to lose)
- Amazon Kindle - A useful tool for reading and carrying tons of knowledge with you
- The Tim Ferriss Show - Adam and I are both MASSIVE fanboys of Tim Ferriss and both credit this podcast as an indispensable tool for entrepreneurs
- Squarespace - For website development and design. Shoot me an email before you register if you'd like 20% off your first year
- Wordpress - Also for web development and design, but I prefer Squarespace
- Adobe After Effects - The design tool Adam mastered early on that made mastering every other design tool easy
- Richard Feynman Documentary - The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: Really interesting look at learning and emphasis on the importance of knowing something v.s. knowing the name of something
- Fear-Setting - Tim Ferriss' way of making tough decisions
- Practicing Poverty - Stoic passage on how to make tough decisions easy by "living" your worst case scenario
- Anything You Want - Entrepreneurial auto-biography by Derek Sivers that explains how your business is a world you create
- Mean People Fail - Essay by Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, one of the (if not the) most successful venture capital firms ever
- Medium - Read, write and share stories that matter
- 1000 True Fans - Kevin Kelly's iconic essay on connecting enormously with the right people rather than superficially with the masse
- Hacker News - Y Combinator subreddit filled with die-hard and critical tech fans
- Y Combinator's Essential Startup Advice - This document is the startup bible. If you want to succeed read it, and every piece it references, regularly
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - One of my go to resources whenever I or my client starts a new business, by Al Ries & Jack Trout
- ICO - Initial Coin Offering
- How to Run a Token Sale - TechCrunch article explaining token sales
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces - A nonfiction tome by Joseph Campbell and Adam's inspiration for embedding narrative into everything he does
- The Monomyth / The Hero's Journey - The common narrative behind most stories of history that we've come to love and relate to
- Do The Work by Steven Pressfield - My go to resource for fighting burnout, procrastination, and resistance in all forms
- Casey Neistat's Romantic Relationship Allegory - In my opinion, the best metaphor for what your relationship with your business should be like
- Sapiens & Homo Deus - Books by Yuval Noah Harari outlining how we, as humans, came to be the way we are and where we're headed in the near future (also unanimously highly recommended books by many top performers in differing fields. I could not recommend these books enough)
Books Mentioned:
Adam's Biggest Influences:
Tech Entrepreneurship:
- Naval Ravikant's Twitter Feed - Naval is the founder of AngelList and one of the biggest influences in the emerging tech space of Silicon Valley. Also just an incredibly smart and deep thinker
- Fred Ehrsam - Founder of Coinbase (cryptocurrency exchange platform)
- Brian Hoffman - Founder of OpenBazaar (revolutionary platform for transactions)
- ConsenSys - Brooklyn based team of blockchain visionaries that inspire Adam
- Mediachain - Blockchain data solution for connecting applications to media and information about it (see: @literature & @jessewldn)
- Benjamin Bratton - Futurist whose work spans philosophy, art, design and computer science
Music:
- Lorde - World renowned singer-songwriter and an inspiration to Adam
- Father John Misty - American Singer-Songwriter with a good grasp on irony and narrative
- Wynton Marsalis - Trumpeter
Mentors:
- James Sereno - Runs Kinetic Productions, and one of Adam's previous employers
- Justin Chon - Was also at Kinetic Productions, an American actor, and a member of parody K-pop band BgA. He is best known for portraying Eric Yorkie in The Twilight Saga film series
- Yasha Gruben - Of Pangean Vision (really talented creative that has directed for huge names like Gucci Mane)
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