Craftsman Founder with Lucas Carlson and Eliot Peper

Life unfolds in unexpected ways. Eliot Peper has been a frequent guest, and at times, even a co-host of the show. We've followed his story since his first novel came out. First Novel Interview - Jun 18, 2014 Second Novel Interview - Dec 3, 2014 Third Novel Interview - Jul 29, 2015  And today, Eliot's 8th book has been released: Bandwidth Listening back to those early interviews, it's really amazing to watch Eliot's path unfolding. So many times in life, it's easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight and connect the dots after the fact. But to listen to those interviews captures a journey in a way that's otherwise impossible to predict. And where he's currently ended up is quite impressive. His latest novel reached #4 in the ENTIRE AMAZON KINDLE STORE. Not just the category of science fiction, but the whole store. And now he's signed a 3 book deal with Amazon to publish his latest trilogy. It's an incredibly impressive track record Eliot is putting together. And incredibly difficult to have predicted ahead of time. If people could have predicted, they would have been lining up in 2014 to represent him. So if you are currently unable to get anyone to notice your great work, take this story as inspiration. Your story hasn't finished yet. So much lies ahead if you just keep at it.

One of my mentors has just written a book on entrepreneurship... and it happens to be a damn good one too. Listen to this podcast for just a snippet of his wisdom and buy his new book: The San Francisco Fallacy to learn more from this really amazing man.

This week, Adam Cheyer talks to us about co-founding Siri and the future of AI. Yes, that Siri. ;) Adam's background is fascinating. He didn't even start to try to be an entrepreneur until his 40's. In a world full of bright-eyed 20-something entrepreneurs trying to make it, but instead ending up in a rat-race of their own creation, it's refreshing to talk to Adam.  Adam created Siri (and Viv) through a methodology that he will teach you in this interview. You can apply it today. It's his unique twist on goal-setting, and is tempered by the fact that life is unpredictable and things often turn out different than you might first imagine. You will also learn about the two big practices in AI today, and see if one or the other might be a good fit for you. So take a listen and learn more about the fascinating man behind a revolution in voice control.

How do you start a company? Most people think they know, but they get it all wrong. David S Rose has been an entrepreneur and investor for decades. He's seen it from both sides many times and lives to tell the tale. In his first interview with us, he told us all about his background and how he turned into an investor. This time, he talks about the nitty-gritty of how to start and grow your business. If you want to see the Gust Startup Checklist, visit gust.com/checklist.

Ryan Holiday discusses his new book, Ego Is The Enemy.

Patrick McGinnis has a new book out called The 10% Entrepreneur. It's a novel idea that has the same roots as Nassim Taleb's barbell investing approach. Nassim Taleb suggests putting 10% of your assets in high-risk high-reward assets that could multiply enormously and the other 90% of your assets in plain old cash. That way you can never go bankrupt, because only 10% of your assets are exposed. Similarly, Patrick McGinnis suggests investing 10% of your time in entrepreneurship and 90% of it doing something safe like a day job. Only when your idea proves itself viable do you quit your job and start looking for venture capital, if you even want to go that path. James Altucher talks about this all the time. He didn't quit his job until his side project could pay for his lifestyle. This week, we talk to Patrick about this idea and much more.

Josh Maher is a Seattle-based author and angel investor who is written a book recently called “Startup Wealth: How the Best Angel Investors Make Money In Startups” about how to create personal wealth by investing through startups. He’s interviewed many great angel investors including Chris DeVore who wasalso on this podcast and invested in my startup. Josh recently joined us on the podcast, not only to talk about his new book but how understanding angel investors is a lot different than understanding venture capitalists. In my book, Finding Success in Failure, I talk a lot about how reading is a fantastic way to have proximity towards people you might not otherwise have access to. And I think that the key to raising venture capital from angel investors is to first understand the people behind the money. And if you don’t have a large group of angel investors that you already have relationships with, this book is a fantastic way to start understanding the people behind angel investing. Listening and watching podcasts is another way to have great proximity. So please join Eliot Peper and me in this wonderful conversation and start to get to know Josh Maher.

Today we talk to startup thriller author Eliot Peper about his new book finishing the Uncommon Stock trilogy. 

What does it take to motivate your employees without necessarily changing compensation structures? Kevin Kruse has turned this into a science in his book "We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement" where he talks about steps you can use to engage and motivate your employees today. Most startups don't think about startup culture very much, they assume that they will be acquired before there are enough employees for that to matter. But that's absolutely the wrong way to think about things. You should be laying the groundwork for a great company culture from day 1. And that means understanding how to build an engaged team. Listen to this interview for concrete steps that anyone can put to use today.

These 21 heard-earned lessons Andrew has learned along the way to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

This week I am excerpting a chapter from The Craftsman Founder Manifesto. There is a siren’s song inside all founders that can lead you into the rocky cliffs of depression. It’s an inner voice that frequently says mean and terrible things. It’s an inner bully. You might think: “You are too stupid to start a company. Plus, your idea sucks and nobody wants to use it. How long have you been trying to get attention for this? Can’t you just give up now? Call it quits. Just do what everyone else does. Everyone’s laughing and making fun of you behind your back. Stop embarrassing yourself.”

Fortunes come and go. Building startups is a long game. It is not long on money. You might win money in one startup, then invest it all and lose it the next startup. Startups are long on character. This is the dirty little secret nobody tells you up front: the spoils go to those left standing.

The Underwriting: Get Rich, Get Laid, Get Even is Michelle Miller's new book. It is described as The Social Network meets The Wolf of Wall Street, as it takes you behind closed doors into a post-recession world of sex scandals, power plays, and underhanded dealings.

Josh Turner (author of the new book Connect: The Secret LinkedIn Playbook To Generate Leads, Build Relationships, And Dramatically Increase Your Sales) teaches us how to leverage LinkedIn for startups and side projects this week on the podcast. Josh also runs LinkedUniversity.com which has been teaching people how to effectively use LinkedIn to get more business. This week we talk about simple things that can make a big difference with your LinkedIn profile.

Andy Weir, bestselling author of The Martian and The Egg talks with us this week about how he writes, how he comes up with ideas, and what inspires him. Andy’s story personally inspires me because I am trying to finish my first novel right now and Eliot has written two novels with another on the way. Moreover, he used to be a computer programmer (just like me). Now he gets to live a life focused on writing entertaining-as-hell novels that millions of people will read. Do not miss this interview, it will inspire you in many ways!

Mike Belsito wrote a new book called Startup Seed Funding for the Rest of Us. Here's the description: You have aspirations for creating a startup company that will change the world, but need startup capital in order to make that happen. Where do you start? How can you raise serious funding when you don't have many connections or live outside of a major startup community like Silicon Valley. This week we also discuss this great concept and cover interesting topics like privacy and security for your iPhone, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

There has been a surprising amount of progress in the area of memory tools in the last 10 years. Memorization techniques aren't nearly as archane and complicated as they used to be. This week I will be teaching you how to memorize any phone number in just a few seconds, and you will be able to remember it forever. If you have ever been interested in memory retention and haven't looked into it for a while, definitely check this week's episode.

Finding Success in Failure has been a personal journey of a book, and I am proud to be producing it as an audiobook. Today's podcast gives you a free sample from the audiobook which will be available on Amazon, Audible and Apple. In every field, from chess to gymnastics, we can make bigger gains by reducing mistakes than by making winning moves. This is especially true in business. We study the greats, trying to extract valuable lessons, when avoiding a few key blunders would be more valuable.Fortunately, advice on what not to do is universally applicable. The ways to fall down the mountain are shared by all climbers, no matter which path they've chosen.This book is here to teach you how NOT to fall down the mountain.How can you be an entrepreneur that beats the odds? How do you build a successful business that not only changes the world for the better, but creates generational wealth for you and your family? You simply need to avoid mistakes -- and this book will show you how.What Other Entrepreneurs Are Saying"Lucas imparts the sound tactics of a seasoned veteran. Invest wisely in your company's most valuable asset: you."  ~Oliver Lade, Entrepreneur"Packed with insight, witty humor and approaches to difficult situations. Lucas shares truths that have an audience beyond the entrepreneurs for which the book is intended. His experience shines through the book as he draws the reader in to explore a mindset of what it means to be a founder." ~Brandon Dube, Founder  

Dr Sean Wise, author of the new book Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job, professor of entrepreneurship and innovation for the Ryerson University Entrepreneurship Program, producer of the Canadian entrepreneurship show The Naked Entrepreneur TV and consultant for Dragons' Den (like the Shark Tank) is an expert at entrepreneurship and we are thrilled to have him as a guest on the podcast this week.

When I read the following words, I nearly peed my pants. I’ve been an entrepreneur for, oh, half a century or so, and I’m still making most of these mistakes! (And yeah, these are mistakes…his list is bang on target). When I grow up I wanna be Lucas or Jason, who not only know the pitfalls, but don’t keep falling into them [sigh]. It wasn’t the words themselves (which of course was very kind), but who wrote it that I couldn’t believe. David. S. Rose. When I saw the name I could hardly believe it. I have watched David’s TED Talk about raising investments about a thousand times. I’ve watched it so many times that I nearly have it memorized. I am certain it helped me raise nearly $10 Million from investors. What makes David’s talk so special is that it gives you unique and actionable insight into the mind of an investor. If you have ever wondered what investors are really thinking and really looking for, there has never been a better explanation. Whenever founders ask me for advice for raising funds, I always send them to David’s talk. I have recommended the video over a hundred times. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw these words coming from a man I personally considered a legend and guru. David’s comment was in response to my 30 Things to Stop Doing as a Startup Founder on Quora. As soon as I read the comment, I clicked on the name I was so familiar with already and thanked him profusely for the kind words and asked if he would come on my podcast. Imagine how excited I was when the legendary man said yes! I didn’t want to talk to him about about stuff he has covered other places, so instead of asking him how to pitch investors, I asked him just one question: how did David S. Rose get to become a legend?   His answer was EPIC and well worth listening to all the way through. Grab yourself a coffee and start a fire, because this story is a lot of fun to listen to.