The Naming Journey of Acumen: Insights and Anecdotes

This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited. The episode features segments from episode #124 "Jamie Foxx on Workout Routines, Success Habits, and Untold Hollywood Stories" and #514 "Jacqueline Novogratz on Building Acumen, How to (Actually) Change the World, Speaking Your Truth, and the Incredible Power of 'Dumb' Questions."

Please enjoy!

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Timestamps:

[00:00] Start

[06:50] Notes about this supercombo format.

[07:53] Enter Jamie Foxx.

[08:19] When Jamie met Kanye West.

[10:58] Why Jamie considers his studio magical.

[13:32] When Jamie met Ed Sheeran.

[15:00] What's on the other side of fear?

[16:53] Making impressions.

[22:15] How Eric Marlon Bishop became Jamie Foxx.

[24:49] Overcoming fear at open mics.

[26:12] Could Prince or Michael Jackson find a career break in today’s "Age of Memes?"

[27:49] How Jamie learned to read the room.

[33:27] Why do some comedians lose the ability to make people laugh?

[39:04] Enter Jacqueline Novogratz.

[39:37] Jacqueline's background and siblings' accomplishments.

[42:06] Jacqueline's journey into social impact investing.

[45:15] An early banking career and reputation for asking tough questions.

[48:36] A tendency to champion underdogs.

[53:18] From banker to disruptor.

[1:00:04] Jacqueline's first opportunity in her new path.

[1:05:28] Failures, small wins, and perseverance.

[1:09:21] Jacqueline's first real win in Rwanda.

[1:13:37] The path between Rwanda and founding Acumen.

[1:16:06] Jacqueline's reasons for applying to Stanford Business School.

[1:18:10] How the Rwanda genocide redefined poverty for Jacqueline.

[1:20:42] Lessons Jacqueline learned about human nature from the genocide.

[1:26:25] Acumen's three main functions and naming process.

[1:29:12] The quantification of impact investment through Lean Data.

[1:37:28] Alternative names for Acumen that got left on the cutting room floor.

[1:40:43] The concept of moral imagination.

[1:44:55] An early win at Acumen.

[1:50:43] Advice for young people aspiring to create positive change.

[1:53:20] The benefits of committing to something larger than oneself.

[1:56:10] Characteristics of a good mentor.

[1:59:36] Book recommendations.

[2:02:48] Advice for impact investors at various levels.

[2:09:20] Next steps for investors to start making a difference.

[2:14:00] Jacqueline's authenticity.

[2:17:07] A taste of potential topics for a future round two.

[2:20:55] Parting thoughts.

*

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

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Past 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.

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