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The Tim Ferriss Show
#81: The Rags to Riches Philosopher: Bryan Johnson's Path to $800 Million
Jun 12, 2015
01:47:20
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Quick takeaways
- Building a loyal customer base through exceptional service and solving problems in a targeted community
- Creating a positive company culture by focusing on hiring exceptional employees and fostering an environment where everyone feels fulfilled
- Encouraging open and transparent communication to address problems and improve company culture
- Importance of self-reflection, challenging assumptions, and forming deep connections for personal growth
Deep dives
Building a Strong Customer Base Through Word of Mouth
In the early days of BrainTree, the strategy was to target a chatty and collaborative community of engineers, specifically in the Ruby on Rails community. By providing exceptional service and solving their problems, BrainTree was able to build a loyal customer base that spread through word of mouth. Major companies like 37 Signals and Github became customers, further enhancing BrainTree's reputation and credibility.
Creating an Exceptional Company Culture
One of the key goals for BrainTree was to create the best company to work for. By focusing on hiring exceptional employees and fostering an environment where everyone felt excited and fulfilled in their work, BrainTree was able to attract top talent and create a positive company culture. This culture led to employee satisfaction and ultimately resulted in employees raving about their workplace to others.
Effective Communication and Listening
To ensure employee satisfaction and continuous improvement, the founder of BrainTree implemented practices such as regular town hall meetings. During these meetings, he would allow for long pauses to encourage employees to share their thoughts, concerns, and ask questions. This open and transparent communication style allowed for a better understanding of employees' feelings and needs, leading to positive changes and a stronger company culture.
Targeting the Right Community and Providing Exceptional Service
In the early stages, BrainTree strategically targeted the Ruby on Rails community, known for its collaborative and chatty nature. By becoming the best payment provider for developers, offering honesty and transparency in a fragmented and unscrupulous industry, BrainTree gained traction and built a reputation as a reliable and exceptional service provider. This, in turn, led to organic growth through referrals and recommendations within the community.
The Power of Acknowledging and Addressing Problems
One of the main takeaways from the podcast is the importance of acknowledging and addressing problems. The speaker emphasizes that everyone always has something bothering them, and by openly addressing these issues we can find solutions. By encouraging brutal honesty and feedback, the speaker created an environment where even criticism of themselves was welcomed and used to improve. Additionally, the speaker shares the story of a significant other who noticed a positive change in their partner's happiness and motivation after joining a company that fostered a positive work environment.
The Quest for Understanding and Gathering Data
Another key point discussed in the podcast is the importance of understanding how people feel in order to build an exceptional company. The speaker highlights the challenge of finding the right data source to gain insights into people's experiences and emotions. They mention the use of significant others as a valuable source of information, as they often have a deeper understanding of how someone feels in their daily life. The speaker emphasizes the need to find reliable data and sources to build a strong team and continuously improve.
Creating a Culture of Openness and Feedback
The podcast delves into the importance of creating a culture of openness and feedback in organizations. The speaker describes how they encouraged employees to openly address any issues or concerns during town hall meetings. They emphasized the importance of embracing criticism, even inviting it towards themselves. This created a safe environment where people felt comfortable sharing their honest opinions and feedback. The speaker also shared their practice of telling stories about exceptional efforts to reinforce the desired behavior and maintain high morale.
The Power of Reflection and Self-Exploration
The podcast explores the significance of self-reflection and self-exploration in personal growth. The speaker discusses the importance of challenging assumptions and being aware of one's mental models. They share personal experiences of uncovering irrational behavior and striving to improve it. The speaker expresses the value of being vulnerable and transparent with others, as well as forming deep connections and relationships with fellow founders and mentors.
Bryan Johnson is an entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder of OS Fund and Braintree, the latter of which was bought by eBay in 2013 for $800 million in cash. Bryan launched OS Fund in 2014 with $100 million of his personal capital to support inventors and scientists who aim to benefit humanity by rewriting the operating systems of life. He cultivates real-world mad scientists. Our conversation includes his rags to riches story (and strategies), his philosophical hardwiring, negotiating/sales tactics, and even parenting. We cover a ton of ground with a fascinating and deep mind. Bryan's investments include endeavors to cure age-related diseases and radically extend healthy human life to 100+ (Human Longevity), make biology a predictable programming language (Gingko Bioworks & Synthetic Genomics), replicate the human visual cortex using artificial intelligence (Vicarious), mine an asteroid (Planetary Resources), reinvent transportation using autonomous vehicles (Mattternet), and reimagine food using biology (Hampton Creek), among others. Enjoy! Please check out the sponsors for this episode, which I’ve used myself: Athletic Greens —My all-in-one nutritional insurance policy. 99Designs — Your one-stop shop for all things graphic design related. I used them for the book cover mockups for The 4-Hour Body, which later hit #1 New York Times. Show notes (links, resources, books, etc.) from this episode can be found on my blog here: http://fourhourworkweek.com/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, and many more.
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