In 'The Outsider,' Colin Wilson examines the psyche of the Outsider through the lives and works of various literary and cultural figures such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The book delves into the Outsider's experience of dislocation and his struggle to find meaning and purpose in a world that seems devoid of it. Wilson argues that the Outsider is a metaphysical man who seeks a transcending meaning and purpose for human existence, often feeling isolated and disconnected from society. The book is both a study of the Outsider's predicament and an impassioned call for a new form of existentialism that could provide a satisfying and objective religious understanding of life.
In this book, Annie Duke teaches readers how to make better decisions by treating them as 'bets' on uncertain outcomes. She emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between the quality of a decision and its outcome, acknowledging the role of luck, and avoiding biases such as 'resulting' and hindsight bias. Duke draws on her experiences as a professional poker player and combines these with insights from cognitive psychology and other fields to provide tools for making more objective and thoughtful decisions. The book encourages readers to get comfortable with uncertainty, seek truth through diverse opinions, and learn from outcomes to improve future decision-making[1][3][5].
This book, written by former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss and co-author Tahl Raz, provides a masterclass in influencing others through negotiation. It distills the Voss method, revealing skills such as establishing rapport, creating trust with tactical empathy, and transforming conflict into collaboration. The book is filled with real-life examples from Voss's career, illustrating how these techniques can be applied in both professional and personal life to achieve goals and defuse potential crises.
In 'Crossing the Chasm', Geoffrey A. Moore explores the Technology Adoption Life Cycle, which includes innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. He highlights the significant gap or 'chasm' between early adopters and the early majority, where early adopters are willing to sacrifice for the advantage of being first, while the early majority waits for evidence of productivity improvements. The book provides strategies for narrowing this chasm, including choosing a target market, understanding the whole product concept, positioning the product, building a marketing strategy, and selecting the most appropriate distribution channels and pricing. The third edition includes new examples, strategies for digital marketing, and connections to Moore's subsequent works like 'Inside the Tornado'.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk is joined by Art Levy, Chief Business Officer at Brex.
Brex is the modern finance platform that empowers growing companies to spend smarter and move faster in 120+ countries. Brex combines global corporate cards, expense management, banking, and travel. Their platform is trusted by 30k+ companies including ServiceTitan, DoorDash, ScaleAI, and Wiz.
In this episode, Art & Ryan discuss:
2:23 - The exact decision making framework he uses (and we all probably should) to assess career opportunities in tech, including the "Five F**k Ups Rule"
4:50 - The 3 things that gave him confidence in Brex after assessing hundreds of companies as a VC...and the role Michael Tannenbaum + Sam Blond played
8:29 - His definition of what a CBO does, how he tracks himself, and his 'CBO Role Model'
10:39 - Brex's specific positioning in this massive, ultra-competitive global market and the types of customers Brex serves
14:54 - How his team balances product decision-making tactics across building their own roadmap, responding to competitor products, and listening to customers
16:25 - His Partnership Playbook and why "Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants" help him focus. How to think about value maximization vs. long-term partnership.
23:56 - What it would take for Brex to buy (or partner with) your startup
30:48 â Brex, Pedro, and Henrique going 'Founder Mode' and why it was the perfect movement for Brex in 2024
35:20 - Filling your team with 'spikes'
36:48 - Why you must always get on the plane
39:18 - An all-time rapid fire round including who he would box, why he invested in Bridge.xyz (acq by Stripe), his favorite apps, Brex team shoutouts, and more.
Enjoy the show.
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Art Levy is the Chief Business Officer of Brex leading business development, strategic partnerships, and M&A. Over the past six years, Art has led Brex's key partnerships with companies like Navan, Coupa, Apple, AWS, Zoom, and JetBlue and its M&A deals across the US and EMEA. Arthur started his career at Centerview Partners in tech investment banking and has spent the last 15 years operating and investing. Art is a cum laude graduate of Princeton University.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the worldâs largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanleyâs Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
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