The second brain grew so slowly from one little use case to now I use it for basically everything, but you cannot start like that. That is trying to boil the ocean. That is trying to skip to the end. — Tiago Forte

This week Sachit (@sachitgupta) chats with Tiago Forte (@fortelabs), one of the world’s foremost experts on productivity. He has taught more than 20,000 people worldwide through his programs, while writing and speaking on how technology can help knowledge workers revolutionize their personal effectiveness.

Tiago’s online course, Building a Second Brain, has produced more than 5,000 graduates from over 70 countries. The course draws on his experience in academic disciplines such as information science, practical fields such as user experience design, and his work with top organizations and leaders in Silicon Valley.

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(02:55) - It’s not about the tool, it’s about the system

(04:44) - Why people are distracted by finding the tools

(05:43) - How “Building a Second Brain” relates to shifting the internal psychology and unlocking the creative side 

(06:53) - Things he has taken from other industries that helped him build the principles

(09:57) - What creators can learn from fields like manufacturing and bring to their knowledge management

(11:44) - Theory of constraints and its elements

(13:22) - Biggest bottlenecks when it comes to being a creator

(15:36) - How he navigates the bottlenecks that he faces

(19:43) - How personal transformative experiences have changed things in the business

(20:52) - The roles of surrender and perfectionism in his life 

(23:48) - How to start building a second brain (a live walkthrough with Sachit)

(31:55) - Inflection point in the second brain as a product and idea

(36:26) - How things changed for him when going from 0 to 5 and now 17 employees

(39:31) - A time when Tiago thought of shutting the course down

(41:25) - Biggest challenges he has faced while thinking about scaling as a creator

(44:02) - Mistakes that creators usually make

(47:17) - Tiago’s advice to people who are in the process of exponentially growing, in terms of scale and team

(50:00) - His experience of running a thousand student cohort

(52:020 - The transition from cohort to a membership model

(53:52) - The impact of launching a year-long cohort, on marketing and sales

(58:33) - The transition and journey from ”people buying from Tiago”, to people buying the product

(01:00:32) - The experience of finding a new audience and finally feeling like the product is great 

(01:02:46) - Actions he took to shift from early adopters to the next phase of customers

(01:05:29) - How he is looking at Building the Second Brain over the next few years

(01:07:36) - How the A.I. writing tools will change the consumption, curation, and creation for content

(01:10:38) - Whose second brain he would like to access to

(01:11:28) - A person he is grateful to

(01:12:08) - What it means to be a conscious creator

(01:13:02) - What it might look like to give a starter second brain to his baby