Emerging technology, startup funding, and books for entrepreneurs :: with John Biggs

My guest this week (John Biggs, https://twitter.com/johnbiggs, https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndbiggs/) is an entrepreneur, writer, and technologist. He was the east coast editor at TechCrunch for fifteen years, was an editor at Coindesk, and is currently the Editor in Chief at Gizmodo. In this conversation we dive into a wide range of topics including 5G, the future of work, blockchains, recommended books, John’s entrepreneurial ventures, his new book (Get Funded), previous books (https://johnbiggsbooks.com/), and practical advice for entrepreneurs.  

Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-15 to watch via video, for detailed notes, and for links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. 

In this episode we cover the following: 

1:55 - John intro, technologist, entrepreneur, and writer.

2:17 - About John’s time at TechCrunch

3:00 - Advice that John has for people who have an idea for a startup

5:19 - John’s own personal journey entering the world of being a writer

6:55 - His journey diving intro entrepreneurship himself (a cryptocurrency-based remittance system). 

9:16 - John’s overall take on the crypto world and it’s future 

11:11 - More entrepreneurial stories from John’s career, learnings for entrepreneurs, and details about his more current projects.

13:22 - What technology stack does John recommend for founders who want to build their own software startups. 

14:49 - About John’s new book Get Funded. 

17:24 - Thoughts on crowdfunding, the overall landscape, and practical advice for founders considering it.

20:47 - Advice for writers starting their career

23:08 - Thoughts on tech trends and topics that are interesting to John, especially AI in journalism and graphene. 

24:55 - Thoughts on 5G, is it real or overhyped (or both?)

26:16 - Future of Work: Is the work-from-home shift in light of the pandemic a good or bad thing for society in general? 

27:37 - History and entrepreneurial journey of each of John’s books. (https://johnbiggsbooks.com/) 

29:40 - What are serverless architectures and why are they getting so much attention today? 

31:40 - What books does John recommend for founders? (Negotiating books: Getting to Yes, Pitch Anything, Never Split the Difference, -- And History books to understand how major decisions have been made in war and politics. Also, Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson) 

33:42 - Advice for people interested in lots of different things who are being told to focus. 

36:39 - What questions is John thinking about and most curious about right now? 

38:42 - Is there a glimmer of hope regarding meaningful content out there that people are paying for? 

40:00 - Where can people learn more about John and find him online? https://twitter.com/johnbiggs // https://johnbiggsbooks.com/