#627: Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — The Art of Relentless Focus, Preparing for Full-Contact Entrepreneurship, Critical Forks in the Path, Handling Haters, The Wisdom of Paul Graham, Epigenetic Reprogramming, and Much More

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Oct 8, 2022

Brian Armstrong, the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, shares insights from his journey in the rapidly evolving crypto landscape. He discusses the critical fork in the path that led to Coinbase's success, emphasizing the power of a 'buy Bitcoin' button. Armstrong also reflects on handling media scrutiny, advocating for a mindset of growth amidst criticism. He explores collaboration over competition in the crypto space and delves into exciting biotech initiatives aimed at enhancing human health. With humor and resilience, he illustrates the vibrant culture of innovation within startups.

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ANECDOTE

StartBreakingFree.com

Brian Armstrong's early blog, StartBreakingFree.com, aimed to guide aspiring entrepreneurs.
It taught him the power of iterative feedback, influencing his later approach at Coinbase.

INSIGHT

Argentina's Pessimism

Living in Argentina, Brian Armstrong observed a pervasive pessimism stemming from economic mismanagement.
He contrasted this with the US, emphasizing individual empowerment and free markets as drivers of optimism and progress.

INSIGHT

America in Decline?

Brian Armstrong believes America is in slow decline, citing polarization, inflation, and other factors.
He suggests crypto could play a key role in a more decentralized future world order.

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The Coddling of the American Mind

Jonathan Haidt

Greg Lukianoff

The book explores how the ideas 'what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker,' 'always trust your feelings,' and 'life is a battle between good people and evil people' have become embedded in American culture. These 'Great Untruths' contradict basic psychological principles and ancient wisdom, leading to a culture of safetyism that interferes with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. The authors investigate various social trends, including fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised play, and the impact of social media, as well as changes on college campuses and the broader context of political polarization in America.

The 4-Hour Body

An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

Tim Ferriss

In 'The 4-Hour Body,' Tim Ferriss shares the results of over a decade of self-experimentation and research, involving hundreds of elite athletes, dozens of MDs, and thousands of hours of personal testing. The book covers more than 50 topics, including how to lose weight quickly, gain muscle without steroids, sleep less and perform better, and improve sexual health. Ferriss emphasizes the importance of finding the smallest changes that produce the biggest results, making it accessible for readers to achieve significant improvements in their physical health and performance.

Getting Things Done

David Allen

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a personal productivity system developed by David Allen. The book provides a detailed methodology for managing tasks, projects, and information, emphasizing the importance of capturing all tasks and ideas, clarifying their meaning, organizing them into actionable lists, reviewing the system regularly, and engaging in the tasks. The GTD method is designed to reduce stress and increase productivity by externalizing tasks and using a trusted system to manage them. The book is divided into three parts, covering the overview of the system, its implementation, and the deeper benefits of integrating GTD into one's work and life[2][3][5].

Free to choose

a personal statement

Rose D. Friedman

Milton Friedman

In this book, Milton and Rose Friedman argue that free-market principles are more effective than government intervention in achieving economic prosperity and personal freedom. They critique the explosion of laws, regulations, agencies, and spending in Washington, highlighting how these have eroded freedom and undermined affluence. The book provides examples of how free markets have succeeded in various historical contexts, such as Hong Kong and the United States before the Great Depression, and contrasts these with the failures of centralized planning in countries like India. The authors also propose remedies for various economic and social issues, including education, inflation, and consumer protection, advocating for a minimalist economic policy and greater personal freedom[1][2][5].

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Adventures of a Curious Character

Edward Hutchings

Richard Feynman

Ralph Leighton

This book is an edited collection of reminiscences by Richard Feynman, based on recorded audio conversations he had with his friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton. It covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life, including his work on the Manhattan Project, his critique of the science education system in Brazil, and his various hobbies such as safe-cracking, painting, and playing the bongo drums. The book also includes his famous 'Cargo Cult Science' lecture, where he cautions against the superficial appearance of scientific investigation without a self-critical attitude. Feynman's stories are lighthearted yet insightful, reflecting his high intelligence, curiosity, and humor.

Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order

Why Nations Succeed and Fail

Ray Dalio

In this book, Ray Dalio analyzes the most turbulent economic and political periods in history to identify repeating patterns and cause/effect relationships that drive changes in wealth and power. He studies the rise and fall of major empires, including the Dutch, British, American, Chinese, Soviet, and Japanese empires, highlighting the 'Big Cycle' that has driven their successes and failures. Dalio uses these historical insights to offer practical principles for understanding the current world order and preparing for the future. The book is organized into 14 chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of the changing world order, and it weaves together history and economics using real-world examples.

Perfect Puppy in 7 Days

How to Start Your Puppy Off Right

Dr. Sophia Yin

This book provides a step-by-step plan for bonding with your puppy, learning to communicate clearly, and providing essential life skills. It includes over 400 photos and covers topics such as potty training, socialization, and interpreting body language.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — The Art of Relentless Focus, Preparing for Full-Contact Entrepreneurship, Critical Forks in the Path, Handling Haters, The Wisdom of Paul Graham, Epigenetic Reprogramming, and Much More | Brought to you by ShipStation shipping software, Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, and Helix Sleep premium mattresses.

Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Coinbase. Founded in 2012, Coinbase is building the crypto economy—a more fair, accessible, efficient, and transparent financial system enabled by crypto. Coinbase serves over 103 million verified users, 14,500 institutions, and 245,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries. In April 2021, Coinbase listed publicly on NASDAQ as COIN.

Before founding Coinbase, Brian served as a software engineer at Airbnb, where he focused on fraud prevention. Before Airbnb, Brian founded and was CEO of UniversityTutor.com, an online tutoring directory and a subsidiary of Johnson Educational Technologies LLC. Brian also previously served as a consultant for the enterprise risk management division at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Brian has a BA in computer science and economics and an MS in computer science from Rice University.

Over the last three years, Coinbase has worked with ten-time Emmy®-winning filmmaker Greg Kohs on a documentary about cryptocurrency and Coinbase. COIN is now available on Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, Vimeo on Demand, and other platforms.

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[05:46] How Brian’s first book idea became a blog.

[07:21] Brian’s time in Buenos Aires.

[13:39] Present-day economic warning signs.

[16:13] Coinbase beginnings: from genesis to the Buy Bitcoin button.

[20:35] Influential human beings, books, and documentaries.

[23:15] Core principles learned from early startup days.

[26:39] Favorite Paul Graham essays.

[28:12] Controversy: Coinbase becomes an apolitical, mission-focused company.

[37:11] Cultivating resilience to resistance as a leader.

[44:57] Competition.

[46:51] What crypto skeptics and crypto bulls each get wrong often.

[49:30] Main use cases for crypto.