Going Deep with Aaron Watson

John Beck leads the development of TrueFit’s human-centered design methodology and his team’s design research, information design, product interaction, and user interface design. Through John’s leadership, Truefit helps clients create innovative web, mobile, social media and commercial software products that have positive practical impact.   John is part of Truefit's business development team and is skilled at helping clients understand the impact of good user experience and the best practices for success drawn from years of experience working with several of the world’s most distinguished health and technology brands including Samsung, Precor, Rolls-Royce, Kodak, and BodyMedia.   Prior to joining Truefit, John served as a Co-Founder and President of Gist Design, acquired by Truefit in 2013. John has also served as a Senior Interaction Designer at wearable body monitoring pioneer, BodyMedia, which was recently acquired by Jawbone.   John’s work has been cited in many industry and commercial publications including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Business Week, and Engadget. John’s work has won numerous design and innovation awards including the IDEA Gold Medal sponsored by Businessweek and the Industrial Designers Society of America. He also serves as occasional lecturer and teacher. John’s Challenge; Challenge yourself to practice design-thinking by carefully examining someone completing a task.

Mike Dariano is a writer, an educator, and a creator. He writes about productivity and better work at Productivityist and edits the site 27GoodThings.com which features good things to read, watch, and use. He also writes at The Waiter’s Pad – a blog that shares in depth notes from podcast interviews around the web.   He has written a few books including; My Meditations: What a Roman Emperor Taught me About Parenting, Read More Books: Hijack your Habits, Tame your Time, and Find Better Tools for Reading More Books, and Children’s Poems for the Couch on a Sunday Afternoon.   Mike’s Challenge; Read more books.   Mentioned Media Helsinki Bus Station Theory Gary Vaynerchuk on Rich Roll podcast Venkatesh Rao on the Tropical MBA podcast   Check out Mike’s Book; 28 Lessons from Startups that Failed     If you liked this interview, check out episode 46 with Taylor Pearson where we discuss entrepreneurship and the future of the economy.  

Robert P. Seawright is the Chief Investment & Information Officer for Madison Avenue Securities, a boutique broker-dealer and investment advisory firm headquartered in San Diego, California. At Madison, Bob’s role is a thought leader for the firm’s independent advisors, providing counsel and guidance with respect to the latest industry trends, research and best practices. In September of 2014, The Wall Street Journal published a list of fifteen smart people for investors to follow that included Bob, along with Warren Buffett, Howard Marks, William Bernstein and the CFA Institute.   Bob is a columnist for Research magazine, a Contributing Editor at Portfolioist as well as a contributor to the Financial Times, The Big Picture, The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, Pragmatic Capitalism, and ThinkAdvisor. Bob’s blog, Above the Market, has received “best of” recognition from a wide variety of sources, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Planning, the CFA Institute, Insider Monkey, Financial Social Media, and Investment News. He also speaks regularly to a variety of audiences on topics related to finance, investing and the markets.   Bob’s Challenge; Sit down and think of a few examples of mistakes you are making.   If you liked this interview, check out episode 55 with Morgan Housel, where we discuss finance writing and cognitive biases.

Michael Port has written six books, including Book Yourself Solid and Steal the Show, the latter which—according to the former President of Starbucks—“might be the most unique and practical book ever written on the topic of public speaking.” He's been called an “uncommonly honest author" by the Boston Globe, a "marketing guru" by The Wall Street Journal, a “sales guru” by the Financial Times, “a public speaking phenom” by Jonathan Fields and “the best public speaking coach in the world” by Lewis Howes.   The founder of MastermindTalks, Jayson Gaignard, declared, "Michael Port is the best speaker I've ever seen." His books have been on the bestseller lists of the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Publisher's Weekly.   He was once a professional actor, having received his MFA from NYU's Graduate Acting Program, guest starring on shows like Sex & The City and Law & Order, and in films like The Pelican Brief and Down to Earth. These days, Michael can be seen on MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS as an on air expert in communication and business development and as the host of the most popular podcast on public speaking and performance, Steal the Show with Michael Port.   Michael’s Challenge; Save money. Even if it is just a little bit, start investing now. Check out Jack Bogle’s book The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.   Connect with Michael Twitter Website

Colin is a professional author and international speaker, and co-founded a publishing company. He travels full-time, moving to a new country every four months or so, with the country being determined by the votes of readers of his blog.   In the six years since starting his blog, Colin has lived in New Zealand, Thailand, Iceland, India, Romania, and Czech Republic, visited the 48 contiguous US states twice, road tripped through South America, rode the rails through Southeast Asia, and visited about 30 other countries.   Since hitting the road, he has pivoted from building brands for other companies, to consulting on branding, to building brands for himself. He has run nearly a dozen medium- and small-scale endeavors, in industries ranging from sustainable product design to subscription-based publishing technologies. He currently makes a living by publishing books through a publishing company called Asymmetrical Press, which he also co-founded with two fellow authors, Josh and Ryan from The Minimalists.   He also periodically teaches classes, gives talks at schools, conferences, and events, and runs workshops all over the world.   Colin’s Challenge; 20 minutes per day away from technology and other people to allow your mind to free associate and be creative.   Colin’s Writing On Failing Gracefully   If you liked this interview, check out episode 23 with Nathan Chan. We discuss publishing and brand-building.

If there’s something interesting going on in Pittsburgh, Kit Mueller is probably involved in it. If there’s someone important you want to meet, he probably knows how to get an intro.   Kit is a relentless self-starter, with recent projects including Speak Freely, Data Driven Creative and Fygment. In addition to his own endeavors, Kit is dedicated to his community and constantly pushing to raise awareness for young aspiring companies and causes.   His story is one we can all learn from.   Kit’s Challenge; Go get coffee with someone who look different than you do. From a different background than you.

Zachary Slayback is an entrepreneur who writes on issues of education, innovation, and philosophy. He is an Ivy League dropout and speaks regularly on education, college, how and why to foster more entrepreneurship and issues related to professional development. He believes that entrepreneurs are the primary actors of social change.   Zak is a co-founder of Praxis, an alternative to the traditional route of attending college. Participants work at growing startups and learn firsthand what it takes to be an entrepreneur while creating real value and working alongside founders and CEOs. Getting fully immersed in the world of innovative enterprise offers an experience that a classroom simply cannot provide.   He was one of LinkedIn’s most influential voices on education in 2015 and has been published in Newsweek, the New York Examiner, the Daily Caller, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Christian Science Monitor, and more. He has also appeared on The Glenn Beck Program and HuffPost Live.   Zak lives in and works from Pittsburgh, PA. Feel free to contact him if you are visiting and want to grab a coffee.   Zak’s Challenge; Drop out of college.   Zak’s Writing Where are all the Young Entrepreneurs?  

James Osborne is a Certified Financial Planner who has spent his career in the investment management industry, helping clients manage their portfolios and plan for retirement, legacy, and lifetime goals. In addition to the CFP professional designation, he has an MBA in Investment Management from the University of Colorado. His disillusionment with the standard practice of investment management firms led to the creation of Bason Asset Management in late 2012.   Bason Asset Management is a flat fee only asset management firm offering tax-efficient and cost-effective portfolio management based in Lakewood, Colorado. The firm’s philosophy is centered around low costs, passive (index) investments, tax management and fair dealing with clients.   James serves clients throughout the front range and Denver metro area and across the country. He has contributed to or been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Motley Fool, Investment News, Financial Planning, CoBiz Magazine, USA Today, Morningstar Magazine, ThinkAdvisor, Money magazine and Business Insider. James was named to Brightscope’s “Top 100 Social Influencer” list for financial professionals in 2014. He is an Indiana native, lifelong Hoosier basketball fan, and avid cyclist.   James’s Challenge; Give serious consideration to your weaknesses when it comes to your investments personal psychology and comes to terms with them.  

Rob McLeod is a competitive athlete and motivational speaker living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He competes in ultimate frisbee, disc golf, dog disc and overall flying disc competitions. He currently holds 13 World Records (including 6 Guinness World Records), the Canadian Distance Record, 10 World Championships and 2 Quadruped titles.   Rob has also appeared in the 2014 & 2015 Guinness Book of World Records, the 2015 Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! book and the 2015 Reader’s Digest Canada Day edition. He is a brand ambassador for a number of companies and an ambassador for disc sports around the globe.   Rob’s Challenge; Go to agelessgame.com to try a different disc sport.     This episode of Going Deep with Aaron Watson is brought to you by the Ultimate Athlete Project. UAP is founded on helping athletes get results through well-developed workout plans that relieve you of the need to research effective workouts or worry about your workouts becoming boring. Check out a free core workout and learn more about what regular users are saying about the program.

Tadas Viskanta is the Founder and Editor of Abnormal Returns. His “forecast-free investment blog” has become a fixture on the financial scene for over nine years. Tadas is a private investor with over 25 years of experience in the financial markets. He is the co-author of over a dozen investment-related papers that have appeared in publications like the Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management among others.   Tadas is also the author of the well-received book: Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere that distills lessons learned from his time blogging.   Tadas holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from Indiana University and lives with his family in   Tadas’s Challenge; People are too hard on themselves when it comes to investing. Give yourself a break and do the best you can. The most important thing is learning from your mistakes.   Tadas’ Book Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere   Connect with Tadas Twitter Stocktwits LinkedIn Website