20 Minute Playbook: Tactics, Routines, and Habits of World-Class Performers

In Episode #111, we deconstruct Illia Polosukhin's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Illia is the co-founder of NEAR Protocol and Unchain Fund. We cover why context switching is a necessary skill for founders, Illia’s recommended books, and the nuance of the Russian language in writing. “Find a mentor who's a few years ahead of you, like not too far, but like two, three years ahead of you, because those are people who still remember what they were doing in your position. And so they will be able to give you the most useful advice.” – Illia Polosukhin EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/illia-polosukhin-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/illia-polosukhin-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Illia Polosukhin’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:59) – Designing social graph in Web3 (00:04:01) – Why context switching is a necessary skill for founders (00:05:51) – Finding mentors who are just a few years ahead of you in business (00:10:56) – Building a great decentralized ecosystem requires high-level, small, agile teams (00:13:29) – Books Illia recommends (00:16:59) – The nuance of the Russian language in writing ABOUT ILLIA POLOSUKHIN Illia Polosukhin is co-founder of NEAR Protocol. NEAR is a layer one blockchain that's incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees and is climate neutral, in part because of its proof of stake model. It's traded on crypto exchanges under the ticker symbol NEAR, and has a market cap of just under $5 billion today. From 2020 through 2021, the developers working in NEARs ecosystem, that's everyone building applications on top of their blockchain quadrupled, making NEAR the second fastest growing chain behind only Solana.  In this episode, Illia shares why he loves running daily and how it helps him remember to just put one foot in front of the other to accomplish anything; why he loves the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and how he applies that principle in his life and work; why he's fascinated with the concept of a social graph and how to build it into the NEAR protocol and why it's so important for building a better world in Web3; why he thinks everyone should find mentors that are two to three years ahead of them in terms of where they'd like to be and why he'd tell his younger self to focus on speed and velocity shipping quickly in everything that he does. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Illia Polosukhin of NEAR Protocol. In it, Illia Polosukhin shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #107, we deconstruct Howie Schwab's peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. Howie is the Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Growth of Driehaus Capital. We cover regime shifts in the market and obsessing over failures. “In terms of how we invest, I think integrating and overlaying macro as well as behavioral components, not simply wedding ourselves to this bottom up, here's our specific template and it's time tested is really important.” – Howie Schwab EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/howie-schwab-driehaus-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Howie Schwab’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:41) – Regime shifts in the market (00:06:51) – Learning from investing mentors (00:10:08) – Great investors obsess over their failures (00:12:48) – Advice for young investors (00:16:43) – Howie’s investment philosophy (00:24:24) – Challenging yourself ABOUT HOWIE SCHWAB Howie Schwab manages more than 5 billion in emerging market growth funds for Driehaus which is a firm that's based in Chicago and where Howie has worked for the last 20 years. At Driehaus, Howie is the lead portfolio manager for the emerging market's growth. And he's a portfolio manager for the emerging market, small cap equity and emerging markets opportunities. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Howie Schwab of Driehaus. In it, Howie shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #105, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Gokul is an angel investor and Product and Business Helper at DoorDash. We cover crypto, international investing, and habits and routines. “I always believe the hierarchy of anyone, any individual should be health, then family, then work. Why not family before health? Because if you're not healthy, you become a burden to your family and you can't help them. So, your health is actually very, very important.” – Gokul Rajaram EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/angel-investor-gokul-rajaram-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Gokul Rajaram peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:01:21) – The evolution of crypto (00:02:44) – Superpowers and struggles (00:06:08) – Inspirations and the importance of exercise (00:08:24) – Recommended books (00:10:19) – Tools and routines (00:12:26) – Defining success (00:14:32) – International investing ABOUT GOKUL RAJARAM Gokul Rajaram is a prolific angel investor in over 300 companies and counting, and an executive at DoorDash, which he joined after DoorDash acquired Caviar from Square in 2019. I was fortunate enough to get to work with Gokul at Square, and I am beyond thrilled to have him on the show today. In this episode, Gokul shares what he thinks his investing superpowers are, why he loved Marc Andreesen's interview on the Good Time Show, why he loves Andre Agassi's book, Open, and the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back 20 years to the start of his career. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring angel investor Gokul Rajaram. In it, Gokul shares his favorite books, tools, habits, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Luke Gromen's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Luke Gromen is the CEO and Founder of The Forest for the Trees. We cover cognitive dissonance in today’s economy and the benefits of early morning writing. “The ability to make the data useful, to interpret the data, to make music out of the data, if you will, I think you're seeing that dynamic across a lot of different sectors and in the economy.” – Luke Gromen EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fftt-luke-gromen-20mp-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fftt-luke-gromen-20mp-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Luke Gromen's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:44 – The cognitive dissonance in today’s economy and connecting the dots 00:04:07 – Moving too quickly to the second derivative 00:05:35 – Daily walks and early morning writing 00:10:30 – Learning from Grant Williams and Kiril Sokoloff 00:12:02 – Architecture school and f*ck you money ABOUT LUKE GROMEN Luke Gromen is the CEO and Founder of the Forest for the Trees. Luke publishes a weekly macro research report called Tree Rings, and he's the author of the world renowned Mr. X Interviews Volume 1 and 2. After working as an analyst for 20 plus years, Luke founded the Forest for the Trees in 2014. Luke's Gromen as one of today's best macroeconomic thinkers. His view, which I love, is that as data increasingly becomes commoditized, free thinking becomes priceless. And he's a regular guest on real vision and has been published in a number of newspapers, including the financial times. As someone who's followed Luke's work for years, it was a thrill to finally have him on the show. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re joined by Mo Islam, Payload’s Co-Founder. We cover lessons we can learn from the Apollo space era, why killing them with kindness is the best option, and why founders should stay focused on what they love. “Hubris kills startups and humility saves them. No matter what your success level is or may not be, it's really important to always be humble about what you're building and what you're doing because it can change at the drop of a hat.” – Mo Islam EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mo-islam-playbook  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/mo-islam-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Mo Islam’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – Clearing up misconceptions about space (00:03:06) – Kill them with kindness, embrace the boredom (00:05:30) – Learning from Phillippe Laffont and Engines That Move Markets (00:07:33) – Hubris kills startups; humility saves them (00:09:18) – Focus on what you love (00:12:02) – Learning from the Apollo era (00:13:15) – Relying on to-do lists and the Notes app (00:15:53) – Do what matters, change people’s lives for the better ABOUT MO ISLAM Mo Islam is co-founder of Payload, which is building a media empire dedicated to covering the business and policy of space, as in outer space. We discovered Payload and immediately subscribed to their daily newsletter after it was recommended by Delian Asparouhov, co-founder of Varda Space Industries, in Episode 71. We asked Delian what newsletters and websites he used to stay on top of everything going on in space, and he had only one answer: Payload Space. Mo Islam has a fascinating background in finance, having worked at J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank before co-founding Payload. In this episode, Mo shares why hubris kills startups and humility saves them, what he's learned from incredible investors like Philippe Laffont at Coatue, and why he loves the book Engines That Move Markets, which we had never heard of but immediately ordered after recording this episode with him. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joey Cofone shares the lessons he’s learned as an award-winning designer, the Founder & CEO of Baronfig, and the author of The Laws of Creativity, including why he’s fascinated with the juxtaposition between skill and renown, how he worked with James Clear to design the Clear Habit Journal, why experimentation is Baronfig’s most important value, how rock bottom taught him how to take risks, and so much more. “There’s a stereotype of creatives, which is that they’re just flying by the seat of their pants. I’m here to tell you that it’s absolutely not true. We need to separate that from what creativity is. We need to decouple this ridiculous stereotype so that more people can blossom creatively.” — Joey Cofone EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook    FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/joey-cofone-playbook-transcript     CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:08) - Wrestling with Skill vs Renown (00:02:57) - Why People Would Be Surprised at Joey Cofone’s Daily Discipline (00:04:04) - Why Joey Cofone Has Been Tracking His Habits for 13 Years (00:05:21) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Baronfig Products (00:07:23) - How Joey Cofone and James Clear Designed the Clear Habit Journal (00:10:46) - The Laws of Creativity by Joey Cofone in 90 Seconds (00:12:51) - How Rock Bottom Taught Joey Cofone How to Take Risks (00:16:07) - Why the Most Important Value at Baronfig is Experimentation (00:22:08) - Joey Shares His Favorite Books Including Radical Candor and The Phantom Tollbooth (00:23:47) - Joey Cofone’s Favorite Advice From His Barber and Malcom Gladwell (00:26:11) - How Joey Cofone Learns From Failure at Baronfig ABOUT THE GUEST Joey Cofone is the Founder & CEO of Baronfig and an award-winning designer and entrepreneur. His work has been featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Bon Appétit, Quartz, Mashable, Gizmodo, and Print, among others. Joey was named a New Visual Artist and, separately, Wunderkind designer by Print magazine. He strives to make work that appeals to curious minds—work that’s beautiful, smart, and communicative. He believes that design is the least of a designer’s worries, that story is at the heart of all tasks, and jumping off cliffs is the only way to grow. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Marc Champagne's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Marc is the author of Personal Socrates: Questions That Will Upgrade Your Life from Legends & World-Class Performers. We cover breathwork, the dialogue about mental health, and building a life wiki with Notion. “The thing that lights me up the most is leaving people with more energy after conversation than when they came in.” – Marc Champagne EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marc-champagne2-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/marc-champagne-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Marc Champagne's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:45 – The current dialogue around mental health 00:01:27 – Being a source of energy for others 00:03:26 – Trusting the journey 00:05:05 – Breathwork and questioning medications 00:14:22 – The Notion Life Wiki 00:16:22 – Success is waking up happy and motivated ABOUT MARC CHAMPAGNE Marc Champagne is author of Personal Socrates: Questions That Will Upgrade Your Life from Legends & World-Class Performers. A self-proclaimed Mental Fitness Strategist, Marc is a speaker and corporate trainer and hosts the top 50 podcast, Behind the Human. Marc previously co-founded the journaling app (KYO) which reached 86.9 million people. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices