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

We deconstruct Adrian Aoun's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. “Care deeply about the problem, not about your idea.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Adrian Aoun’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 (00:02:21) – Creating companies that change the world (00:06:07) – On being stubborn and persistent (00:09:51) – Why medical wearables aren’t working (00:14:03) – It’s just as easy to work on something big as something that’s small (00:16:19) – Everything should relate to the problem (00:17:39) – On fiction and factfulness (00:19:20) – Cycling as meditation (00:20:23) – The only thing that matters is impact ABOUT ADRIAN AOUN Adrian Aoun is the founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare. Where most healthcare follows the service model, where one patient sees a single doctor only when they need care, Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care. It's productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere. It's scalable so it's affordable for everyone and always on with help available through Forward's app, as well as a network of doctors' offices around the United States, which might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. In this episode, Adrian shares why he's so fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused and how he runs problem-centric brainstorms at Forward, where the goal is to beat up on other people's ideas in the name of getting to the best ideas. What he learned working with Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt at Google, as well as the other advisors on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, why modern fitness wearables are broken, and why Adrian thinks we need to build tools to tell people what to do with that data, not just share the data with them. 💌 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 Adrian Aoun of Forward. In it, we deconstruct Adrian's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Justin Mares, who has built 3 direct-to-consumer brands in Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine that have all reached tens of millions in revenue. All by finding and owning emerging health and wellness trends. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/spotting-and-owning-trends Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: How to spot trends and build businesses to own them. Concept: Wedge versus ramp shaped businesses. Reminder: Why it pays to bring on a Head of Finance early. Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s episodes: #143 Kettle & Fire's Justin Mares | Identifying Trends, 5-Minute Mini Workouts, 6 To Dos Per Day, Favorite Books, and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript #144 Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine: Spotting Trends and Building D2C Brands to Own Them | Justin Mares, Serial Entrepreneur Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Mares has a knack for identifying trends and building D2C businesses to own them—including Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn how he identifies trends, why he focuses on just 6 tasks each day, how he gets in 25+ minutes of exercise with tiny 5-minute mini workouts during the day, and more. “I’ve learned to appreciate that people systematically undervalue and write off things that are super weird or that they just don’t understand. So I look for areas where most people think that X has a probability of 10% and I think it’s really closer to 40-50%.” — Justin Mares EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/justin-mares-20-minute-playbook    FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/justin-mares-20-minute-playbook-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:06) - Recent Fascination: Environmental Chemicals and Crime (00:04:43) - Justin Mares’ Daily Routine: Focusing on Six To Dos Per Day (00:09:12) - Reflection: Enjoy the Ride & Trust the Process (00:11:45) - Biggest Lessons Learned as an Investor (00:16:59) - Exercise Routine: Three Lifts Per Week, Mobility, Swimming, and Pickleball (00:21:06) - Justin Mares’ Superpower: Identifying Trends (00:23:19) - Tiny Habit: Fitting in 5 Minute Workouts Throughout the Day (00:24:55) - Favorite Books: The Three-Body Problem & The Company (00:27:45) - Advice to Younger Self: Spend More Time Learning From Others ABOUT THE GUEST Justin Mares is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. He’s the Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine and a Venture Partner at Long Journey Ventures. His products are sold in more than 10,000 retail stores, and each of his companies does tens of millions of dollars in annual sales each year. He strives to make a dent in the problems with our food system and improve the trajectory of health in the United States. 💌 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 Justin Mares, Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another edition of Cheat Sheet by Outlier Academy. Where each week we compress 6+ hours of research and interviews into 3 big ideas that you can read in 5 minutes. This week we profiled Worm Capital, who call themselves “value investors focused on the future.” They’re one of our favorite technology and disruption investors in the public markets. Since Worm’s inception in 2012, they’ve outperformed the S&P 500 by over 2X net of fees—generating 26.73% per annum vs the S&P 500’s 12.08%). Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/the-secret-to-eternal-life-in-business Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Markets provide liquidity, businesses generate value. Or why the game of business has nothing to do with the stock market. How to find the best companies in any industry. First observe, then deconstruct inputs and outputs. The secret to eternal life in business. Or why the company that delivers the best customer value proposition consistently always wins. Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s Outlier Academy episodes: 20 Minute Playbook - Eric Markowitz, Worm Capital’s Head of Research | Conviction vs Opinions, Two-Step Research Process, Favorite Books, and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Outlier Investors - Worm Capital: Value Investors Focused on the Future | On Worm Theory, Worm’s Investing Algorithm, and The Game of Business Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Markowitz shares his journey from being an award-winning journalist to the Director of Research at Worm Capital—leading all of the research that informs Worm’s concentrated, long-only, technological disruption investment focus. Eric shares why investing is all about making good calculated bets, the important of slowing down the research process, how he avoids making behavioral mistakes, and so much more. “I think the lesson learned is there’s so much value to patience in this business. That just slowing down not only the research process, but the actual allocation and trading process, is immensely valuable. Some of the greatest investors just do nothing, right? That is such a hard thing to conceptualize—especially in a culture that values action and values doing things. Most of the time, really the best answer is to do nothing.” — Eric Markowitz EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eric-markowitz-worm-capital-playbook-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/eric-markowitz-worm-capital-playbook-transcript  CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:56) – Eric’s Path from Journalist to Director of Research (00:07:57) – Why Investing is About Making Good Calculated Bets (00:09:47) – Worm’s Two-Step Research Process (00:13:21) – The Importance of Slowing Down the Research Process (00:15:36) – Guardrails and Keeping Bad Information Out of the Research Process (00:19:48) – Worm’s Behavioral Advantages in Investing (00:23:44) – Eric’s Recent Obsessions: The Future of Robotics (00:26:54) – Eric Markowitz’s Favorite Books ABOUT ERIC MARKOWITZ Eric Markowitz is the Director of Research at Worm Capital. Worm runs a concentrated long-only strategy and invests in technological disruption. They call themselves "value investors focused on the future” and are drawn toward messy, complicated sectors of the market that are difficult to understand—and even more difficult to accurately price. Before joining Worm Capital, Eric worked as an award-winning investigative business journalist and wrote from Inc., The New Yorker, and Newsweek. As the Director of Research, Eric leads all of Worm’s research efforts including mapping out new industries, understanding new technologies, and breaking down investment targets to understand the inputs and outputs that drive their business. Twitter | Worm Capital | The Nightcrawler 💌 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

In tomorrow's 20 Minute Playbook, we sit down with Worm Capital's Head of Research, Eric Markowitz. We cover everything from Worm's two-step research process to Eric's favorite books, to tiny habit that's had the biggest positive on his life, to the advice he'd give his younger self if he could go back in time. 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

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Joey Cofone, Founder & CEO of Baronfig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices