Ethan Frost

“You're constantly exposing yourself to ideas from some of the most unique and smartest entrepreneurs that have ever lived. That gives you an unfair advantage.” - David Senra I finished the first 100 episodes of @FoundersPodcast. Here's one idea from each that hit the hardest: #1 Elon Musk - $TSLA Early episodes are raw. By episode 100 the format is completely different. The evolution is the real lesson. #2 Walt Disney - $DIS Disney worked seven days a week for three years on Snow White while everyone, including his wife, said a 2-hour cartoon would fail. It broke every box-office record and changed cinema forever. Top 10 episode from first 100. No doubt. #3 Thomas Edison Edison spent his final years drinking milk, convinced it was a cure-all. First mention of AI in the show. #4 Joseph P. Kennedy Kennedy pushed every rule to the limit to achieve the one-of-a-kind goal of establishing generational power through politics. #5 Steve Jobs - $APPL Jobs refused to accept automatic truths from day one (First Principles). In design, Jobs was obsessed with simplicity. This also applied to communication. #6 Sam Walton - $WMT Walmart's success relied heavily on the timely arrival of private aviation. It allowed Walton to scout rural markets and monitor every location on the ground personally. #7 Ray Kroc - $MCD Any time is the right time to become an entrepreneur. Kroc was 52 when he joined McDonald’s. #8 Robert Noyce - $INTC An overlooked bubble: The 1960s market for integrated circuits and calculators. #9 Henry Ford - $F Ford had one idea for 20 years and refused to let it go. He believed everyone should be able to afford a car. Pick a simple mission and pursue it relentlessly. #10 Phil Knight - $NKE “If you’re following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear. The disappointments will be fuel. The highs will be like nothing you've ever felt.”(1:03:00)

Nobody is immune to the consequences of arrogance. Bill Gates was selling the rights to a book about the digital information highway. It never mentioned the internet. That same week, Netscape was founded. Founders #174: Bill Gates It gets even crazier: While missing the internet wave, Gates was simultaneously working on a low earth orbit satellite project for global connectivity. It was 1998. Damn. (38:00) You don't get an edge by consuming the same information as everyone else. (27:00) Products don't compete, companies do. (9:00) Joy's Law of Innovation: The number of bright people in any company went down as the size went up. (10:00)

@md_pier @theJayAlto “To the man with only a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” - Charlie Munger Hard to apply one mental model to everything.

@ethanfrost @theJayAlto Apply it to everything

i became much smarter when i stopped trying to be smart and started trying to be less stupid. instead of figuring out what i should do, and doing it, i figured out what i shouldn't do, and didn't. any fool (me) can do that. shout out to nassim taleb ("via negativa").

This was a bottom-five episode. Founders #173 was actually on Louis B. Mayer, who founded MGM. The first case of a subject who failed to impress me and was a bad human. He completely ignored the advent of sound in cinema, and his peer described him by saying: “The reason people showed up at his funeral was because they wanted to make sure he was dead.” (21:00) He punched Charlie Chaplin in the face over a minor dispute. Even Steve Jobs couldn't get away with punching Jony Ive. (40:00) Ego was his downfall: After ruling MGM for nearly three decades, Mayer’s psychopathic need for power led him to issue an ultimatum to the studio's owners. He forced them to choose between him and a highly capable creative partner, overestimating his irreplaceability. Mayer lost his company. (1:07:00)

The status quo exists to protect those who already have something to lose. For decades, major Hollywood incumbents called sound an expensive fad. Four brothers with nothing to lose ignored them, bet on the consumer, and built an empire. Founders #173: Warner Bros

Progress Makes Everything Possible visualizevalue.com/unpack/progres…

When you remember where we started, nothing looks impossible. "We're just a bunch of monkeys. How did we even get this far? It beats me. We were swinging through trees eating bananas not long ago." - Elon Musk, Founders #172

@Jayyanginspires Don't look at what I did, look at how I did it. - Kobe Bryant Founders #161

Kobe Bryant once said, "What separates great players from all-time great players is their ability to self-assess, diagnose weaknesses, and turn those flaws into strengths." I think that applies far beyond basketball. The willingness to look honestly at yourself and ask "where am I falling short?" is one of the most uncomfortable and most important things you can do for your career. Most people would rather blame the market, their boss, their industry, or their circumstances than admit that the constraint might be them.

only on X is this the greatest praise one's work can receive

@dodgeblake I wrote an analysis of every gong hit by TBPN over a 4-month span (200+ hits). This was my favorite one: youtube.com/watch?v=-AIVf1… Many of the charts link to the exact clip: ethanfrost.org/tbpn-gong-anal…

I am doing some research. What is your #1 favorite moment from TBPN in the last year, whether it was: insightful, just super fun/funny, or memorable in some other way?

@Restructuring__ bet 80% of those likes on linkedin are blackstone employees just reminding their network who they work for.

Two things crack me up: 1) Blackstone spends tens of millions on marketing, and their post on X gets 14 likes and 1k views 2) LinkedIn loves the same dumb content that X does not want to see, tells you everything you need to know about where the smart folks are

@anuatluru Watch the key turnaround point for openai be when sama switched from a vague post of the death star to using linkedin voice

This is a very different kind of comms. Discuss.

@blakeir Imagine the intern arriving home with 10 AI wearables spiraling in a conversational loop, only to be greeted by a dozen home assistants.

i low-key need an intern whose only job is trying every random AI product launch and writing up what’s actually good. there is remarkable stuff shipping right now. it is just buried under an insane amount of noise. big opportunity to build the trusted voice/review layer for AI

@Jack_Raines The only worthwhile new podcast episodes feature exceptionally talented guests who are rarely, if ever, interviewed.

There’s too many podcasts. Long-since passed the point that people could actually listen to everything.

@TMTLongShort Wish it was it longer. Pats been on a run lately.

PSA

What a day to spend 16 hours in an office in midtown

"I want the last check I write to bounce." -Chuck Feeney, Founder of Duty Free Shoppers Forbes listed him as a billionaire for years, completely unaware he had already given away almost all of his $8 billion fortune. Founders #171

A good product is its own best salesman. No argument in the world can ever compare with one dramatic demonstration. -Claude Hopkins, the pioneer of slogans, coupons, and test campaigns. Founders #170

Raise your sights. Compete with the immortals. Blaze new trails. Never stop selling. - David Ogilvy, the Godfather of Advertising Founders #169

@davidsenra @danawhite Dana White is finally going to get interviewed by someone more intense than him 😂

Today was awesome @danawhite