The James Altucher Show

Note: I want to apologize up front for the sound quality on this episode. We tried everything we could to get it as clear as possible but we thought this interview was so good we didn't want to discard it. Thanks in advance for struggling though - I promise it will be worth it. Dave McClure has taken a slightly different path towards the funding of startups. He gets in early in a lot of company's and expects about a third to fail. He didn't start investing as a venture capitalist until a little later in life and wasn't sure if he was already too old. Dave's story runs through some of Silicon Valley's best companies Facebook, PayPal, Mint.com, Simply Hired and others. So how did he deal with the fact that many of the people he worked side by side with wound up becoming billionaires? By being so well connected and knowing so many people opens the door to a lot of opportunities but that doesn't always mean your smart enough to pick the right ones.  Dave tells James the story of how he passed on being one of the

Brian Koppelman joins James again today to answer all those questions that James was kicking himself for not asking during their first interview back in November. Writing the super hit, Solitary Man, was a challenge different than any other Brian had yet taken on. And he tells James that he "got stuck." Fear would set in; he would see his limitations and get sidetracked. Up until that time, Brian had been able to lean on his creative partner, David Levien, to help him find the way to power through the moment after his initial creativity wore off. But when he was writing Solitary Man and showed it to Dave, he told him that it was clear Brian had to write this one himself. He had the character right, he had the voice right, and he had the tone down. This was really the first time Brian had to complete a major work himself. Growing up with ADHD made this a real challenge for Brian. Dave had always been there in the past to push them through, but not this time. So to help him move past his fears, Brian decided to

Gretchen Rubin is the New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project. After reading her book and applying some of her practical ideas, James was hooked. For example, he discovered that after six seconds of continuous hugging, the body releases oxytocin - the feel-good juice. He decided to try this on Claudia the other day during a little argument they were having, and it totally worked. The Happiness Project was born out of a realization that disregarding happiness can lead to a lack of appreciation for life. Gretchen dedicated an entire year to being happy and she talks with James about how the results of that decision have completely changed her life One of the ways Gretchen and James are similar is that they both like to make lists. For him, it was about becoming an idea machine - by coming up with 10 new  ideas every day and for Gretchen, is was about finding happiness by figuring what made her happy and unhappy. Start your own happiness project right now by making a list from these two questi

Performance coach and bestselling author of Live It, Jairek Robbins, talks about his journey in the life coaching business and how he and James met through an ongoing competition on Amazon.   Jairek reveals how his father, Tony Robbins (Tony Robbins podcast), encouraged him to find his life calling through a simple process of learning, living, and giving. He explains how his father's one rule about money gave him the opportunity of a life time.   Jairek now owns and operates his own performance coaching firm (jairekrobbins.com) where he thrives on helping clients reach their full potential. He believes so deeply in the message ofLive It that he waited 10 years to publish the book so that he could first live out the principles of the text.   This episode is full of great tips and practical examples that explain why performance coaching is a hot topic in today's culture. Find out how a good life coach can identify small changes that yield big results.   In this episode:   Alkalizing your body Five questions tha

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its executive editor from its inception until 1999. He is also editor and publisher of the Cool Tools website, which gets half a million unique visitors per month. From 1984-1990, Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a journal of unorthodox technical news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers' Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. He authored the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy and the classic book on decentralized emergent systems, Out of Control. Kevin dropped out of college to pursue his real interests, and they are varied. James and Kevin talk about Kevin's idea that "if you have 1000 True Fans then you have a business." This is a wide-ranging conversation about the past, the present, and the future. Kevin's extremely bullish on the future of artificial intelligence, yet he says there is no extinct technology... none. And

A.J. Jacobs is creating the world's largest family reunion. You may remember A.J. from his first interview on The James Altucher Show a year ago. If you know A.J., you'll know why this is the one event you don't want to miss. He's a master at creating a huge media splash. The Global Family Reunion is set for June 6, 2015 at The New York Hall of Science, on the grounds of the World's Fair. James is a featured speaker along with George H.W. Bush, Dr. Oz, and too many others to list here... plus Morgan Spurlock ("Supersize Me") will be creating a featured documentary of the entire event. James and A.J. talk today about world peace and why when someone is part of your family, you tend to be much more tolerant of them. "Delusional opportunism is a wonderful thing and sometimes it pays off." A.J. is a master at marketing and he tells James some of the hacks he's using to get the word out. This entire experiment will eventually become a book. They talk about their personal writing styles and techniques. AJ says that

Peter Diamandis, CEO of the XPRIZE and co-chairman of Planetary Resources and Steven Kotler, the cofounder and director of research for the Flow Genome Project aswell as being author of "The Rise of Superman," a New York Times bestseller, and previous guest on The James Altucher Show, came together to co-write Bold, about building companies using exponentially growing technologies like 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and synthetic engineering. They join James today to talk about the prevalent doom-and-gloom media that saturates us with negative news over and over again. Peter says he believes that people need an alternative and hear the good news. They go through the six D's outlined in the book: Digitalization, Disruption, Deception, Demonetization, Dematerialization, and Democratization Peter says, "Bold was written as the roadmap for entrepreneurs to get us to this abundant future with the realization that the world's biggest problems are the biggest business opportunities."   It's a great story... -

Andy Weir followed his dream. Ever since he was a small boy he wanted to be a writer, but it took him a long time to find success. His first short story, The Egg brought him a bit of notoriety. This thousand-word story got passed around on blog sites and people began to follow him. The Martian, Andy's new hit book was first published as a serial, one chapter at a time on his website. He had just a only few thousand readers.  He eventually self published this as a book and it sold about 35,000 copies on Amazon. Suddenly Random House came calling with a big pile of money. They talk about his daily writing habits and the books and authors Andy is a fan of and James digs in a bit to find out what's next. He tells James that he's still afraid of being a one hit wonder. James asks him what advice he would give to aspiring writers 1.Write.  It's easy to daydream about your story but you have to sit down and write. 2.Resist the urge to tell your story to your friends and family 3.This is the best time in history

ames and Claudia talk with Ari Whitten, author of the book The Low Carb Myth,to talk aboutwhy people get fat and get unhealthy. Do carbohydrates make you fat? His conclusions are surprising. He disagrees strongly that we get fat because we are lazy and eat too much. Rather than being due simply to gluttony, sloth, and conscious decisions around how much we eat or move. If you've been on a low- or no-carb diet or are just looking for an alternative to eating healthy, listen here. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Sho

Brad Feld, an extremely successful early stage investor and serial entrepreneur, opens up to James about the struggles he has faced, both physical and mental. He has struggled with depression and being an introvert in an extroverts' world. And he has learned the best ways to deal with it. "Understanding yourself is extremely important." Today, physical interaction is not nearly as important as it used to be. Today, you can interact in a meaningful way without having to go to a prospect's location. As a venture capitalist, a partner at Foundry Group, and as someone having to deal with numerous businesses at the same time, Brad realized that just physically being somewhere does not solve the problem. He understands that he's not able to just fly in like a hero and solve a problem. That takes a team of people. James asks Brad what he looks for in an ideal entrepreneur and Brad tells him that he and his partners at Foundry Group have gone back to their original methods from the mid-'90s. They stay focused on the

Chicken Soup for the Soul, his first book, consisted of inspirational, true stories about ordinary people's lives. As a high school teacher in an inner-city school, Jack Canfield was looking for a way to motivate his students. Asking them what they wanted to be and how they could get there seemed to resonate. He helped them set goals; understand the importance of taking action, how to visualize their dreams, and how not to be afraid of rejection. Life's not fair, it's just life... "Most people to get through life before death happens." These techniques, combined with his ability to tell a great story, eventually became the Chicken Soup Series. After a tough divorce, Jack had to completely rebuild himself and his career. From that low point came his new book series, The Success Principles. They talk about mentors, mastermind groups, fear, and The Rule of Five. As Jack tells James... Just never forget to follow your joy.   You'll love the stories. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucher

Maria Popova, avid reader, writer hunter-gatherer, and curious mind-at-large joins James today on The James Altucher Show. James tells her he reads only one blog religiously and it's Maria's blog Brain Pickings.org. It started as an e-mail to a few friends with a couple of links to things that interested her. They forwarded those on to friends and before she knew it, she was writing a blog. It's a fantastic conversation, and I know once you hear it, you'll be forwarding it on to your best friends.   If you've never read Maria's blog, you must. You'll be amazed by her journey. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My

James was recently in New York and caught up with his good friend and fellow podcaster Lewis Howes They decided to drop into the studio and record a podcast for The James Altucher Show and another for Lewis's podcast, The School of Greatness, one of James' favorite shows. Lewis' bio is simply amazing and way too long to rewrite here, but if you want to grow your business, improve your personal life, and live the live you've always dreamt of, then click here to learn how.  They jump right in and catch up since Lewis was last on The James Altucher Show (Episode 5). Lewis plays handball for the U.S. National Team Handball. You'll hear James laugh as Lewis explains this style of handball. It's like the combination of every other sport. They begin the podcast there. Lewis decided he wanted to make the U.S. National Team and, as you'll hear, he did whatever it took to get selected. James tells Lewis he's going to steal everything from all his best podcasts. They start with Lewis podcast with Yuri Elkaim and the ben

Casey Neistat is an American film director, producer, and creator of popular YouTube videos. While he has worked in almost every aspect of video making, he tells James that YouTube is his absolute passion. He chose to leave mainstream media for YouTube, which is the opposite of most YouTubers' aspirations. They talk about creative "ideas." Casey tells James that ideas matter very little - it's execution that matters. They talk about risk, too, and Casey has a great take on it. He tells James, "The most dangerous lifestyle anyone can live is the lifestyle where you play it safe." Casey probably disagrees with James more than anyone else James has ever interviewed.     ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on th

Tim Larkin talks with James today about pro-victim rights and personal safety. As a former military intelligence instructor who helped America's elite Navy Seals develop their hand-to-hand combat techniques, Tim has spent two decades learning about violence. He tells James the story of how he got accepted to the Navy Seals program. He exposed their problem and offered them a solution... This is an episode like no other we've brought you.   Listen today. You'll be amazed by Tim's stories. I was. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!

Seth tells James that he had to write his new book What To Do When It's Your Turn because he had no choice. It's about what's holding you back, that voice in your head that pushes you to be mediocre or pushes you to hide. "It pushes us to dig deep inside so we can do better work and impact the things we care about." They talk about the industrial age and how it changed everything. "We invented public school to train children to sit still long enough to work in a factory." But now that we're in the postindustrial age, it's all leftover and everything has changed. They talk about why it's so important get out of your comfort zone. Seth tells James about when he realized that he was hiding from the big projects. How he was just playing it safe. Through a fortunate meeting, he realized that by speaking his truth, standing for something instead of just trying to fit in, is what gets you noticed. They transition into a great discussion about writing every day. Constantly putting yourself out there is critically imp

Building connections and building relationships are how you bring real value to the world around you. Jayson Gaignard is a super-connector. He's two degrees of separation from anyone you want to meet. Broke and $250,000 in debt, Jayson thought about an idea that nobody else was doing after getting a free ticket to hear Seth Godin speak, connecting entrepreneurs over an intimate dinner. He paid for this himself by going even further into debt with no expectations of ever making money on these. Mastermind Dinners launched and Jayson's new venture was off and running. Entrepreneurship often takes an unyielding belief in yourself, and Jayson definitely believes. Listen today to hear the story of someone who bet everything he had on an idea. His new book, Mastermind Dinners Build Lifelong Relationships by Connecting Experts, Influencers and Linchpins is a fantastic read and he hosts a podcast, Mastermind Talks you really need to subscribe to. Ask a question at Askaltucher.com. ------------What do YOU think of the

James and David Levien talk about the art and the science of writing books and screenplays, producing and directing movies, plus making this your full-time career. Eventually he teamed up with his longtime best friend Brian Koppelman (Episode 59) but the road to success was tough. Like most screenwriters, he moved to Hollywood to launch his career. He started as an assistant to a talent agent hoping to get the contacts in place when he had his script ready. But over the couple of years he was there, he read thousands of scripts which left him very little time to work on his own. He made contacts but they didn't see him as a screenwriter. His dream just wasn't happening... He was stuck, so he just quit and for the next six years he was just another obscure writer living in N.Y. He and Brian finally reunited and decided they'd join forces to try writing a screenplay together. They had no idea what they were going to write about but they just kept at it. As luck would have it, Brian was invited to The Mayfair Cl

James and Ben Mezrich dig deep into the art and science of writing books as a full-time career. His parents gave him two years to make a go at it, but secretly he gave himself five. As Ben tells James, he never wanted to do anything else. After college, he locked himself in his apartment and wrote nine novels. He got rejection letter after rejection letter, about 190 in all. Eventually he found an agent and finally sold his first book, then his second and his third. But as he says... Nobody was reading them, until he finally got his break. Ben has now authored fifteen best-selling books. His book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal - debuted at #4 on the New York Times list. The book was adapted into the movie The Social Network - written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher - and was #1 at the box office for two weeks, won Golden Globes for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best score, and was nominated for eight Oscar

How do you transform your life? The answer is simple. Come up with 10 ideas a day. Every day. It doesn't matter if they are good or bad; the point is to exercise your idea muscle, to make it sweat. Today James talks with Claudia about her brand new book,Become an Idea Machine: Because Ideas Are the Currency of the 21st Century. People say ideas are cheap and execution is everything, but that is NOT true. Execution is a consequence, a subset of good, brilliant idea. And good ideas require daily work.  As Claudia explains, coming up with 10 ideas a day is very important.  Ideas may be easy if you are only coming up with one or two, but if you try to produce more than three, you will feel a burn, scratch your head, and you will be sweating and working hard. There is a turning point when you reach idea number six for the day, when you still have four to go, and your mind muscle is getting a workout. By the time you list those last ideas to make it to ten, you will see for yourself what "sweating the idea muscle"