Category: Podcast

Episode 56: The Art of Selfish Learning, with TK Coleman

One of the downsides of formal education is that it fosters learning for the sake of satisfying a person in authority instead of learning in order to satisfy one’s curiosity.

Schools generally offer praise and avoidance of pain when learning rules are abided, which is still externally guided and not connected to our curiosity and goals.

TK Coleman comes back on the show to talk about the importance of selfish learning – approach that helps you achieve your goals and improve whatever it is that you see as valuable.

Learn selfishly!

This episode sponsored by Praxis and the Foundation for Economic Education.

Apply to Praxis now!

Check out FEE seminars to learn about economics and entrepreneurship this summer!

This and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Episode 55: Beginner’s Guide To Startups Part 4: How To Get Funded, with Evan Baehr

The fourth and final installment of the startup series features Evan Baehr, Cofounder of Able Lending and Coauthor of the bestselling book, “Get Backed: Craft Your Story, Build the Perfect Pitch Deck, and Launch the Venture of Your Dreams“.

Evan lays down the essentials that you need to think about when you are preparing to ask someone for money. He provides some tools and tips that can help you find the right investor(s) for you and your team, and how to get to that crucial point – meeting with investors.

Evan also talks about why he thinks that business plans are dying out and how the pitch deck supplants it.  We dive into some of the pitch deck building blocks.  Evan stresses the importance of storytelling when the time comes for you to pitch.

This episode sponsored by Praxis and the Foundation for Economic Education.  Check out FEE seminars to learn about economics and entrepreneurship this summer!

This and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Episode 53: Beginner’s Guide to Startups Part 3: Finding Your Thing & Growing Without Investment, Levi Morehouse

Here we are with the third installment in our startup series!  This episode features my brother Levi Morehouse, founder of multiple companies and CEO of Ceterus, talking about discovering your thing in entrepreneurship, bootstrapping and getting started, along with ways to grow without (big) investment.

Levi’s view is that there are no bad reasons for wanting to be an entrepreneur, whether you want the freedom (and responsibilities) that comes with entrepreneurship, or it’s money that motivates you. What can be of help is if you know where you want your business to end up, or at least what kind of a startup you would like to embark on.

We also talk about ways of funding that you can choose from, and how they depend on whether you are ready to cut the safety rope and leave your comfort zone.

Probably the most important thing is not to wait for ‘The Perfect Idea’, but also to be confident in steps that you are about to take.

Levi very insightfully defines three types of business:

  1. Solopreneur
  2. Small business
  3. Startup

This episode sponsored by Praxis and the Foundation for Economic Education.  Check out FEE seminars to learn about economics and entrepreneurship this summer!

This and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Episode 51: Beginner’s Guide to Startups Part 2 – The Investor Side of the Table, with Michael Gibson

What do investors look for in a company founder?  Do they have the easy job, just sitting back with a monocle and making or breaking dreams?

Hardly.

Michael Gibson has been involved with Peter Thiel’s programs and investments and is now Co-Founder and General Partner at the 1517 Fund.

We cover the types of investors that can be found out there, what to look for and how to approach an investor, what a startup accelerator can help you with and what to consider when applying for one. We also hit on what investors think about when they consider which startup to support and what they fear the most.

Here is the very handy “10 Slide Pitch” document that Michael referenced.

This episode sponsored by Praxis and the Foundation for Economic Education.  Check out FEE seminars to learn about economics and entrepreneurship this summer!

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Episode 49: Beginner’s Guide to Startups Part 1, the Basics with Ant Davies

Ever wondered if you should start a company?  New to all the lingo?  Wondering why startups are so hot right now?  This series is for you!

Several-time startup founder and economist Antony Davies joins me to lay out the basics of starting a company in part one of this four-part series.

Ant and I discuss what counts as a “startup”, who should think about launching one, what documents and data need to be worked out, and how to think through your market, revenue model, and plans for growth.

Here’s a slide presentation that contains visuals for much of what we discuss.

This episode sponsored by Praxis and the Foundation for Economic Education.  Check out their seminars to hear speakers like Ant this summer!

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Episode 48: How to Change the World

I wanted to make the world a better place and I tried everything from humanitarian aid to politics and education.  I discovered through both experience and theory that I was not changing the underlying causes of unfreedom. It takes ideas and experiences to alter beliefs and open up the possibility for greater freedom.

This talk is about my own experiences and how they affected my life and career choices, and was presented at a FEE seminar at Austin, Texas, in the summer of 2015.

Apply to attend a FEE seminar this summer to hear more talks like this live!

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Here’s the audio:

 

And here’s the video version with slides:

 

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Episode 47: Tam Pham on Life Outside the Classroom

Entrepreneur, author, and college dropout Tam Pham is working hard to introduce people to self-directed learning.

Tam and I talk about jumping off the conveyor belt, how to identify one’s goals and directions, what obstacles are in the way of anyone publishing a book, the ‘Steve Jobs Fallacy’ and failure in entrepreneurship.

Check out his website outsideoftheclassroom.com and get his bestselling book on how to build a network for free.

This episode sponsored by The Foundation of Economic Education.  Check out seminars for 14-26-year-olds and enjoy a mind-opening experience!

This episode is also sponsored by Praxis, for those who want more than college and think they have the entrepreneurial bug.  Apply today for a real world education.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

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Smart People Say Stuff About…Backup Plans

Are backup plans an absolute must, or can they actually do more harm than good? How can you think about and mitigate risk while not holding yourself back?

I asked seven smart, interesting people to give me their take on the concept of backup plans.

None of them heard each other’s take and I gave no further instructions, just whatever came to mind. It’s pretty cool to hear the results!

Responses from:
Cameron Sorsby
Levi Morehouse
TK Coleman
Jeff Till
Albert Lu
Derek Magill
Zak Slayback

There is a wide range of takes on the idea of backup plans, but some clear themes emerge. Enjoy!

This and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Ask Isaac: Goals – Hate ’em? Love ’em? Use ’em? Shove ’em?

I’m not big on goal setting, yet I think consistent structure is key to achieving what you want (even if what you want isn’t perfectly defined).

I discuss this and a few other items on this episode.

Check out the episode sponsor, The Foundation for Economic Education to apply for an amazing experience learning about economics!

This and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Episode 46: Counseling the Counselors, with Joe Sanok of Practice of the Practice

Joe Sanok is one of the most enterprising people I know.  We are old friends who started a band and a nonprofit together a decade and a half ago.  We both went our way and haven’t regularly kept up.  But Joe hasn’t stopped finding creative ways to build things and provide and capture value.

He started a counseling practice of his own on the side, grew it into a full-time gig, then started hiring people to help, and now he’s launched a podcast, website, conference and series of products aimed at helping other counselors do the same.

This episode is not just about counseling practices.  It’s a great exploration of mindsets for success.  We talked about his beginnings in Kirby sales, starting his own counseling service, keeping his finances in control and how to look beyond the zero-sum-game view.

Joe also states what he sees as the biggest obstacle people face when they want to launch something of their own into the world and shares his E-Course with listeners:

Moving From Being Paralyzed by Perfection to Getting Things Done

This episode sponsored by FEE, where 14-16 year-olds can check out amazing conferences and apply here. Tell them you heard about it here.

We’re also sponsored by Praxis, where you can get off the conveyor belt and build an entrepreneurial career today, no debt, no waiting, and no credentials required.  Apply today.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

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Episode 45: How to Be a Free Person, with Jeff Till

My good friend and fellow rabble-rousing podcaster Jeff Till joins me to talk about his experiences freeing himself from the chains of obligation.

We go from his schooling ups and downs, pursuit of an artistic career, navigation through the corporate world to breaking out of his corporate suit, building a family, launching a company and moving out to a different place.

Jeff writes and does podcasts about things that will affect the future, and he also wrote two books on homeschooling – follow up on him at fivehundredyears.org.

This episode sponsored by the Foundation for Economic Education.  Check out their summer seminars if you are between the ages of 14-24!  Tell them you heard about it here.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

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Ask Isaac: Intro Music, Business Ideas, Information Freedom, Books, and Living in Charleston

  • Anonymous asks why the new intro music
  • Thomas Bogle asks what to do with business ideas if you don’t have the expertise to build them yourself
  • Andy Heinen asks how we can really have information without gatekeepers when people are trying to incentivise us to choose certain things all the time
  • Matt Needham asks for a book recommendation, and what the best and worst things are about living in Charleston

Submit your own questions anytime via this simple form.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Stitcher.

Episode 44: Education Doesn’t Mean More Knowledge, with TK Coleman

The podcast is back and better than ever!

Happy 2016.  Let’s get this mutha rollin’.  Time to dive in to an exploration of ideas about education, entrepreneurship, freedom, self-knowledge, self-honesty, progress, and whatever other words make you feel more alive and intrigued.

We kick off season two with my most frequent guest, my good friend and colleague TK Coleman.  We intended to discuss why education is more than knowledge but, true to form, we couldn’t resist delving into several other topics.  We talked about the value (or not) of New Year’s resolutions.  We examined the concept of conflict of interest and whether it matters.  We made bad jokes and made fun of each other.

Huge shout-out to the production intern, Lav Kozakijević, for his editing, posting, and show-noting on SoundCloud!  We have a new logo, courtesy of Julia Patterson’s awesome design work.  We have new intro music, courtesy of Tim LeVan Miller.  We have new show sponsors, Praxis and FEE.  The season is just getting started.

You can submit questions for me anytime via the Ask Isaac form and I’ll try to answer them on future episodes.  As always, this and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Stitcher.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Movie Review

My ten-year-old son told me he wanted to do a movie review with me after we saw the new Star Wars movie.  Friday night we went to a more than half full theater (which is crazy full if you go to theaters much these days) to catch it.

In short, we had a blast(er).  I tried to really saber the moment, and kept looking over to the dark side of the theater to see if my son was enjoying it.  No one had to force him to appreciate the film.  I didn’t planet this way, but he exploded into applause.  I loved it too.

I’ve got to be honest, I had to emotionally shield myself going in because I thought Disney might Leia egg with this one.  There’s a lot of good and a few weak points with the film, and the two of us TIE it all together in this review.  I’m glad he joined me as I did not want to do this one Solo.

Episode 43: The Year in Review, with Heather Morehouse (My Wife!)

The first year of this podcast ends with a special guest, my wife Heather Morehouse. I had to cajole her a bit and also agree to sip drinks while we recorded to get her to do it.  We did a review of this year, what were the most important milestones and we also talked a bit about how we got where we are today and what’s ahead for us, including our six-week stay in Ecuador.

This episode includes also some refreshments, Heather and I introduce FEE and Praxis as podcast sponsors, and new music by Tim LeVan Miller.

Many thanks to all 32 guests which appeared on 43 episodes this year, along with 19 special episodes that were aired.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Stitcher.