Below The Line With James Beshara

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine    James breaks down what exactly a non-fungible token is, why they have value, and what they can and will be used for, while highlighting some recent examples of sales of NFTs going for exorbitant price tags.   Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline    Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind https://magicmind.co About your host, James:  James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acquired by Airbnb), and invested in a few multi-billion dollar startups to date. He has spoken at places such as Y-Combinator, Harvard Business School, Stanford University, TechCrunch Disrupt, and has been featured in outlets like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune

Newsweek named Rabbi David Wolpe the most influential rabbi in America. James talks with Rabbi Wolpe about whether or not he ever doubts his faith, the importance of rituals, and just what is exactly is going on in the world right now.   Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline    Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind: https://magicmind.co Tiny Capital: https://www.tinycapital.com/belowtheline   About your host, James:  James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acquired by Airbnb), and invested in a few multi-billion dollar startups to date. He has spoken at places such as Y-Combinator, Harvard Business School, Stanford University, TechCrunch Disrupt, and has been featured in outlets like the New

Philip Clayton is a contemporary American philosopher of religion and philosopher of science. His work focuses on the intersection of science, ethics, and society. He currently holds the Ingraham Chair at Claremont School of Theology and serves as an affiliated faculty member at Claremont Graduate University] Clayton specializes in the philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of religion, as well as in comparative theology. James and Philip have a fascinating discussion that takes a macro & micro view of all these topics and more.  Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline    Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind https://magicmind.co Tiny Capital https://www.tinycapital.com/   About your host, James:  James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. Ja

This episode features a mind-blowing conversation with Dr. Donald Hoffman, a professor of cognitive sciences at UC Irvine who has proven the chances that we are seeing and experiencing reality is essentially zero percent. He and James talk about the emergence of consciousness, the differences between Dr. Hoffman’s viewpoints and nondualism, and the evolving implications of his provable, mathematical models.   Follow Dr. Donald Hoffman: https://twitter.com/donalddhoffman  Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com, or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline    Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind https://magicmind.co   Tiny Capital https://www.tinycapital.com/   About your host, James:  James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acqu

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine Spencer Rascoff started Hotwire and Zillow and eventually turned them into $750 million and $30 billion companies respectively. He joins James to talk about the history of those two companies, relocating to LA,  and what makes a good founder. They wrap the show with a very digestible explanation of SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) and how Spencer handles his love/hate relationship with social media. Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com, or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind: https://magicmind.co Tiny Capital: https://www.tinycapital.com/belowtheline About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acquired by Airbnb), and invested in a few multi-billion d

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine    Jeff Goodby is advertising executive who co-founded and serves as co-chair of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. Goodby is also a director and illustrator whose work has appeared in Time and Mother Jones, and he created the "Got Milk?" campaign. This year his agency had 5 commercials in the Superbowl. James and Jeff talk about how Jeff ended up in the Bay Area from Rhode Island and his career path before advertising. Jeff tells James what he learned from a presentation from Steve Jobs, and Jeff recalls some of his own most memorable pitches and how being authentic is oftentimes the most important part of the pitch. They talk about how for a creative, the ad world can be rejection after rejection and how to deal with that. Jeff then elaborates on how difficult it can be for a junior ad executive starting out, and how to navigate the industry when first starting.    Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-

Lee Jacobs is an entrepreneur and investor based in San Francisco who was one of the early supporters of Angel List, and is currently a general partner at long journey capital. James talks with Lee about what starting a VC firm looks like, the similarities and differences between starting a VC fund and a startup, and what Lee looks for when investing in a new company or industry.  Today's Guest: Lee Jacobs https://twitter.com/LeeJacobs   https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine      Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline    Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind https://magicmind.co Tiny Capital https://www.tinycapital.com/belowtheline   About your host, James:  James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years,

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine  Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show: 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline James opens the show giving the #1 piece of advice he would give to founders to multiply their chances of startup success 10 fold. He then takes answers voicemail questions about how founders should decide how to to delegate their time and the strategy founders could take in the early stages of their companies. He closes the show by expounding on why he moved away from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles, despite the large network effect that exists for founders in the Bay area. Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind https://magicmind.co Tech Meme https://www.techmeme.com/ Tiny Capital https://www.tinycapital.com/belowtheline   About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created sta

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine  Diana Chapman is one of the most sought after corporate advisors in the world. James & Diana open the show revisiting Diana’s groundbreaking book “The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership”, and summarize a few of the commitments and their meanings.  Diana then explains what it means to take “radical responsibility” , and delineates the fine line between being an open minded and a convicted leader. Diana then dissects how emotional intelligence is often times underrated when talked about in thecontext of important leadership qualities.  James and Diana discuss the importance of feedback, even though often times many of us are innately averse to giving or receiving feedback. Diana talks about how being a visionary is often times an overrated leadership quality, and how many times visionaries lack the structure required to make their lofty goals a reality. They close the show with a discussion about the role sexual energy should play in the workplace, and how

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine  James talks with the CEO and founder of mindbloom CEO Dylan Beynon about how his intimate familiarity with mental illness was in many ways the catalyst of his drive for success, and how experimenting with MDMA 11 years ago ultimately led him to the forefront of the research and legalization of psychedelics. James and Dylan discuss the evolving perception of psychedelics, both in general and as a legitimate means of psychotherapy, and some of the specific medications and their corresponding encouraging results in treating various psychological ailments. Mindbloom https://mindbloom.co Harvard Mental Illness Study https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/the-prevalence-and-treatment-of-mental-illness-today The Information Pathology by James Beshara https://jjbeshara.com/2018/11/20/the-information-pathology-2/ Mental Weatlh by James Beshara https://jjbeshara.com/2020/06/04/mental-wealth/ Drug Harm Scale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_harmfulness#/media/File:HarmCausedB

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine The historical giant and creator of analytical psychology, Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, joins James to discuss his life, his work, and what might’ve been different if he had a little bit more of both. The staggering genius of Jung has given us the modern concepts of extroversion/introversion, synchronicity, the collective unconscious, individuation, archetypal phenomena, how myths inform and shape us, and so much more. Today, we cover many of these central topics, along with his views on the modern narrative of heroism, his fascination with alchemy, and the concepts he was still discovering before his death in 1961. We’re grateful he gave us some of his time nearly 60 years after leaving this lil earth. Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show: 424-272-6640   "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author     About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, autho

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine James talks with Tara Viswanathan, the CEO, and Founder of Rupa Health, whose goal is to make functional medicine more accessible, affordable, & available to patients everywhere. They talk about the outward appearance of everything you want in a start-up, how struggles have still persisted throughout the life of the company, as well as finding a proper work/life balance.  Tara Viswanathan https://RupaHealth.com Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show: 424-272-6640   "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author   About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acquired by Airbnb), and invested in a few multi-billion dollar startups to date. He has spoken at places such as Y-Combinator, Harvard Business School, Stan

https://bit.ly/Dive_further_BelowtheLine "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author James shares a story of his pursuit of another one of his passions in music, and how a recent track he created perfectly exemplifies the type of failure you want to invite into your life. He then dissects the differences between controlled and terminal failure, and discusses how his aversion to failure while in the role of CEO actually proved to be a detriment to the cause.About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acquired by Airbnb), and invested in a few multi-billion dollar startups to date. He has spoken at places such as Y-Combinator, Harvard Business School, Stanford University, TechCrunch Disrupt, and has been featured in outlets like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazin

https://bit.ly/Dive_further_BelowtheLine "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author James is joined by fellow former Airbnb Execs Larry Rachitski and Marc Mccabe for this #deepdive on the impending and highly anticipated Airbnb IPO.  The conversation begins with Lenny, Marc and James sharing their respective journeys that led them to joining the Airbnb team, and the factors that played into that decision. They continue to dissect what each believes are challenges Airbnb faces heading into the IPO, as well as what they believe to be it's strongest leverage points, and ultimately how both play into their forecasts for the company. They close the show deciding how much of a hypothetical $100,000 cash surplus they would invest into the travel juggernaut. Lenny https://twitter.com/lennysan  Marc https://twitter.com/mccabe About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Ang

"The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author Books: On Writing Well - https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548 Writing Down the Bones - https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Down-Bones-Freeing-Writer/dp/1590302613 Draft #4 - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18194765-draft-no-4 Top Posts: How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1,000 users - https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-the-biggest-consumer-apps-got How to Kickstart and Scale a Marketplace Business - https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-to-kickstart-and-scale-a-marketplace My favorite product management templates - https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/my-favorite-templates-issue-37 What is good retention - https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/what-is-good-retention-issue-29 Today's episode is with Lenny Rachitsky. It is a #DeepDive episode on creating a successful newsletter — in a world where newsletters are becoming more mainstream, more lucrative, and more appe

"The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author Today's episode is with British poet, author, and Zen master Henry Shukman. Henry is able to touch on so many different topics with a brilliant articulation that one would expect from a poet. We cover many different topics in our conversation today — everything from the “single experience” concept that he talks about in his memoir, “One Blade of Grass”, which is a phenomenal read, the phases of creativity, and an in-depth conversation on his decades-long battle with low-grade depression — sometimes high grade and sometimes just in the background — covering all of his different methods of self-medication before finally finding something that worked to help him overcome it. We touched on each of these things and more in today's episode. I'm excited for you to hear it. About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. J

"The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author Today's episode is with one of the more profound thinkers, writers, and speakers in human history. It's with Alan Watts. I've said in previous episodes that I think he'll be known as one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century in a few decades, and when we look back, he is in many ways a translator. He came here from England, originally coming here as an Episcopalian priest, but he eventually left the ministry to start teaching a nonpartisan version of philosophy, mythology, and spirituality — introducing the West to Eastern philosophy, from a Western lens. Hence the adjective, “translator”. And it all centers around a topic that we covered today, which is “Who are we?”. In my entrepreneurial and creative career, few people have impacted me as much as his thinking and writing. I'm really excited for today's episode. You can email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or f

"The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author Links referenced in this episode: + Get your free Endel subscription: https://code.endel.io/?code=BELOWTHELINE + Forbes Magic Mind Article: www.forbes.com/sites/chasefeiger/2020/08/24/how-this-entrepreneur-moved-from-software-to-create-silicon-valleys-new-morning-elixir-magic-mind + The Multi-path Career (essay by James Beshara): https://jjbeshara.com/2020/05/25/the-multi-path-career/ + The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win by Steve Blank: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank/dp/0989200507 + The Holocaust of Attachment: https://www.amazon.com/Holocaust-Attachment-Swami-Parthasarathy/dp/9381094195 I have a different type of episode for you today. Today's episode is with Chase Feiger, who's a contributing writer at Forbes. He is a founder himself; he's built multiple companies, and he is also an investor of a handful of really brilliant startups as

"The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author Get your free Endel subscription: https://code.endel.io/?code=BELOWTHELINE Joseph’s Podcast Series: https://anchor.fm/joseph-emmett Today's episode is with a friend of mine, Joseph Emmett, who is just an interesting cat. He is someone that I chat with once a week. Every Thursday, we jump on a video call or phone call, and it's one of the most enjoyable calls of the week — One that has nothing to do with tactics of business but more about a holistic perspective and philosophy from which I try to make decisions. I don't think I've ever met anyone quite like him. I had him on the podcast about a year ago and people loved that episode so much that I invited him back to the podcast. Today, we talk about the worldview he adopted at around age 19, called Vedanta or Advaita Vedanta. It's a very interesting one when it comes to Eastern philosophies, as it sits as the bedrock of just about every other Eastern phil

"The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder, and NYTimes bestselling author Get your free Endel subscription: https://code.endel.io/?code=BELOWTHELINE Today's episode is with Andrew Dudum. He’s a co-founder of Hims & Hers; one of the fastest growing companies in history. They are two and a half years in and are valued north of a billion dollars. I saw their first million in sales within five weeks of launch. One of the fastest growing companies that I've ever come across, and though it seems like an overnight success... as the cliche goes, it's overnight, 10 years in the making. Andrew has started north of 10 different businesses (!) and has a whole lot of wisdom to share in this episode. We chat about the launch of Hims & Hers (and how crazy that time was) but also talk about the lowest moments that he's experienced as a founder. We also talk about the concept of “exposure therapy” and how that applies to being a founder. We also chat about the healthcare system that we