#682: Bill Gurley Interviews Tim Ferriss — Reflecting on 20+ Years of Life and Business Experiments

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Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is
usually my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out
the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own
lives. 


This is a special episode and a turning of the tables.
This time, legendary investor Bill Gurley interviews me,
and the recording is from earlier this year at SXSW in Austin,
TX. The conversation explores some of my lessons learned
and favorite findings over the last two decades in areas like
entrepreneurship, tech, and podcasting. I throw in some favorite
books and other spice to keep things interesting.


Bill Gurley (@bgurley) has spent more than 20 years as a general
partner at Benchmark. Before entering the venture-capital
business, Bill spent four years on Wall Street as a top-ranked
research analyst, including three years at Credit Suisse First
Boston. Over his venture career, he has worked with such
companies as GrubHub, Nextdoor, OpenTable, Stitch Fix, Uber, and
Zillow.


For more takeaways from his incredible investing career, you can
find my interview with Bill at tim.blog/billgurley. 


As a side note, my 2007 SXSW speech that I mention in the
interview is what started it all, in many senses. It’s what put
my first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, on the radar of influential
bloggers and bigger media outlets, ultimately landing it on The
New York Times Best Sellers list, where it stayed, more or less,
for the next seven years. It’s been a wild ride. 


You can hear that 2007 presentation at tim.blog/sxsw.


One last thing: Hugh Forrest, if you’re listening, thank you
again for giving me a shot way back in the day! 


Please enjoy! 


*


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[06:32] From Princeton to podcasting.


[07:39] How a disenchanted entrepreneur became a reluctant
author.


[14:22] Angel investing and The 4-Hour Body.


[16:40] Investing rulesets and takeaways.


[19:09] How a choice location maximizes serendipity.


[20:42] Why did I back away from angel investing?


[22:28] Entering the blogosphere.


[27:02] Why podcasting?


[28:33] Early and enduring lessons for improving the craft.


[31:37] What makes a successful podcaster?


[34:57] The power of direct communication with one's audience.


[38:48] Leveraging a lean infrastructure.


[40:34] Helpful steps for effective interview prep.


[45:08] Respected podcasting peers.


[48:00] Spotify's foray into podcasting territory.


[50:09] Twitter and LinkedIn.


[53:15] Books most gifted.


[55:31] Most positively effective purchase of $100 or less.


[55:30] Favorite failure.


[57:50] Billboard.


[58:49] Best investment ever made.


[59:30] Most life-improving new belief, behavior, or habit.


*


For show notes and past guests
on The Tim Ferriss Show,
please
visit tim.blog/podcast.


For deals from sponsors of The Tim
Ferriss Show, please
visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors


Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday)
at tim.blog/friday.


For transcripts of episodes, go
to tim.blog/transcripts.


Discover Tim’s
books: tim.blog/books.


Follow Tim:


Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss 


Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss


YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss


Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss 


LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss


Past guests on The Tim Ferriss
Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh
Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin
Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew
McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth
Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah
Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine
Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary
Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael
Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria
Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de
Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly
Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard
Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael
Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan
Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit
Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim
Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval
Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth
Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard
Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid
Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick
Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren
Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter
Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah
Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.


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