#569: ESPN Co-Founder Bill Rasmussen — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss

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


You’ll get plenty of that in this special episode, which
features my interview with Bill
Rasmussen from my 2017 TV Show Fear{less}. The
“less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to
fear less, not to be fearless.


Fear{less} features in-depth, long-form conversations with
top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made
hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.


It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them
to make both the video and audio available to you for free, my
dear listeners. You can find the video of this
episode on YouTube.com/TimFerriss, and eventually
you’ll be able to see all episodes for free
at YouTube.com/TimFerriss.


Spearheaded by actor/producer and past podcast guest Vince
Vaughn, Wild West Productions has produced a string of
hit movies including The Internship, Couples
Retreat, Four Christmases, and The Break-Up.


In 2020, Wild West produced the comedy The Opening Act,
starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric The Entertainer. In addition
to Fear{less}, their television credits
include Undeniable with Joe Buck, ESPN’s 30 for
30 episode about the ’85 Bears, and the Netflix
animated show F is for Family.


Please enjoy!


*


This episode is brought to you by
“5-Bullet
Friday,” my very own email
newsletter that every Friday features five bullet points
highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps,
books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new
hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug
up from around the world.


It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can
subscribe now
at tim.blog/friday.


*


A recap of ESPN’s opening night. [05:34]


What accounts for Bill’s lifelong obsession with sports? [07:41]


How Bill’s family — especially his father — encouraged him to
excel from an early age. [09:46]


By the time he got to college, what did Bill imagine he would do
for a career — and what ultimately put a crimp in his ambitions?
[11:20]


What did Bill learn during his initial foray into the working
world, and how did this lead to the start of his first business?
[13:47]


How did Bill segue from this first business into the world of
sports broadcasting? Was his lack of experience at the beginning
any hindrance? [17:01]


What does Bill’s self-talk sound like when he’s trying to
convince himself to try something new? [21:33]


As confident as Bill is in trying new things, he’s not lived a
life without self-doubt-inducing setbacks. Here’s one that led to
the much bigger success that would become ESPN. [23:04]


What ESPN looked like in the conceptual stages — when its
financial reserve consisted of a $9,000 credit card advance.
[29:40]


How Bill and his team drummed up additional funds for the
fledgling network. [31:50]


The clever reason behind shrink-wrapping the early NCAA pitch
deck. [35:29]


Enter Walter Byers. [37:07]


What launch day and the days leading up to it looked like.
[39:06]


The best decision made at ESPN. [41:32]


24 hours, seven days a week is a lot of television to fill. What
are some of the more esoteric ways that time has been filled at
ESPN? [42:33]


Why did Bill leave ESPN at 2:05 p.m. on June 25th, 1984? [44:08]


Bill’s secret to effective pitching and negotiation, and a few
book recommendations. [45:09]


ESPN has the power to bring people together — except for when
someone needs a scapegoat for divorce proceedings. [46:44]


What does success mean to Bill, and who does he think of when he
hears the word? Does he consider himself a success? [47:45]


If Bill had to give a high-profile, 20-minute talk about
something unrelated to what made him famous, what would the topic
be? What book would he recommend to someone who wanted to learn
more about this topic? [48:57]


Current challenges. [50:19]


Bill’s best advice for someone seeking to launch their own
business. [52:00]


What Bill’s billboard would say. [53:17]


*


For show notes and past guests, please
visit tim.blog/podcast.


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


Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss 


YouTube: youtube.com/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, and many
more.


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California
Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.