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Blinkist Podcast Playlist

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Bitcoin has not been easy for Wall Street and other traditional financial centers to wrap their collective heads around, let alone take seriously. But that has changed recently, argue authors Michael Casey and Paul Vigna in their book The Age of Cryptocurrency -- How Bitcoin and Digital Currency are Challenging the Global Economic Order. 

The two Wall Street Journal writers join the a16z Podcast to talk about how far bitcoin has seeped into the Wall Street worldview, and more broadly, into the fabric of the global economy. Casey and Vigna describe the five "stages" of bitcoin conversion from disdain to obsession, and why, with the failings of our financial system still painfully fresh, the bitcoin blockchain could be a tool to help rebuild trust, governance, and faith in the power of currency post-recession.

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The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: The Five Stages of Bitcoin -- Disdain, Dismissal, Curiosity, Oh F**k!, and Acceptance

Rob Rhinehart, like most startup entrepreneurs, was strapped for cash and time as developed his ideas and ultimately a company. What stood out to Rhinehart in that all-consuming and ongoing process was the contrast between all the things in his life that technology had made more convenient and cheaper -- basically everything powered by smartphones -- and what he felt was a process still trapped in our agrarian past: sitting down for a meal.

Out of that observation came Soylent -- nutrition in powder or ready-to-drink form, that substituted for Rhinehart the lousy ramen or frozen corn-dog meals he was subsisting on.

Better, faster, cheaper -- Soylent has all the trademarks of good tech -- but are we really going to start drinking our meals? Rhinehart joins this segment of the pod along with a16z’s Chris Dixon, who led the firm’s investment in Soylent, to talk about where Soylent might fit into our lives ... and what it means for the future of food as well as earth's resources.

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The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: The Future of Food

The hallmark of many great technical founder/CEOs is that they envision a better way of doing things, and that's why they're building a company that delivers on that better way, often disrupting the way things have always been done before. But this very mindset can backfire when it comes to sales. Why shouldn't they reinvent the sales process??

On this episode of the a16z Podcast -- with a16z's Mark Cranney (head of our sales and market development team), Lars Dalgaard, and Ben Horowitz -- we cover the why, how, and when of sales: why do we even need sales when "a really good product sells itself"; how to organize the sales function depending on what you're building (especially when what you're selling is continually changing); and when to bring on that first sales hire.

Finally, how do we wrap our heads around sales culture, competition, and commissions in startups? It doesn't help when everyone in the company -- not just sales reps -- are the ones building the very thing you're selling ... so why the special rewards for sales? It isn't fair! Or is it? All this and more in this episode of the pod.

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The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: The Why, How, and When of Sales

This is our second podcast in the Eureka! theme. Last week we spoke with Inventology author Pagan Kennedy, and we’re excited to build on that by featuring David Burkus, author of The Myths of of Creativity. 

In this podcast, Ben and David focus on a concept called incubation. According to creativity research, this incubation moment often occurs right before a Eureka moment, and the best part? Everyone can incubate. The only question is how. 

David Burkus is a professor of management, bestselling author, and award-winning podcaster. 

Linkage: 

If you liked what you heard, we'd reallllly appreciate it if you hopped on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

More on David Burkus can be found here: http://goo.gl/iZqKPD
Also check out his podcast over here: https://goo.gl/SczJcV

That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].


David Burkus Debunks Everything You Thought You Knew About Creativity

*** Podcast programming alert!! ***

Today we have something a little different. Not only do we have Vishen Lakhiani, one of the most forward-thinking CEOs in the world, but we also have him in conversation with one of the Blinkist co-founders, Niklas Jansen. Niklas is a huge admirer of Vishen’s distinctive approaches to his companies, so we figured we should let him ask Vishen whatever he wanted!

Vishen is the founder and CEO of Mindvalley, a transformational education company, and Afest, an invite-only festival for entrepreneurs and change-makers that takes place in exotic locations all over the globe. He’s also an author now, and his book The Code of the Extraordinary Mind is just out and already a New York Times bestseller. (Read it on Blinkist here: http://buff.ly/2c41ZNF)

It’s cool to hear the two entrepreneurs chat. They talk about morning routines, exercise, and how to get the best possible company culture. But they also talk about the book, and get into Vishen’s distinctive way of optimizing his life, focusing on what he calls Consciousness Engineering and Brules (or bullshit rules).

Oh, and as a complement to the new magazine edition on #AlwaysLearning, we have a giveaway! We have five signed copies of Vishen Lakhiani’s book and five memberships to Mindvalley to go with it.

Here's what to do to win: download the Blinkist app, sign up, and open the blinks to The Code of The Extraordinary Mind. If you already have the app (well done you!), simply open up the blinks to The Code of The Extraordinary Mind to be in with a chance to win.

Extras:

- If you like what you hear today, please do hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

- Read the key insights to The Code of the Extraordinary Mind on Blinkist: http://buff.ly/2c41ZNF

- That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Entrepreneur Vishen Lakhiani of Mindvalley on Breaking Rules & Optimizing Everything

Today on the podcast, we welcome Cal Newport. Newport is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University but most of us know him as the author of five excellent books, each of which takes a unique view on how to study better, find a career better, or, with his new book Deep Work, work better. 

Deep work, as he defines it, is professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate. 

Newport argues that the ability to work deeply is the most important skill to have in our knowledge economy. 

In our conversation, Newport explains why he thinks we need to teach people a new vocabulary for training focus, and why most of us are living the cognitive equivalent of a couch potato life. He also lays out how anyone can begin learning how to work deeply, right away.

Links!

- Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

- Newport's blog, Study Hacks, also deserves a shout out. It’s full of examples and tips for how people manage to hunker down and make great things. You can find it here: http://calnewport.com/blog/

- That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Deep Work: Cal Newport's Formula That Will Transform Your Productivity

Today on the Blinkist podcast we have an interview with branding expert Denise Lee Yohn, author of the book What Great Brands Do.

In the interview, Lee Yohn and Ben talk about why all branding starts inside, and how exactly Sony implemented that idea when Lee Yohn was there. Then they get into what happened with brands like Saturn and RadioShack – remember them???

They also tried something new: Lee Yohn and Ben read brief bits from some of their favorite branding books. (Hint: neither of them picked Seth Godin!) 

A quick intro to Lee Yohn: After her time as brand leader at Sony, she worked on many other big brands, including Land Rover, Jack in the Box, and Burger King. She currently runs her own brand consultancy in addition to giving speeches and writing for the Harvard Business Review blog, her own Brand-As-Business Bites blog, and many other outlets.

Linkage:

- Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

- Let Ben know what you think about the podcast by writing him at podcast@blinkist.com

- Lee Yohn's blog: http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites-brand-your-business-briefs/

- That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

What Great Brands Do: Denise Lee Yohn on how not to be RadioShack  | Business

Today on the Blinkist podcast, Ben speaks with esteemed behavioral economist, bestselling author, TED speaker extraordinaire, and all around cool guy Dan Ariely. 

Ariely is the author of Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and (just published) Payoff among other books. His TED talks have been viewed like 8 million times. No big deal. 

In the interview, Ben and Ariely go into some of the nuts and bolts of behavioral economics, like, why it’s different from standard economics, and what Ariely’s time away from his wife and children teaches us about short-term vs. long-term motivation. (Also: a story about a t-shirt with Ariely's name on it.)

Aaaand that’s it for interviews for 2016! Thanks so much for following us this year, it’s been a blast. There are a few more really fun podcasts in the hopper for the turn into 2017, and then we’ll be back at it. Hit us up at podcast@blinkist.com if you want to share some feedback or if you’re itching to hear something in particular.


Linkage:

- Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

- That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

TED Speaker Dan Ariely On Why Human Behaviour Is Utterly Irrational

TED Speaker Dan Ariely On Why Human Behavior Is Utterly Irrational

Hey guys, it's Ben. Before you listen to this week's interview with Rachel Hills, author of The Sex Myth, please take our **~~exciting~~** survey:

------->  https://goo.gl/dYUjeo
(It's just eight questions and takes literally two minutes to fill out. Email me at podcast(at)blinkist.com if you can do it faster.)

Today we have an interview with Rachel Hills, author of The Sex Myth. We talk about sex, Disney movies and how to not let sex make you anxious — which, in her view, is a major societal problem. 

Hills is a writer and activist whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, Buzzfeed, Jezebel, and more. You can check out her work at TheSexMyth(.)com. 

//// Use code sexmyth at Blinkist.com/Friends to get 14 free days of Blinkist. 

//// Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

//// That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook(.)com/niceaux].

Not Having Sex? Author Rachel Hills Explains Why Your Sex Life is Okay

Hey guys, it's Ben. Before you listen to this week's interview with Adam Alter, author of IRRESISTIBLE: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked (Penguin Press; March 7, 2017), please take our exciting survey
-------> goo.gl/dYUjeo
(It's just eight questions and takes literally two minutes to fill out. Email me at podcast(at)blinkist(dot)com if you can do it faster. Big thanks to those of you that already have.)

This episode is an interview with psychology and marketing professor, researcher, writer, speaker, and overall very smart person Adam Alter, author of IRRESISTIBLE: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked (Penguin Press; March 7, 2017). Alter published the bestselling and amazing and terrifying Drunk Tank Pink in 2013 and is currently on tour talking about his brand new book, Irresistible. The reviews are just starting to come out, and those of us lucky enough to get advance copies are all itchy to talk about it.

//// Use code irresistible at Blinkist.com/Friends to get 14 free days of Blinkist.

/// Check out the full transcript on the Blinkist Magazine: http://blnk.st/2mpnWiX Then read Irresistible on Blinkist: http://buff.ly/2mkGnoI

//// Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY

//// That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook(.)com/niceaux].

Candy Crush Your Addiction! Adam Alter On What Makes Everything So Irresistible

For this episode, we talked to Daniel Schacter, professor of psychology at Harvard and the author of The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. 

Our conversation focused on the three “sins of omission” outlined in his book on memory. The big bad memory sins, in order of badness, are: absent-mindedness, transience, blocking. Tune in for Schacter’s insights on how to remember what you have to remember and forget what you need to forget. 

____

Highlights:

"We tend to think of memory as being all about the past...But remembering the past has a lot in common with imagining the future."

"The most dangerous [of the seven sins] is absentmindedness: absentmindedness is the breakdown at the interface of attention and memory."

"The take-home message for everyday life: when you know there's something you want to remember...elaborate on that information. Try to relate it to other things you know."

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That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY

Forgetful? Harvard Prof Daniel Schacter Explains Why Our Memories Are So Flawed

Sandra Aamodt is a neuroscientist and former lifestyle dieter who wants to shout what she’s learned from the rooftops: according to the leading research in neuroscience, your brain has decided how much it wants you to weigh and will keep pushing you back to that weight *forever*. If you were already skeptical of popular weight loss methods, the ideas in Sandra’s book, Why Diets Make Us Fat, will be empowering. 

For the latest episode of Blinkist Podcast, I spoke to Sandra about the science of weight loss, the health advantages of mindful eating, what it’s like to sail to New Zealand, and why depriving yourself of office doughnuts never works.

You can find her book on Blinkist: http://blnk.st/2qbi13o
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Highlights:

On the myth of self-control: 
"It's just not true that somebody can simply decide to take control of their physiology and change it through sheer force of will."

On decision fatigue: 
"Most people make 200 to 300 food-related decisions per day."

On weight loss longevity: 
“Your brain will continue to try to push you back to the weight that it prefers forever.”

On food and common sense: 
"The best way to approach food is by relaxing and enjoying it and paying attention to what your body wants from moment to moment, and trusting that people have been maintaining stable weights for hundreds and thousands of years before anybody ever invented that little scale that you use to weigh chicken breasts."

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That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY

Weight Loss Not Working? How the Secrets of Neuroscience Will Make You Stop Dieting Forever

After collapsing from burnout and sleep deprivation in 2007, Arianna Huffington threw herself into the latest research on sleep, discovering that the sleepless nights she’d depending on to build her career had had profound negative consequences on her health. What she learned was transformative: these days, Huffington is so dedicated to getting a full night of sleep, she won’t even bring her smartphone into the bedroom, for fear of accidentally stimulating a bout of insomnia. 

We spoke with Huffington about getting onboard the sleep train last year, after she published The Sleep Revolution, an account of her personal experiences with sleep deprivation and a passionate call for others to learn from her mistakes. 

We think it was a pretty great interview. And since the podcast crew is currently working on some super-special, super-secret new stuff that’s totally inspired by Arianna’s super-simple, super-good advice, we wanted to share the episode with you again today. 

We hope you enjoy. But more than that, we hope you get some sleep.

//// Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY

//// That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook(.)com/niceaux].

Sleep Tips: The Secrets of Arianna Huffington’s Strict Bedtime Routine

Please visit us at blinkist.com/simplify to see our new podcast, Simplify!