Business Outlaws

Filmmaker Kevin Smith joins the Outlaws this week for a wide-ranging conversation that touches on everything from heart attacks to his friendship with Jason Mewes to the time he spent a couple of hours on the toilet reading what would become an Oscar-winning screenplay.

Kevin Smith’s 25-year career as a director started with his self-financed cult classic “Clerks,” which introduced the world to the iconic characters Jay and Silent Bob. Smith brings the slacker duo back to the big screen for the first time in 13 years for his latest feature “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.” The new film features another familiar co-star: his daughter Harley, who he said has really helped rejuvenate his love for filmmaking.

“[Working with Harley] gave me a renewed sense of, Oh, this is fun again. When you’re a parent, you only get a certain amount of years and then they’re off living their lives. I get to prolong it a bit, and if I play my cards right I can keep making pretend with my kid until the day I die. That’s rarified air.”

Smith also recounts the story of his 2018 heart attack — the type which doctors refer to as “the widowmaker” — and how he’s changed his lifestyle since to be 70 pounds lighter and feeling great. Plus, he definitively answers the age-old question of who is funnier between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s edible, Chris Collins and BigMike invite you to chew on this idea — the person you can’t criticize is the person who’s ruling you.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s business edible, the Outlaws teach you how to recognize when someone is imposing their own self-limiting belief system on you. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

“Frankly, I don’t think book covers sell books,” Chip Kidd tells the Outlaws. 

This statement from one of the preeminent book cover designers of the past 30 years is admittedly confusing, or it may be just be his expert spin on the idiom, don’t judge a book by its cover. “Books that are No. 1 on the bestseller list … I’ll look at it and think it’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” Kidd says. He also believes the covers of the wildly successful Harry Potter series are generic and conventional, but loved the cover of James Frey’s controversial and ultimately debunked book “A Million Little Pieces.”

In part 2 of the Outlaws’ conversation with Chip Kidd, the discussion moves deeper into Kidd’s career as a graphic designer, as BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins ask him about his use of color, if he tracks the sales of books he works on, and whether he has to be passionate about a project to work on it. “I can work on something that my heart isn’t totally in, as long as I don’t feel it’s a moral or ethical problem,” Kidd says.

And of course, the Outlaws ask Kidd to advise his 24-year-old self. Aside from a few stock tips and advice on surviving in a digital world, there’s not much he would change.          

“I’ve always kept my day job,” Kidd says. “I’m lucky, because I happen to love my day job, and I can’t begin to imagine what that’s like if you don’t.”

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Are your thoughts and behaviors in alignment with what you say you want? The truth is that we often program our subconscious minds with negativity, even when we say we want success. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Are you hungry enough for success to actually achieve your dreams? On this week’s edible, Chris Collins and BigMike share why motivation is an essential tool for achieving our goals. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If there is a rock star in the seemingly buttoned-up world of book design, Chip Kidd is it. Not only has he designed some of the world’s most recognizable book covers, he has also written several books — including some Batman graphic novels — given two TED talks, and dabbled in actual rock stardom with his new wave band Artbreak. 

The award-winning designer behind the covers of Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park,” Howard Stern’s “Miss America,” and several books by famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami, sat down with BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins for the latest episode of Business Outlaws. Kidd relays stories behind some of his most iconic designs during his 33 years with Knopf Publishing, including one of his latest for Collins’ new book “Pet the Dog: The Lost Art of Customer Service.” 

Kidd also addresses the challenges traditional artists face in an increasingly digital and automated world. “As our world is evolving, and everybody is getting upset and worried about being replaced by [artificial intelligence], I believe that if you are … valued for the way you think and for what you’ve come up with as a result of that thinking, they can not replace you with a machine.”

Collins and BigMike ask Kidd his opinion on crowdsourcing ideas for book covers (“This is how bad art and design is made”), how he has adapted to his covers being sold online, and what it’s like being recognized in public (“I don’t not like it”). Tune in to episode 68 now, and stay tuned for part two of the Outlaws’ conversation with Kidd next month.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Does your guilt and baggage hold you back from living to your fullest potential? On this week’s business edible, the outlaws share some tips on how to move through the past negativity you may not realize you’re still carrying around. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Just as you can sculpt your body, you can sculpt your mind. On this week's business edible, Chris Collins and BigMike talk about how important it is to pay attention to what you feed your brain and how you exercise it.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the world of pop culture, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who has made more out of two simple words: “Yeah, boy.” Those seven letters have helped make Flavor Flav a hip-hop legend, a No. 1-rated TV star, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and, as Flav will tell you, “the most sampled voice in the history of music.” 

But of course, Flavor Flav is much more than just a catch phrase. In our latest episode from Las Vegas, the Public Enemy hype man sits down with the Outlaws to discuss the work he put in to succeed in the music business, as well as the later work he did to improve himself as a person. He recounts how the record company originally did not want him to be a part of Public Enemy because he didn’t have the deep, bassy voice most people associated with 1980s hip-hop. Now the voice they didn’t want is iconic and synonymous with the genre.

A self-taught musician who plays 14 different instruments, Flav knew that if he was going to get anywhere toward achieving his dream he had to focus on himself and not worry about what anyone else thought. “[Forget] being in competition with somebody else; be in competition with yourself. Try to outdo yourself.”

Flavor Flav also discusses the origin of his iconic clock, what he thought when he was initially offered a spot on “The Surreal Life” TV show, what his platform would be if he ran for president, and stories about opening for The Beastie Boys early in his career. Tune in to episode 67 of Business Outlaws and add a little Flavor to your day.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.