Going Deep with Aaron Watson

Dan Gilman is currently serving his first term as City Council member for the 8th Council District of Pittsburgh. Gilman has been very active in his first year on Council, having passed two pieces of legislation and a resolution aimed at reducing the discrimination and stigma pregnant women and nursing mothers continue to face. He has also been active in imploring the PA legislature to support the PA Women's Health Agenda.

The Councilman worked extensively with the Mayor’s office to implement smart technology that will vastly improve City services such as snow removal, paving, online permitting, and the 311 system. He also called for online auctioning of unused equipment—including vehicles—as a revenue generating measure for the City; an idea that the mayoral administration has started to pursue.

Gilman has received many awards and accolades for his hard work. He was selected as one of only twelve leaders nationwide to join The New DEAL, a national network committed to highlighting innovative ideas from state and local elected leaders. He has also been recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s “40 Under 40” by Pittsburgh Magazine and PUMP, as well as one of Pittsburgh’s “50 Finest” by Whirl Magazine.

Dan’s Challenge; Don’t be passive. Take up a cause or mission and make something happen.

Connect with Dan

Twitter

LinkedIn

Website

If you liked this interview, check out episode 107 with Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto where we discuss politics, Pittsburgh, and leadership.

Baron Batch is a cultural icon, community builder, dot connector, conceptual multimedia artist, and entrepreneur based out of Homestead, PA. He rose to fame through his street art and currently serves as Creative Director of Studio AM.

Studio AM is a multifaceted creative collective that specializes in guerilla marketing, unique private events, and is a production facility for his “Angry Man Salsa”. He has an extensive background in public speaking is a graduate of Texas Tech.

Baron’s Challenge; Practice Stoicism.

Connect with Baron

Twitter

Instagram

Website

If you liked this interview, check out episode 114 with Dan Bull where we discuss giving inmates a second chance through entrepreneurship.

Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicled his drinking and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it as the result of a bet in 2000.

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell was a New York Times #1 Bestseller and made the Bestseller List each year from 2006 to 2012. It has sold over one million copies worldwide, including 400,000 copies in 2009 alone. In 2010, he released a book titled Assholes Finish First, and in 2012 marked the literary releases of both Hilarity Ensues and Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers. He was a 2009 Time 100 finalist based on internet votes, although he did not make the magazine list

His new company, Book in a Box, is a service for helping busy experts transfer their wisdom into book format. The company interviews clients in a systematic way that properly structures their ideas. They then turn those words into a book. All clients need to do, as the author, is answer questions about what they already know. Everything else is handled by BIAB’s team of experienced publishing professionals.

Tucker’s Challenge; Ask yourself “Why” multiple times until you reach an irreducible answer.

Get a Free PDF of Tucker’s How-To-Guide

Connect with Tucker

Twitter

Website

If you liked this interview, check out episode 118 with Kevin Kelly where we discuss the inevitable technological trends shaping our future.

Kris Reid is the founder of Ardor SEO and Media Factory. He founded the company after losing his job as a software engineer, opening offices in Cambodia and the Philippines.

Ardor Media Factory is a multi-national backlink building company. They help businesses achieve success in their respective niches by offering a wide range of services including search engine optimization, search engine ranking, and link building. They also produce high-quality content for business websites through informative articles and free services such as keyword research and web analysis.

Kris’s Challenge; Do something that you are scared of. Step out of your comfort zone and do something that makes you nervous.

Connect with Kris 

[email protected]

If you liked this interview, check out episode 93 with Phil Laboon where we discuss entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and lifestyle design.

John Thornton is the CEO of Astrobotic, a company aspiring to be the logistics company for Space.

Astrobotic delivers lunar payload and services to government and commercial customers. The company’s first Moon mission will carry customer payloads, win the $20M Google Lunar XPRIZE, and explore a possible cave entrance on the surface of the Moon. Astrobotic has 17 prior and ongoing NASA contracts, strong partnerships, and world-leading staff and technology for the development of robotic landers.

John’s Challenge; Find the darkest place you can and look up at the stars.

Connect with John

Twitter

LinkedIn

Facebook

Website

If you liked this interview, check out episode 27 with Henry Thorne where we discuss building a technology company and building businesses.

Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University and a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. He is an expert on idea futures and markets, and he was involved in the creation of the Foresight Institute’s Foresight Exchange and DARPA's FutureMAP project. He invented market scoring rules used by prediction markets and has conducted research on signaling.

Hanson received a B.S. in physics from the University of California, Irvine in 1981, an M.S. in physics and an M.A. in Conceptual Foundations of Science from the University of Chicago in 1984, and a Ph.D. in social science from Caltech in 1997. Before getting his Ph.D. he researched artificial intelligence, Bayesian statistics, and hypertext publishing. In addition, he started the first internal corporate prediction market at Xanadu in 1990.

Robin’s Challenge; Pursue your interests and start new projects in your free time. Your life will be long. You’ll have lots of time to pursue a lot of odd projects.

Check out Robin’s Book; Age of Em: Work, Love and Life when Robots Rule the Earth

Connect with Robin

Twitter

Website

[email protected]

If you liked this interview, check out episode 118 with Kevin Kelly where we discuss the inevitable technological trends shaping our future.

Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review. He has also been a writer, photographer, conservationist, and student of Asian and digital culture.

Kelly stepped down as executive editor of Wired in 1999; his current job title is Senior Maverick. Partially due to his reputation as Wired's editor, he is noted as a participant in and an observer of cyberculture.

His books include;

• Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World
• New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World
• What Technology Wants
• The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future  

Kevin’s Challenge; Take $100 and invest it into someone that cannot pay you back directly. Learn to be full of gratitude. Try Kiva.

Acknowledgements

John Craig

Mike Dariano

Kiva

Connect with Kevin

Twitter

Facebook

Website

If you liked this interview, check out episode 109 where I rant about the current state of the internet.

Isaac Morehouse is an entrepreneur, thinker, and communicator dedicated to the relentless pursuit of freedom, and an advocate of self-directed learning and living. He is the founder and CEO of Praxis, an intensive nine-month program combining a paid apprenticeship at a startup with personal coaching, professional development projects, and interdisciplinary education leading directly to a full-time job offer for those who want more than college.

Isaac previously worked at the Institute for Humane Studies where he raised support, mentored students, and directed educational programs. Prior to IHS, Isaac was at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy where he created and directed Students for a Free Economy. He’s been involved in numerous businesses and nonprofit start-ups, and loves connecting people and helping them discover and realize their dreams.

Isaac writes, speaks, and teaches on entrepreneurship, economics, education, philosophy, freedom, communication skills, how to change the world and an assortment of other topics.  He is the author/co-author of six books; Better Off Free, The Future of School, Freedom Without Permission, Why Haven’t You Read This Book?, How to Get Any Job You Want, and Don’t Do Stuff You Hate.

Isaac’s Challenge; Try to write down a list of things you hate and find a way to remove one from your life.

Connect with Isaac

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Website

If you liked this interview, check out episode 66 with Zak Slayback where we discuss Praxis, education, and entrepreneurship.

Dan Bull is the Founder of Zero Six Eight, an organization dedicated to developing entrepreneurs with ideas into companies that solve real problems in a socially responsible manner. 068 is one of the top resources in the city for employing ex-offenders and offering second chances.

Dan’s Challenge; Forgive.

Connect with Dan

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Website

If you liked this interview, check out episode 2 with Michael Van Ness where we discuss 068 and Michael’s social work.

Todd is an author who helps creative people find their untapped potential. He is the author of The Creative's Curse, a book about the pains of being creative at every phase - Discover, Discipline, and Destiny. He is also the founder of Snap Swipe Post, a site which creates custom SnapChat geo-filters.

His goal in business is to create things people enjoy, whether that means a well-crafted document, a funny video, or just a simple acronym.

He loves his redhead, Chacos, and sweet potatoes.

We referenced his post The Answer is No

Todd’s Challenge; Work one Saturday. Don’t write off your spare time or believe that you don’t have the time.

Preview his book here http://toddbrison.com/godeep

Connect with Todd

Twitter

Anchor

Medium

If you liked this interview, check out episode 105 with Declan Wilson here we discuss how millennials can step up and attack their goals.