Hacker Practice: GROWTH, SYSTEMS, and RISK for Startups and SMB

Andrew Dodson is one of the smartest hackers I know. Our conversations typically happen over coffee and Go (the ancient board game). We talk about physics and simulation theory. In fact, he once loaned me Simulation by Jean Baudrillard and I never returned it (sorry!).

In episode 5 of Hacker Practice, I get the real scoop from Andrew.

I am deeply interested in sustainable technology. At the moment of writing I live on a small organic farm. My hands are literally dirty from playing in the greenhouse. No lie.

That's why I spent most of this episode talking with Andrew about small-scale nuclear power. How can we do this on a farm or even neighborhood scale? Government regulation be damned!

Learn the basics of nuclear power and more in today's episode of Hacker Practice.

[2:45] Extreme Laser Tag - The greatest idea ever.

• Graphene
• Photodiodes
• TENS Units
• Extreme laser tag at low-orbit

[6:45] A welcome interruption from Dodson's colleague, Matthias the super genius.

• Postdoc gerbils
• A brief peek inside a stealth nuclear startup...

[8:20] Andrew discusses boundaries necessary for working in startups

• "People show who they are in their face"
• "Startups can be... top heavy"
• "These faces raise money… to get real people you need to be real people"

[10:30] Molten salt reactors

• Ionic Compounds
• Alternative to traditional light water reactors
• Uranium fuel rods get hot, very hot.
• How neutrons bouncing around cause nuclear chain reactions in enriched uranium fuel rods

[17:20] Components of a reactor

[18:20] Why higher temperatures are desirable

• Why higher temperatures can be dangerous
• "Spray a bunch of people with steam… coming out of a pressurized water reactor...that you can't see… it'll cut you in half."
• It's all just a way to spin a pinwheel

[20:00] How to get started with nuclear engineering at home

• 3D Modelling and simulating the reaction
• Monte Carlo simulations
• CAE Linux (http://caelinux.com/CMS/)
• OpenMC (https://mit-crpg.github.io/openmc/)
• Serpent (http://montecarlo.vtt.fi/)
• The future of nuclear engineering is VR

[26:20] How could we put one of these nuclear reactors in your back yard

• In the early days, small cores were all the rage
• Highly enriched uranium is useful here (10-20 cm across)
• High quality uranium fuel is a "political risk"
• Where to find 99% enriched uranium
• Building a vehicle-sized nuclear bomb

[29:20] What about Fukushima? Chernobyl Three Mile Island

• They are blown out of proportion according to Dodson
• Fossil fuels kill millions every year. Relatively, nuclear is extremely safe
• Our generation (Y) needs to pursue this, NOW.

[31:25] Powering a farm with nuclear

• Security concerns

[34:00] An ideal world where security is not a problem

• Bury a cargo container with a reactor and turbine on the surface
• Power my neighborhood for 40 years
• Small reactors power aircraft carriers
• Nuclear engineering secrets (hint: they're military)

[36:30] Sources of fuel-quality Uranium

• Downblending
• Different grades of Uranium (civilian, weapons, etc)
• How much Uranium costs per kilogram and where to get it

[38:30] Got the fuel, now what?

• Shielding considerations
• Burying the tank

[39:00] We built the reactor, what are my security precautions?

• During operation
• In case of a breach/leak
• Radioactive worms
• Basically: keep as much of it underground as you can
• Worst-case scenario
• Why you should eat plenty of spinach and fish

[51:15] Where to find Andrew ([email protected])

• Reach out to Andrew with the project you're working on, it's current status, and what your role is on the project.

I met Nari Savanorke-Joyce while living with 20 other people in a double-wide row home in Boston's most elite neighborhood. She had just graduated from Wellesley College (Hilary Clinton's Alma Mater) and was getting started in entry-level corporate America.

Within a year she had become one of her company's most valuable data scientists.

Nari and I used to go sailing on the Charles River. We'd talk about economics, education, and the future of technology. Those conversations were fascinating to be a part of, so I thought: "Why not bring the genius of Nari on the show?"

As a professional, Nari takes cutting edge predictive models from the dusty shelves of academia and puts them to work on important business cases. She's a technical expert in data science but more than that, she's a chameleon who deftly maneuvers the social and political conditions of whatever situation she's in.

Our conversation in episode 4 of Hacker Practice takes place on Skype, with Nari calling in from a poppin' lounge in Stockholm. If you're unfamiliar with data science or are looking for career advice for ambitious millennials, you will certainly enjoy this conversation with Nari Savanorke-Joyce.

[1.10] Why Nari booked a trip to Stockholm, Sweden on a whim?

[5.50] How Nari learnt about entrepreneurship through her parents

• The importance of failure in the journey and grit required to bounce back

[6.30] Why Nari uses meditation to stay focused

• Application to business environment

[9.30] Adapting to the corporate world despite having entrepreneurshipin your blood

• How to adapt to different environments
• Parental influence in this domain

[13.50] Why putting yourself in a position where you aren't in control is important for self-development

[16.10] Discussion on data science

Good data scientists excel in three directions:

1. Domain expertise
2. Computer science / programming skills
3. Statistical modelling skills

DATA SCIENCE = Taking massive quantities of data and turning it into actionable insights

[18.30] Discussion on the methodology of data science (How to Data Science 101)

1. Find a problem to solve
2. Find the data
3. Clean the data
4. Apply a model

[22.10] How an insurance company uses data science to stop insurance fraud?

• Use models to predict low frequency high severity impact events

[30.30] Incentive structures in a data science role

[33.50] Using logistic regression to ask binary questions i.e. is person x likely to commit fraud?

• Using survivor modelling to understand claim lifespan

[37.30] Why data cleansing is the most time consuming component of data science?

• Using AI to detect pattern anomalies

[42.20] Discussion on behavioural economics (psychology and economics) and how to derive value in data science

[45.00] Behavioral economics is not classical economics

• Can behavioral economics be used to improve lives and business?

[45.30] Specific advice for ambitious young people

• Get out of debt
• Find community with older people

[47.00] Importance in investing in continuous education

• Focus on learning as a motivator

[51.50] Diversification vs focus lesson from Nari's parents - "You have to go all in if you really want to pursue something"

[55.00] On insurance start-ups attracting corporate talent

• Begin with the "why" and be more than profit seeking

[58.10] Personal finance and budgeting

• Awareness via categorisation of spending
• Automatically save a percentage of your income

[1.03.20] Future of data science

• Using data to continuously dive deeper and personalise – huge potential in the health sector

[1.05.00] Nari provides podcast interview tactics that she'd like to see adopted by Hacker Practice podcast

[1.06.00] Nari's Top tier interviewees:

• Thich Nhat Hanh – Meditation as we walk through life
• Michelle Obama

[1.10.10] Nari's book recommendations

• Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, Philip Tetlock & Dan Gardner
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

[1.15.10] Travel hacks to save money

• Grocery stores are a great way to save money instead of eating out but also to learn about local food and culture
• Walk everywhere, especially if the city or place you are visiting is compact

[1.16.20] Final piece of advice to listeners

• Try 10 minutes of meditation per day

Stan Dutton is the co-owner of UpLifted Inc. in Boston. He was one of the top 20 165-pound powerlifters in the United States in 2014. He completed 300 hours of hands-on training at the American Academy of Personal Training and earned his Training for Warriors Level 2 certification. He is a second degree black belt in Taekwondo.

I met Stan Dutton while recording my boss doing squats at his gym. We immediately hit it off. Two young college dropouts trying to make it as entrepreneurs in the city of higher education (Boston). What's not to like?

Stan and his partner Nathan were running a Training for Warriors franchise location when I met them. Stan impressed me with world records in power lifting and constant enthusiasm for life and business. Plus, he's a genuinely nice guy.

(Nathan is also impressive, I mean, the dude's biceps are enormous.)

Now, Stan is undergoing a totally new transformation. It's an exciting time to be a top-flight personal trainer. Find out how Stan gets crazy results with ordinary people in episode 003 of Hacker Practice.

[2.10] Stan discusses being the personal trainer for the CEO of Pavlok and how he met Justus.

[5.20] Stan describes his philosophy on fitness:

• An empathetic approach without having to a stereotypical "burn them down" trainer and rather "build them up"
• Built on a foundation of integrity
• Stan puts the "fun" in functional fitness.
• Train for consistency and focus on having fun in the process.

[10.30] Stan gives tips on how he would go about training up Justus to become an elite level athlete in only 6 months.

• Train to your genetic physical strengths
• Intensive training needs to be supported with longevity training

[15.00] Justus shares a story about how he broke 2 hours in a half marathon after taking a poop!

[21.30] Stan shares details on the records he broke including lifting 3 times his bodyweight as well as the importance of breathing exercises

• Stan explains how he uses specific breathing exercises to enhance his lifting capability
• Proper breathing is fundamental to a great posture which is critical to effective and efficient powerlifting.
• Breathing needs to occur through your diaphragm. You want to feel like you are breathing through your stomach. Your collarbone should remain relatively stable if performed properly.

[31.00] Discussion on Stan's preferred protein supplements and common misconceptions around creatine

• Creatine, monohydrate for strength and mass building
• Creatine essentially gives your muscles extra energy to be able to max out repetitions. The cells will draw in extra water to enable this process which can cause dehydration. So it's especially important to be vigilant of hydration when using creatine supplements.
• Stan shares how taking too much creatine as an adolescent resulted in severe nausea, loss of appetite and the beginnings of dialysis.
• Taking hormones can result in Gynecomastia (enlarged breasts)

[40.00] Pros/cons of fasting

[42.30] Stan says why he thinks college is a waste of time and explains how getting hands on experience, has set him up for success in the personal training industry

• Not going to college taught Stan how to deal with uncertainty in business relationships

[48.00] "At one point a degree used to be a differentiator...now not having a degree is a differentiator"

[49.15] Why suffering is the best thing that can happen to someone because it forces them to grow and change

[51.00] Stan describes his tips on writing epic emails and copy

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action
• Learn how to be empathetic and put yourself in your customer's shoes. Remember, people buy from people.
• Stan suggests Paul Mort as a fantastic resource for writing quality copy

[58.50] Stan describes specific tactics for selling high value coaching services

• The power of specific personal examples and sharing vulnerability with clients

[1.04.00] Why having a personal coach will help you become a better version of yourself

[1.08.00] Stan describes the "black swan" event that turned his life upside down

[1.15:30] Stan describes his latest venture - busyguyfitness.com an online platform for busy professionals to complete workouts in time constrained environments

[1.18.40] How Ryan Holiday's, Ego is the Enemy helped Stan reframe his decision to work as intern and take a "pay cut"

How you can get in touch with Stan:

Instagram: @standutton165

Website: busyguyfitness.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanDuttonTraining

If you've ever heard the words "Big Data" and wondered what exactly that means, this is the episode for you.

Jesse Anderson is the person Fortune 100's go to when they realize they are ill-equipped to handle the challenges of big data. He is a totally self-taught genius who is currently defining a new field of computer science call Data Engineering.

His insights into the future of information technology and data were fascinating to explore. We also discuss his approach to learning and parenting and teaching creativity.

Here are the notes from my talk with Jesse Anderson:

[2.00] Why we are motivated better by negative feedback than positive feedback Fear of loss is a great motivator

[5.00] Jesse's general thesis of creativity - it is a muscle that needs to be exercised

[8.30] At its core, entrepreneurship is ideas but it doesn't have to be creating something "new" Ideate around an existing solution to a problem and create a better product within an existing category

[10.40] Jesse discusses self education and philosophy on learning Discerning between "education for fun" and "education for profit" College does not teach you how to learn You must understand what motivates you to learn and "learn how to learn" Considerable gap between the real world and academia (e.g. Agile isn't taught at university even though it is a commonly adopted business practice)

[18.30] Jesse stresses creativity in his children's education from a very early age. Creativity, problem solving and interpersonal skills will take you further than rote learning Differentiation between schooling and education: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education" - Mark Twain

[22.00] Jesse teaches companies to deal with Big Data on the levels that companies like Google and Facebook do

[25.00] Big data opportunities begin with "can't" conversations Remove technical barriers with big data

[27.00] Ask yourselves these questions as a startup. Do I currently have big data? Will I have big data? This is especially important because systems that handle small data problems most definitely won't be able to handle big data problems (e.g. train wreck analogy) You need expertise to handle big data - you can't just get a web developer to write big data code

[30.30] The dangers of hiding technical debt

[32.30] Where can someone learn the basics of big data? Jesse has online courses www.Jesse-anderson.com

[35.10] How should businesses use big data? Jesse encourages CXO's should follow this framework: i. Ideate (figure out something you want to do) ii. Establish a business value on this outcome. If you could do this analytic you could make $x more by better understanding "Y". iii. Make a decision based on ROI projection

If you can't understand your customers because of the sheer scale of your data, you have a problem Storing data is cheap, the "value in the data is the perception of the value in the data" - e.g. the analytics required to better understand customers Develop a culture of data empowerment There is a substantial shift towards being able to leverage data in real time. If companies cannot access and make decisions to be able to execute in close to real time, they need to look into big data solutions.

[38.30] Discusses personal big data million monkeys project - http://www.jesse-anderson.com/2011/09/a-few-million-monkeys-randomly-recreate-shakespeare/

[43.00] Developing a company culture of data augmentation (is the company responsive enough to be able to leverage its data)

[44.30] Google cloud vs Amazon Web Services (AWS)

[48.30] Jesse discusses the biggest threats to his career as a big data expert Focus on thought leadership and stay at the "cutting edge" We need to move to a framework which doesn't distinguish between small and big data - it will all be data There will always be a need for learning

[52.30] Jesse discusses how living in Nevada allows him to compete at a global level whilst living the life he wants to live.

[54.50] On future predictions in big data: There will be no distinction between small and big data Jesse actively sought out the solution to this prediction and is working to bring about this paradigm shift in the way we manage data "You have to be part of making your own reality and creating the future, otherwise you will probably fall behind"

[1.07.00] The importance of diversity in teams Jesse has a data minority scholarship for anyone who wants to pursue big data - http://www.jesse-anderson.com/2016/09/big-data-minority-scholarships

[1.11.30] Check out Jesse's book on data engineering: http://www.smokinghand.com/books/data-engineering-teams-book/

[1.16.50] Important points on data engineering for SMEs/SMBs A data engineering team is a multi disciplinary team, not a data warehousing team.

[1.20.00] Why technologists should be given a substantial equity in company formation Technical problems don't just manifest in technical debt they materialise all over the business. There is a compounding effect to these problems as they continue to not get addressed

[1.24.30] Discussion on the global talent pool in data engineering

[1.26.30] Projects Jesse would like to see actualised: Creativity themed workshops for engineers Contributing to open sourced projects such as Apache beam to form more mutually beneficial communities and innovation

[1.30.15] What questions would Jesse want to know from a B2B sales expert? What worked best with B2B sales? How do I get in front of the right people in the organisation? What is the best way to close sales? How do you choose the best price point (pricing models)?

[1.32.00] Jesse adds to Justus' top tier list for interviewees: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Co-Founders of Google Sundar Pichai, CEO Google

[1.35.00] We have to identify what a person's selfish gain is in order to motivate them to do something [1.35.30] Jesse's book recommendations (he suggests audiobooks): Anything from Will Durant - https://www.amazon.com/Will-Durant/e/B00N3MKTAI The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business - https://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/1591845572 Vince Flynn Mitch Rapp series - https://www.goodreads.com/series/40589-mitch-rapp

[1.41.00] How you can contact Jesse For Jesse's 8 week course on big data: www.Jesse-anderson.com For business enquiries: www.smokinghand.com