An interview with Jesse Lawler of SmartDrugSmarts.comWe've long being looking forward to getting Jesse "The Dominator" Lawler back on the Hobo CEO podcast. Mr Lawler, well known in Hobo circles for his unbending focus and ability execute superhuman amounts of work and play concurrently, is a legend in his own lifetime.We sit the man down and dig deep into the inner workings of The Dominator. We find out what makes Jesse tick, his motivation, thought process, the recipe with which he fuels his engines and his evil plans for a futuristic world in which one can purchase a replacement liver from Amazon, having it delivered to your door via drone, with Amazon Prime customers having the drone perform a liver insertion operation at no extra cost.

"I think taking a nap is always a highly defensible position."

Episode ContentsJesse's story:"The Dominator" nickname explanation

Transition from freelance -> managing -> VietnamDomination strategies:Cat videos and Being 100% Strict

What's Jesse's end game and motivation?

Chris' Icarus storyDietary experiments:Vegan

Paleo

Embracing Fads

Fasting & Ketosis

More than just dietMore Mr Lawler

On the twitters.

Smart Drugs Smarts Podcast.

And Jesse's software business, Evil Genius Technologies.

Mentioned in This Episode

Smart Drugs Smarts episode on Ketosis.

Podcast Pop - podcasting app.

In this episode Chris and Nico share their experiences with (randomized) days of fasting.Kicked off by Nassim Taleb’s paper Fasting and his resolutions for 2015, Nico did some research, started fasting, and published Random Days of Fasting on his blog.Part of the research and inspiration came from Jesse’s podcast episode "Ketosis vs. Cancer". From this also developed the idea of a "Water Fast Week", starting February, 16th, which Jesse organizes. It’s actually "remote fasting", so Nico will join while Chris has already started his 7 day water fast.

Fasting isn’t particularly new or modern. As Nico recently learned, Buddhist monks of the forest tradition only have one meal per day and often go for days without food under certain circumstances.Tip for those interested in Buddhist teachings, there are a number of books by Ajahn Jayasaro and also Dhamma talks available in podcast format or on his Youtube channel.Chris also shares his experiences with extended periods of fasting and adds a few graybeard tips to those who are curious to give fasting a try.Disclaimer: Chris and Nico are no doctors or health experts. They simply share their own personal experiences. Consult with your doctor to make sure you are in a fit condition before you do any fasting.Important: If you decide to do any fasting, make sure you are properly hydrated, i.e. drink lots of water.

In this episode we talk about how Chris seems to be in this advantageous situation in Tokyo. There are people coming through and visiting Japan’s capital on a regular basis – and Chris gets to meet them all, show off how well he knows the city, and don’t forget the free dinners.What is it like living in Tokyo as a foreigner?

The language barrier: Are you watching Japanese movies?

Cultural differences: How much are you hanging out with locals?

Food: So much more than sushi.

Visa: Being the representative of a/your company in Japan. (More on the subject on TokyoCheapo.com)

Safety:

"There is no theft in Tokyo."Convenience:

"Everything just works."Digital Hoboism: Can you work from cafés?

Staying organized:

"You can have a barbecue in the park. You just have to book your slot a few weeks in advance."

The default measure of a business' success is its balance sheet. However, in this episode we invite you to "move the goal posts" slightly away from profit, and more towards usefulness. The idea of doing something that's not just profitable, but useful and helpful, i.e. not just making a quick buck, or selling crap to people that don't need it.We don't require vast quantities of cash to be happy. Moreover studies suggest that once you reach a certain (surprisingly low) level of financial flexibility, there are rapidly diminishing returns from more and more money. So as an entrepreneur, instead of being purely focused on financial goals, we suggest also looking at how your work is impacting and helping the world around you, a more long-term and sustainable pursuit without the downsides of "maximising shareholder value".Should you start with social entrepreneurship or make some money first, then pursue more "noble" goals?

There's no objective (moral) right or wrong, but there are consequences

Why are we so fixated on numbers? (hint: it's easier to graph profit than usefulness)

Discretionary time as a new metric

Further Reading:

Small Giants - "companies that chose to be great instead of big"Are you already rich?

If trying to create a helpful business is too much effort, but you're already sitting on a load of cash and feel guilty, then through some money at a one of the more efficient charities out there - consider it a economical version of carbon offsetting :)

A company that is capable of running location-independent, has the option or choice. And choice is always better than no choice. #antifragileYour favourite hobos seized the opportunity to record whilst waiting for a severely delayed plane and in between some chess matches at Da Nang international airport.Going remote is a step towards tight operations in running your business – establishing the optionality, not the obligation to locate somewhere, anywhere or nowhere.Have to focus on good communication, documentation and processes.

People need to work independently of one another (due to different time zones).

Treat motivation as a barometer of the quality of work and work environment (from the book Remote, by 37 signals)

Rather than personally blame people for their bad nature, it's better to categorically blame humans and instead to build systems that insulate us from those potential problems.Hobo Suitcase

Ian Robinson of Freedom PodcastingRefereneces

Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You

Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less (Third Edition)

Remote: Office Not RequiredPodcast editing and production by Podcast Magic

This week Chris sits down with Pat Larsen to discuss mindset and share some epiphanies that have forged their entrepreneurial paths. Pat talks about his technique for finding a deep sense of contentment and separating himself from "ephemeral" highs and lows.Sorry, no hobo suitcase this week!Podcast editing and production by Podcast Magic

In this episode, Chris and Nico are looking at "Why spiritual people hate the word success, and business people hate spirituality".Chris had an epiphany that we humans are mostly following scripts that other people have written.There is a red flag: "Is there a human behind this?" can be used as a detection device. "Who is going to profit from me believing this?"Then again we look at how this relates to the power of nonsense.Remember: Models (of the world) are never true or false; they are simply more or less useful / functional.Chris cites the "Green lumber fallacy" (see below).It’s not necessarily a problem to have or act on false assumptions. It may be smarter to assume that your model is wrong anyway; it might still be functional.Mentioned in this episode:

- Book excerpt from "Choose yourself!" by James Altucher ($ 1.23 for Kindle version)- Green lumber fallacy quote from Antifragile by Nassim Taleb:“In one of the rare noncharlatanic books in finance, descriptively called What I Learned Losing A Million Dollars, the protagonist makes a big discovery. He remarks that a fellow called Joe Siegel, the most active trader in a commodity called “green lumber” actually thought that it was lumber painted green (rather than freshly cut lumber, called green because it had not been dried). And he made a living, even a fortune trading the stuff! Meanwhile the narrator was into theories of what caused the price of commodities to move and went bust.The fact is that predicting the orderflow in lumber and the price dynamics narrative had little to do with these details —not the same ting. Floor traders are selected in the most nonnarrative manner, just by evolution in the sense that nice arguments don’t make much difference.”- Jiddu Krishnamurti (on Wikipedia)- Krishnamurti’s dissolution speech "Truth is a pathless land" (text version)- Dr. Clare W. Graves (Wikipedia / the book "The never ending quest")Podcast Editing by PodcastMagic

Nico and Chris get down and dirty on the hobo's greatest power - being a flaneur! Hear about the guys’ anecdotes and opinions on flaneuring around without a fixed plan (as opposed to being a well organised "tourist" with everything planned in advance), across business, pleasure and travel.

Mentioned: Fellow hobo and master of the internets Alexej reportedly refuses to book a hotel room more than 15 seconds in advance.Hobo Suitcase: SaaS mastermind and "parallel" entrepreneur John Reineck of flexibilityhq.comPodcast Editing and Production: PodcastMagic

This week Chris unveils to the world his new concept "Under Optimizing". For all the high performance tweakers, tinkerers, 110%ers, listen carefully - this could save you from pushing too far in the wrong direction, doom, destruction and neglected pets."don't be fooled it's not the optimization that counts"What music makes a hobo dance?

Hildegard von Bingen - choral music from the 12th Centuary.

Steve Reich, Electric Counterpoint - modern minimalist composer

Ahmad Jamal - JazzHobo suitcase

This week we have a break from the usual internet hipsters and today's suitcase interview is with a travelling massage & reiki practictioner/teacher - Maya.Editing and production by Podcast Magic

In this episode your hosts talk about their reasons to do the hoboCEO podcast, the style and format they chose, what they know and don’t know about their audience.They also touch on the hobo lifestyle, having less commitments and other implications of permanent traveling.Hobo Suitcase Interview

As a very special guest on the hobo suitcase entrepreneur this time, we got: Kimberly Rich (@kimbos_slice)Mentioned in this episode:

During the interview Kim and Chris are mentioning Mameshiba.In their talk Nico mentions the Nassim Taleb interview "my rules for life". Here’s his favorite quote:It's his "fuck you" money that allows him to do exactly what he wants, when he wants, beholden to no one.Editing and production by Podcast Magic