Magic Minds

Magic Minds

By Magic MindSociety & CulturePhilosophy
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Magic Minds episodes

  • #30 — Dave Lomas — Prophet in the Valley

    "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder and NYTimes bestselling author 

    Today's episode is with the founder and lead pastor of Reality SF, a church where my wife and I attend in San Francisco. Unlike the many founders that I've invited here on Below The Line, what Dave Lomas started was a church, not a company, right in the heart of San Francisco. The Bay Area is known for the tech scene... not necessarily the church scene. But his story is not unlike many other unpredictable paths toward impact. 

    Dave and his church know their followers, their doubts, the daily influences of being in the Bay Area, and he speaks to the audience each Sunday with a captivating awareness of all of this. You can listen to any of his lectures and sermons online on their own podcast and they are truly mind blowing. 

    It's a really nice grounding wire for me as a creator to regularly go and listen to someone talk about something that has nothing to do with entrepreneurship, but has everything to do with being useful in one's community. I love this specific conversation more than any other interaction I've had with Dave. It's by far the longest, focused conversation of ours, and easily the most honest interaction I've had with him or any pastor. So I cannot overstate the gratitude I have for how open he is with his life with his congregation, and I think it has something to do with it being one of the fastest growing churches in California. 

    I think you're going to really enjoy this episode. So let's get into it with Dave Lomas. 

    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.

    2 hr 13 min
  • #29 — Sam Parr — Natural Born Hustler

    "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder and NYTimes bestselling author

    Today we chat with Sam Parr, founder of “The Hustle” one of the fastest growing media companies here in America. They have talented writers who create amazing newsletters and compelling content on the most important business news and trends. It covers some really interesting topics outside of what you would normally find in a business-focused media company.

    I met Sam in 2015 when I was invited to speak at their convention, Hustle Con. Actually, I'm going to be speaking again on December 2nd and 3rd of this year at Hustle Con here in the Bay Area.

    Sam and I touched on a handful of interesting topics. He's not the conventional founder that raises VC funding in the Bay Area — He's done it completely differently and this conversation is just as unique as Sam has built his business.

    We chat about him giving up alcohol 6 years ago, getting started in the hotdog stand business, and the way he built The Hustle with very little money. We also talked about him hitting moments with The Hustle that made him want to quit (despite its growth trajectory) and before hitting a new stride in the last 12 months. All of that and more on today’s episode with Sam.

    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.

    1 hr 38 min
  • #28 — Cal Fussman — Rules of Storytelling

    "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder and NYTimes bestselling author

    Calvin “Cal” Fussman is a world famous interviewer, a New York Times bestselling author, public speaker, and the creator of the podcast called Big Questions. He was the Writer-at-Large of Esquire, interviewing everyone from Richard Branson to Muhammad Ali to Serena Williams to Robert De Niro.

    He's on a mission to increase our collective curiosity and inspire storytelling everywhere he goes. We talked about his story of becoming a journalist and the moments of honesty with people like Muhammad Ali that has stuck with him ever since.

    We cover the rules of storytelling which is a phrase I never heard before but certainly, there are principles that I think we all know deep down, and he articulates them pretty powerfully. We cover all those with other topics and our time together, and I really hope he enjoyed it as much as I did.

    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.

    2 hr 10 min
  • #27 — Joseph Emmett — Yoga For Your Intellect
    "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder and NYTimes bestselling author
    “Attach, you lose, detach, you gain”. That simple phrase and along with the phrase “Yoga for the intellect” on a little pamphlet in a hotel in Southern California caught my eye.
    I was there with my wife for a weekend and got lured into a session with a guy that looked like one of those folks at the airports dressed in orange monk garb, with few possessions, and maybe some wooden beads. That's what I was looking at on this pamphlet.
    I was so intrigued that I ended up going to the seminar as it promised to include free yoga as well. We met Joseph, a modern day monk from Houston, Texas that had spent 10 years studying Vedanta in India. We started chatting and it was so fascinating because as a creator, there were so many things that he pointed out, that I have knowledge about but never articulated — like the way he did. That concept of whatever you're attached to, that attachment actually repels it from you — like holding something you love in your hands too tightly and actually restricting it.
    It was an entire afternoon filled with very simple explanations of simple concepts that were just deep beneath so many other thoughts and things that have gone through my mind for years and years. And when I started to think about the concept of the podcast, following the mental journey of creation, and thinking about things that have caused me so much stress in life, I immediately thought of the living antithesis, Joseph. He is the most carefree and stress free individual I’ve ever met. But that's just the beginning of what makes him so interesting.
    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.
    2 hr 16 min
  • #26 — DeepDive into Startup Fundraising — with Marc McCabe

    "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder and NYTimes bestselling author

    Today's episode is another deep dive experiment into a topic that every founder dreads thinking about — fundraising. Similar to what we recently did regarding a deep dive on remote work, this episode goes deep (like super deep) into the weeds on fundraising strategies, tactics, and mistakes to avoid.

    This is always one of the most asked about topics, and I thought it'd be fun to do an episode with Marc who has helped founders raise over $100m in the last 12 months alone. He shares a lot of nuanced insight on the entire process of getting investors to give you millions of dollars, and getting time with him is not cheap, so I'm glad that he's able to spend a few hours with us for free — enjoy this deep dive with Marc and shoot us notes on any other deep dives you want us to do.

    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.

    2 hr 26 min
  • #25 — DeepDive into Remote Work — With Hiten Shah
    "The most exciting new podcast in the startup world.” - Eric Ries, Founder and NYTimes bestselling author
    Today's episode is a deep dive — Something we're trying out where we go deep into certain topics that people have been asking about, and today is with an expert (maybe the expert?) on the subject of remote work (work that is distributed by many team-members in different geographical locations instead of all under one roof). This is a trend that seems to be here to stay... so we might as well learn as much as we can about the pros, cons, and best practices from someone like Hiten.
    More on Hiten: He has been building companies for 15 years, solely with distributed workforces and people who work from home. He has built some pretty big businesses this way. He's become one of the experts whom people reach out to learn more about building a remote team, remote business, or remote culture. And today, they've just published perhaps the most comprehensive data driven report and research on remote work. 
    I'm really excited to have him back on the podcast. This time, we’ll talk about the research that they just posted and dive into the topic of remote work including the pros, cons, and tips to get the most out of the trend that seems is here to stay. 
    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.
    2 hr
  • #24 — Check-In (2) — Peter Carnochan with James Beshara
    Today's episode is a really special one. It is with Dr. Peter Carnochan, a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, author, and executive coach. He quickly became one of the best executive coaches in Silicon Valley in the last few years with his deep understanding of the psychological journey of a founder.
    I was introduced to Peter years ago by Alexis Ohanian, one of the co-founders of Reddit, and ever since then he's been my executive coach (and compatriot) through a pretty tumultuous journey of creation at various points. I felt like it would be great to have him on the podcast every so often to go over his key takeaways from the previous episodes. We did about 10 episodes and listeners loved it so much that I'm doing it again, and we'll probably keep this cadence of about every ten episodes where we’ll have him talk about his insights from the previous episodes. So let's get into it with Dr. Peter Carnochan.
    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.
    1 hr 32 min
  • #23 — Kelly Starrett — Foundational Thinking
    Kelly Starrett is one of the most widely followed individuals in the health and fitness space. He is a NY Times bestselling author, a physical trainer, physical therapist, and mobility expert. That last thing I mentioned, mobility expertise, is one of the more fascinating parts of Kelly's work in the health and fitness world — where just about everyone is so focused on the results... the look, the tone, or the strength that one is going for. 
    However, his work is dedicated to the foundations: posture, mobility, daily habits. And that is perfect for a “below the line” look on the foundations for excellence.
    The other reason I'm pumped to talk to Kelly is because many founders, creators, leaders, etc (just about 95% of people I know) don't put enough time and attention to our physical health; the ultimate foundation to personal progress. And I'm a big believer of the old phrase “:train the body and the mind will follow” rather than the opposite. So let's get into it with the man that thinks about foundations perhaps more than any other person I know.
    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.
    57 min
  • #22 — 40,000 — Voicemails Episode
    BTL Hotline: 510-214-3717
    In celebration of 40,000 downloads, we’re going to take a few calls and answer the questions from listeners directly. This episode covers some great questions from listeners as well as a note James wrote to himself while going through perhaps the toughest time in his career. Check it out and let us know what you think of this experiment at twitter.com/gobelowtheline — And call 510-214-3717 to ask a question, any question, and we will do this every time we pass another 10,000 downloads (should be around every 2 weeks at this rate).
    44 min
  • #21 — fnnch — Art. Everywhere.

    fnnch is perhaps the most recognizable name in street art in San Francisco with his mega-size honey bears, pop-art lips, poppy flowers and poodles gracing our city in the unlikeliest of places. He wasn't always pursuing a passion in art, much less attempting a career in it. And he rarely speaks publicly about what it's like to be him.

    He is also known for being the only anonymous TED speaker to date, and this episode goes deep into the “below the line” version of someone that has very little “above the line” outside of his public work that —by design— is through the medium of street art so that everyone can enjoy the aesthetic upgrade in and around the city.

    We talked about that very illegal act, and the acute fact that not everyone enjoys it. We chat about how he's taken the risks and intentional, exceptionally hard-working steps to become the prolific creator he is, as well as riding lucky waves to become one of the rare artists to make a living from his art within just a few years of picking up a spray-paint can. Enjoy this episode with fnnch.

    You can email James questions directly at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline — “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts LLC.

    2 hr 48 min

About Magic Minds

From the publisher's feed

Dive into "Magic Minds" with host James Beshara, where wisdom and innovation meet comedy and storytelling from the world's most brilliant minds. From the heart of startup culture to the depths of…