Outliers with Daniel Scrivner: Explore the Greatest Innovators, Founders, and Investors

The Playing Field by Graham Duncan is BY FAR the best piece of writing I've read on the journey we must all make to reach mastery in our fields. While Graham writes about the journey to master the art of investing, everything in it is broadly generalizable.

In Graham’s view we must all progress from apprentice, to professional, to self-actualization, operating at scale with impact, and eventually (if we make it) mentoring the new generation. It’s a wonderful meditation on mastery — what it is, what it looks like, and most importantly the journey to get there.

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The Playing Field by Graham Duncan

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In 2016, Apple published a limited edition anthology, chronicling the last 20 years of Apple's designs simply titled Designed by Apple in California. The book is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs.

“The idea of genuinely trying to make something great for humanity was Steve’s motivation from the beginning, and it remains both our ideal and our goal as Apple looks to the future,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer. “This archive is intended to be a gentle gathering of many of the products the team has designed over the years. We hope it brings some understanding to how and why they exist, while serving as a resource for students of all design disciplines.”

The book was written and curated over an eight-year period by Jony Ive and features photos by award-winning photographer Andrew Zuckerman. All of the photos were shot in a deliberately spare style that has become a hallmark of Apple's design aesthetic. The books 450 images illustrates Apple’s design process as well as its finished products.

Summary‍

In this episode, Daniel Scrivner explores the book 'Designed by Apple in California' and reads the introduction written by Jony Ive. The book is a collection of Apple's designs over the last 20 years and serves as an archive of their work. Jony Ive dedicated the book to Steve Jobs, highlighting his essential role in the creation of these products. The book showcases Apple's design aesthetic and the evolution of forms and materials. It emphasizes the importance of simplicity and communication in product design.

Chapters‍

(00:00) Introduction‍

(01:19) Designed by Apple in California‍‍

(03:13) Objective Representation of Work‍‍

(04:11) Collaboration and Design Process‍‍

(05:05) Evolution of Forms and Materials‍‍‍

(06:05) Simplicity and Communication‍‍‍

(‍07:01) Dedication to Steve Jobs‍‍‍

(08:24) Book Overview‍‍‍

(09:51) Johnny Ive's Perspective

Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com

Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy

Learn more about Steve Jobs:

https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com

Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy

In 2016, Apple published a limited edition anthology, chronicling the last 20 years of Apple's designs simply titled Designed by Apple in California. The book is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs.

“The idea of genuinely trying to make something great for humanity was Steve’s motivation from the beginning, and it remains both our ideal and our goal as Apple looks to the future,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer. “This archive is intended to be a gentle gathering of many of the products the team has designed over the years. We hope it brings some understanding to how and why they exist, while serving as a resource for students of all design disciplines.”

The book was written and curated over an eight-year period by Jony Ive and features photos by award-winning photographer Andrew Zuckerman. All of the photos were shot in a deliberately spare style that has become a hallmark of Apple's design aesthetic. The books 450 images illustrates Apple’s design process as well as its finished products.

This is a breakdown of Jony Ive's introduction at the beginning of the book.

Learn more about Steve Jobs:

https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #118, we explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall. 

“Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun

EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED)

https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/118

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT

https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/118 

CHAPTERS

This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:02:37 – From Google to Forward

00:09:01 – Why founders should be problem-oriented

00:12:31 – Advising the President on the future of technology

00:17:22 – The root problem of the healthcare industry

00:25:24 – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service

00:30:01 – The imminent fall of health insurance

00:35:06 – Does the healthcare system really matter?

00:45:47 – Why medical specialties don’t make sense

00:55:02 – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it

ABOUT FORWARD

Adrian Aoun is founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal.

This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration.

Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths.

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Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182

ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY

Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK.

Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy

ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER

Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts.

Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #118, we explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall. 

“Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun

EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED)

https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/118 

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT

https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/118 

CHAPTERS

This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:02:37 – From Google to Forward

00:09:01 – Why founders should be problem-oriented

00:12:31 – Advising the President on the future of technology

00:17:22 – The root problem of the healthcare industry

00:25:24 – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service

00:30:01 – The imminent fall of health insurance

00:35:06 – Does the healthcare system really matter?

00:45:47 – Why medical specialties don’t make sense

00:55:02 – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it

ABOUT FORWARD

Adrian Aoun is founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal.

This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration.

Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths.

💌 FREE NEWSLETTER

https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter

🎙 LISTEN ON

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775

Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182

ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY

Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK.

Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy

ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER

Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts.

Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summary

In this episode of Friday Five, Daniel Scrivner shares his five favorite ideas from the book 'Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success' by Ken Segall. The book explores Apple's obsession with simplicity and how it has contributed to the company's success. The five ideas and stories discussed include starting with small groups of smart people, expressing a single idea clearly, the power of speaking human, being a ruthless enforcer of high standards, and the importance of marketing based on values.

Takeaways

Start with small groups of smart people and keep them small to nurture quality thinking.

People will always respond better to a single idea expressed clearly.

Simplify communication by speaking in human terms and using everyday language.

Be a ruthless enforcer of high standards and never settle for 'good enough'.

In a complicated world, marketing is about values and being authentically different.

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(01:55) Chapter 1: Start with small groups of smart people and keep them small

(04:21) Chapter 2: People will always respond better to a single idea expressed clearly

(06:38) Chapter 3: 1,000 songs in your pocket and the power of speaking human

(07:59) Chapter 4: Good enough is not good enough. Be a ruthless enforcer of high standards

(08:52) Chapter 5: In a complicated world, marketing is about values

Five of my favorite ideas and stories on simplicity from Steve Jobs:

Start with small groups of smart people—and keep them small. 

People will always respond better to a single idea expressed clearly.

“1,000 songs in your pocket” and the power of speaking human.

Good enough is not good enough. Be a ruthless enforcer of high standards.

In a complicated world, marketing is about values.

Read this episode on Substack: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/5-lessons-on-simplicity-from-steve

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YDezSVbdGy4

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q

Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/subscribe

Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains." — Steve Jobs

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqjzmm-wkoo

Read the newsletter version: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/insanely-simple-book-breakdown-part-2

Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/175

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q

To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Revolution after revolution, Jobs proved that Simplicity is the most powerful force in business. It guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers.

As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection after Steve Jobs returned. He helped create such marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come.

Now Segall puts you inside a conference room with Jobs and on the receiving end of his midnight phone cals. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process.

You'll also learn the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's historic success — which you can use to propel your own organization.

Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com

Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy

Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains." — Steve Jobs

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqjzmm-wkoo

Read the newsletter version: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/insanely-simple-book-breakdown-part-2

Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/175

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q

To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Revolution after revolution, Jobs proved that Simplicity is the most powerful force in business. It guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers.

As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection after Steve Jobs returned. He helped create such marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come.

Now Segall puts you inside a conference room with Jobs and on the receiving end of his midnight phone cals. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process.

You'll also learn the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's historic success — which you can use to propel your own organization.

Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com

Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy

Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains." — Steve Jobs

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/d3IRe7CVkA0

Read the newsletter version: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/insanely-simple-book-breakdown

Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/174

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q

To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Revolution after revolution, Jobs proved that Simplicity is the most powerful force in business. It guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers.

As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection after Steve Jobs returned. He helped create such marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come.

Now Segall puts you inside a conference room with Jobs and on the receiving end of his midnight phone cals. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process.

You'll also learn the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's historic success — which you can use to propel your own organization.

Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com

Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy

Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean, to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains." — Steve Jobs

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/d3IRe7CVkA0

Read the newsletter version: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com/p/insanely-simple-book-breakdown

Show notes: https://www.outlieracademy.com/episode/174

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/47HC36Q

To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Revolution after revolution, Jobs proved that Simplicity is the most powerful force in business. It guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers.

As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection after Steve Jobs returned. He helped create such marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come.

Now Segall puts you inside a conference room with Jobs and on the receiving end of his midnight phone cals. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process.

You'll also learn the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's historic success — which you can use to propel your own organization.

Subscribe to newsletter: https://newsletter.outlieracademy.com

Subscribe to podcast: https://pod.link/outlieracademy

Learn more about Steve Jobs: https://www.danielscrivner.com/articles/who-was-steve-jobs-wisdom-from-the-man-who-built-apple-and-pixar

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices