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Pencil Problems
Pencil Problems episodes
- Episode 39: Tales from the gig economy
Nick and Kent take a different approach on the gig economy and talk about how software, not just hardware is making it possible to crowdsource information in new and interesting ways. Nick argues that it's all about incentives, and Kent and his Dad re-invent power on drive home from the cottage.
1 hr 27 min - Episode 38: Life at a VC Backed Startup
Today Nick picks Kent's brain about his time at Tilt and life at a VC backed startup in the Valley.
Tilt allowed users to pool funds for objectives in a simple, social, and frictionless way online. At it's zenith it was valued at almost a billion dollars and has since been acquired by Airbnb.
1 hr 40 min - Episode 37: Starting an e-commerce store. Deep dive + Tips & Tricks.
How To Start an E-commerce Store That Doesn't Dropship
1 hr 45 min - Episode 36: The Other Side of "Hey I have an app idea!"
If you make stuff I'm sure you've been approached about an idea for app or website or video or movie. We talk through our thought process and considerations when taking on other people's projects.
1 hr 40 min - Episode 35: Feedback From My Editor
Nick gets his writing edited by Michelle Brown! They discuss how this could translate into a book. She goes over bigger on-going themes, framing devices, structure, language. It's a fun listen for anyone who has been following along with my blog or for anyone who writes!
Blog: http://medium.com/fatherhood
Michelle's book, Safe Words: https://www.amazon.ca/Safe-Words-Michelle-Brown/dp/192679472950 min - Episode 34: How much would you pay for Google?
Kent and Nick talk about paying for software vs. ad based payment models. They discuss how much they would pay for services like Google, and Facebook and speculate on what the future of these payment models look like.
1 hr 24 min - Episode 33: Project Update + Goals + WWDC
Nick is back from Apple's worldwide developer conference (WWDC) and answers Kent's questions about it. Before that Nick and Kent talk about their progress towards the goals, they set a few weeks ago for their side projects. Nick is doing well, Kent isn't.
54 min - Episode 32: The Dip
We hit a dip in our projects! Kent's e-commerce store, Nick's book project, even the podcast. It's starting to feel like work and not like fun. We talk through it all and we hope you can relate!
1 hr 31 min - Episode 31: Running an e-commerce store, cash flow, debt and financing, buying products, managing suppliers, calculating margins and more... A deep retail dive.
Kent recently appeared as a guest on This Commerce Life, a podcast about all things retail, and gets to ask Phil and Kenny, two industry veterans a ton of questions about Able Cells. They cover inventory, managing suppliers, cash flow, margins, debt and financing and more.
Listen to This Commerce Life here.
59 min - Episode 30: Is Google sentient? How do we build side projects in the age of strong AI? Plus some WWDC predictions.
Nick and Kent discuss the Google Assistant demo where an AI places a call and books a reservation. Is this software sentient? No. And how does this shape ambition when building side projects? Are certain industries dead? Plus some WWDC predictions.
1 hr 28 min
About Pencil Problems
From the publisher's feed
Kent Fenwick (@kentf) and Nick Shim (@nim342) talk about their side projects, their day jobs, technology, the future, philosophy, 90s action movies, and much much more.