The Novice

Can you have a family, a successful company making millions of dollars in annual revenue, and do it all at your own pace, with a remote office company, while having a life that you want to live? Vlad sure can, and we think you can too. Life is too short to live someone else’s dream. The story of Webflow and life advice from Vlad, in this episode.

Links from this episode 👉

Webflow

Vlad Magdalin

Kirill Zubovsky

Webflow University

pps. Much thanks to Sessions.Blue for the cool intake music.

One day, needing a break from his entrepreneur endeavors, Drew rented an RV and took his entire family on a trip around the United States, for a whole year. This is his story.

👉 Drew Wilson

Bryce Roberts is the founder of Indie.vc , an investment fund that is leading the new counter-culture startup movement, focusing on revenue and sustainable growth, rather than unhealthy obsession with raising money to achieve a billion-dollar valuation. Fueled by his own desire to do things differently, Bryce lives in Utah with his wife and five children, he works from home office, and while working hard, also finds the time to be a hands-on dad and have a life too.

If you like startups, venture investment, or would like to learn about it and find out for yourself why Bryce is a great funding partner for you, you would love the whole episode. Yet, if you only want to hear his advice on how to spend meaningful time with your family while also working in a hard-stress environment, skip to about 40 minutes into the episode for a quick work of wisdom.

Big thanks to Create33 for hosting Indie.vc event and for giving me space to record this episode.

Jason is a co-founder of Dent, a company that creates and supports a community of entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives who are driven to “put a dent in the universe.” He lives in Seattle with his wife Monica Guzman, the founder of The Evergrey, and together they are raising two adorable multilingual kids. We sat down to talk about their startup journey and how to manage two creative jobs while raising two kids.

When he was six years old, Roel lost his mom to cancer and ended up in the foster care. Abuse, drugs, physical violence and the entire system that is structured to keep the kids in it, instead of helping them grow, Roel tells is all.

Valuable to hear for the adults that work in the foster care, and most definitely 10x more valuable for the kids, to know they are not alone. If you know someone who should hear this, please share.

Emily Campbell is a product designer based out of Moab, Utah where she lives with her husband and three kids. She makes the money, he plays with the kids, and together they are having an adventure of a lifetime.

In this episode: (1:00) From being a law student in a big city, to a cross-country road-trip to be a raft guide in California, to eventually settling in a small town in Utah. (5:00) Living in a small town of Moab, Utah. (7:00) What does a family life and activities look like in Moab, for those of us city dwellers who don’t know. (10:00) Road trips with children (13:20) Inside the head of a five-year-old.

(16:40) Growing up in a small town, challenges and benefits for kids and their parents. (22:00) How to help your older child to feel loved and special when you have two new/young kids in the house yearning for all the attention. (26:00) How to have awkward conversations with children. (32:00) The social pressure of dads having to provide for the family in a family when mom is the main bread winner. (38:40) Is coffee actually good for your children? (41:00) Kids health, drug abuse, and support network for a family life in small town America (47:00) What it’s like to be an outside in a small town. (49:00) Access to opportunities, uncertainly, embracing change, traveling the world and getting in trouble with the school district. (53:00) Dad envy, birthing a child and the value of bonding with children early on. (63:00) Giving yourself up and the lifestyle you want for yourself. (65:00) Thinking of having kids? Here’s your ultimate advice.

Emily Campbell on the webs at Elou Design

Emily on Twitter

Moab, Utah on Google Maps

Rad Dad podcast

Michael FitzGerald is a prolific American writer and the founder of Submittable.com. He lives and works in Missoula, Montana with his wife and two kids. Although it isn't the easiest place to run a company from, Michael lives for the joy of living, and Missoula is where it's at.

The day after raising their Series A funding, Michael found out that he had a terminal cancer and he was supposed to be dead in six months. Fortunately, thanks to the advancements in experimental medicine and a whole bunch of awesome friends, he was able to get the treatment and is here with us today.

This episode will bring you closer to FitzGerald and inspire you to take full advantage of every single day in your life. Enjoy!

One day a film student from NYU changed advertising forever. In a few short months Adam became the man who did it all - he was producing, casting, directing and starring in for the ads of the most recognizable names in tech. Square, Airbnb, Airtable, TrueCar, Slack, Webflow, Groupon ... the list goes on forever. The story of Sandwich video and how to run a successful business and have a family too. Enjoy!

David Heinemeier Hansson is the founder of Ruby on Rails and co-founder and CTO of Basecamp. He is an outspoken defender of living a fulfilling life, and a true believer that it does not have to be crazy at work. When not writing code, David enjoys endurance car racing and time with his wife and two kids.

Over the years, David has become a very influential person in technology and business, and has developed a number of philosophies which are helping him live a happy and fulfilling life, a life in which there is time for business and pleasure.

As you will hear for yourself, happiness is a simple secret. You too could have a great life and ensure that you kids have one too. David does not try to hide what it takes to be truly happy. At the end, it is on you to give it a try. Are you ready?

Key discussion points:

What drives DHH to come to work every day (01:00)
Can you be at a place where you are only doing things that you like? (06:00)
Happiness, the stoic philosophy and the concept of existentialism (08:30)
How to be satisfied with life and work (13:00)
The power of intrinsic motivation and how David nearly failed high-school (17:00)
Benefits of growing up in a socially democratic state, Denmark (28:00)

ReWork - New York Times Bestseller (32:00)
It Does Not Have to Be Crazy At Work (39:00)
When enough is enough (44:50)

How to make a fortune in car racing (50:00)
Entrepreneurship and the value of balancing risk (58:00)
The goal of living and free-range children (1:03:00)
Modern parent obsession with obedience (1:09:00)
Parenting and equal and how to teach your kids about money (01:15:27)

Books by David and 37Signals / Basecamp

Rework - New York Times Bestseller
Remote: Office not required
It does not have to be crazy at work

Books that David mentioned during the show

Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life
Punished by Rewards

Popular blog posts by DHH

The day I became a millionaire
RECONSIDER

To see an amazing car collection, as well as beautiful hills of Malibu

DHH on Instagram

Lastly, other podcasts with DHH that were thoroughly enjoyable to hear:

The Tim Ferris Show (warning: very-very-very long)
The Unmistakable Creative (my personal favorite)

How do you enable your kids to create rather than consume? If you are a serial entrepreneur like Dan Shapiro, the answer is clear - make a device that can cut through any material with lasers, then put it in every household in America. Shapiro got inspired to create this company by his kids, and now he comes on Rad Dad to talk startups, kids and creativity.