How to Focus and Think (Cal Newport)

We’re giving away $100,000 for AppSumo’s Black Friday Giveaway. This week, as my baby sleeps and makes cute noises beside me, I’m sharing parenting lessons I’ve applied to running my business. I’m also sharing a brilliant new business model I recently discovered that can be adapted to countless industries. Also my takeaways from an awesome book you have to read! Whether you’re absorbed in family life, plotting your genius business idea, or looking to see a return on your investments, there’s something in this episode for you.  In this conversation, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: Why parenting forces you to clarify your priorities. The genius behind scalable business models like Baselang—and how you can adapt them. Key lessons from Kochland on reinvesting, tracking ROI, and leveraging your strengths. All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way. Check out Baselang and go learn some Spanish. Your first week is just $1, so there's no better time to begin. You have to read this book Kochland by Christopher Leonard. It’s the story of how three brothers—David, Charles, and Bill Koch—transformed a small Kansas-based oil company into Koch Industries (a $125+ billion empire and 2nd largest privately-owned company in the world).    

My book Million Dollar Weekend is for aspiring entrepreneurs who dream of starting their own business. I break down the process of starting into simple steps that you can do in just one weekend. Something clicked for me during a grueling bike climb - I wanted to quit. And isn’t that how it feels for everyone sometimes, in business and life? But it’s our ability to push through the right kind of suffering that drives real success.   In this week's episode, I dive into my own personal struggles and professional setbacks, sharing how pushing through those tough moments fueled growth at AppSumo and helped me reach my biggest goals.   In this episode, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: How embracing suffering can lead to long-term rewards? Why voluntary suffering can prepare us for unexpected hardships? How to align pain with our purpose? All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way.  

Check out my book Million Dollar Weekend, which helps you start businesses in just 48 hours. Check it out at milliondollarweekend.com. In this episode, I share what I’ve been up to during the past few months, including why I haven’t released new content since August. I took time off for paternity leave and embraced the joy (and challenges) of being a new dad. This break gave me a chance to reflect on how important it is to take a step back and pause from work and doing the same thing every day.   In this conversation, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: The benefits of taking time off and how it can bring clarity to your priorities. My new routine as a dad What’s next for my work with AppSumo and social content creation.   All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way.  

Check out my book Million Dollar Weekend, which helps you start businesses in just 48 hours. Check it out at milliondollarweekend.com. In this episode, I chat with Ayman Al-Abdullah, My friend and former CEO of AppSumo, who played a pivotal role in scaling the company from $5M to $70M, from 2016 to 2021.  Since stepping down as CEO for AppSumo, he’s now become a growth strategy coach for many other CEOs. Ayman is of the best out there IMO and I wanted him to come on the show and share his insights into what it takes to grow a business from seven to nine figures, obviously drawing from his rich experience building a robust and sustainably growing company AppSumo.    In this conversation, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things:    Why figuring out your ideal customer, even as a coach, is essential Why people get stuck in a product creation loop rather than company creation.  The dangers of shiny object syndrome and why Ayman is the double down king.    All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way. You can find Ayman @aymanalabdul on Instagram or X And if you fall into the 7+ figure camp and need help scaling to 9 figures, Ayman is your guy, you can find him at aymanalabdullah.com

Check out my Million Dollar Weekend at milliondollarweekend.com. If you need help starting a business, this is the book for you Today we’re re-running our awesome episode where I break down the top lessons I learned from working directly under Mark Zuckerberg.  It’s always fun to go down memory lane and remember my time as #30 at Facebook. The lessons I learned there inspire me to this day and are relevant for anyone who is on their own business journey.  In this episode, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: How to manage and treat employees.  How to focus on just one vision. Why the details matter. All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way. If you dig this episode and want to hear another episode where I break things down behind the scenes, go back and check out the episode where I run through the marketing for my book Million Dollar Weekend, that’s episode 335 in this feed.       

What’s up, you sexy bastards. It’s your boy ‘diapers’ aka Rabbi Can’t Lose aka Noah Kagan.   Today we’re re-running our awesome episode with John Paul DeJoria! John Paul is so INSPIRATIONAL. This was one of our most popular episodes last year (and also one of the most popular videos on my YouTube channel too), so we thought we’d put him in your ears once again.  John Paul went from being homeless to creating two billion dollar companies in completely separate industries, John Paul Mitchell haircare, and Patrón tequila.  In this episode, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: Why creating the best products is essential for growing your company. Why forgiveness is important if you want to move forward in life.  What being rich really means. All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way.   Go check out John Paul DeJoria and his foundation: https://www.peacelovehappinessfoundation.org/  If you dig this episode and want to hear another wise, successful entrepreneur story, go back and check out the conversation we did with Kevin Kelly, the founder of Wired magazine, that’s episode 298 in this feed.  

People have been loving my latest emails where I share brutally honest advice on a variety of topics. Sign up at noahkagan.com and join 350k other people who get juicy insights every week.     In this episode, I chat with Pete Maldonado, co-founder of Chomps, about how they built a half-billion-dollar meat stick empire, ultimately becoming the number three meat snack brand in the U.S. Despite facing significant setbacks, including personal bankruptcy and multiple failed businesses, Pete has propelled Chomps to meteoric success, securing shelf space in major chain stores like Trader Joe's and Costco. Today, he shares how he leverages customer feedback, overcomes packaging challenges, and maintains a passionate, high-performing team culture.   In this episode, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: The importance of focusing on one thing and doing it exceptionally well.  The critical role of strategic partnerships and the creative solutions used to navigate supply chain challenges. How Chomps stays ahead in the competitive meat snack market. All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way.   Go buy Chomps at all your favorite retailers and also check out @petemaldonado on Instagram and on X   If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more about half-billion-dollar success stories, be sure to check out our Anonymous $500 Million Man episode – that's episode 357 in this feed.  

Check out my book Million Dollar Weekend, which helps you start businesses in just 48 hours. Check it out at milliondollarweekend.com.   In today's episode, I caught up with a talented, award-winning author and professor of computer science at Georgetown University, Cal Newport.  Cal’s books are a manifesto for digital minimalism and focus. In this episode he shares his strategies for maintaining efficiency particularly in large organizations where meetings can often be a substitute for poor time management. We also explore how long-term goals can easily be broken down into actionable daily steps and the importance of grabbing control of our digital habits.   In this episode, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things:   What the difference is between office hours and meetings and why you should avoid the later Why focus is the most in demand resource right in world with short attention span How to balance the content creation algorithms without being on social media at all.   All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way. If you loved this episode and want to hear more about how we approach our content creation, check out an episode we made about Youtube strategy that’s Episode 310 in this feed. Also check out Cal’s books at calnewport.com , his books ‘Deep Work’ and ‘So Good they Can’t Ignore You’ are  classics and he has a new book called ‘Slow Productivity’ out now. Go check his podcast since that’s really his only social media outlet, Deep Questions with Cal Newport  

FiveTaco is the easiest way to find software for solopreneurs, from productivity tools, to the latest AI tech to help run your business. In this week's episode, I sit down with Bill Perkins, a successful hedge fund manager, film producer, author, and high-stakes poker player. Bill has created significant wealth through energy trading and uses his money wisely.  Bill is all about finding values in meaningful experiences over material possessions. He also discusses his philosophy on balancing wealth, health, and time to achieve maximum life fulfillment. This episode is packed with practical advice and thought-provoking concepts that can inspire anyone to rethink their approach to wealth and happiness.   In this episode, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: How to leverage opportunities in your field of work and make millions. How to avoid a cookie cutter life. Why you shouldn’t wait until your retirement to experience your dreams.   All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way. If you loved this episode and want to hear more successful commodity trading stories, check the episode we did with Rafa Martinez, that’s episode 305 in this feed.  Also Check out Bill’s book at diewithzerobook.com and @billperkins on Instagram and @bp22 on X  

My book Million Dollar Weekend is for aspiring entrepreneurs who dream of starting their own business. I break down the process of starting into simple steps that you can do in just one weekend. The e-book version is on sale July 8-14, 2024 on Amazon, check it out.  In this week's episode, I’m going behind the scenes on Charles Duhigg’s marketing strategy  and picking apart what he can do better, comparing what he does with other famous authors and my own experience on Million Dollar Weekend. This will be a book marketing playbook to turn any good book into a bestselling phenomenon. I’m using Charle’s as an example here but everyone can take away some great marketing lessons whether you’re an author or not, you’re going to significantly boost your sales from implementing some of these simple overlooked tricks that can transform your marketing reach and impact.   In this episode, you’ll enjoy 3 BIG things: How to create seamless, automated marketing funnels  Discover how to leverage social media platforms the right way. Understand the importance of offering incentives and building a community.   All these plus a bunch more ear nuggets along the way.   If you loved this episode and want to hear more about my launch of Million Dollar Weekend go back and check out my launch strategy episode, that’s episode 335 in this feed.  Check out Charles Duhigg and his books at charlesduhigg.com and on @charleduhigg on Instagram & @cduhigg on X. You can also check out James Clear and his marketing approach at jamesclear.com and @jamesclear on Instagram & on X.