Episode

#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
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1:49:51
Published: Thu Aug 01 2019
Description

"Entrepreneurship isn't about starting companies. Entrepreneurship is an approach to life." — Ed ZschauEd Zschau is the Interim President of Sierra Nevada College, and he brings to the college 17 years of leading technology companies. He founded System Industries in Palo Alto, California in 1969, and as its CEO led it to a successful IPO in 1980. In the 1990s, he was the General Manager of the IBM Storage Systems Division headquartered in San Jose, California. Ed has a total of 10 years of teaching experience as a professor in the graduate business schools at Stanford University and Harvard University, and he has taught high tech entrepreneurship courses for a total of 22 years in the engineering schools at Princeton University, Caltech, and University of Nevada, Reno. In addition to serving on the boards of major public companies such as Reader's Digest and StarTek, Ed has helped to start and build several technology companies during the past 20 years, some of which were founded and led by his former students.In the 1980s, Ed represented the Silicon Valley area of California for two terms in the US House of Representatives, serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Also, during the 1980s, he was a General Partner of Brentwood Associates, a venture capital firm, and he was the Founding Chairman of The Tech Interactive, (formerly The Tech Museum of Innovation), a non-profit educational institution in San Jose, California.Ed holds an A.B. degree (cum laude) in Philosophy (bridging with Physics) from Princeton University, as well as M.B.A., M.S. (Statistics), and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University and a Doctor of Laws degree (Honoris Causa) from the University of San Francisco. Currently, he is a Senior Fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology.Please enjoy!This podcast is brought to you by 99designs, the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Its creative process has become the go-to solution for businesses, agencies, and individuals, and I have used it for years to help with display advertising and illustrations and to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca. Whether your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99designs.You can work with multiple designers at once to get a bunch of different ideas, or hire the perfect designer for your project based based on their style and industry specialization. It's simple to review concepts and leave feedback so you'll end up with a design that you're happy with. Listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show get 20 dollars off plus a free 99 dollar upgrade on their first design contest. Head to 99designs.com/tim to learn more or get started today.This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I've been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world's best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. Again, that's onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chapters
Peloton offers live studio cycling classes at your home with a variety of workouts to choose from, including on-demand options.
00:00 - 02:15 (02:15)
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Fitness
Summary

Peloton offers live studio cycling classes at your home with a variety of workouts to choose from, including on-demand options.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Ed, a professor with years of teaching experience, shares about a student who made an impressive plea to enroll in his course, committing to help in any way possible, and reflects on the importance of finding the right match for a great design at a great price.
02:15 - 08:59 (06:44)
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Entrepreneurship
Summary

Ed, a professor with years of teaching experience, shares about a student who made an impressive plea to enroll in his course, committing to help in any way possible, and reflects on the importance of finding the right match for a great design at a great price.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker talks about how managing her time as a figure skater prepared her for success in her subsequent career, including managing her time during classes taught by the case method.
09:00 - 26:10 (17:10)
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Time Management
Summary

The speaker talks about how managing her time as a figure skater prepared her for success in her subsequent career, including managing her time during classes taught by the case method.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
A Stanford Business School student shares his experience of becoming a state champion in extemporaneous speaking during his high school years.
26:11 - 42:28 (16:17)
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Public Speaking
Summary

A Stanford Business School student shares his experience of becoming a state champion in extemporaneous speaking during his high school years.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The high rate of the capital gains tax at the federal level during the 70s was identified as the primary inhibitor for sufficient quantities of risk capital investment, which led to the commitment to lower the tax on capital gains to stimulate the environment for risk capital investment in all kinds of job-creating ventures.
42:28 - 59:06 (16:38)
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Venture Capital Investment
Summary

The high rate of the capital gains tax at the federal level during the 70s was identified as the primary inhibitor for sufficient quantities of risk capital investment, which led to the commitment to lower the tax on capital gains to stimulate the environment for risk capital investment in all kinds of job-creating ventures.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the challenges of committing to decisions that will have the greatest impact for the greatest number of people, especially when those decisions might not be the same ones requested by those who have influence over us.
59:06 - 1:07:27 (08:21)
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Decision making
Summary

In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the challenges of committing to decisions that will have the greatest impact for the greatest number of people, especially when those decisions might not be the same ones requested by those who have influence over us.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker's parents were not raised by their parents.
1:07:27 - 1:14:12 (06:44)
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Business
The power of storytelling is important for humans to remember lessons.
1:14:13 - 1:21:27 (07:14)
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Entrepreneurship
Summary

The power of storytelling is important for humans to remember lessons. For entrepreneurs, recommended books include biographies that allow for self-reflection in a given situation, to learn and apply lessons from.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Former California Governor, Jerry Brown has volunteered to serve as interim president of Sierra Nevada College, located in Incline Village, Nevada, and is encouraging students who want to attend a unique educational institution to enroll.
1:21:27 - 1:30:08 (08:41)
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Jerry Brown, Sierra Nevada College
Summary

Former California Governor, Jerry Brown has volunteered to serve as interim president of Sierra Nevada College, located in Incline Village, Nevada, and is encouraging students who want to attend a unique educational institution to enroll. He’s leading the college until a successor with entrepreneurial leadership qualities is found.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker talks about the tradition at the Stanford Graduate School of Business called the Spring Fling, where they had a song about the linear programming algorithm.
1:30:08 - 1:36:45 (06:36)
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Linear Programming Algorithm
Summary

The speaker talks about the tradition at the Stanford Graduate School of Business called the Spring Fling, where they had a song about the linear programming algorithm.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
A professor shares his philosophy on changing the world and acknowledges that he cannot do it alone, as he has met students from around the world who share his sentiment.
1:36:45 - 1:44:30 (07:44)
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Philosophy
Summary

A professor shares his philosophy on changing the world and acknowledges that he cannot do it alone, as he has met students from around the world who share his sentiment.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Peloton offers indoor cycling classes and workouts right at your home, while 99designs is a platform that connects individuals with top designers for creative projects.
1:44:30 - 1:49:40 (05:10)
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Fitness, Design
Summary

Peloton offers indoor cycling classes and workouts right at your home, while 99designs is a platform that connects individuals with top designers for creative projects.

Episode
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show