Episode
#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
2:22:14
Published: Thu Sep 13 2018
Description
Scott Belsky (@scottbelsky) is an entrepreneur, author, investor, Chief Product Officer of Adobe, and venture partner with venture capital firm Benchmark. Scott co-founded Behance in 2006 and served as CEO until Adobe acquired the company in 2012. Millions of people use Behance to display their portfolios, as well as track and find top talent across the creative industries.Scott is an early investor and advisor in Pinterest, Uber, and Periscope among many other fast-growing startups, and his new book, The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture, hits the shelves October 2nd.I urge you to check it out, but until then, please enjoy this interview in the meantime!This podcast is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is the #1 cloud bookkeeping software, which is used by a ton of the start-ups I advise and many of the contractors I work with. It is the easiest way to send invoices, get paid, track your time, and track your clients.FreshBooks tells you when your clients have viewed your invoices, helps you customize your invoices, track your hours, automatically organize your receipts, have late payment reminders sent automatically and much more.Right now you can get a free month of complete and unrestricted use. You do not need a credit card for the trial. To claim your free month and see how the brand new Freshbooks can change your business, go to FreshBooks.com/Tim and enter “Tim Ferriss” in the “how did you hear about us” section.This episode is also brought to you by LegalZoom. I've used this service for many of my businesses, as have quite a few of the icons on this podcast such as Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame.LegalZoom is a reliable resource that more than a million people have already trusted for everything from setting up wills, proper trademark searches, forming LLCs, setting up non-profits, or finding simple cease-and-desist letter templates.LegalZoom is not a law firm, but it does have a network of independent attorneys available in most states who can give you advice on the best way to get started, provide contract reviews, and otherwise help you run your business with complete transparency and up-front pricing. Check out LegalZoom.com and enter promo code TIM at checkout today for special savings and see how the fine folks there can make life easier for you and your business.***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.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Visit tim.blog/sponsor and fill out the form.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
LegalZoom is a website that helps entrepreneurs handle legal challenges effortlessly by providing services such as reviewing contracts, creating NDAs, handling lease agreements, and much more.
00:00 - 05:10 (05:10)
Summary
LegalZoom is a website that helps entrepreneurs handle legal challenges effortlessly by providing services such as reviewing contracts, creating NDAs, handling lease agreements, and much more. Moreover, you can save some money by using the promo code TIM at checkout.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The different positions and roles played by an entrepreneur, investor, startup founder, and potential acquirer, have taught key lessons in navigating big corporate experiences, and the importance of adapting to the different stages of a company's growth.
05:10 - 11:01 (05:51)
Summary
The different positions and roles played by an entrepreneur, investor, startup founder, and potential acquirer, have taught key lessons in navigating big corporate experiences, and the importance of adapting to the different stages of a company's growth.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker shares his observations on building a successful company over the years, highlighting two themes of endurance and optimization.
11:01 - 16:35 (05:34)
Summary
The speaker shares his observations on building a successful company over the years, highlighting two themes of endurance and optimization. He emphasizes the importance of endurance in keeping employees even when the company wasn't making profits and optimizing the final stages of any creative production.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Building a narrative and setting short-term goals is crucial for a leader to keep a team motivated when faced with uncertainty and a long timeline to achieve the grand vision of a startup.
16:35 - 22:08 (05:33)
Summary
Building a narrative and setting short-term goals is crucial for a leader to keep a team motivated when faced with uncertainty and a long timeline to achieve the grand vision of a startup.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
This podcast episode discusses the idea of taking a more active role in covering ourselves and merchandising, and treating ourselves and our teams with the same sales tactics we use with customers.
22:08 - 27:20 (05:12)
Summary
This podcast episode discusses the idea of taking a more active role in covering ourselves and merchandising, and treating ourselves and our teams with the same sales tactics we use with customers. It also touches on the importance of allowing those working on products to see their flaws to improve them.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Recognizing the impact of fear and success on self-awareness is crucial to maintaining a distinct identity in business and avoiding falling into the trap of imitating competition.
27:20 - 32:25 (05:04)
Summary
Recognizing the impact of fear and success on self-awareness is crucial to maintaining a distinct identity in business and avoiding falling into the trap of imitating competition.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker discusses the impact of empathy in leadership and how offering solutions that can give hope can positively affect the mindset of patients.
32:25 - 41:17 (08:52)
Summary
The speaker discusses the impact of empathy in leadership and how offering solutions that can give hope can positively affect the mindset of patients. He also emphasizes the importance of adaptability in running a dynamic business.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Not knowing the industry jargon can be empowering for entrepreneurs because it can prevent them from abandoning a potential business idea too early based on discrepancies in the numbers.
41:17 - 46:56 (05:39)
Summary
Not knowing the industry jargon can be empowering for entrepreneurs because it can prevent them from abandoning a potential business idea too early based on discrepancies in the numbers. Hiring people outside of traditional expertise can offer fresh perspectives on problem-solving.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The podcast hosts discuss the difficulty of keeping a startup alive and the cultural setup for patience in successful companies like Amazon.
46:56 - 54:45 (07:49)
Summary
The podcast hosts discuss the difficulty of keeping a startup alive and the cultural setup for patience in successful companies like Amazon. The importance of persistence is emphasized even when faced with challenges or tough decisions like quitting.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The podcast episode features a discussion on the software industry evolution and entrepreneurship with Trent Griffin, a long-time employee of Microsoft, and Ben Thompson, the founder of Stratechery.
54:45 - 1:02:16 (07:31)
Summary
The podcast episode features a discussion on the software industry evolution and entrepreneurship with Trent Griffin, a long-time employee of Microsoft, and Ben Thompson, the founder of Stratechery. The conversation delves into the current state of valuations and companies without concrete business models, with an extreme focus on fundamental analysis, and features insights on Tesla and entrepreneurs with wild personalities.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker emphasizes the importance of evaluating if a person is worth making an effort or an investment, managing anger, and valuing one's time, especially when it comes to dealing with phone trees.
1:02:16 - 1:10:57 (08:41)
Summary
The speaker emphasizes the importance of evaluating if a person is worth making an effort or an investment, managing anger, and valuing one's time, especially when it comes to dealing with phone trees.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker discusses the extra cost that one may incur when signing up for something and how organizations may not be completely upfront about it initially.
1:10:57 - 1:17:26 (06:29)
Summary
The speaker discusses the extra cost that one may incur when signing up for something and how organizations may not be completely upfront about it initially.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker emphasizes on the significance of being resourceful and not relying solely on resources to resolve issues in startups.
1:17:26 - 1:26:05 (08:39)
Summary
The speaker emphasizes on the significance of being resourceful and not relying solely on resources to resolve issues in startups. Refactoring and finding innovative solutions is crucial for growth and development, even if the team has enough resources.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The best indicator of future initiative is past initiative, and recognizing that is transferable, regardless of how directly it is applied.
1:26:05 - 1:33:32 (07:26)
Summary
The best indicator of future initiative is past initiative, and recognizing that is transferable, regardless of how directly it is applied. The future of work relies on people taking initiative and having a lot of experience.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker discusses a program they applied to in which 45 kids lived on a self-sustaining farm, the emphasis being on community and learning how to coexist.
1:33:32 - 1:39:20 (05:48)
Summary
The speaker discusses a program they applied to in which 45 kids lived on a self-sustaining farm, the emphasis being on community and learning how to coexist. Additionally, they touch on the importance of exploring differences in thought and optimizing personal growth in the way one works and reacts.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker shares their experience with 360 reviews and how it impacted them and their friends.
1:39:20 - 1:46:25 (07:05)
Summary
The speaker shares their experience with 360 reviews and how it impacted them and their friends. They suggest implementing it in friend groups to provide constructive criticism that one may not receive otherwise.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
This podcast episode talks about designing customer experiences for first-time users of any kind of product, service or retail store, with the understanding that every customer is initially lazy, vain and selfish.
1:46:25 - 1:53:45 (07:20)
Summary
This podcast episode talks about designing customer experiences for first-time users of any kind of product, service or retail store, with the understanding that every customer is initially lazy, vain and selfish.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Launching a product is challenging, and achieving product-market fit can be even harder if you're not willing to take bold strokes.
1:53:45 - 2:04:38 (10:53)
Summary
Launching a product is challenging, and achieving product-market fit can be even harder if you're not willing to take bold strokes. It's important to find the right team and decide if the brand should be aspirational or accessible.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The tendency to self-sabotage can lead team members to act erratically and destructively, especially when a company is undergoing significant changes such as an acquisition.
2:04:38 - 2:08:36 (03:58)
Summary
The tendency to self-sabotage can lead team members to act erratically and destructively, especially when a company is undergoing significant changes such as an acquisition. Recognizing this behavior early on can help prevent the damage caused by self-sabotage.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Founders need to recognize the tendencies that arise when scaling their business and decide whether to embrace or reject them.
2:08:36 - 2:15:23 (06:47)
Summary
Founders need to recognize the tendencies that arise when scaling their business and decide whether to embrace or reject them. Understanding what doesn't scale is also crucial to the success of a business.
Episode#336: Scott Belsky — How to Conquer the Messy Middle
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
This podcast discusses a company that provides legal services to entrepreneurs for managing taxes, contracts, agreements, and other legal challenges.
2:15:23 - 2:21:54 (06:31)
Summary
This podcast discusses a company that provides legal services to entrepreneurs for managing taxes, contracts, agreements, and other legal challenges. Additionally, the podcast promotes a weekly email that shares interesting finds and provides inspiration for the weekend.