Nick Kokonas (IG: @nkokonas, TW: @NickKokonas) is the co-owner and co-founder of The Alinea Group of restaurants, which includes Alinea, Next, The Aviary, Roister, and The Aviary NYC. He is also the founder and CEO of Tock, Inc, a reservations and CRM system for restaurants with more than 2.5M diners and clients in more than 20 countries. Alinea has been named the Best Restaurant in America and Best Restaurant in The World by organizations and lists as diverse as The James Beard Foundation, World’s 50 Best, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Gourmet Magazine, and Elite Traveler. His restaurants have won nearly every accolade afforded to them. Nick has been a subversive entrepreneur and angel investor since 1996. He spent a decade as a derivatives trader, has co-written three books, and believes in radical transparency in markets and business. His latest effort is The Aviary Cocktail Book, which is perhaps the most gorgeous book I’ve ever seen. It is self-published, has already pre-sold nearly $1M in copies, and is being released and shipped in October of 2018. We’ve been trying to get this interview going ever since Nick was of immense help to me for The 4-Hour Chef, so I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. We talk about much more than the restaurant business, including philosophy, derivatives trading, favorite books, and how Nick tends to break every industry he enters in the most productive way possible! Enjoy! SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 200 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://bit.ly/2rYjUBr Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: http://bit.ly/17jDHw3 Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: http://on.fb.me/1avYUxq Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/17d94TE Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/2IfH37J Start 00:00 Is pressure Nick’s default setting? [09:35] The behavioral economics of Nobel Prize-winning investor Richard Thaler [12:35] From philosophy to finance [15:36] A professor teaches Nick clarity and brevity. [16:21] Nick’s introduction to trading, plus dumbing down his résumé [18:00] Why is it common for philosophy majors to become traders? [21:03] Why Nick is glad he didn’t pursue an MBA in 1992 [22:00] Recommended books and resources [28:15] On being a clerk at the Merc [33:48] Following his entrepreneurial father’s model [36:10] Nick leaves his mentor after one year. [40:53] Training for mental agility [42:34] The moment Nick realized he could thrive as a trader [45:31] Resources and books to become a better investor [46:21] On investing and seeking out the “high, small hoops” [48:22] Why businesses fail [52:00] Nick gets into the restaurant business [55:15] On teaming up with chef Grant Achatz [1:00:18] On risk and restaurants [1:07:17] How to spot talent early [1:10:23] He did it his way. [1:14:22] A now-famous chef becomes Alinea’s first customer. [1:17:25] Practicality vs. imagination [1:18:39] Restaurateur not financial donor dilettante [1:19:29] The horror of being named Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet magazine [1:23:24] The rewards of being given six months to live [1:24:51] Improving the POS system [1:29:29] Partner bickering and a new restaurant [1:39:51] A software crisis and dynamic pricing [1:44:58] The moment Nick said, “This is the best thing I’ve ever built.” [1:47:44] Rewards with asymmetric risks [1:51:02] The great thing about Marimekko charts [1:55:15] On disrupting the truffle industry [2:00:41] With so many ideas, how Nick chooses what to work on [2:04:24] On confining roles and hiring processes [2:10:31] On handling a lot of email [2:16:41] The importance of social media [2:22:49] Creating mini-hurdles in correspondence [2:24:06] Slimy similarities between the music and publishing industries [2:26:02] Brokering a book agent deal with a reverse Dutch auction [2:35:55] On the Hembergers and The Alinea Project, and the upcoming Aviary Book [2:41:23] A little cocktail talk [2:48:37] Most gifted books [2:53:47] What would Nick’s billboard say? [2:55:44] Parting thoughts [2:57:34]