Show notes are available here: https://tim.blog/2019/03/15/safi-bahcall-loonshots/ Safi Bahcall (@SafiBahcall) is the author of Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas that Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries. Loonshots describes what an idea from physics tells us about the behavior of groups and how teams, companies, and nations can use that to innovate faster and better. It has been selected for The Washington Post‘s 10 Leadership Books to Watch for in 2019, Inc.‘s 10 Business Books You Need to Read in 2019, and Business Insider‘s 14 Books Everyone Will Be Reading in 2019. Safi received his PhD in physics from Stanford and his undergrad degree from Harvard. After working as a consultant for McKinsey, Safi co-founded a biotechnology company specializing in developing new drugs for cancer. He led its IPO and served as its CEO for 13 years. In 2008, Safi was named Ernst and Young’s New England Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2011, he worked with President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on the future of national research. This podcast is brought to you by Uber. Uber makes getting around town easier than ever before, and now Uber is introducing Uber Rewards, a new rewards program that helps keep modern life going. With Uber Rewards, you can earn points on Rides and Uber Eats and unlock rewards such as Uber Cash for your next Uber ride or your next Uber Eats order. For terms and to learn more about all the ways you can earn Uber Rewards, go to Uber.com/Rewards. This podcast is also brought to you by Peloton, 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. Peloton is offering listeners to this show $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. Just visit onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM at checkout. 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 1 billion 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] How Safi and I first met [02:00] Atypical lessons from Total Immersion Swimming [04:18] How psychologist Daniel Kahneman changed economics [06:30] My own experience as a lab rat for Kahneman at Princeton [10:11] From particle physics to work with cancer [11:16] Nobody writes 15,000 page essays (except for Safi). [22:02] There are good reasons to use passive voice [23:19] How Safi became a better writer [25:32] Two books that resonated during this period [26:50] The music of Nabokov [28:09] A chess champion shifts Safi’s mindset from outcomes to systems [32:53] On deciphering one’s own decision-making process [38:41] How relationships can benefit from systems vs. outcomes mindset [44:05] Single life in Manhattan, SWAE and no BLC gatherings [46:33] Falling into unfulfilling junk dating pattern [49:14] Two criteria for finding the right life partner [54:33] How did Safi go about paring down his peer group? [56:16] How Safi met his wife [58:49] On liberating oneself from perfectionistic tendencies [1:06:53] Task-switching is really expensive. [1:10:03] The two hats Safi wears for reading: RICLS and REAS [1:12:03] Why are we talking about writing? [1:15:56] The three hats Safi wears for writing: hunting, drafting, and editing [1:19:11] Possibly the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to Safi about his book [1:22:33] How did Safi come up with the wacky stories that wound up in Loonshots? [1:23:24] Safi’s three rules of creativity: speed, attention, and courage [1:24:26] The loonshot and the moonshot [1:30:25] Who was Sir James Black? [1:36:27] How great ideas get killed easily and often [1:38:30] The problem with Silicon Valley’s “Fail fast and pivot!” slogan [1:40:59] The two types of loonshots [1:42:02] Loonshot examples [1:45:49] Loonshooting through the three deaths and the many nevers [1:50:09] “The Adventures of Luke Starkiller” [1:53:52] Why loonshots are better than “disruptive” innovation [1:59:54] Nurturing loonshots in larger vs. smaller teams [2:02:58] Summary and parting thoughts [2:08:41]