Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Discuss Angel Investing and Naming Companies 196 Comments

Written by Tim Ferriss Topics: Interviews, Random

Tim and Kevin from Glenn McElhose on Vimeo.

In this video, Kevin Rose — founder of Digg and others — and I talk about how we invest in other companies as “angels” and how we choose names for companies. Topics include:

-How to test company or product names using Google AdWords
-Kevin’s criteria for both good site names and good angel investments
-The role of start-up “advisors” and investors
-How I choose companies to work with: overlap, PR options, UI design…

It’s an Oprah-style conversation, so if watching isn’t an option, you can also opt to let the audio play in the background while you’re doing other things. Let us know if you’d like to see more of these brainstorming sessions.

Special thanks to Glenn McElhose for the great video shooting and editing!

Posted on March 31st, 2009

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196 Comments

Nicolette — March 31st, 2009, 10:10 am

Glenn!

Great shoot, buddy.

Three of my favorite men in one room.

Nico
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Jeremy Paris — March 31st, 2009, 10:14 am

By all means, Tim, I would LOVE to see more brainstorming sessions.
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Wellington Grey — March 31st, 2009, 10:30 am

That’s a very interesting idea for testing out title. I think it really worked for you as well. “The 4-Hour Work Week” is much better than “Broadband and White Sand”.
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Eric J Vogel — March 31st, 2009, 10:32 am

Great informative video! Learned a ton. I would like to see more for sure!

Thanks!

Eric
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Luis Arauz — March 31st, 2009, 10:34 am

Two great business/creative/marketing minds. Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. Keep up the good work!!

Luis
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Naomi Most — March 31st, 2009, 10:39 am

Very cool and very amusing perspectives on creative, somewhat guerrilla, market research techniques.

It’s sad to see books with brilliant content, and companies with interesting concepts, get absolutely no exposure and more or less fall completely off the intellectual map simply because the authors/founders fell in love with a title that didn’t make any real market sense (and therefore dollars-and-cents).

Fun conversation, guys, thanks!
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Allen — March 31st, 2009, 10:45 am

Fantastic. More vids please!
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Jonathan Hinson — March 31st, 2009, 10:46 am

I’d love to see more of this. Great content and a awesome perspectives. Even if it was a once a month type of thing, I’d be a huge fan.

Jon

p.s. Seriously, just take the plunge and get the iPhone. Sure you’ll waste time on it every now and then, but there are so many benefits with some of the great apps out there.
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Cody — March 31st, 2009, 10:47 am

I love stuff like this. Occasionally little nuggets of wisdom drop out that maybe wouldn’t have made it into an article.
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matsonian — March 31st, 2009, 10:48 am

This is the sh*t! Keep it coming, nothing better than this kind of interaction and insight from incredibly successful people!
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Josh — March 31st, 2009, 10:49 am

Thanks for that, really informative. Keep ‘em coming!
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Adam Steer - Better Is Better — March 31st, 2009, 10:50 am

A casual look into great minds is an invaluable resource…

Thanks,
Adam
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J. Smith Adams — March 31st, 2009, 10:51 am

Very much enjoyed the video. Strategic naming is so important. When done correctly, names create products versus tagging existing ones. Love it.

J. Smith Adams
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Dangermouse — March 31st, 2009, 10:52 am

Nice video, thanks for that.

What was the iPhone app you talked about Tim? (Just got my iPhone today!)
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Bryan Sebeck — March 31st, 2009, 10:56 am

Kevin mentioned that he got pownce.com for free. How do you go about finding a free .com domain? I’ve searched some, but it’s been really ineffective.
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Craig Jolicoeur — March 31st, 2009, 11:00 am

Nice casual discussion.

Interesting to hear your book marketing techniques.
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Anonymous — March 31st, 2009, 11:09 am

Hey Tim and Kevin,

This is a great video! Would love to see it as a podcast or something recurring.
I’m interested in seeing Kevins wireframes.
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Allen — March 31st, 2009, 11:09 am

Any advice on breaking into the high tech VC realm. Move to SF, show up at conferences? Any other tips.
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Luke — March 31st, 2009, 11:11 am

Awesome. I love hearing the background story to how products are brought to market. Valuable lessons to be learned

I’d love to see these sessions every other week or so.
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Mo — March 31st, 2009, 11:14 am

The discussion was really helpful and would certainly be nice to see a few more. @Kevin you mentioned how simply it comes to your mind when thinking about planning a startup. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind doing a podcast sort of bulleting out those requriements that someone young and new in the market could follow?
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Justin — March 31st, 2009, 11:17 am

I would love to hear more about language learning. Tricks, tips, stories anything at all.

I would like to hear you speak other languages too, read a lot about how many languages you can speak but never once heard an example.

Thanks!
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Chris — March 31st, 2009, 11:24 am

TIM,

I love this! I was once told by a guy that if you want to be successful at something then sit at the feet of people who have done it and copy what they have done. I appreciate the video and look forward to much more of it!

Chris
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Clifford — March 31st, 2009, 11:27 am

That’s great advice about a Prototype. I noticed when I approached investors with a working prototype, their reaction was much more favorable.

Good stuff!
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Kim Brokaw — March 31st, 2009, 11:27 am

This is awesome! A real eye-opener for people needing a little perspective from the inside.

I look forward to more of these sessions.
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chris mccann — March 31st, 2009, 11:27 am

Great video! More in this series would be awesome
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MacEwen — March 31st, 2009, 11:31 am

Excellent! Not a wasted minute. It’s a perfect start to this day. Please create a consistent series.
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Justin Thiele — March 31st, 2009, 11:36 am

30 minutes of awesome content. It’s great to see 2 young, successful entrepreneurs talk about how they do things and how they view business. Hopefully this turns into a regular show!
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Jeremy Ross — March 31st, 2009, 11:50 am

Thanks for the vid. Good job on keeping the self-congratulatory narcissism to a tolerable level. I’d probably subscribe to something like this if it was available in audio.
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@LucidAnna — March 31st, 2009, 11:54 am

Very insightful, awesome info, especially about advisory boards.
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Alexa — March 31st, 2009, 11:57 am

This is fantastic. Love it!

There may need to be a follow-up post about those blue knickers…

Where do you play racquetball in the city? Any place other than the Bay Club? I’ve been trying to find a place to play for quite some time now. I miss playing for free in college.
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Ben Biggs — March 31st, 2009, 12:05 pm

This is Awesome. Keep it up, I would love to see you bring your inner circle in on this series. Neil Strauss? I bet you could even wrangle Seth Godin or Tony Robbins or Robert Kiyosaki.
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Jeremy — March 31st, 2009, 12:06 pm

Really great and informative video guys, I hope you will be doing more like this in the future.

I’d love to be able to pitch my biz opportunity to both of you now!

-Jeremy
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Carl Fyffe — March 31st, 2009, 12:20 pm

Yes, more please! This video was definitely valuable.
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Charles — March 31st, 2009, 12:26 pm

what kind of shoes are those tim?
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Dylan — March 31st, 2009, 12:26 pm

Great stuff, keep them coming!
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J.R. — March 31st, 2009, 12:30 pm

Wow! For me this has been the most intriguing post on your blog in a long time. Please have more videos with other entrepreneurs and authors soon! I’m a big reader, but there’s something about seeing your idols actually speaking that is more powerful than can be described in words.

Thanks again for publishing such a great video!

-J.R.
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dan — March 31st, 2009, 12:31 pm

tim,
Don’t get the iphone, i am holding strong with a simple outdated flip phone and justify it with the fact that smart guys like tim ferriss don’t need an iphone. I love your keep it simple teachings…

peace be with u
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Tiffani — March 31st, 2009, 12:32 pm

Great videio guys…very informative.

I would love to see more of these!!
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Jamesrap — March 31st, 2009, 12:37 pm

Great video, please continue doing these chats in the future.
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Aaron Dragushan — March 31st, 2009, 12:39 pm

Great stuff guys.

a) get the iphone (or wait until they probably release new hardware this summer…)

b) would love to see more vids, but please get ‘em in iTunes so I can subscribe. audio version would be great too.

Cheers!
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Tisha Morris — March 31st, 2009, 1:05 pm

Thanks guys! Really enjoyed it… keep them coming!
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Caleb Conner — March 31st, 2009, 1:05 pm

Awesome video. Would love to see more brainstorming sessions. And Tim w/ an Iphone.
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Marcie — March 31st, 2009, 1:06 pm

Tim – is that the message board member’s iphone app I sent you an email about? Just wanting to make sure before I post a link…

Also, what’s a good web site for matching up investors with startups? (Anyone?)

Thanks! Love to see more in the future.
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Matt — March 31st, 2009, 1:12 pm

Yes, I would like to see more.
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Bill — March 31st, 2009, 1:15 pm

More please!
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mike — March 31st, 2009, 1:30 pm

i loved it! its like the podcast gods came out of the clouds and gave me exactly what I’ve always wanted.
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Ben — March 31st, 2009, 1:32 pm

Great session. Definitely interested in seeing more.
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Jonathan Hinson — March 31st, 2009, 1:41 pm

@Aaron Dragushan

One of the perks about the iPhone 3.0 that is coming out this summer is that it will be a free software upgrade to current iPhone 3G owners. So, one less excuse to get the iPhone, Tim

Jon
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Jacob S Paulsen — March 31st, 2009, 1:41 pm

Loved it! Would like to see more content from this “Mastermind” group
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Ansi — March 31st, 2009, 1:50 pm

I love these video conversations (recently watched your talk about Vibram five-finger shoes)! Great ideas and the rapport is adorable.
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Peter Juhl — March 31st, 2009, 1:57 pm

Thanks guys

A really worthwhile video.

Like “Wired Live”.

Thanks
Peter
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Julia — March 31st, 2009, 2:12 pm

Definitely enjoyed your conversation. I think once or twice monthly would be a manageable frequency (for me, as a viewer). More often and I’ll probably fall behind.

@Tim and @Kevin: Quick question, if you have time. Kevin said that building your idea is cheap these days. I’m curious as to what he means by that. In other words, is it cheap if you’re a programmer who can write the code on your own? Or is it cheap even if you need to hire people to help you?
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Jonathan Robinson — March 31st, 2009, 2:13 pm

Love watching stuff like this. You make it, I’ll watch – every time.
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Cameron C — March 31st, 2009, 2:25 pm

This was entertaining and informative, please keep them coming! Look forwards to the next episode. Thanks
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Jason Clements — March 31st, 2009, 2:39 pm

Why don’t you just call it what it is:

“The Tim and Kevin Awesome Hour”

- AND HOLY COW http://www.theawesomehour.com is STILL AVAILABLE.

Great show – I would subscribe.

Thanks again, Tim, for your book.

Cent’ anni,

Jason
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Marshall Haas, Teen Entrepreneur — March 31st, 2009, 2:44 pm

If you or Kevin have any doubt whether or not you should do this on a regular basis…

Do it!

Just talking about Digg and 4HWW live on a regular basis like this would be such a reinforcement and reminder of concepts I forget.

@marshallhaas
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Daniel — March 31st, 2009, 2:47 pm

Interesting stuff. I would be interested in hearing more about site monetization. Such as how soon into the design and concept phase, should the startup be concentrating on turning a profit?

Thanks,

Daniel
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Nathan Hangen — March 31st, 2009, 3:02 pm

Kevin is a one hit wonder and as I watch him run Digg into the ground, I wonder if he is even relevant?
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Kyleschen — March 31st, 2009, 3:19 pm

Great to get a glimpse into the minds of two of the coolest guys on the web. Looking forward to more videos! (Maybe some more specifics on naming companies/products?)
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Dan Sweeney — March 31st, 2009, 3:24 pm

Let us know if you’d like to see more of these brainstorming sessions.

Of course we do.
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dj — March 31st, 2009, 3:31 pm

Good stuff! More please…
Could you get Elon Musk to join the sessions?
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Brent — March 31st, 2009, 3:41 pm

Good stuff. Excellent insight and advice. Keep these tips coming! Thanks Tim!
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Pawel — March 31st, 2009, 4:04 pm

Great videocast. I am for sure going to watch the next ones. Thank you.
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Mary — March 31st, 2009, 4:07 pm

Tim,

I loved the video. I would definitely like to see more. I agree with Ben Biggs, Seth Godin would be great to have on. I recommend your book to everybody. If you ever come to Denver/Colorado Springs you should let me take you out.
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Drew Kime — March 31st, 2009, 4:15 pm

Thanks for the great discussion. But i do have one request / suggestion. If you could make just the audio portion available, I’d be more likely to find the time to listen.

I got lucky today and had a half-hour I could sit and watch the video. But normally I’d be multi-tasking. I spend a lot of time each week processing photos, and I can listen to podcasts while I do. It involves different parts of the brain.

When I’m doing photos, I’m frequently maxing out my system, and it caused the video to keep skipping, which was incredibly distracting, so I had to pause it until I was done with the other work.

Thanks again for letting us listen in. I’m looking forward to the next one.
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Erik Cox — March 31st, 2009, 4:24 pm

Hey Tim,
Excellent content, just what I have come to expect from you: great stuff with no fluff. I wish more people presented like you do, just get to the point.

I am really looking forward to more of these conversations, I hope you both can carve out the time to do so. I had some really great ideas come to me while you were both talking!

Keep up the greatness!

E
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mathdoku.com — March 31st, 2009, 4:25 pm

“Let us know if you’d like to see more of these brainstorming sessions.”

Great and informative video! I’d definitely like to see/hear more!

I’m always looking for ways to improve my little puzzle website.
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Ryan — March 31st, 2009, 4:59 pm

@Tim: What’s the domain of the site you were plugging? I’ve tried “postress”, “postris” and other variants but nothing seems to be live.
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- Tim Ferriss — March 31st, 2009, 10:41 pm
  
  @Ryan and Others,
  
  The sites I mentioned in the video are:
  http://www.rescuetime.com
  http://www.posterous.com
  
  Enjoy!
  
  Tim
  Reply
Joe — March 31st, 2009, 5:08 pm

Hey Tim, what shoes are you wearing in this vid?
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doug — March 31st, 2009, 5:23 pm

@Nathan: I totally agree about Kevin Rose. I read something recently where they did not make any money from digg. How could you not make money from a service like that? Just throw some google ads on there and get rich. However, these people wanted to get youtube rich, so they did not monetize the site hoping that big daddy google would buy them out. when that did not happen they had to figure out how to make a business. nothing wrong with their service and kudos to him for coming up with the idea, but the difference between a business and a hobby is revenue.
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Joe Gatto — March 31st, 2009, 5:26 pm

That was great! Yes, please do more segments like this.
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Me — March 31st, 2009, 5:31 pm

What are those shoes?!?!?!
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- Tim Ferriss — March 31st, 2009, 10:40 pm
  
  @Me and All,
  
  I’m wearing Vibram Five Fingers shoes in this video: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
  
  They are VERY comfortable, but be sure not to wear them for more than 1-2 miles total daily walking in the beginning. It takes time to learn not to heel strike when walking quickly.
  
  Tim
  Reply
Dan — March 31st, 2009, 5:33 pm

Good stuff, you should definitely make it happen regularly boys!
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Aaron Kemmer — March 31st, 2009, 5:35 pm

Do I sense a feeling of remorse?

Or are you just cleverly disarming the crowds?

That’s the second time this month you mentioned that “The Four Hour Work Week” sounds like a scam. We all know why you picked the title: It sounds liberating and it’s the dream of every over-worked American. It got me to pick up the book, and it’s had more of an impact than anything I’ve ever read – twice.

Take it from me, I know. My book sounds like a scam too (or is that spam?). Either way, I know the feeling when you tell someone your book title and they look back at you with disbelieving eyes.
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Eric Beck — March 31st, 2009, 5:41 pm

While getting my 1980′s favorites out of Napster and into itunes – via the arduous process of burning cds – listened to all; watched most. Great fun to hear you guys chat about entrepreneurship 3.0 – would make it shorter and sequence the content. People are wanting to act on this.

Or do a contest – win an evening conversation with Tim and Kevin.

To make this info usable, like everything, it needs to be organized/sequenced. Could be a very cool start to a network that does this. It seems most learning efforts derail due to sequencing – maybe a solution is starting here. When I bring companies to investors this really seems to help.

Very cool. Thanks!
Eric
ps. I Digg “Emergency”
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Diane Webster — March 31st, 2009, 5:44 pm

Great bit of info. Love the idea of you chatting casually with friends giving good and useful info. I can’t wait for you to talk about learning a language quickly. I have the need for advisory counsel on a project. How can we chat?
Thanks,
Diane
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Dermanus — March 31st, 2009, 5:51 pm

Great video. Forwarded it around to my friends. I also think RescueTime might be the answer to a problem I’ve been working on.
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ben — March 31st, 2009, 6:03 pm

Keep it coming guys, this is looking like a fun podcast!
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Geoff Wwood — March 31st, 2009, 6:17 pm

Loved the video, I’d definitely like to see more in the series.
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Heather — March 31st, 2009, 6:53 pm

I love brainstorming sessions…would definitely watch more
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SIGEPJEDI — March 31st, 2009, 7:39 pm

SIGN ME UP! Great episode!
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Dynasty — March 31st, 2009, 7:45 pm

Hey Tim,

I am delighted with your video. I hope you feature more guests this way. Keep up the good work.

by the way, explain the shoes?!
Reply
Derek @ Live Uncomfortably — March 31st, 2009, 7:46 pm

Great stuff as always. I agree with the others, keep these videos coming.

- Derek
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Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Discuss Angel Investing and Naming Companies | William Peng — March 31st, 2009, 8:07 pm

[...] Interesting discussion about building a brand, naming your company, and angel investing. There is an interesting part about 4 minutes in where Tim talks about how he used Google AdWords as a way to perform market research on potential company or product names. He also printed out fake book covers on blank books and set them out on actual Borders book shelves to record pick up rates. Apparently the best position for the book is just below eye level to the left of the new nonfiction or face out on the table behind the rack. The whole video is worth a watch. Looking forward to future episodes. (via Tim Ferriss) [...]
Rocky — March 31st, 2009, 8:28 pm

How do you hook up with or let yourself be known to Angels? And do these type of investors invest in Charities (start up, position on the board, and if “famous” being a spokes person for said charity?)
I ask because I am currently starting a Charity and have little to no money to do all the legal and set up all that needs to be done.
Reply
Scott — March 31st, 2009, 8:30 pm

Tim, we need more of this.
Reply
Mike — March 31st, 2009, 8:38 pm

I would like to see more video discussions
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Tom — March 31st, 2009, 8:51 pm

All I have to say is, Tim, what are those shoes you’re wearing and are they comfortable?
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Adam — March 31st, 2009, 8:53 pm

I think you’d find Fabrice Grinda’s approach to angel investing of value. He talks about increasing diversification (8+ investments), looking for off-the-beaten-path companies (outside of the valley/alley and US), and companies with very low capital expenditures. Good, short read from an internet entrepreneur with a lot of successes.

http://www.fabricegrinda.com/?p=620
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- Tim Ferriss — March 31st, 2009, 10:36 pm
  
  @Adam,
  
  Fabrice is a very smart investor, indeed. He and I have invested in the same deals before. His grasp of macro- and microeconomics is mind-boggling.
  
  All the best,
  
  Tim
  Reply
Benjamin — March 31st, 2009, 9:29 pm

Wow! That was a great video. I really do hope you guys make more because there’s a lot of great ideas you guys have to share with the community. Thanks a lot for making this.
Reply
Joseph Sherman — March 31st, 2009, 10:11 pm

Thank you for describing the role of an advisor clearly. I like how you vision the role as a way to be involved in many projects to keep things fresh without the hassle of day to day issues such as the server going down.
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AndyMarch — April 1st, 2009, 1:21 am

Really good video. Nice to see this type of content from you both, I’m looking forward to the next one.
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Brad — April 1st, 2009, 1:32 am

Hi Tim great video mate!! hope there will be more? ?
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Niki — April 1st, 2009, 3:16 am

I want more of you guys talking!
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Stefan Lesser — April 1st, 2009, 3:40 am

Great video! You should definitely make this a regular session.

Although I think grabbing peoples’ attention through freebies is reasonable advice, I’d like to add: effort and outcome should be in balance.

If you’re a web designer, sending your potential client a redesign mockup is far better that just talking about it. But if you put too much effort in (and you’ll do, if you want it to be great), just to impress someone, you better get prepared for frustration. There are so many odd reasons, why you might not get noticed. Don’t make yourself dependent on it.

Instead, look for an additional, personal outcome, that you’d be happy with, and make the impress-part a by-product of this process. Don’t just send the redesign to your prospect, put it on your blog as well and let others know how you would do it. That opens up far more possibilities and you’ll probably get lots of great feedback.

When I wrote Dreamline (that’s the iPhone app mentioned at the end of the video), I primarily did it, because I wanted such a tool for myself. I was never expecting Tim to mention it publicly.
Now, after he did, you can imagine how happy I am. Thanks!
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Will Fosdick — April 1st, 2009, 4:14 am

Hey Tim, thanks for the video! You guys are like my online mentors, so videos like this are always appreciated. Hope this becomes a regular thing!
Cheers,
Will
BTW, I’m going to try the Google AdWords testing system for naming my new real estate website, thanks for the advice.
Reply
Brad — April 1st, 2009, 5:01 am

Hi Tim great video mate hope you and Kevin do more
cheers Brad
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TheLukas — April 1st, 2009, 5:22 am

Definitely something i’d like to see more of.
I think some of the stuff could spark interesting conversation and debate within the community.
Very interesting stuff.
Reply
valto — April 1st, 2009, 6:03 am

Great video and good insight shared on a laid back setting. Yes, more please!
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Marcie — April 1st, 2009, 7:23 am

The link to the iPhone app is here:

http://stefan-lesser.com/dreamline/
Reply
Ryan NIle — April 1st, 2009, 9:24 am

Great Video.

Posted an @reply on twitter to you asking how someone could contact the ‘uncontactable’, i.e. yourself – and you answered it while I was watching. Get your attention..

Thanks! Big fan.

Ryan
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Farrell — April 1st, 2009, 10:05 am

Tim,

Don’t mean to be a d**k but the images of the charts on RescueTime.com could be cleaned up a bit in my opinion. Maybe I’m just OCD but they bother me

Cheers,

Farrell
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — April 1st, 2009, 1:31 pm
  
  @Farrell,
  
  No worries. I’ll pass on the feedback, as the images are a little jagged.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Tim
  Reply
Nick Sparagis — April 1st, 2009, 10:41 am

I think Tim and Kevin have the will to succeed in common. They’re desire is way bigger than the little voices in their head. You know, the voice that says things like, “you’re wasting your time” and “these people are taking advantage of you” or “this is never going to work”.

I think people are leery of people, with more money than them, that want a piece of their company, in exchange for money or advice. The best advice was setting a few benchmarks. I wish I had a good enough idea that someone would want to steal
Reply
Nick Sparagis — April 1st, 2009, 10:55 am

Btw, Iminlikewithyou.com is an awesome site. Thanks for recommending Kevin.
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dejon97 — April 1st, 2009, 11:59 am

A big thanks for the info you guys shared in this video. I would definitely watch similar programming.

I was a big fan of “The Big Idea” show hosted by Donny Deutsch. IMHO, it was developing a huge following and now that it is gone there is a huge void for what it offered. I know fans of the show are looking for something like it. You guys have the talent, knowledge, and respect to pull of a show like that. You guys could throw it live on ustream.tv, take phone calls, and answer chats. It would be better than “The Big Idea” because it would be more interactive.
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ari — April 1st, 2009, 12:10 pm

awesome, please keep doing this, very useful stuff.

thanks,

alt
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Jacob P — April 1st, 2009, 2:36 pm

Please turn this into a series and keep these episodes coming. There’s nothing better than watching succesfull people having REAL conversations like this, about their real-life/business experiences. Love it.
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jaq — April 1st, 2009, 3:53 pm

Great Stuff… Name the show…. “UpStart” …..See what I did there?
Reply
Gennaro — April 1st, 2009, 4:04 pm

The power of Walmart. Though I think they did you a favor with the title. It would have been a different type of cult hit with the original title. Much fewer opportunities for mainstream press, for sure. Enjoyed the discussion on naming sites. Tough today with dot com urls mostly bought.
Reply
e. mars — April 1st, 2009, 4:07 pm

Yes, extremely helpful.

More please!
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tim ferris fan and yoga dvd dude — April 1st, 2009, 4:09 pm

great company info, keep these videos coming if possible
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tim ferris fan and yoga dvd dude — April 1st, 2009, 4:30 pm

by the way, vimeo does not allow me to return to the page after watching half the video and then use the cursor to start back in the middle … big hassle
Reply
Andrew — April 1st, 2009, 5:02 pm

Tim this was awesome I hope this can become a regular thing for you and Kevin.
Reply
Christos Constantinou — April 1st, 2009, 6:47 pm

Feedback:

I would be better if you guys broke the content up into 2 or 3 smaller 10 or 15 minute videos so that it would be easier to pick up the most interesting subject and also easier to watch it…

It is also great to see that people with similar intellectual backgrounds can so easily get together and create value! We don’t get that in Cyprus.. :\
Reply
Cory Nadilo — April 1st, 2009, 7:24 pm

Very interesting talk. Would love to see more; you guys make a good team.
Reply
MrPackgoat — April 1st, 2009, 9:39 pm

Keep it up… love the casual setting. And excellent content. I suggest a brief wardrobe demo before every video… love the shoes!
Reply
Katya — April 1st, 2009, 11:00 pm

???????!
Please do more of that!
Merci,
K.
Reply
Katya — April 1st, 2009, 11:01 pm

Sorry in place of ???? was a russian word *Klassno*
Reply
hoang diem — April 2nd, 2009, 12:40 am

Thank you for your interesting book. I am a student now and I am getting many difficulties to learning English. I have learn E for years but It improves very slowly ínspite of my trying hard day to day, particularly in speaking and lístening ( i am only good at doing E exam). I dont know how to when I will speak E influenty . And I think speaking 6 language like u is imposible. how can u do it??? what is ur exprience???
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Adam — April 2nd, 2009, 6:13 am

This is a response to your twitter question on a title to continue these. I would want to know what your goal is with these shows and who is the audience. Don’t get me wrong, I’m interested regardless, but are you looking to provide business information to those that are already following you both or grow this into a separate business line? If it’s a business line, then I’m sure you’ll use adsense as you stated and just need some keywords to play with. Scanning these postings, you’ll see brainstorming and awesome (like Jason’s suggestion) listed several times. If it stays with the same theme, then I would suggest: business, idea, hour, entrepreneur, etc. All of these words, I’m sure you are already thinking about and won’t waste your time listing them out. If you are wanting to leave the focus open, then you’ll have to give us more information to help suggest ideas. If you just want to give out the information to those that already follow you, then this venture doesn’t have to have the same meme value. I would suggest “Dreamline Chats” and to use Revision 3 production to create and host, so it has value from both of you. Regardless, I love getting to hear ideas from people on these things because doing it on your own is fairly isolating. Just some thoughts.
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Martijn — April 2nd, 2009, 6:40 am

Hey Tim,

What’s with the shoes? Who makes them?

Cool video. More is cool.

Best, M
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j will — April 2nd, 2009, 7:47 am

Been enjoying both of you and your work for months now. BUT this was gold! For some reason you two and this content were really in sync…and look at the volume of comments. Keep it going!
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brad — April 2nd, 2009, 8:48 am

@Tim i love to have you on my podcast tech webcast

email me techwebcast@gmail.com
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RHNet — April 2nd, 2009, 11:19 am

More of these please!
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Kris Kehe — April 2nd, 2009, 11:51 am

What a great video. I totally want to see more. Discussions like these help turn the wheels in your head and help you think. Engaging in something like this every week or month would be good for the mind and maybe even help you grow your business into a better one, and even life as well. Great Job Guys!

-Kris-
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Frank — April 2nd, 2009, 12:54 pm

I enjoy the output from both of you gents and would watch more. Please continue!
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James Bloor — April 2nd, 2009, 2:41 pm

Great session guys – really interesting to hear how you feed off each other and how you invest in your projects.
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links for 2009-04-02 « this will be changed — April 2nd, 2009, 3:02 pm

[...] Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Discuss Angel Investing and Naming Companies I was surprised by the good material in their discussions. Kevin & Tim keep going up in my book (if I had one). (tags: startup entrepreneur kevinrose timferriss) [...]
Erik Torgeson — April 2nd, 2009, 6:19 pm

Nice comic on the importance of a name…http://tinyurl.com/cuod4e
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Dave — April 2nd, 2009, 7:48 pm

Tim/Kevin –
Great video, I had to listen multiple times to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Lots of great information, please do this again. I have to ask though, what the heck does Tim have on his feet?
Cheers!
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Tim Holtkamp — April 2nd, 2009, 8:47 pm

Tim and kevin the Sofa Chat is a great idea. I really enjoy seeing the slightly different takes that you both have on topics. I hope you guy’s keep it up.
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Frank Kotsianas — April 2nd, 2009, 10:51 pm

Hey Tim,

Great video! There is a lot to be learned from putting two great minds in a room and just hearing them go. More videos would be great – any topic at all!

Thanks for all you do!

Frank
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Seth — April 3rd, 2009, 7:32 am

I would love to see more of these brainstorming sessions. I’m especially interested in Kevin’s wireframes!

Anything on how to launch a product would be cool too.

Thanks,

Seth
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Chris — April 3rd, 2009, 7:45 am

Was that just a taste or a flood of really good info?

Thanks!

Chris
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Simon Scott — April 3rd, 2009, 2:21 pm

More would be great, especially on what you analyse when considering investing.
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John — April 3rd, 2009, 4:12 pm

Love the content Tim, in the process of launching my dream business right now and the relaxed entrepreneurial talks are just what I need at this stage of the game!

-John
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Jeremy Belcher — April 4th, 2009, 7:10 pm

Make this a series! Maybe bring on some really interesting guests to continue your conversations.
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Chris — April 5th, 2009, 1:09 pm

Great! can’t wait for the next one!
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Dynasty — April 5th, 2009, 4:06 pm

Hey Tim,

I am wearing my first pair of KSO Vibram FiveFingers shoes, thanks for the recommendation.
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David — April 5th, 2009, 5:14 pm

Great intellectual combo video…

Putting together two of the best things (4HWW + digg) was a great idea (=awesome). I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion on how to promote one’s site by way of Google ads and what not.

And I need to pick up some of those Vibram Five Fingers.

Let’s see some more collaborating ASAP.

Well Wishes
Dave
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Brady Bagwan — April 5th, 2009, 5:40 pm

Tim,

Perfect timing on this content with Kevin. Delegate Source meets your criteria for angel investing. There is overlap. The team is young. We’re already up and running. We’re in the early stages. We’re not capital intensive. And we’re not headquartered in the Valley. Cross marketing is of greater value to us at this time than additional capital with a second round being needed in 2010.

I think it’s worth a few minutes of your time to have a discussion. I’ve approached Rhonda Britten as well.

On the Vibram’s, I heard about them last month when I was on a six-hour backcountry ski trip with my SEAL buddy here in Colorado. I wasn’t really interested in hearing about it at the time since I was focused on surviving the trip but seeing you wear them reminded what their value prop is. I’ll probably get a pair next weekend.
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Andy — April 6th, 2009, 4:23 am

Awesome video Tim thanks for all your work
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Bobbie — April 6th, 2009, 9:55 am

I have recently started a new company to train caregivers who provide in-home care for seniors and physically impaired. Myself and my partner have degrees in the Healthcare field but we want to how a company get the rights to “certify” people in an industry? We are in MI, any info would be helpful
Bobbie Edwards
Terry Burt
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Linkin Park, Kevin Rose, and Timothy Ferris on Choosing Domain Names — April 6th, 2009, 7:22 pm

[...] just finished watching a great video from one of my favorite blogs that is not necessarily related to domaining, SEO, or Internet [...]
Sharon — April 6th, 2009, 8:24 pm

Lot’s of little gems of information that really got to the essence of things for people who are daunted by the prospect of a startup or investing/advising.

You two have a great rapport – excellent video – please do more.
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J. Crow™ — April 6th, 2009, 11:32 pm

I would love to see more post like this. This was a great post and it gave me and idea for a new blog! Thanks Tim.
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MattS — April 7th, 2009, 4:27 am

Question for Tim and any other folks with some angel investing experience:
We’re building a product that takes the automated lifestyle into the trading arena using artificial intelligence and automated trading systems.

I’d say we’re about 90 percent there creating investment strategies with good returns at low risks, but we’d like to increase the consistency and build this out to other assets, like Forex.

My question is: Is it time to seek angel investments to pay for outsourced developers? Or do we need to build that remaining 10 percent, even though it will take us a longer time to bring it to market?

Any thoughts and suggestions would be helpful!
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Matt — April 7th, 2009, 11:37 am

“Minimum Viable Product”, here is an interesting related interview about feature testing and UI design.

http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product
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MattS — April 7th, 2009, 3:34 pm

Thanks Matt.
That’s great information.
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Apartments Buenos Aires — April 8th, 2009, 6:05 am

A great post. Lots of valuable information and its good to hear how you dissect the opportunity, positioning etc.
thanks
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Gert — April 10th, 2009, 6:23 am

Thanks! Great video!
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Rich — April 10th, 2009, 9:53 am

I saw the awesome article about you, Kevin and tea in Wired magazine. I used the 4HWW to plan my dream trip to Taiwan this year to find and make good tea. Ping me and I’ll send you a sample of my finest (no commercial interest, I make tea for fun and sell houses for work) as a thank you; good stuff and they’re old and $$$.
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Jason Whitehead — April 11th, 2009, 1:34 pm

Guys, you sit around going me me me me me me me.
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Eric — April 12th, 2009, 10:08 am

That was a very interesting discussion. I hope you guys can turn that into a regular podcast!
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Andrew — April 14th, 2009, 7:33 pm

finally got around to watching this — thoroughly enjoyed it! i look forward to watching future sessions.
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Buck — April 15th, 2009, 11:35 am

great great great!!
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Aaron — April 15th, 2009, 12:34 pm

Yes! Please do more of you two guys, that was well worth my time!
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Drew Baye’s High Intensity Training » Going Barefoot, Almost — April 16th, 2009, 10:37 am

[...] few weeks back I saw a video on Tim Ferriss’ web site in which he wore what appeared to be a pair of camouflage socks with toes. I thought they looked [...]
Twitter Today: April 1, 2009 | kenneth lim . net — April 23rd, 2009, 9:17 am

[...] Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss discuss startups (Via: @tferriss) [...]
Matt Hanson — April 23rd, 2009, 4:05 pm

Thanks for the video. Great info. Keep em coming. I am filled with questions though. I have an innovative product (ski-bike conversion kit) that I have sold 1000 of so far and am looking at doing another production run, but need to get more exposure on a shoestring budget. Considering going to an Angel Investor and need some guidance. Took my website down last year when I was out of inventory, but you can see the product on my myspace page listed in the website box. Would love to chat with you about it.

~Matt
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B. Ackles — April 29th, 2009, 9:49 am

Hey Tim & Kevin,

Do you have any plans to make this into a video series? I think it’s already time to emerge out of ‘alpha’.

Please encourage Kevin to share his wisdom on site architecture/creative wire-framing.

Great job, keep on doing what you’re doing…
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Connie J. — April 29th, 2009, 2:31 pm

Can you guys do more webisodes?! =)

I’m definitely interested and amused by what you guys do, and hopefully in the near future i’ll be able to dabble in some Angel/Advising work myself!

Webisode #2: the usual day with Tim Ferris/Kevin Rose
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Pete — April 29th, 2009, 4:23 pm

Tim,

Next time…no weird blue things on your feet. Good post.
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Greg — May 2nd, 2009, 12:08 am

Great video, I really liked it and I am liking the site. Look forward to following this blog!
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Chris Lammert — May 2nd, 2009, 1:52 pm

I love this information and I’ve passed the link onto many friends.

Is there any way to get this video via a podcast so I can take it with me to watch portably? Would you ever consider publishing your “Interviews” archives as a podcast to subscribe to?

Thanks!
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Mike Gilliland — May 4th, 2009, 10:57 am

Tim,

Hey man, great stuff here. I’ve been following you for some time and this is exactly what I would love to see more of on your site. I’ve got so many questions regarding Angel Investing and my product – will hopefully get a chance to pick your brain soon. Until then – looking forward to more postings. Keep them coming!

Mike
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Chris — May 5th, 2009, 1:34 am

Amazing video… I transcripted out all the great info and advice Tim and Kevin had to share, check it out http://tinyurl.com/cpaw8o
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Lee — May 6th, 2009, 4:42 pm

I loved this! I have always been a big fan on Kevin.. and you’ll together work so well.

Please do these together monthly
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Ben — May 17th, 2009, 10:19 am

Your first book title was soooo much better. When I was looking at your book at the book store, I was trying to figure out if it was for real or a pyramid scheme or something. I ended up not purchasing it because I saw too much yuppie speak on the page I opened up to. Wound up seeing you on Alex Roy’s blog so I then bought the book, and I’m glad I did.

WalMart is a very smart company, however their business practices are despicable, miserable company, run by miserable middle management. They really are the exact opposite of your book. I know you where probably obligated by your publisher though.
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Still Learning… » Time for a change? — May 18th, 2009, 2:35 pm

[...] or die over the top hippy either, after all he’s still involved in the Web 2.0 craziness (angel investing and branding and random stuff) but in a way that would actually appeal to me. He gets to get involved in [...]
Azzam — May 26th, 2009, 9:15 am

OK Tim, took your advice. Got the developer to write up a schematic of the process for the tool and create a working demo as a prototype.

The statistics is that over 95% of the Music, Movies and software downloaded online is illegal. The tool that I intend to develop has a algorithm built to detect and identify these pirated materials.

The angle is to tackle an area that the industry has let slide right pass and is growing immensely in popularity.

Where do I take it from here? Essential to be honest it needs an investor and probably more important a Champion in Marketing to take this tool/app to the industry to see its potential.

Love to show you the demo and get some sound advice.

Azzam
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mantis108 — May 26th, 2009, 3:41 pm

Tim, like your stuff but don’t be Wal-Mart’s b@tch. Grow a pair like Green Day and refuse to distribute through them if they put the clamp down on you. Lost respect on that one.
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- Tim Ferriss — May 26th, 2009, 6:02 pm
  
  Hi Mantis,
  
  Please, some common courtesy. I’ll keep my response to the point: distribution is 100% the publisher’s decision, not mine. That’s how the business functions. The author has no contractual right to negotiate this — period.
  
  It’s a good idea to do some homework before using the word “b*tch” with anyone. It’s likely to offend.
  
  Best,
  
  Tim
  Reply
Blair Koss — May 30th, 2009, 8:40 pm

Tim, Kevin,

Excellent video blog – I know it took me 2 months to get to this – but it was 30+ minutes. I would watch additional post blogs. Please continue this series – very valuable. Thanks for taking the time – the extended format/detail is extremely valuable! Thanks, Blair
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Ibrahim — May 31st, 2009, 4:32 pm

Love these vids keep them up
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Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose Discuss Their Top 5 Must-Read Books — June 1st, 2009, 12:40 pm

[...] you missed them, check out Episode 1 and Episode 2. From functional MRIs and knives to angel investing and naming companies, it’s [...]
The 4-Hour Work Week - Kevin Chiu — June 3rd, 2009, 10:30 pm

[...] Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Discuss Angel Investing and Naming Companies – Tim’s approach for naming his book was a great demonstration of market testing. [...]
C Jeffers — June 6th, 2009, 4:08 pm

hey Tim and Kevin!
Dig the random vids.

As I know you both travel often, would love to know how you both stay in shape (eating and working out) while on the road. I travel all the time and keeping fit is one of the toughest challenges in traveling. Even when you ‘think’ you’re ordering something healthy, the restaurant doesn’t let you know that they put a pound of butter on your meal.

What are your secrets?

Best
chad J.
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Going to China, Language Reactivation, and Other Mischief — July 12th, 2009, 9:56 pm

[...] trip preparation, Pu-erh tea cakes, and basic Mandarin language reactivation. There is a separate Random episode coming that includes more on language and textbook [...]
Benny B — July 13th, 2009, 9:43 am

Keep up the great work(?) guys. I look forward to the next episode of Random. Keep ‘em coming.
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Brandi — July 17th, 2009, 12:54 am

Wow! Great show. Will keep an eye out for upcoming ones.
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Greg — September 1st, 2009, 7:39 pm

The deaf among us love your resources, but have all the hearing genius of a rock. Transcripts bring you love from us.
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- Tim Ferriss — September 3rd, 2009, 12:36 am
  
  Hi Greg,
  
  Thank you for your feedback. I agree that we need to get transcripts. Thank you for the reminder.
  
  Best,
  
  Tim
  Reply
C.W. Springer — October 1st, 2009, 7:37 pm

Love the info guys keep up the sessions looking forward to more!
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Digg.com Acquires $500 Domain WeFollow.com . . .Oh Yea and the Site Too | Domain Name News — October 15th, 2009, 11:50 pm

[...] and Rose made a cameo appearance in a Godaddy Super Bowl commercial. He’s done a broadcast discsussing domains with Four Hour Work Week Author, Tim Ferris and he’s vented his disdain about “fucking parkers” on another Diggnation episode [...]
Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss on Angel Investing and Naming Your Company « Wit Fishing — December 11th, 2009, 2:25 pm

[...] Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Discuss Angel Investing and Naming Companies [...]
Tino — January 5th, 2010, 1:40 pm

Great story on how to research for popularity on title or even keywords for natural seo. The main priority is to figure out to get the most relevant information to the right group of people. Thanks
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Aaron — April 27th, 2010, 6:36 am

Is angel investing considered a good way to build wealth ?

The ROI can be high, but I believe the risk is also high if you don’t have experience in a market and can be wrong about their business plan.

Also I think when there is a good opportunity, savvy angel investors can smell it and will usually invest before you even hear a word about it.
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john — August 7th, 2010, 2:15 pm

What would Shakespeare say today about naming a company? Would he say a “Rose by any other name would still smell as sweet”?
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Phil Leggetter — November 4th, 2010, 5:31 am

The naming thing is really interesting. I’m building a service at the moment and since our focus is the web the name and the domain need to say this. The process took months but I really wish I’d thought/known about the Google Adwords idea. Our service has ended up with a name that sounds good, we feel works as a brand and *really* works in conversation. The problem is the spelling. We’ve gone for “Kwwika”. The problem is that even when people know that our service name starts with a “K” they got with a double “K” in the middle too. We do have that domain but every so often we consider a slight rebranding to the double “K”. I personally like the double “W” since it’s webby and a play on “www”.

I’m interested to see if anybody has any thoughts on this. I guess I’m asking for free consultancy
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Stephen Martin — December 12th, 2010, 2:30 am

I am going through watching your older entries. Man they are funny. Keep these up we need them more than once a month lol..
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Iggy — May 2nd, 2011, 10:58 am

Kompliment! Weiter so, wünschenswert natürlich, demnächst weitere Infos zu diesem Thema von Ihnen zu erhalten.
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