“Optimizing the Human Experience with Chris Schelzi from AppSumo” is locked Optimizing the Human Experience with Chris Schelzi from AppSumo

Hacker Practice: GROWTH, SYSTEMS, and RISK for Startups and SMB

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“When asking for help, appeal to self interest over mercy or gratitude”

I met Chris Schelzi in early 2015. He was working at Black Rock at the time. Then we poached him to work with us on a startup.

Chris helped that startup raise more than a quarter of a million dollars in a crowdfunding campaign.

Now, he's working at AppSumo, bringing you great deals on cool tools for your company.

In our conversation, Chris and I dive deep into:

• Coffee
• Hedonism
• Diet and Exercise
• Ideas for the next great health tech startup
• How AppSumo is empowering entrepreneurs

Please enjoy this episode of Hacker Practice with my good friend Chris Schelzi

Notes

[02:00] French Press vs Chemex

• French Press = Full immersion, full body
• Chemex filters do a lot of heavy lifting

[06:00] Justus's favorite cup of coffee

• French Press + Heavy Cream @ 4 AM
• Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony

[07:20] BOOKS

• How books and can be an indulgence
• Owning books vs going to the library
• Aristotle's Golden Mean
• Plutarch's How to Profit by One's Enemies
• Histories by Herodotus
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
  • "The non-fiction, black Catcher in the Rye"
  • Recidivism - noun the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend.

[16:00] Coffee as a vice. How to best enjoy vices in general.

[17:30] Why you shouldn't be afraid to return things to the store

[18:30] Zen Roaster. Roasting your own coffee. Moving meditation. Coffee rituals. Chris built himself a side-table.

• Designing and building things by hand is zen af.

[23:30] We talk about axes and camping for a bit

• Twenty inch Wetterling Axe
• Joshua tree
• Skyline Drive

[26:30] Our mutual interest in health and physiology

• Diet - How to get shredded like Chris?
  • Low carb, high fat.
• Exercise recommendations?

Frozen Fatty Coffee Drink

Chameleon Cold Brew

[39:00] How to teach anti-science people a better way.

"Show them a cleaner glass of water".

Bullet Proof Coffee gets mentioned about a hundred times.

[43:00] Intermittent fasting. Strength training + Tabata Sprints

Diet scheduling. Fasting from protein can improve protein utilization. Lift heavy things and sprint. Keep it simple.

Michael Pollan's Food Rules

Eat a lot of vegetables. Mostly vegetables.

[46:00] Isometrics workouts to build strength without putting stress on joints. On grass or in the pool. "Jack your heart rate up".

[49:00] Chris's $10,000 offer for a health technology product for monitoring various biological markers

• The state of health monitoring is abysmal for the average or even extraordinary consumer
• Idea - Implant that continually measures important biomarkers. Measure in real time.
• Dutch testing for cortisol and other hormones
• This idea could change the way we interact with dieting and health in general
• What would a version one of this tech look like? Measuring the following:
  • Sex Hormones
  • Stress Hormones
  • Cholesterol
  • Fat Soluble Vitamins (A, E, D, K)
  • Glucose and Ketones

[1:02:30] What is Chris working on now?

• AppSumo - Groupon for Geeks
• DesignBold - Design made easy
• SerpStat - All in one SEO tooling
• The cult of the "Sumoling"

[1:05:30] What kind of company works with App Sumo

• GREAT tools for small businesses
• Validated by some users
• Startups that have Product Market Fit and are looking to scale to the next level

[1:10:00] Chris's role at Appsumo

• Operations and Marketing
• Focusing on retention in 2017

[1:13:00] Final requests

• Build that health monitoring
• @chrisschelzi on instagram
• Read The Righteous Mind by Johnathan Haidt and Everything by Robert Greene
• Landmark Series of Herodotus

Conclusion

This conversation could have easily been three times as long. I'll certainly have Chris on the show again.

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