Blog Archive

May 14, 2022 › DOTCOM Secrets - How To Funnel Money Into Your Company

He essentially started out selling potato gun plans online. He placed some Google Ads to drive traffic to his site. Sold potato gun plans for more than it cost to advertise and realized a profit. Then Google changed the advertising algorithm and pricing that turned Russell Brunson's profit to a near-term loss. The solution to this near-term problem? In short, upselling. Eventually, Russell Brunson became a co-founder of 'ClickFunnels' with partner Todd Dickerson. Brunson's book, 'DOTCOM Secrets', is itself a sales funnel describing and explaining how to build sales funnels for your company's products. 'DOTCOM Secrets' is a fascinating journey into the intersection of web technology, sales and business in general. Afterall, revenue (and profit) is king. Read More ›

May 1, 2022 › Five Ideas To Help 10X Your Learning

Technology continues to increase the pace of change in the world. Humanity's ability to adapt to change can affect one's relevance, success, and even survival in a swiftly evolving world. From climate change to inflation to digital currency to space travel to intelligent automation, there is quite enough change for us to try to comprehend these days. We no longer have 10,000 hours to become experts in all of the things we need to master in order to survive and thrive in the present, much less the near-future. Investing in yourself and your continued learning is more important now than ever. In this podcast, Dr. Caple and I discuss some potential ways we might be able to 10X our learning to try to keep pace with the change happening in the world today. Read More ›

April 24, 2022 › Three Principles Governing Explosive Personal Growth

Her Class is 'Barbarian'. Her Level is 1. Race is 'Tiefling'. Background is 'Wildling/Outlander'. This is a beginning sketch of Dr. Caple's Dungeons and Dragons character, 'Leroy Jenkins'. She's tough and bold, chaotic neutral, and ready to take on whatever adventures her Dungeon Master throws at her...ahem. Believe it or not, all of this relates to her three principles governing explosive personal growth. I command you to grow! So read and listen on... Read More ›

March 27, 2022 › Blue Ocean Strategy

In 1908 there were 500 automakers trying to bring the new, innovative combustion engine technology to market by focusing on the high-end, luxury market . This resulted in a 'red ocean' of competition as these automakers struggled to out-maneuver each other to sell to the burgeoning market of people willing to forgo horse-and-buggy transportation in favor of the combustion engine. When Henry Ford entered the business, he was able to create a 'blue ocean' of opportunity, one characterized by no competition, by innovating on simple product offerings, assembly line optimizations, and cost innovations all reducing price to a point where choosing a Model T over horse-and-buggy was almost a no-brainer. Ford Motor Company had created a blue ocean market opportunity worth billions of dollars. Read More ›

February 21, 2022 › Verbal Judo - The Gentle Art Of Persuasion

Continuing in our mindfulness theme, which we kicked-off last episode in Kansas City, we are now discussing my top 5 takeaways from the book, 'Verbal Judo'. It turns out that our mindset, attitude, body language, and even our verbal communications are critical soft skills to be in good command of while executing your plan to achieve your big, scary dreams. In this episode, we focus a bit on critical verbal communication skills. Read More ›

February 07, 2022 › The Mindfulness Series

As synchronicity would have it, many different streams of 'mindfulness' have meandered my way in the last few weeks and months. As a result, Cindy and I thought it would be beneficial to explore the concept of 'mindfulness' in the next few podcast episodes, especially as it closely relates to a few books I've read recently. In this podcast episode, which takes place at a friend's house in Kansas City, Kansas, Cindy gives us a high-level overview of what mindfulness is, how to approach it, and why it's important and beneficial in our professional lives. Read More ›

December 26, 2021 › Cult of the Purple Cow

For those familiar with the 'Cult of the Dead Cow' (cDc), this episode title is just a nod to cDc even though it has nothing really to do with the cDc or computer security. However, one could make the leap that we are ultimately trying to 'hack' our way to success by creating 'Purple Cows'. I recently read Seth Godin's book, 'Purple Cow', which is actually about marketing and advertising. Seth Godin essentially asserts that only members of the 'Purple Cow Cult' (my term) will survive and succeed in the new era of online sales and marketing. Here are my top 5 takeways from this book! Read More ›

November 28, 2021 › Learning To Sell: 'Sales For Noobs'

In my opinion, no matter what your profession, you are involved in sales of some sort. We all find ourselves trying to sell an idea, personal position, product or service at various points in our personal and professional lives. The person with the best sales skills generally wins in advancing their position and closing the deal. 'Sales For Noobs', by John Sterling, is a great introduction to this much needed skill. Read More ›

November 7, 2021 › My Interview With Global Entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman

In honor of this week being Global Entrepreneurship Week, I am THRILLED to share my recent interview with Chairman of the Board of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Jeff Hoffman. Jeff is a highly successful serial entrepreneur with a wealth of experience. He is also an awesome story teller! So please enjoy some of Jeff's anecdotes about his experiences being an entrepreneur. Read More ›

October 17, 2021 › 'The Road To Success': The Journey's The Thing

This month I had the privilege of talking with Brandon T. Adams about his book, 'The Road To Success', which he co-authored with his wife, Samantha. These two entrepreneurs sold their belongings and left Iowa to create a television series called 'Success In Your City'. They almost went broke, got married along the way, made hosts of new friends, and even won an Emmy on their journey. I apologize before hand for the poor audio quality, but the content's the thing! Read More ›

October 10, 2021 › 'Scale': To Infinity And Beyond

Authors of the book, 'Scale', Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel, share their collective wisdom on scaling companies from startup to large corporation. Hoffman and Finkel are both successful entrepreneurs in their own right. 'Scale' identifies commonalities amongst most, if not all, businesses and identifies key strategies companies can follow to realize exponential growth in their business. In this episode, Dr. Caple and I discuss the seven core principles outlined in this book for realizing exponential growth in your business. Read More ›

September 13, 2021 › Let's Talk About Seafaring...'With Reckless Abandon'

While eating lobster at a 'Lobster Bake' in Rockland, Maine last week, I stumbled upon a gem of a man and author of the seafaring book, 'With Reckless Abandon'. In his book, I picked-up some awesome tips for how to live, and perhaps even fund, a life lived with reckless bandon. Captain Sharp's book had me giggling out loud throughout, while I experienced first-hand the Maine weather, water and people he describes in his book. In this podcast episode, we recount our visit to Rockland, Maine, our visit to the 'Sail, Power and Steam Museum' there, and my brief encounter with museum curator and author, Captain Sharp, learning about the adventures of Admiral MacMillan in the Arctic. Read More ›

August 29, 2021 › Four Thoughts On The Book: 'Homo Deus - A Brief History of Tomorrow'

The previous podcast's prognostications have hereby been revised to say that Homo sapiens will not be made slaves to super-intelligent technology; Rather, Homo sapiens will simply be made irrelevant by super-intelligent technology. From problems associated with Global Warming to mankind being made irrelevant vestigial biological organisms by super-intelligent algorithms, I am starting to question the overall expedient to man's never-ending quest for technological innovation. Read More ›

August 15, 2021 › 'A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence' by Michael Wooldridge

Intelligent machines will turn humans into slaves by the end of next year. Just kidding, that is likely not ever going to happen. It's interesting to think how R2-D2 and C-3PO delighted us for so many decades as intelligent machines that not only worked along side humans as intelligent servants (if not friends), but also helped humans wage war against the 'Dark Side'. Yet, how fast did the idea of benevolent machine intelligence get subsumed by the idea of robot overlords, ala 'Terminator'. This book helps to dispell cultural beliefs inculcated by both of these movie myths. Yet, I wonder... Read More ›

July 26, 2021 › 'The Hundred-Page Machine Learning Book' by Andriy Burkov

If you are trying to learn the nuts-and-bolts behind the machinery of Machine Learning (ML), like I am, then this is a nice, short book to dive into. Don't let the brevity of the book fool you, though. This book is 130 pages of pure rubix cube type thinking. This book takes a bit of work to digest, and I am still trying to assimilate Chapters 1 and 2, to be honest. Nevertheless, I feel that great things will come from persistence in understanding this material, as it has caused Cindy and I to ponder what exactly constitutes the word 'Intelligence' in 'Artificial Intelligence (AI)'; and further, is Machine Learning truly a waypoint on the path to AI or AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)? Read More ›

July 12, 2021 › 'Genius Makers' - Marketing Artificial Intelligence

Why try to get hired by a company as an Individual Contributor (IC) when you can team-up with a few colleagues, start a business, and sell your business to a big tech firm for $44 million? You don't need a product, inventory, income or even a business plan. This is exactly what Jeff Hinton and two of his students did when they founded DNNResearch and got bought by their highest bidder - Google. Turns out that to be worth that much money, however, your company has to be on the fringe of starting a technological revolution (like 'Artificial Intelligence'), as Cade Metz eloquently and meticulously describes in his book, 'Genius Makers'. Read More ›

June 8, 2021 › 'The Talent Code' - Exploring Paths To Greatness

You've undoubtedly heard the old adage, 'practice makes perfect.' Daniel Coyle, in his book, 'The Talent Code,' explains the biological imperatives behind the act of practicing a task over and over in order to build-up a skill in a certain area. 'The Talent Code' explains that practice, and deep practice in particular, helps to build-up fatty tissue called myelin around neural connectors in our brains, helping to retain data between neural transfers and improving data throughput in the process. So one mystery unlocked, I suppose, but what motivates us humans to put in the amount of work required to beef up our myelin to such a degree that we can actually become great at something? Read More ›

May 31, 2021 › Excellence To Infinity And Beyond: 'Creativity, Inc.'

Driven by a singlular passion to create the world's first feature-length CGI (Computer Generated Image) movie, Dr. Ed Catmull followed his dreams from the completion of his PhD at the University of Utah, to the New York Institute of Technology, to George Lucas' Lucasfilm, to being a founder of Pixar and getting to work with the likes of John Lasseter, Steve Jobs, and ultimately Robert Iger at Disney. Creativity, Inc. not only documents the story of the creation of Pixar, but primarily shares lessons-learned about how to be a great Manager and Leader while also nurturing and fostering creativity (and excellence) within a business organization. Read More ›

May 3, 2021 › Wisdom From The Heart of Iraq: 'The Richest Man In Babylon'

Ancient Mesopotamia gave rise to one of the earliest and richest cultures in the world - Babylon. Even then, mankind struggled with how to best play the financial game they were born into with the cards life had dealt them. Today, the game continues. The book, 'The Richest Man In Babylon', provides a very simple, yet deceptively complex, game plan for winning the financial game of life. Shall we play (and win) a game? Read More ›

March 28, 2021 › 'Flash Boys': Swimming In The Dark Pools With The Sharks

The Dow and NASDAQ are at all time highs. How do all of these stock market exchanges actually work, though? After reading this book I think I have a better idea, and what an interesting high-tech place the stock exchanges are... Read More ›

March 16, 2021 › Personal Voyages Into Leadership

'The animals of complacency and lethargy may be devouring me. I must therefore demonstrate that 'Rhino Spirit' and keep charging!' This was kind of my vision statement (or motivational phrase) for a while. I built this leadership statement by paraphrasing some concepts presented by a motivational speaker I once heard in college. In this podcast episode, Dr. Caple provides a tiny (albeit somewhat sleepy) coaching session on how to create a Personal Leadership Statement that will help you change the world. Read More ›

March 02, 2021 › Cradle To Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

If you think the World has no hope due to over-population and environmental destruction, take some hope in meditating upon the ants. Harvard Profesor E.O. Wilson, and German biologist Bert Hoelldobler, in their 1994 book 'Journey To The Ants', calculate that there is as much (if not more) biomass in ants as there is in humans on planet earth. That means, if you put all the ants in a pile next to all the humans, the ants would weigh more! Read More ›

February 16, 2021 › An Interview With Author David Moore Robinson

It has always seemed rather obvious to me that physical activity is really important in maintaining physical health. It has not always been so obvious to me the relationship between diet and health. In fact, the first half of my life I was pretty much on a see-food diet - whatever I saw, I ate. It took a pretty significant catalyst in my life to make me start thinking more critically about the things I ate. David Robinson's book, 'My Unremarkable Brain,' helps to further exemplify the importance of diet as not only sustenance, but also medecine. Read More ›

February 16, 2021 › 'Let My People Go Surfing,' by Yvon Chouinard

Yes America, apparently it is possible to find a job that lets you surf at lunch time. Look no further than Patagonia, the eco-conscious, family-oriented business culture started by Yvon Chouinard in Burbank, California in the early 1970's. This book ('Let My People Go Surfing') about the company's early beginings, how it survived an almost devastatingly tough period in 1991 yet came out a sustainably growing, stable company on the other side, provides some great philosophies all companies should consider weaving into the fabric of their own corporate culture. Read More ›

February 09, 2021 › A Mooving Podcast About Sustainable Farming

Last week we spent some time at Ovoka Farm in Paris, Virginia, learning a few things about what it takes to run a working livestock farm. And come to find out, it ain't easy. However, Cindy had an amazing time learning about raising livestock from her sister, Karen (a former high-powered attorney from Chicago), and came away energized by the whole experience with a desire to 10X her life raising livestock and working the land in a sustainable way. Read More ›

February 01, 2021 › Valley Boy And The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon is one of the largest and fastest sailing vessels in the world. She is a marvelous example of technological innovation allowing for single-handed operation on the 'Big Briney.' After catching a glimpse of S/Y Maltese Falcon online, I had to find out more about her owner, which led me to the reading of 'Valley Boy - The Education of Tom Perkins'. Welcome to the world of high-tech venture capital (VC) investing. And it all started with Georges Doriot at Harvard Business School... Read More ›

January 19, 2021 › 'The Ride Of A Lifetime' by Robert Iger: How To Chart An Incredible Career

Robert Iger started working for ABC 45 years ago as a young Studio Manager. I'm quite sure that when he started his job at ABC he had no idea where the journey would take him, culminating with his leadership role as CEO of Disney. While at Disney, Mr. Iger has added tremendous value to the Disney brand by acquiring highly creative and energetic companies such as Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Centry Fox, melding these companies into a creative juggernaut much greater, and more valuable, than the sum of their individual parts. Read More ›

January 05, 2021 › 'The Snowball' by Alice Schroeder: Meditations On The Oracle Of Omaha

Can you imagine being a Stock Broker in 1929 during one of the largest stock market crashes in American history? Howard Buffett, Warren Buffett's dad, started working as a Stock Broker in 1927. Warren Buffett was born just ten months after the great stock market crash of October 29, 1929. He was the second child of Howard and Leila Buffett. Hard financial times and plunging stock (and dollar) values framed the background of Warren Buffett's entrance into the world...a world in which he was soon to dominate. Read More ›

December 16, 2020 › 'The Age Of Spiritual Machines' by Ray Kurzweil

Continuing in the same vein as last week's podcast episode, we discuss Ray Kurzweil's 1999 book, 'The Age Of Spiritual Machines'. The pace of technological innovation sometimes seems like it will never abate, but at the same time, Gordon Moore's Law (doubling of computing speed every two years) seems to be drawing to a physical end. Will the future of humans be subsumed by our increasingly advanced technological innovations, or will we eventually find balance in life? Read More ›

December 7, 2020 › Thinking About Human and Machine Learning

This week we talk about Josh Waitzkin's book, 'The Art of Learning', and how apropos the learning principles he presents are to what I am currently learning about Machine Learning and AI. Are machines becoming better employees than humans? How can we humans learn more, deeper and faster, to compete against the machines? Read More ›

November 23, 2020 › 'The Magic of Dreaming Big', by David J. Schwartz, PH.D.

Dream bigger, set the bar higher, have a more positive attitude, achieve more. These are some of the themes in this classic book by David J. Schwartz. In this week's episode we talk about how to achieve more on the way to self-actualization. Read More ›

November 17, 2020 › 'The First 90 Days', By Michael D. Watkins

When starting a new job or a new role, the book, 'The First 90 Days,' contends that you have just three short months to prove your worth to an organization or else! While failure to prove your value to an organization after 30 days might not get you canned (at least not right away, perhaps), you could be inflicting a burdensome cost on your employer. Dr. Caple and I discuss various aspects of this career enhancing book. Read More ›

November 10, 2020 › Lessons From Billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman

'The best executives are made, not born.' This particular takeaway from Stephen A. Schwarzman's recent book, 'What It Takes', brought up an interesting point of discussion between Cindy and me about success and IQ. In this podcast episode, we discuss 6 of my core takeaways from this book. Read More ›

October 26, 2020 › An Interview With Multihull Pioneer - Jim Brown

Jim Brown got his start designing and building sailing trimarans from friend and mentor, Arthur Piver, near Sausilito, CA in the late 1950's. Jim's foray into his career as 'trimaran test pilot' is well documented in his entertaining book, 'Among The Multihulls: Volume I'. In this Dream 10X podcast episode, however, we learn more about the story of Jim's early childhood leading up to the story in this book. I think this as-of-yet untold story of his early youth is just as fantastic and entertaining as his book! Read More ›

October 19, 2020 › SUP For Oysters

The oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay has declined roughly 99% since the late nineteenth century. Chris Hopkinson, the Chief Strategy Officer at Ready Education, undertook a 9 day adventure to stand-up paddle board (SUP) the entire length of the Chesapeake Bay to raise awareness for this clear-and-present danger facing the Country. Read More ›

October 13, 2020 › Are You Motivated?

'Knob Caple, are you motivated?!?!' A 'knob' is a derogatory term for a freshman at The Citadel - The Military College of South Carolina. I must have heard that question a hundred times a day my Freshman year. 'Sir, motivated, motivated, motivated, sir, F-Troop!!!' was always my programmed response. F-Troop was the best damn company in the Corps of Cadets whilst I attended this fine institution, but perhaps I digress... Read More ›

October 05, 2020 › The Wizard Of Oz: Nick Jaffe

Sailor, photographer, techpreneur, artisan, leather craftsman, adventurer and overall renaissance man from Australia, Nick Jaffe, shares some deep insights into adventure as art and living an authentic life. Read More ›

September 28, 2020 › Eco-Challenge Fiji Survivor: Gretchen Reeves

Professional Mountain Biker and Adventure Racer, Gretchen Reeves, talks about getting her start as a professional athlete in Vail, Colorado and how she transitioned to Adventure Racing, where she recently participated as a member of 'Team Out There' in Amazon Prime's Eco-Challenge Fiji Television Series. Read More ›

September 21, 2020 › Ketchup On Mars

Good tasting, nutritional adventure food is critical to achieving success in 10X-sized adventure endeavours, like interplanetary travel. Our next guest has done some research on ways to make space food more portable and palatable in support of space colonization. A PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology and serving as a Lecturer at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand - please meet Dr. Sarah Kessans. Read More ›

September 13, 2020 › Buskey Hard Cider and Ben Franklin

As small businesses around the world struggle to cope with new rules and social norms resulting from COVID-19, Buskey Cider pivots to ensure the continued success of their burgeoning cidery business. While talking to Will and Elle Correll about their business, we discovered a shared appreciation for some of the more obscure words and phrases made interesting, if not popular, by Benjamin Franklin. Read More ›

September 08, 2020 › Art, Tattoos and Politics

Following her passion for art, Kelly Green discusses working her way up through the tattoo industry in Connecticut. She is now trying to become an influencer in the tattoo industry, on the legislative side, by running for State Senator in the 2020 November elections. Read More ›

September 02, 2020 › Leap First, Then Look...

Team Dream 10X have thrown their hat in the ring for consideration to compete in Eco-Challenge 2021 Adventure Race in Patagonia. Cool, what's an adventure race? Read More ›

August 25, 2020 › From Intrapreneur To Googler

Our guest this week, Dave Rensin, is a Senior Director of Engineering at Google. Dave talks to us about remote work during the 'new normal', the internet tech bubble in the late 1990's, Palm Pilots, startups, concert piano, the value of persistence, and more. Read More ›

August 18, 2020 › Grow Nuts...Not Soybeans

MIT Graduate, Aeronautical Engineer and Natural Systems Thinker, Jamie Byron, shares with us some thoughts on how he is attempting to change the world through the analysis and application of natural systems. Jamie shares some key insights into the benefits of studying nature and growing a more sustainable future, from his startup venture at MIT building in-home food growing systems, to designing and building sustainable ecosystems on his homestead in West Virginia. Read More ›

August 12, 2020 › Stay Upright, Go Straight, Finish Strong!

Did you know that this year, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, is the first year women are allowed to compete in Canoeing events at the Olympics? Inequality between and amongst the sexes is still pervasive, even amongst elite athletes. In Episode 4 of our Dream 10X podcast, we talk to athlete Pam Boteler, who has played a key role in advocating that women be allowed to compete in Canoeing at the international level. Read More ›

August 4, 2020 › The Jordans Come To Dinner

The Jordans joined us for dinner one evening. Steve, Liz, Vaughn and Aidan talk to Dr. Caple and I after dinner to discuss what dreams, life ambitions and success mean to them. Everybody arrives at their life's mission through a completely unique set of circumstances, events and drivers. It's especially refreshing to hear the perspectives of 15 yo, Aidan, and 16 yo, Vaughn, as they look down the road of their lives to the horizon of possibilities. Read More ›

July 29, 2020 › A High Schooler's Perspective And Life's Ambition

COVID-19 has turned High School life and education on it's head. The future is even more uncertain than ever. Listen to Evelyn Grace, a rising High School Senior, talk about her perspectives on the status quo and what the future might hold for her. Read More ›

July 23, 2020 › Dare To Be Great

In this first podcast, Cindy and James share some personal stories about times they dared to be great...and failed. Read More ›

July 20, 2020 › Dreams Of A Tomorrow Land

Do you dream of a better life for you and for your family? Have you ever shared a dream with a friend or family member only to have them respond with: 'Yeah, dream on!' If so, you are in the right place! Read More ›