Coming to you from a late night in rural Japan, this is a special edition of The Random Show.
Per usual for The Random Show, I am joined by Kevin Rose (@KevinRose), serial entrepreneur, world-class investor, and all around wild and crazy guy. We discuss Japan and how to do it cheaply, building apps, urine drinking, love and marriage, beauty and absurdity in 2017, why Kevin doesn’t have New Year’s resolutions, favorite books, and much more.
Enjoy!
You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Want to hear another episode of The Random Show? Listen to this earlier conversation with Kevin Rose. In this episode, we discuss saunas and cold treatment, dating apps, and fitness apps (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Connect with Kevin Rose:
- Past episodes of The Random Show
- Cherry blossom festivals in Tokyo
- Suntory The Premium Malt’s — “brewed with pride”
- Kanpai!
- We’re staying at the Araya Totoan
- In spite of the tattoos, Kevin assures us he’s not Yakuza.
- 7-Eleven and Circle K are different in Japan.
- Ghibli Museum
- Harajuku
- Instagram photos tagged #takeshitadori
- Over 280 Images of the Most Imaginative & Strange Cosplay at Comic-Con 2016 by Steve ‘Frosty’ Weintraub, Collider
- 13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese by Giles Murray
- Japanese Verbs & Essentials of Grammar by Rita Lampkin
- How to Perform Mantra Meditation
- The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
- Slack
- Headspace and Calm are two meditation apps Kevin uses.
- Transcendental Meditation
- Kevin has interviewed entrepreneurs at the Journal podcast and the Foundation series so people can better understand the steps (and missteps) that go into making a product.
- vBulletin
- Battle of the Clouds: Amazon Web Services vs. Microsoft Azure vs. Google Cloud Platform by Brandon Butler, Network World
- Introducing “Zero,” a New App to Help You Fast by Kevin Rose, Medium
- An iOS Developer’s Guide: From Objective-C to Learning Swift by Marco Mustapic, Toptal
- Hodinkee
- Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
- Tim Ferriss Shares Successful Life Tips from Tools of Titans on The Tonight Show
- Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
- SS Jeremiah O’Brien
- From Gunpowder to Teeth Whitener: The Science Behind Historic Uses of Urine by Mohi Kumar, Smithsonian.com
- The Tim Ferriss Podcast is Live! Here Are Episodes 1 and 2
- Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
- The works of Mark Rothko, National Gallery of Art
- List of Living National Treasures of Japan (crafts)
- Kevin likes to wear Birkenstocks in the snow.
- Minimalism: a Documentary About the Important Things
- What is Hedonic Adaptation and How Can it Turn You Into a Sucka? by Mr. Money Mustache
- Riding Giants
- Laird XPT Extreme Pool Training
- Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter XVIII: On Festivals and Fasting
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
- 5-Bullet Friday
- Hacking Japan: Inside Tokyo for Less than New York
Show Notes
- Why are we in Japan? [06:56]
- At Araya Totoan, Kevin doesn’t have to hide his tattoos. [09:17]
- What it’s like in Japan if you don’t speak the language. [11:23]
- The difference between losing a personal item in Japan and the US. [12:26]
- Tokyo has a reputation for being an expensive city, but you can still have fun on the cheap. [15:20]
- Book recommendations for people who want to learn Japanese. [20:02]
- Book research and development, and mantra meditation app creation. [21:22]
- Weighing the benefits of Slack vs. a private Facebook group for community feedback. [29:20]
- Why is Kevin creating an app for mantra meditation, and what would its success look like? [31:43]
- What do developers and designers mean when they talk about “wireframes?” [36:08]
- Why don’t I have a “4-Hour” app yet? How can developers minimize maintenance once an app goes live? [37:51]
- What can an app developer expect in terms of cost and maintenance for the first year if their launch is successful? [44:02]
- Some of the features I’d like in my own app. [47:50]
- Aside from app development, what has Kevin been up to? [49:27]
- Book promotion is busy work. [50:09]
- My recent Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon experience. [52:40]
- The merits of deep work and blocking time “for unknown purposes.” [55:32]
- Epitaph ideas, writing, and podcasting as vehicles for teaching. [56:55]
- The three keys to achieving goals. [58:28]
- How can you apply data to love and marriage? [1:00:06]
- On drinking urine. [1:03:23]
- How this podcast evolved as a break from writing to what it is today. [1:07:29]
- Absurdity and beauty as project criteria — case studies: court jesters and Mark Rothko. [1:09:38]
- Why Kevin got into woodworking. [1:17:23]
- How Kevin avoids costly impulse purchases. [1:23:36]
- Hedonic adaptation (aka experience stretching). [1:26:49]
- Parting thoughts: Kevin’s podcast, our tour of a sake brewery, and book and documentary recommendations. [1:32:00]