Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types—from startup founders and investors to chess champions to Olympic athletes. This episode, however, is an experiment and part of a shorter series I’m doing called “Books I’ve Loved.” I’ve invited some amazing past guests, close friends, and new faces to share their favorite books—the books that have influenced them, changed them, and transformed them for the better. I hope you pick up one or two new mentors—in the form of books—from this new series and apply the lessons in your own life.
Ann Miura-Ko (@annimaniac) has been called “the most powerful woman in startups” by Forbes and is a lecturer in entrepreneurship at Stanford. The child of a rocket scientist at NASA, Ann is a Palo Alto native and has been steeped in technology startups from when she was a teenager. Prior to co-founding Floodgate, she worked at Charles River Ventures and McKinsey and Company. Some of Ann’s investments include Lyft, Ayasdi, Xamarin, Refinery29, JoyRun, TaskRabbit, and Modcloth.
Due to the success of her investments, she was on the 2017 Midas List of top 100 venture capitalists. Ann is known for her debate skills (she placed first in the National Tournament of Champions and second in the State of California in high school) and was part of a five-person team at Yale that competed in the Robocup Competition in Paris, France. She has a BSEE from Yale and a PhD from Stanford in math modeling of computer security. She lives with her husband, three kids, and one spoiled dog. Her interests are piano, robots, and gastronomy.
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The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
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SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
- Connect with Ann Miura-Ko:
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How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen
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The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
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The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
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Hi Tim, just wanted to suggest having Oren Klaff in (Pitch Anything), etc) your podcast. Might be interesting.
Impressive podcast, great book selections, and a lot of practical take-aways. Thank you Ann! Our family went to Israel in 2009. Masada was unforgettable. (Dave)
Ann – I love Clay Christensen as well, and met him during an HBS negotiation class. I was saddened to hear of his passing, he had a keen view on innovation.
If you like How will you measure.. you’ll appreciate Fear is Fuel that I recently read as part of a masterclass on building courage and peak performance through neuroscience-based decision making. Similar story – guy gets cancer and is told he’s going to die, then looks back on his life of fear-driven decisions. He survives and changes everything to create this dream life then wonders how the brain can change so much – so he spends six years with the world best psychologists and neuroscientists. It’s a fun read and helped my business (real estate).
Of course for fictional capitalism it’s tough to beat Atlas Shrugged – that’s my summer re-read. Who is John Galt?
Hi Tim Team
Just asking for the way to make you a free collaboration proposal to help spread (more) your word.
Great podcast. Thanks for the books recommendations.
This is a desperate attempt. Please help. In 1994 over half a million men women and children were killed during the Rwandan genocide. Statistically, this was the most efficient genocide in human history. In the wake of the genocide bodies piled in the fields and roads, homes were burned and the country was utterly decimated. Since the genocide, however, the country’s recovery has been exponential. ”orphanage like” centers like EDD are a major contributor to this. They take children off the street, educate, feed, clothe, and house them. The goal it to rehabilitate and teach them life skills with the hopes of eventually reuniting them with their families. Boys ages 5-18, live on the streets, by themselves. With the country’s recovery, there has been a huge focus by the government on the image of the country. They do not help centers like EDD. They do little to even acknowledge centers for street children, because it would be acknowledging that a problem still exists. Without organized rehabilitation centers such as Edd, it is easier to sweep these things that will “tarnish the image” of the country, under the rug. Boys as you as 5 will be sent back into the streets to fend for themselves. Also, with some boys, there exists the potential to be reintegrated into the abusive volatile family life that led them to the center in the first place. I’m writing you in hopes to bring attention to this travesty. These children and staff members have hearts that could move mountains, they just need a voice. I’m willing to do anything to help. If you read this, I sincerely appreciate your time. Love, Chris
Hey Tim! I have just finished reading your book, ‘The Four Hour Work Week’, and was fascinated by the concepts inside. Unfortunately, I am a 13 year old, meaning that most of the concepts mentioned in the book aren’t applicable to be 🙁 I was wondering if you could provide some insight in regards to how I would go about adapting some of the concepts to a students life. Again, I really enjoyed reading your book, and hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks, a BIG fan 🙂