Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth
01:19:15 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:19:15] S0: Okay. What are two or three books that you find yourself recommending most to other people? [01:19:20] S1: My my god honest answer is that I have not had the time to finish an entire book since I had my second child. Mhmm. So from a complete book standpoint, I have not I have not been able to, things that I've been... You know, that I actively read on a regular basis, just like other content out there, that I'll throw out there is, gosh, Jamin Ball from Altimeter Capital writes this great newsletter called Clouded Judgment, which is kind of mixture of market thoughts as well as, like, market stats, that, like... That's really useful to help me keep a pulse on the market. You know, I was just reading through some, like, stuff from NFX that was, that... That's been pretty good lately on all of this. I know James Currier and I share. We lived a lot of the same, cycles through social and stuff, so I tend to identify with that. So I don't know. Those are two things that, that I love reading. And, sorry, I'll give one more shout out to a different podcast, which is from, from two guys at Spark Capital, Nabil Hyatt, which I know from my early Boston days and Fraser. Sorry. I'm blanking on the last name right now who was... Head of product at OpenAI. They've got a great format where it's just those two riffing on some ideas and stuff. And, I, yeah, highly suggest that one. I I like that one a lot.
01:19:20 · Brian Balfour, Lenny Rachitsky
[01:19:20] S1: My my god honest answer is that I have not had the time to finish an entire book since I had my second child. Mhmm. So from a complete book standpoint, I have not I have not been able to, things that I've been... You know, that I actively read on a regular basis, just like other content out there, that I'll throw out there is, gosh, Jamin Ball from Altimeter Capital writes this great newsletter called Clouded Judgment, which is kind of mixture of market thoughts as well as, like, market stats, that, like... That's really useful to help me keep a pulse on the market. You know, I was just reading through some, like, stuff from NFX that was, that... That's been pretty good lately on all of this. I know James Currier and I share. We lived a lot of the same, cycles through social and stuff, so I tend to identify with that. So I don't know. Those are two things that, that I love reading. And, sorry, I'll give one more shout out to a different podcast, which is from, from two guys at Spark Capital, Nabil Hyatt, which I know from my early Boston days and Fraser. Sorry. I'm blanking on the last name right now who was... Head of product at OpenAI. They've got a great format where it's just those two riffing on some ideas and stuff. And, I, yeah, highly suggest that one. I I like that one a lot. [01:20:45] S0: Here's my reading tip that has changed my reading habits. Brian Johnson, the longevity guy, he has this advice for better sleep, which includes before you go to sleep, read for ten minutes
01:20:45 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:20:45] S0: Here's my reading tip that has changed my reading habits. Brian Johnson, the longevity guy, he has this advice for better sleep, which includes before you go to sleep, read for ten minutes [01:20:58] S1: in bed. Does put you to sleep. Part of like I retain anything that I read that close to bed, Do you feel like you retain it? [01:21:05] S0: I do. I do. I'm reading fiction. Like, it's nonfiction. You wanna... Sorry. Yeah. You wanna read something calm, not like I'm learning. So I'm reading I'm reading fiction, and it's really nice. And knowing that this is gonna help me sleep better makes me motivated. It's actually [01:21:18] S1: There's an incentive. There's a reward there. Yeah. They're about rewards and creating behavior change. [01:21:23] S0: Yeah. Exactly. And the the reason to do it is this whole thing is you wanna get to low resting heart rate, and then help slow your resting heart. [01:21:29] S1: So I've got some other sleep tips on that front if you wanna go down that path, but we'll save that [01:21:33] S0: for you. That'll be for the third podcast. Okay. Next question. Do have a favorite recent movie or TV show that you really see... Recently enjoyed?
01:21:33 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:21:33] S0: for you. That'll be for the third podcast. Okay. Next question. Do have a favorite recent movie or TV show that you really see... Recently enjoyed? [01:21:41] S1: It's not new, but I just rewatched Silicon Valley, that I hadn't watched in a number of times. And it's, it's painful because, like, the first few seasons, I went through almost every one of those moments in my first startup, like, hiring the gray haired CEO, the funding falling through at the last second, like, all the crazy stuff. But kinda going back and watching that, I... Like, there is just some extra nuances and stuff that I feel like they wrote really well that, that, you know, that I thought was that I thought was really good. So I've I've really been, watching that. The other thing is that I've watched is just more of, like, a just pure entertainment kind of calming thing, kind of turn the brain off is Owen Wilson's new show on Apple TV, Stick, which is about him as a former professional golfer and all that. You know? I I won't ruin the show and stuff, but it's a nice... It's a very nice, calming, little bit fun type type of show. [01:22:41] S0: I've been seeing that on my Apple TV. Maybe I should check it out. Good tip. Do you have a favorite product you recently discovered that you really love? It could be a gadget. It could be a app on your phone. It could be something in your computer. It could be nothing at all. You can't see
01:22:41 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:22:41] S0: I've been seeing that on my Apple TV. Maybe I should check it out. Good tip. Do you have a favorite product you recently discovered that you really love? It could be a gadget. It could be a app on your phone. It could be something in your computer. It could be nothing at all. You can't see [01:22:56] S1: it, but I do have, I just changed my whole setup. So now I have a, UltraGear super wide curved, screen Oh. With a very nice standing desk from, I believe, it's called Ergonofis. Yes, it's a... Yeah, I think it's Ergonofis, E R G O N O F I S. And it's a very nice, sleek, standing desk, very stable, very quiet, very much enjoying. Excellent tip. [01:23:31] S0: And the and the curtain monitor. Very cool. Okay. Two more questions. Do you have a life motto that you often come back to and find useful in work or in life, something you share with folks, something that you think about when times are hard or just generally?
01:23:31 · Lenny Rachitsky, Brian Balfour
[01:23:31] S0: And the and the curtain monitor. Very cool. Okay. Two more questions. Do you have a life motto that you often come back to and find useful in work or in life, something you share with folks, something that you think about when times are hard or just generally? [01:23:43] S1: Look. It's a little cliche at this point, but I used to, somewhere around here, I used to have the quote, printed out about, you know, the man in the arena. Right? It's just like, just lots of lots of rare... You know, especially in times like this where so many things are changing and, there's so much competition, but so much opportunity for great. I just I really both respect and enjoy, you know, the game and spending time with folks that are kind of in the arena figuring this stuff out, tinkering with things, and, and just... Yeah. That's that's kinda... A lot what I come... Keep coming back to, especially, you know, been out at Reforge for ten years. That's a that's a good portion of my life, and we've gone through some great periods and some tough periods. And, so I I tend to come back to that. [01:24:30] S0: And that's what's always separated Reforge from so much other content and advices. It's people in the arena sharing their wisdom, not just bunch of influencers. And it's sad that Chamath made that [01:24:41] S1: quote so cringey. I know. I know. That's why I know. That's that's why that's why I said it's a little cliche cringe right now.