The Reboot Podcast

Ben Rubin and Dan Harris have found themselves as unlikely cofounders in 10% Happier, which came together when Ben’s company, Change Collective, underwent a successful pivot into a new focus, a new name, and a new co-founder. At the time, Ben stared down his biggest fears of failure - that of creating another “smoking black hole” - only to shift the company, raise money and relaunch the product all in a short two month span, pulling off what their investor Matt Harris called “a triple lindy.” Almost two years later, 10% Happier is among the top mindfulness and guided meditation apps. In this episode, Ben and Dan open up to Jerry about what it’s like being cofounders. They shed light on how their mutual anxieties affect their relationship and their company. Links http://www.10percenthappier.com/Reboot

Adeesh Agarwal is an architect who has worked in real estate, med-tech, and had started and managed his own design firm, which recently closed it’s doors. He finds himself soul searching at 40 years old looking back at the choices he’s made to have a job and be a responsible caretaker for his family. He struggles with finding work that isn’t soul-sucking, that creates safety and opportunity for his family, and wanting to have a sense of stability and sense of progress in his life. As he looks at his life and the choices ahead, he asks: Who am I? What are my strengths? Jerry and Adeesh talk about how there’s a much deeper existential question behind those questions, and how a better question is to ask: What am I made of? And how do the aspects of me come together in ways that I am proud of and ways that hold me back?

Derek Flanzraich, CEO of one of the fastest growing health and wellness sites, Greatist, joined Jerry for our very first podcast episode in 2014 to share the story of his personal journey over the last 10 months. His journey of introspection started when he attended the first CEO bootcamp and began to reflect on a personal challenge, which ultimately lead him to a solution to a business challenge that could have destroyed his business. In this conversation, Jerry and Derek talk about how in our challenges at work lies a conversation about what impacted who we are and how we relate to life, work, and money. Derek’s openness and introspection may inspire you to re-examine how your own stories, upbringing and past experiences are impacting your business and your life. Links Greatist - https://greatist.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/derekflanz - https://twitter.com/greatist

Nancy Lublin, CEO of Crisis Text Line, a non-profit that provides free 24/7 support at your fingertips, is a successful serial social entrepreneur. Previously at Dress for Success and Do Something, her journey as a CEO has been one towards a more authentic and human style of leadership. This journey has informed how she see’s her product and the companies she runs. In this candid conversation with Jerry Colonna, Nancy talks about what it means to be a social entrepreneur and being human centric in this world of chat bots, numbers, OKRs and KPIs. Links Crisis Text Line - http://www.crisistextline.org/ Nancy Lublin on Twitter - https://twitter.com/nancylublin

Throughout his life Adi Mashiach has been a brilliant student, a successful doctor, and has experienced two successful company exits. Along with his wife Mirella, Adi has stepped into the world of VC with the creation of Mesia Ventures. Having just moved to the United States less than a year ago with his family, Adi has started to feel the familiar pangs of belonging trying to break into new circles and begin building a new venture fund. Recently, Adi has begun to wonder how to live his passion for helping others, and how to fit in without losing himself in the fire (something he’s experienced twice before in his life). In this episode, Jerry Colonna and Adi discuss how our intellect can help us figure out only so much in life, and how listening closely to our heart can reconnect us with the forgotten parts of ourselves that, once reclaimed, can sit beside us as we endeavor through life. Links Love after Love by Derek Walcott - https://onbeing.org/blog/love-after-love

In an entrepreneurial world where being a billionaire is a yardstick for self-worth, and unattainable goals can give us a false sense of responsibility, control and drive, what is the collateral damage to ourselves? As we chase a sense of perfectionism, and measure ourselves against big goals, how do we counteract the sense of self-loathing we can impinge upon ourselves when we fall short of the images we’re up holding? In this conversation, Jerry sits down with Sharon Salzberg, on her new book "Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection" to discuss the ways in which love might be a counter-intuitive antidote to the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. We learn that as we cultivate a sense of love and compassion for ourselves in our ambitious pursuits and adventures in life, we bolster our resiliency to face life as it is. Links "Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection" by Sharon Salzberg - https://www.amazon.com/Real-Love-Art-Mindful-Connection/dp/1250076501 Sharon Salzberg on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Shar

Sally Spencer-Thomas is a psychologist who found herself in a moment in which she was not prepared when her brother died of suicide. After that significant event in her life, Sally poured much of her life into engaging leaders and finding bold, gap-filling solutions for suicide prevention in schools, workplaces, and communities. Driven by the memory of her brother, Sally dove into her work, and along the way, she found a community and purpose around her brother’s legacy. Over the last 14 years, Sally encountered her own onerous moments of depression. From these moments, she came to understand the power of community and the importance of a caring person. On her journey, Sally has become more attuned to asking, “What is this moment teaching me? What can I do to learn here?” a testament to her resilience. Now, she’s facing big life transitions in both her work and her role as a parent, and she finds herself listening for what her inner voice is saying as she’s wondering, “Who am I, now, in this season of my life

Khe Hy spent 14 years in Financial Services and was successful by all signs, but his work and life felt ‘meh.’ Something felt disconnected from him as he suited up in the morning and turned off the finance switch in the evening. He opted for a life of more meaning, and started RadReads, a passion project now grown into a community of sorts. But something still didn’t feel right for Khe. Even though he preached a lot about what’s important, he found that a hard talk to walk and instead found himself putting the most important things in his life - his wife and daughter - last on his list of priorities. Despite all of Khe’s efforts in meditation, mindfulness and reflection, he struggled to figure out how to be present for his life. Instead he found himself thinking about ideas, people in his network, and ways to improve. As a self-proclaimed life-hacker, he struggled to find the metrics and hacks to be present. As Khe and Jerry discuss, perhaps the answer to being present is deeper than hacks and metrics. Perhap

Al Doan led his family’s fledgling small town quilting shop to a leading online retailer with over 450 employees in just a few short years. To the outside world, this rapid growth established Al has a wildly successful and admired leader, but behind closed doors Al was struggling. He found himself behaving in ways contradictory to his character and struggling to feel happy and content. Sure, he was killing it as an online quilting retailer, but was this really what he wanted his life to be? Recognizing things were not working, he reached out for help from a trusted friend and advisor. This friend connected Al with Jerry, leading to a new journey of self-inquiry and discovery for Al. A journey that has ultimately led him to walk through the fear and challenge of stepping down as CEO, to create the space for the life of his dreams to emerge. Links Missouri Quilt Company - https://www.missouriquiltco.com/ Al Doan on Twitter - https://twitter.com/drbillnye Signs you need to leave your startup - https://goo.gl/Q0Y

Simon Cant’s path to becoming a VC has been a windy road. Building on a career that includes stints as a lawyer, founder, consultant, director of a non-profit and advisor, he is now an LP in Reinventure, an Australian fintech fund. Alongside his meandering career path, Simon has battled to slow the swing between a strong desire to exert control and an acute awareness of his own need to surrender. In this conversation Jerry leads Simon to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect surrender. Instead, surrender is a lifelong practice. Links Grace, VC and Surrender - https://hackernoon.com/grace-vc-and-surrender-4475a6c1e325#.hqn5apr6h Simon Cant on Twitter - https://twitter.com/simoncant

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” - Mother Teresa For Bijan Sabet- an investor, US citizen by birth and descendant of Korean and Iranian immigrants- the January 27th Trump administration issue of an executive order banning the entry of residents and refugees from a number of Muslim countries deeply disturbed him for a number of reasons. Recalling his own early experience of being othered as the child of an Iranian immigrant during the Iran Hostage Crisis of the late 70s, his heart broke that other. Driven to mobilize his heart ache to action the best way he knew how, he launched a fund matching campaign for the ACLU. Bijan’s initial expectations of a several month timeline to raise the funds were blown away when the campaign received overwhelming support and reached its goal (and beyond) in less than 3 days. In this conversation, Jerry and Bijan discuss the experience of feeling othered and how that changes what it feels like to belong. The shame and embarras

But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do-- determined to save the only life you could save. - Mary Oliver, The Journey John Guydon first appeared on the podcast in Episode #41: Are You Afraid of Your Own Power. It has been just under a year since that episode and a lot has changed for John. The company he discussed on that episode, Lassy Project, has come to close and he is diving head first into two new projects-- a documentary film and a new company, Master The Book. As in the last episode, John’s exuberance for these new endeavors is palpable, but in this discussion he and Jerry notice a fear underneath the charisma. In this episode Jerry and John build on the idea of embracing your super power, discuss the fear in being labeled, and how John’s purpose continue

"To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work." - Mary Oliver In this episode Jerry Colonna is joined by Roshi Joan Halifax, a Buddhist teacher, Zen teacher and anthropologist. Jerry first met Roshi Joan a few years ago when she was presenting on her G.R.A.C.E. model, a process for cultivating compassion in leaders and applicable to anyone looking to cultivate practicing compassion in their lives. Throughout the episode Jerry and Roshi Joan discuss how leaders can learn to best allocate their attention, the pitfalls of pathological altruism, and how practicing compassion is the cornerstone to wise leadership. Links Roshi Joan Halifax on Twitter - https://twitter.com/jhalifax Upaya Zen Center - https://www.upaya.org When Things Fall Apart - http://a.co/edOQ1a7

A disciple asks the rebbe: “Why does Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?” The rebbe answers: “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in.” - Hasidic Tale, as told by Parker Palmer Every entrepreneur hears the call of an inner voice. We may call it drive, intuition, or our guiding voice. Regardless of name it pushes us forward. This voice can be our most powerful ally in the pursuit of authentic leadership, or become our greatest enemy when clouded by fear, anxiety, or self-judgment. Most of us equate struggle as a bad or wasted experience. But as we find in this episode, that association is far from the truth. Instead, heartbreak holds our greatest potential to allow true transformation to be possible. Fresh off an $8M round, Matt Munson led his team at Twenty2

Almost all successful entrepreneurs will fail - if not fail, fail, fail, and fail again - on their path to success. Every human being made choices in their lives which they regret, are embarrassed of and have caused them deep shame. What would your life be like if you were known only by the worst thing you had ever done? Catherine Hoke is the founder of Defy Ventures, a program that helps incarcerated individuals transform their hustle to entrepreneurial ventures. Following a chance visit (as a guest) to a prison at the age of 26, Catherine left behind a successful investment career to launch a program to build on what she recognized were valuable entrepreneurial skills - simply applied to illegal businesses. Through the journey of building two wildly successful organizations, Cat had her own personal experience of failure, great shame and having to grant herself grace, and a second chance. Nestled in this conversation about failure, mercy and second chances, is an important second discussion. Joined by inves

“If we hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step from where we are standing. If we don't really know where we are standing... We may only go in circles...” ― John Kabat-Zinn The Reboot podcast was started because we believed that there needed to be an authentic, real conversation about the emotional journey of entrepreneurship. One that included its valleys and not just its peaks. One in three entrepreneurs will struggle with depression or burnout in their career, yet when it happens to them, many entrepreneurs feel totally alone in their experience. Rob Symington is a founder and entrepreneur who experienced a debilitating period of burnout following the launch of his startup, a startup that was inspired by the idea that work could be more fulfilling, less stressful and generally improve people’s lives no less. In this conversation, Jerry and Rob discuss his experience, why Rob believes it’s so important for him to share it, how he is moving forward, and the fact that the pressure

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” - C.G. Jung Exploring one’s shadow is no easy undertaking. The idea of getting to know what Jung referred to as, “That which I do not wish to be” is rarely considered an exciting prospect. Yet we implore all leaders to be courageous and get to know and learn to work with their shadow. It is only when we do the work to make the unconscious conscious, that we are able to build true compassion for ourselves and others; freeing us to become the leaders we were born to become. James Hollis is a Jungian analyst, author and lecturer whose work has inspired and influenced us at Reboot. In this episode Jerry and James talk in depth about the Jungian concept of shadow, how shadow shows up in leadership, and what we can do once we become aware of our shadow. Links James Hollis’s website - http://www.jameshollis.net "Why Good People Do Bad Things"

This is the bright home in which I live, this is where I ask my friends to come, this is where I want to love all the things it has taken me so long to learn to love. - David Whyte, from "The House of Belonging" Virginia Bauman and Iris Bainum-Houle have experienced great success- Virginia as an entrepreneur and founder, Iris as a designer for film and entertainment- and both have also experienced great feelings of otherness. While successful, both felt a call to live and work differently, a call that arose out of the desire to be their full authentic self at all times. This new connection led them to take their own experiences of otherness and transform them to create a sense of belonging, love, acceptance, and community for others. Links Cuties - http://hicuties.com/about/ "The Dharma of Inclusivity" – with Konda Mason - https://www.reboot.io/episode/43-dharma-of-inclusivity-konda-mason/

360 reviews are a tool that can help leaders make course corrections, supporting both individual growth and the growth of the company. They are an opportunity to hear specifically through the voices of their colleagues how their behavior is making an impact. In this Reboot Extra, Jerry and VC Fred Wilson talk about the importance of 360 reviews, what a well executed 360 review can do for the board-CEO relationship, as well as some suggestions from Fred for CEOs to get the most out of the review process. Links Reboot 360 Reviews - http://www.Reboot.io/360

Are you courageous enough to look in your blind spots? Alex Blumberg is at a crossroads. His company, Gimlet Media, is producing some of the most successful, interesting podcasts out there with household names such as Reply All, Heavyweight and Startup Podcast. Alex has been working with Jerry as his coach for a while now and has just completed his first 360 Review. In this raw, vulnerable, and courageous episode-- a cross post of Startup Podcast Season 4, Episode 3-- Alex wrestles with the information that is illuminated in his 360 Review. Are they shortcomings to be tucked back under the rug? Or are they opportunities for growth and a deeper understanding of himself as a leader and human? Links Startup Podcast https://gimletmedia.com/show/startup/ Gimlet Media https://gimletmedia.com Alex Blumberg https://twitter.com/abexlumberg