7 things Bezos, MrBeast & Thiel do that you don’t
Executive Summary
My First Million episode 857, where Sam Parr and Shaan Puri discuss unusual behaviours of legendary CEOs. Shaan presents seven CEO moves that sound wrong but work, which the description lists as Option Drop, Friction Removal Service, 1-bit communication, Single-tasking, Continuous culling, Reward failure and Clone yourself, then an alternative of giving up on greatness. In the opening he explains why he collects frame-breaking stories and tells how a 13-year-old scout once sent him the founder behind ApplyBoard. Sponsor: the description promotes Hampton and Somewhere and links a HubSpot CEO lessons guide. PARTIAL COVERAGE: this note is based on the opening, the ApplyBoard story set-up, a short middle section on focus and the description, and does not cover the detail of each of the seven moves in the roughly 42 minute episode. All stories and claims are the speakers' own and are not independently checked.
Key Takeaways
The premise
Shaan says if you are a CEO there is a good chance you are not being hardcore enough, and he has seven anecdotes of CEO moves.
No CEO school
He says there is no CEO training and nobody managing a CEO, and few people give a boss real feedback.
Why he cares
He says he wants to get better at what he does and likes collecting moves he has not tried.
Frame breaking
He says a frame-breaking story sits outside how you see the world and forces the frame to expand.
The elephant and the stake
He compares limits to an elephant tethered young who never tests the stake, an illusion of control he sees in his own life.
The ApplyBoard origin
He says a 13-year-old scout emailed him a Canadian company that helps international students apply to US universities.
The seven moves
The description names the moves as Option Drop, Friction Removal Service, 1-bit communication, Single-tasking, Continuous culling, Reward failure and Clone yourself.
The Conversation Breakdown
The premise
⏱ Untimed topicShaan says if you are a CEO there is a good chance you are not being hardcore enough, and he has seven anecdotes of CEO moves.
No CEO school
⏱ Untimed topicHe says there is no CEO training and nobody managing a CEO, and few people give a boss real feedback.
Why he cares
⏱ Untimed topicHe says he wants to get better at what he does and likes collecting moves he has not tried.
Frame breaking
⏱ Untimed topicHe says a frame-breaking story sits outside how you see the world and forces the frame to expand.
The elephant and the stake
⏱ Untimed topicHe compares limits to an elephant tethered young who never tests the stake, an illusion of control he sees in his own life.
The ApplyBoard origin
⏱ Untimed topicHe says a 13-year-old scout emailed him a Canadian company that helps international students apply to US universities.
The seven moves
⏱ Untimed topicThe description names the moves as Option Drop, Friction Removal Service, 1-bit communication, Single-tasking, Continuous culling, Reward failure and Clone yourself.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Frame breaking - Shaan's habit
Collect stories that break your assumed limits and test whether they apply to you.
Elephant and stake - his image
Check whether a limit you accept is real or only habit.
Bridge business - ApplyBoard pattern
Build the bridge between where a customer is and where they want to go.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Write one limit you accept in your work and test whether it is real.
- ✓Ask someone for blunt feedback on how you run your team.
- ✓Look for a customer gap that needs a bridge, such as a complicated application.
- ✓Treat the stories and figures as the speakers' own and verify them before repeating them.
Notable Quotes
“no CEO school.”
“I just want to collect as many of those frame breaking ideas and stories.”
“Focus is always a word everybody nods and agrees on”
The One Thing to Remember
Shaan Puri says most CEOs are not hardcore enough, and shares frame-breaking CEO moves that feel wrong yet work.