Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993 and served as its Executive Editor for its first seven years. He is also founding editor and co-publisher of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily since 2003. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers’ Conference and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985.

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Resources Mentioned:

• Your Big Idea: Successful Entrepreneurs have One Big Idea. Follow JLD’s FREE training & you’ll discover Your Big Idea in less than an hour!
• Audible – Get a FREE Audiobook & 30 day trial if you’re not currently a member!
• WebCaster – A tool to create your own show
• The Inevitable and The Master Algorithm – Resources to help you learn about artificial intelligence
• Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities – A book that gives you access to hundreds of tools for your business
• @kevin2kelly on Twitter
• KK.org – Learn more about Kevin Kelly and his latest projects
• FreePodcastCourse.com – A 15 day free course on how to create, grow and monetize your own podcast!

3 Key Points:

1. Find what makes your company new or different.
2. Know what your gift is, and focus on that.
3. Keep experimenting and trying until you find success.

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

(click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.)

• [00:37] – Welcoming Kevin to the show.
• [01:10] – Kevin is a college dropout and spent his twenties as a photographer in Asia.
• [01:43] – How do you generate revenue in your business? – He has had a blog since 2003.
  • [02:24] – Speaking about books.
• [03:16] – Worst Entrepreneurial Moment: In the mid-2000’s.
  • [03:43] – He had an idea to catalog all the remaining species on earth.
  • [04:04] – It failed to raise enough money.
  • [04:21] – They didn’t offer anything new.
• [04:45] – Looking back, what would you have done differently? – We would have focused on what made us new and different.
  • [05:26] – What are you doing to be different or better?
  • [05:39] – UVD: Unique Value Distinguisher
• [06:02] – Entrepreneurial AH-HAMoment: The moment when I started Wired magazine.
  • [06:49] – He heard the tagline for the magazine, which was that it felt like it was “mailed back from the future.”
• [07:58] – What’s something else that made Wired work? – There were a lot of near death experiences with Wired.
  • [08:22] – Initially, it had the worst name ever.
  • [08:43] – The right name at the right time made the magazine successful.
  • [09:11] – The reality of being an entrepreneur.
  • [09:53] – The reason why the magazine is still going: it had a wide idea that many people could understand and interpret.
• [10:22] – Biggest weakness? – I hate negotiating.
  • [10:31] – He has learned to hire that out with agents.
  • [11:08] – “Kevin knows where his greatness lies.”
• [11:38] – Biggest strength?– Detecting “new things that are on the way to becoming big things.”
  • [12:23] – He loves uncovering those upcoming successes.
• [12:38] – What’s something you predicted correctly, that later became massive? – He wrote a book about the Internet before it was really present.
• [13:30] – A time when he was sure about something, but it flopped – He thought Ebay wouldn’t be very big.
  • [14:09] – He organized the first virtual reality experience, but he was way ahead of the technology.
• [14:40] – What has Kevin most fired up today? – Artificial intelligence will have the same level of change as the Industrial Revolution.
  • [15:38] – It will become a commodity.
  • [15:59] – Startups should embrace artificial intelligence to be successful.
• [16:48] – What would you recommend for people who want to learn about artificial intelligence? – The Inevitable
• [17:18] – The Master Algorithm
• [17:36] – Buy Google’s AI instead of just learning about it.
• [19:54] – The Lightning Round
  • What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur? – Realizing I could hire people who were better than me.
  • What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – Jeff Bezos: “Avoid making decisions based on competition.”
  • What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – Reading.
  • Share an internet resource, like Evernote, with Fire Nation –WebCaster
  • If you could recommend one book to our listeners, what would it be and why? – Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities
  • Imagine you woke up in a brand new world, and all you have is a laptop and $500. What would you do in the next 7 days? – I would spend my time exploring and looking for possibilities.
  • Parting piece of advice – Keep making new mistakes.
    
• [24:25] – kk.org

Killer Resources!

1) The Common Path to Uncommon Success: JLD’s 1st traditionally published book! Over 3000 interviews with the world’s most successful Entrepreneurs compiled into a 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment!

2) Free Podcast Course: Learn from JLD how to create and launch your podcast!

3) Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 podcasting community in the world!

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