“Optimizing the Human Experience with Chris Schelzi from AppSumo” is locked Optimizing the Human Experience with Chris Schelzi from AppSumo

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“When asking for help, appeal to self interest over mercy or gratitude”

I met Chris Schelzi in early 2015. He was working at Black Rock at the time. Then we poached him to work with us on a startup.

Chris helped that startup raise more than a quarter of a million dollars in a crowdfunding campaign.

Now, he's working at AppSumo, bringing you great deals on cool tools for your company.

In our conversation, Chris and I dive deep into:

• Coffee
• Hedonism
• Diet and Exercise
• Ideas for the next great health tech startup
• How AppSumo is empowering entrepreneurs

Please enjoy this episode of Hacker Practice with my good friend Chris Schelzi

Notes

[02:00] French Press vs Chemex

• French Press = Full immersion, full body
• Chemex filters do a lot of heavy lifting

[06:00] Justus's favorite cup of coffee

• French Press + Heavy Cream @ 4 AM
• Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony

[07:20] BOOKS

• How books and can be an indulgence
• Owning books vs going to the library
• Aristotle's Golden Mean
• Plutarch's How to Profit by One's Enemies
• Histories by Herodotus
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
  • "The non-fiction, black Catcher in the Rye"
  • Recidivism - noun the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend.

[16:00] Coffee as a vice. How to best enjoy vices in general.

[17:30] Why you shouldn't be afraid to return things to the store

[18:30] Zen Roaster. Roasting your own coffee. Moving meditation. Coffee rituals. Chris built himself a side-table.

• Designing and building things by hand is zen af.

[23:30] We talk about axes and camping for a bit

• Twenty inch Wetterling Axe
• Joshua tree
• Skyline Drive

[26:30] Our mutual interest in health and physiology

• Diet - How to get shredded like Chris?
  • Low carb, high fat.
• Exercise recommendations?

Frozen Fatty Coffee Drink

Chameleon Cold Brew

[39:00] How to teach anti-science people a better way.

"Show them a cleaner glass of water".

Bullet Proof Coffee gets mentioned about a hundred times.

[43:00] Intermittent fasting. Strength training + Tabata Sprints

Diet scheduling. Fasting from protein can improve protein utilization. Lift heavy things and sprint. Keep it simple.

Michael Pollan's Food Rules

Eat a lot of vegetables. Mostly vegetables.

[46:00] Isometrics workouts to build strength without putting stress on joints. On grass or in the pool. "Jack your heart rate up".

[49:00] Chris's $10,000 offer for a health technology product for monitoring various biological markers

• The state of health monitoring is abysmal for the average or even extraordinary consumer
• Idea - Implant that continually measures important biomarkers. Measure in real time.
• Dutch testing for cortisol and other hormones
• This idea could change the way we interact with dieting and health in general
• What would a version one of this tech look like? Measuring the following:
  • Sex Hormones
  • Stress Hormones
  • Cholesterol
  • Fat Soluble Vitamins (A, E, D, K)
  • Glucose and Ketones

[1:02:30] What is Chris working on now?

• AppSumo - Groupon for Geeks
• DesignBold - Design made easy
• SerpStat - All in one SEO tooling
• The cult of the "Sumoling"

[1:05:30] What kind of company works with App Sumo

• GREAT tools for small businesses
• Validated by some users
• Startups that have Product Market Fit and are looking to scale to the next level

[1:10:00] Chris's role at Appsumo

• Operations and Marketing
• Focusing on retention in 2017

[1:13:00] Final requests

• Build that health monitoring
• @chrisschelzi on instagram
• Read The Righteous Mind by Johnathan Haidt and Everything by Robert Greene
• Landmark Series of Herodotus

Conclusion

This conversation could have easily been three times as long. I'll certainly have Chris on the show again.

If you enjoyed today's episode please subscribe to the show and leave a review on iTunes.