Throughout his tenure, Brad Jacobs has built multiple billion-dollar companies. While there is no “playbook” for growing a business, he focuses on a few factors above all else in every company he operates, and in this conversation, he reveals them all.

Shane and Jacobs discuss how to read anyone during an interview through a series of intentional questions, the exciting role of AI and technology in the future of business, and where money-making ideas hide in companies. Jacobs also shares how his training in math and music made him a better business operator, the one thing he focuses on to grow his businesses, how to spot big trends before everyone else, and the only thing a company should focus on for success.

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00:00 - Intro
01:13 - The future of AI
03:50 - How to think rationally
05:17 - The major trend
07:26 - The research process
09:58 - On asking better questions
16:04 - On rearranging your brain
18:52 - On music, math, simplicity, and business
28:55 - Leverage, debt, and optionality
31:40 - What it takes to take contrarian bets
37:14 - Confidence and parents
46:50 - Why negative-only feedback is detrimental for employees
52:43 - Money lessons
54:42 - A deep dive on M&A (Jacobs' secret sauce to growing his companies)
01:04:20 - Questions to immediately get to know anyone
01:07:43 - On boards and board meetings
01:13:26 - On decision-making
01:20:06 - The role of capital markets
01:22:10 - The type of person you don't want to hire
01:27:45 - The best capital allocators
01:30:22 - Biggest lesson Jacobs learned from the past year
01:33:49 - On success

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Like the mentor you’ve always dreamed of having, The Knowledge Project shares timely yet timeless lessons for work and life. Past guests include Naval Ravikant, Daniel Kahneman, Jim Collins, Angela Duckworth, Seth Godin, Melanie Mitchell, & Esther Perel.