How to break out of autopilot and create the life you want | Graham Weaver (Stanford GSB professor)

Graham’s background (0s)

• Many people struggle with finding direction in life, often asking for advice on what to do with their lives, and this struggle can be attributed to being on autopilot, where one is unconscious of their actions and decisions (38s).
• A helpful exercise to gain clarity is to imagine having a magic lamp with a genie that can grant one wish, allowing the person to achieve great success in their chosen path, and to consider what they would wish for in that scenario (17s).
• People often get stuck in a routine and fail to make intentional decisions about their lives, resulting in a lack of fulfillment and purpose (55s).
• Everything desired in life is often on the other side of a difficult or unpleasant experience, and people must be willing to endure temporary hardships to achieve their goals (1m5s).
• Knowing when to quit something is crucial, and it's essential to quit when it's no longer possible to make progress or when it's no longer worth the effort (1m35s).
• Graham Weaver, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaches a course called Managing Growing Enterprises, which focuses on helping students figure out their life direction and escape autopilot mode (1m54s).
• Weaver is also the founder and CEO of Alpine Investors, a top-performing private equity firm, and has won the 2024 MBA Distinguished Teaching Award at Stanford Graduate Business School (2m7s).
• Practical exercises, such as the genie framework and the line lives exercise, can help individuals discover their life's purpose and create a more intentional life (2m28s).
• Life is inherently challenging, and it's essential to choose a path worth suffering for, rather than simply going through the motions (2m38s).
• Creating accountability in life is crucial for achieving goals, and this can be done through various means, such as sharing goals with others or finding an accountability partner (2m48s).
• Merge is a platform that helps SaaS companies launch product integrations in weeks, not quarters, through a single API, and is used by companies like Ramp, Drata, and Electric to access customer data (3m31s).
• Merge allows companies to access their customers' accounting data to reconcile bill payments, file storage data to create searchable databases, and their product or HRIS data to autoprovision and deprovision access for customer employees (3m43s).
• Merge also provides AI-ready data for SaaS products, making it the fastest way to get it (3m59s).
• Persona is an adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust (4m22s).
• Persona securely verifies individuals and businesses across the world and is used by leading companies like LinkedIn, Etsy, and Twilio (4m43s).
• Persona offers flexible building blocks that allow companies to build tailored collection and verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risk (4m52s).
• Persona's orchestration tools automate the identity process, enabling companies to fight rapidly shifting fraud and meet new waves of regulation (5m10s).
• Persona has plans for both startups and enterprise businesses, and more information can be found at withpersona.com (5m21s).

Helping students find their true path (5m30s)

• Lenny Graham is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaching a class called "Managing Growing Enterprises," but most students who seek his advice ask for help in finding their true life path rather than seeking business advice (6m8s).
• About half of the students who meet with Graham ask for advice on what they should do with their life, often presenting multiple career alternatives and weighing the pros and cons of each option (6m10s).
• Graham has observed that students often have a clear preference for one option, but talk themselves out of it due to limiting beliefs, fears, obstacles, and societal pressures (6m58s).
• Graham's approach to helping students is to first let them realize and acknowledge their true energy and passion, and then to identify and deconstruct the limiting beliefs and fears that hold them back (7m17s).
• By understanding and addressing these underlying concerns, Graham encourages students to pursue their true desires and passions, rather than settling for a less fulfilling option (7m31s).

The genie methodology (7m40s)

• The genie methodology is a framework that involves imagining a scenario where a person is guaranteed success in their career and life, and then working backwards to determine what they would wish for in that scenario, with the goal of identifying a path that aligns with their true desires and values (9m31s).
• The methodology involves a thought experiment where a person is given a magic lamp with a genie that grants one wish, which is that whatever the person throws themselves into with their whole life and career will turn out great, but it may take longer and be harder than expected (9m44s).
• The first part of the exercise is to come up with an answer to what the person would wish for, absent the fear of failure, and the second part is to start working towards making that wish a reality, even if it's not possible to start immediately (10m19s).
• The genie goal is often the not well-trodden path, and it may take its own form over time, but the key is that the person will be happy that they took the path and started the journey (11m12s).
• Examples of genie goals include starting a nonprofit to help underprivileged kids in Brazil, buying companies, starting an amusement park, leaving a job to do startups, and going into the nonprofit world (11m50s).
• The genie methodology is a simple yet powerful idea that can help people identify their unique dreams and desires, and work towards making them a reality (10m55s).
• The goal of the genie methodology is not to guarantee success, but to guarantee happiness, and the reason for this is that the genie goal is often the path that is not well-trodden, and it may take its own form over time (11m6s).
• The genie methodology is as variant as the number of students who use it, and the magic of it lies in the fact that each person has a unique dream that they may not have even shared, and the goal is to bring that uniqueness into their life and career (12m21s).

Breaking free from autopilot mode (12m36s)

• Many people live their lives in autopilot mode, going through the motions without realizing why they're doing what they're doing or even realizing what they're doing, and this can be seen in their daily routines, such as waking up, working out, commuting, and attending meetings, without any intentionality or consideration of their values or long-term goals (12m58s).
• This autopilot mode is often driven by subconscious thoughts, which are programmed by various factors such as media, friends, parents, and social media, and can account for 95-98% of a person's thoughts (15m6s).
• To break out of autopilot mode, it's essential to create space, get out of the "fog of war," and make intentional decisions about one's life, which can be achieved by asking deep questions, creating intention in different areas of life, and reflecting that intention in one's calendar (15m32s).
• One approach to creating intentionality is to ask oneself questions, such as considering what one wants to achieve in life, what's important, and what one's values are, and then working backwards from there to create a plan (13m45s).
• This process can help individuals live a more intentional life, achieve their goals, and look back on their life without regret, feeling like they're doing what they're meant to do (14m12s).
• The idea of intentionality is also reflected in the way some schools approach education, such as the Montessori school, which aims to inform a child's subconscious and shape their thoughts and behaviors (14m37s).
• Working with an executive coach can also be helpful in creating space, asking deep questions, and developing intentionality in different areas of life (15m38s).
• A key question to consider in one's career is what they would do if they knew they wouldn't fail, as it can help identify their true aspirations (16m8s).
• Another question to consider is what one would do if they didn't have to make money, as it can reveal what they truly enjoy doing (16m35s).
• Nval Ricon's question, "what's play for you that is work for other people," can help identify activities that bring joy and could be done with more enthusiasm and dedication (16m43s).
• Reflecting on the thing one really wants to do but is too embarrassed to say can help uncover hidden passions and desires (17m0s).
• Identifying people one admires and wants to be more like, and understanding what they do, can provide inspiration and guidance for personal growth (17m20s).
• Considering what one wants to learn and how they want to grow over the next 5-10 years can help set goals and work towards becoming great at a specific skill or activity (17m30s).
• Reflecting on what one wants to be amazing at in 5-10 years can help identify areas for improvement and provide direction for personal and professional development (17m38s).
• Asking oneself these questions can help figure out what they're excited about and provide a starting point for creating a fulfilling life and career (17m53s).

Identifying and overcoming limiting beliefs (17m54s)

• Limiting beliefs are the most powerful and most dangerous when they are not acknowledged, as they can reside in the subconscious mind and influence 95% of thoughts (18m20s).
• These beliefs can prevent individuals from pursuing their goals and desires, and a simple example of a limiting belief is thinking "I'm not funny" and avoiding situations where one has to be humorous (18m34s).
• Deeper limiting beliefs can be related to career goals, such as starting a charity in Brazil, and can include thoughts like "I don't know how to start," "I don't know how I would pay for myself," and "I don't have a plan" (18m57s).
• The first step to overcoming limiting beliefs is to write them down, which can strip them of their power and scariness, and turn them into manageable to-do items (19m15s).
• Once limiting beliefs are written down, they can be translated into obstacles to be overcome, and individuals can develop plans to address them, such as designing a plan to secure funding for a charity (20m3s).
• Overcoming limiting beliefs requires acknowledging and understanding them, and then breaking them down into manageable tasks, which can be accomplished by individuals who have already overcome numerous obstacles in their lives (20m27s).

Teaching entrepreneurship and personal fulfillment (20m33s)

• A class on entrepreneurship is taught, covering the basics of being a CEO, including hiring, firing, managing a board, fundraising, and selling, but initially, students learned the skills without actually becoming entrepreneurs (21m3s).
• After four years of teaching, the class was readjusted to focus on helping students find their dreams, identify limiting beliefs, and set goals towards their entrepreneurial aspirations (21m35s).
• The class is officially about teaching entrepreneurial tricks, tactics, and tools, but the real goal is to help people find what they're excited about and get on the life path of doing that thing (22m8s).
• The approach is similar to Tony Robbins', who says people hire him for success, but he delivers fulfillment, and the class is like a "trojan horse" where students take it to learn how to be a CEO but hopefully end up on the path of doing what they truly want (22m47s).
• The class is a result of the teacher's own experience as a case guest at Stanford Business School, where they shared their experiences of buying companies in their dorm room, and later decided to teach full-time (20m44s).
• The teacher's most energetic day of the year was initially when they were a case guest, but after starting to teach full-time, they realized that was not enough and decided to make a change (20m57s).

The reality of long-term success (22m53s)

• Many people assume that following one's passion and energy will lead to greater success and happiness, rather than just pursuing a lucrative career or climbing the corporate ladder (22m53s).
• This concept can be thought of in terms of two scorecards: the internal scorecard, which represents one's heart, soul, and true desires, and the external scorecard, which represents societal expectations and external validation (23m29s).
• When one's internal and external scorecards are not aligned, it can lead to tension, friction, stress, anxiety, and burnout (24m11s).
• It is possible to will oneself through a mismatched career for a long time, but it is not sustainable and can lead to negative consequences (24m20s).
• When one is doing something they are excited about, they tend to have more energy, be willing to work longer, and develop a sense of purpose and passion (24m32s).
• It is possible to start working towards one's true desires while still meeting financial obligations, such as taking a job to pay off loans while also pursuing one's passion on the side (25m41s).
• Getting on the path of one's true desires can lead to a more fulfilling life, and it is never too early or too late to start making progress towards this goal (25m52s).
• Following one's passion and energy can lead to unexpected opportunities and success, as illustrated by the example of writing things online and discovering that people enjoy it (26m5s).
• Many people are stuck in autopilot mode, doing things they don't enjoy, and it's essential to break free from this cycle to create the life one wants (26m19s).
• To find what one truly enjoys, it's crucial to reflect on what they would do if they didn't have to make money, as this can often lead to discovering one's passion (26m44s).
• People often view their passions as side hustles or hobbies, but these can eventually become their main career path (26m54s).
• The success rate of people who turn their passions into successful careers is difficult to determine, but it often requires a long-term commitment of a decade or more (27m22s).
• The key ingredients for success include being excited about something, having the structural ability to stay at it for a long period, and having the right mindset (27m45s).
• Time is a critical factor in achieving success, and many people fail due to a lack of patience and persistence (28m12s).
• Having the willingness to stay with a project or business for an extended period is more important than the financial or structural aspects (29m25s).
• The media often portrays success as happening overnight, but in reality, it takes time, effort, and perseverance (29m34s).
• Graham Weaver's own experience with his firm, Alpine, is an example of the importance of time and perseverance, as it took 14 years to achieve confidence in the business and 18 years to become successful by external standards (28m32s).
• Out of 600 founder-started businesses invested in, none achieved success overnight, highlighting the importance of a long-term commitment (29m58s).
• Life is suffering, so it's essential to figure out something worth suffering for, as this mindset can help individuals make better choices and find meaning in their struggles (30m18s).
• There isn't a path in life that is easy, and people often don't realize that they will suffer either way, whether they pursue their passions or stay in unfulfilling situations (31m4s).
• Everything people want is on the other side of worse first, meaning that they must go through challenges and difficulties before achieving their goals (31m19s).
• To achieve a better life, individuals must make decisions that might be painful or difficult in the short term, such as going to the gym, changing careers, or ending a toxic relationship (31m42s).
• Optimizing for tomorrow can lead to stagnation, as people may avoid making changes that could lead to a better life in the long run (32m35s).
• Making decisions based on what one's future self would wish they had done can help individuals make better choices and create a more fulfilling life (32m57s).
• Plateauing can occur when people fail to make difficult decisions and take risks, leading to a life that is unfulfilling and stagnant (33m30s).
• Many people reach a plateau in their lives and fail to move past it because they are not willing to face challenges and difficulties, instead choosing to maintain the status quo (33m34s).
• A piece of parenting advice from Dr. Becky suggests that a parent's job is not to make their kids happy, but rather to make them resilient, which is often not the approach taken by many parents (33m56s).
• In some communities, such as Marin, parents tend to clear all obstacles away from their kids, which can be detrimental to their development and prevent them from becoming resilient (34m16s).
• Liveblocks is a platform that helps product developers create engaging user experiences with features such as AI co-pilots, multiplayer capabilities, comments, notifications, and collaborative editing (34m27s).
• Liveblocks aims to provide top-tier company features to products of all kinds, with minimal configuration and maintenance required, and is used by companies from various industries and stages (34m56s).

The role of accountability and executive coaching (35m14s)

• The Alpine fund is one of the top-performing private equity funds in the world, which is a significant achievement considering the competitiveness of the industry (35m32s).
• The formula for greatness is to be intentional, get in the path of the thing that you're most excited about, and then give yourself several decades to do it, which is based on investing in 600 companies and building a business (36m22s).
• To break out of autopilot and create the life you want, it's essential to have accountability, which can be achieved by hiring an executive coach who can help you ask the big questions in life and hold you accountable for your goals (36m49s).
• An executive coach is like a personal trainer for your life, helping you make space to ask yourself big questions about your career, relationships, health, spirituality, and children, and providing several hours a week to get clear on your intentions (37m54s).
• Having an executive coach can help you increase the chances of success by providing accountability and motivation, similar to how a personal trainer can help you achieve your fitness goals (37m36s).
• To work effectively with an executive coach, it's essential to be clear about your goals and intentions, and to have a system in place to track your progress, such as filling out a weekly or monthly form to report on your progress towards your goals (38m34s).
• To create the life you want, it's essential to have accountability, which can be achieved by working with an executive coach who helps you set goals and outcomes for your life and holds you accountable for achieving them (38m48s).
• If hiring a coach is not feasible, an alternative is to find a like-minded friend who can provide mutual accountability, similar to having a workout buddy who motivates you to show up for exercise sessions (39m11s).
• This friend can help you set goals and outcomes, and you can schedule regular check-ins to discuss progress, providing an added motivation to stay on track and achieve your objectives (39m22s).
• Having a friend as an accountability partner can also lead to a deeper and more meaningful friendship, as you make time for each other to discuss your dreams, hopes, and aspirations (39m52s).
• Accountability is a crucial factor in achieving your goals, and having someone to report to and be answerable to can make a significant difference in your progress (40m13s).
• When you have accountability, you activate a sense of responsibility and motivation that can lead to positive changes in your life (40m21s).

Daily goal setting for success (40m22s)

• Talking about goals activates a different part of the brain and engages more brain activity than thinking or writing, making it a beneficial way to set and work towards goals (40m23s).
• Creating accountability for goal setting can be done in various ways, including working with a coach, and can have a significant impact on success (40m54s).
• Writing down goals and three things to do each day to move towards those goals can be a powerful way to focus the subconscious mind and achieve success (41m15s).
• This daily goal-setting practice involves writing down a goal at the top of a page, followed by three actions to take that day to move towards the goal, and can be done by anyone (41m27s).
• Implementing this practice can lead to significant productivity gains, with the potential to accomplish more in three months than in three years without it (42m13s).
• Having a coach can be beneficial for personal and professional growth, as many successful athletes and executives work with coaches to improve their performance (42m35s).
• Coaches can be found at various price points, making it accessible to most people, and can provide valuable guidance and support for achieving goals (43m2s).

The Nine Lives framework (43m11s)

• The Nine Lives framework is an exercise to help individuals come up with things they should be doing by making their goals less intimidating (43m12s).
• The exercise involves coming up with nine different lives, starting from the current life, with two rules: all lives must start from today, and individuals must be excited about all these lives (44m1s).
• The first life is the current life, and subsequent lives are alternative scenarios, such as starting a private equity firm, being an author, or a professor (44m14s).
• The exercise helps individuals recognize which life gives them the most energy, and they can pull that life into their current life, even if it's just as a side hustle (44m57s).
• Pulling an exciting life into the current life can have two amazing effects: it gives individuals more energy everywhere else in their life, and it helps them find the path that gives them the most energy (45m29s).
• It's possible to have all nine lives, but not at once; over time, individuals can have multiple careers and lives (45m55s).
• Many people have multiple careers, and it's common for life to pivot into different careers (46m30s).
• The key is to follow the thing that gives energy at each time, and it'll be a good indication of where to go (46m57s).
• Avoiding the "not now" idea is crucial, as it can turn into "not ever" due to fear or legitimate reasons (47m34s).
• Instead of saying "not now," individuals should focus on taking small steps towards their goals, even if it's just a side hustle (47m17s).

The dangers of the “not now” mentality (48m1s)

• Realizing that it's never the right time to make a change or take a risk is crucial, as it's normal to feel fear, uncertainty, and a sense of unreadiness, and waiting for the perfect moment can lead to waiting one's whole life (48m6s).
• Understanding that entrepreneurship and life involve uncertainty and risk can be helpful in overcoming fear and taking action.
• Identifying the obstacles that need to be overcome, such as financial constraints, is essential, but these obstacles should not be seen as insurmountable, as people have successfully raised money to start businesses and overcome financial challenges (48m54s).
• The most important thing learned in life is that the true game of life is an internal one, not an external one, and that journey starts with the realization that "I am enough" (49m42s).
• Life often presents itself as a series of external obstacles and events, but a large part of life is actually internal, involving one's thoughts, emotions, and subconscious mind (50m11s).
• People often write a story about what they think they need to be happy, respected, or worthy, but this story is just a narrative, and recognizing this can give individuals more agency over their lives and help them decide what truly matters to them (51m18s).
• Recognizing that most of the things people operate from are just stories that have been ingrained can be scary, but it can also be liberating and allow individuals to re-evaluate their priorities and values (51m55s).
• A person's life can be divided into two parts: the first part where they are driven by external validation and the second part where they find internal fulfillment, which can be a terrifying yet liberating experience (52m2s).
• The realization that external success does not guarantee internal fulfillment can be disorienting, as experienced by the individual who achieved financial success after 14 years but still felt the same problems and negative thoughts about themselves (52m20s).
• The achievement of external goals, such as financial success, can provide temporary euphoria but does not necessarily lead to lasting joy or happiness (52m51s).
• The individual experienced depression after realizing that their external success did not bring them the expected internal fulfillment, leading them to question what would truly bring them joy (54m5s).
• This experience is not unique, as many people, including an angel investor friend, have reported similar feelings of emptiness after achieving external success (54m34s).
• Financial security can provide a sense of peace of mind, but it does not necessarily lead to lasting happiness or self-fulfillment (54m53s).
• The idea that achieving a certain goal or status will bring happiness is often an illusion, as evidenced by the existence of miserable billionaires (55m20s).

Navigating life’s transitions (55m27s)

• A significant life transition occurred when two oldest boys went off to college in 2022 and 2024, which had a profound impact and served as a wake-up call to mortality (55m39s).
• This transition led to a realization that nothing lasts forever and that the daily life would no longer include the two boys who had been part of it for 18 years (56m9s).
• The experience prompted a journey of spiritual work, including meditation and working with gurus, resulting in a deeper connection to the things that truly matter (56m18s).
• This spiritual journey has given permission to prioritize spending time on meaningful activities over external worldly pursuits (56m41s).
• The spiritual journey is considered a crucial and important journey, one that may be explored as one gets older (56m59s).
• The experience has been profound, and there is excitement to see what insights come out of it (57m15s).

Failure corner (57m19s)

• The 'Failure Corner' segment is a part of the podcast where guests share their stories of failure, as opposed to just their successes, to provide a more realistic view of their lives and careers (57m19s).
• A personal story of failure was shared, where the individual quit wrestling in high school after losing a big match, which haunted them and led to a promise to not let that happen again (57m49s).
• In college, the individual tried out for the crew team but failed year after year, eventually achieving success in their senior year (58m27s).
• At Alpine, the first fund lost money, and five out of the first eight investments made resulted in losses, which is a high failure rate in the private equity world (58m42s).
• When first starting to teach, the individual struggled with insecurities and felt they had nothing to share with students, taking a long time to figure things out (59m7s).
• The individual's track record is marked by initial failures and setbacks, but perseverance ultimately led to success, with the exception of quitting wrestling, which is considered the ultimate failure (59m29s).
• The key takeaway is that most important things take time and involve suffering, but quitting is the real failure, and sticking with it is crucial for success (1h0m15s).

When to quit and when to persevere (1h0m24s)

• The time to quit something is when you can no longer see the vision and really believe in it, or when you're no longer excited about the vision for a long period of time (1h0m37s).
• However, it's essential to be careful with the "excited" factor, as it's normal to go through dark days, but you should at least see some progress or "green shoots" (1h0m56s).
• A key strategy is to "scale your bright spots," which means finding what's working and doing more of that, a concept coined by Dan and Chip in their book "Switch" (1h1m31s).
• This approach involves identifying small glimmers of success, scaling them, and continuing to find and scale more, eventually turning those bright spots into the core of your business (1h1m41s).
• This process takes time, as it requires figuring out where the bright spots are and learning from mistakes along the way (1h2m8s).
• Even in challenging times, if you can see progress and learn from your mistakes, it's a sign that you should persevere, as was the case for the first 10 years of the company (1h1m3s).

Final thoughts and lightning round (1h2m18s)

• To create the life you want, take the time to figure out what a wonderful, amazing, and incredible life looks like, and get as clear as possible on that, no matter how crazy or aspirational it seems, and write it down for different areas of your life, including your life, career, relationships, friends, body, spirituality, and financial situation (1h2m26s).
• Knowing what you want is the first magic, and 90% of people never even know what they want, so taking the time to do that is crucial, and the more clear and invested you are in that, the more likely you are to make it come true (1h3m2s).
• Recommended books include "Untethered Soul", "Don't Believe Everything You Think", and "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, which is a very practical book that has been widely recommended for many years (1h3m42s).
• "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is a book that is still worth reading today, despite being written in 1930, and its recommendations are still relevant and useful (1h4m13s).
• A favorite recent movie is "Where the Crawdads Sing", which is a romantic love story that meets murder mystery and coming of age, and it really touched the viewer (1h4m47s).
• A favorite product is the ChiliPad, which is a pad that goes on the bed to keep it cool, and it has been found to be very helpful for sleep, along with earplugs, a noise machine, and a sleep mask (1h5m28s).
• Research has shown that the temperature at which you sleep is important, and the ChiliPad helps to keep the bed at the right temperature for a good night's sleep (1h5m54s).
• To improve sleep quality, using a chili pad, such as the Ooler, can be helpful as it allows for temperature control and can be set to turn on and off without any complex features or tracking (1h5m57s).
• The Ooler is a more affordable and simpler alternative to other sleep-tracking devices like the Eight Sleep, which can be overwhelming with its features and tracking (1h6m22s).
• A favorite life motto is a quote by Howard Thurman, which states, "Don't ask what the world needs, ask instead what makes you come alive, because what the world needs most is for you to come alive" (1h7m1s).
• This quote emphasizes the importance of personal fulfillment and how it can have a positive impact on the world (1h7m21s).
• When looking for companies to invest in, a key factor to consider is the quality of the management team, as having an incredible team in place can be a highly correlated factor in a company's success (1h9m10s).
• In fact, one investment strategy is to put the company's own leadership team in place 100% of the time, which has been a foundational approach in investment decisions (1h9m18s).
• This approach involves spending a significant amount of time building and developing a strong leadership team, which can be a crucial factor in a company's success (1h9m24s).
• A program was created to help people in their late 20s and early 30s learn how to become CEOs, which has been foundational in understanding that the management team is where the alpha comes from (1h9m28s).
• The management team is crucial, and even the best team in the world cannot succeed in a wrong industry, such as a typewriter business, but having a good enough industry and a world-class management team is a good formula for consistent returns (1h9m47s).
• This approach has been a differentiator and allows for building companies together with the management team, who share similar values (1h10m26s).
• Graham Weaver can be found on his website, gramweaver.com, which includes his blog and videos, as well as on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube under the handle @gramcweaver (1h10m54s).
• Listeners can be helpful by reaching out to Graham Weaver through his blog, gramweaverblog.com, and sharing their thoughts, and they can also subscribe to his blog to stay updated on topics discussed (1h11m16s).
• Graham Weaver encourages listeners to subscribe to his blog and share their thoughts, and he will read all emails, even if he cannot respond to all of them (1h11m29s).