Sum Of All People
Sum Of All People
Podcast Description
'You are the sum of five people you surround yourself with'.
An all too common saying that underscores the impact a select group of people can have on one's life.
In Sum Of All People, Jin Young invites a wide array of individuals who have left an imprint on his life and aims to expand on the aforementioned phrase; for it is the sum total of all people that, in ways big or small, hold the potential to shape the trajectory of each of our lives.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
This podcast dives into themes of personal influence, entrepreneurship, and philosophical discussions about life and purpose. Specific topics include the impact of early life experiences on career choices, the evolution of humanity's needs, and the balance between intuition and user feedback in technology development. For instance, in an episode featuring entrepreneur Shaun Merritt, discussions cover the meaning of work, the significance of self-love, and the implications of non-traditional education paths.
‘You are the sum of five people you surround yourself with’.
An all too common saying that underscores the impact a select group of people can have on one’s life.
In Sum Of All People, Jin Young invites a wide array of individuals who have left an imprint on his life and aims to expand on the aforementioned phrase; for it is the sum total of all people that, in ways big or small, hold the potential to shape the trajectory of each of our lives.
Shaun Merritt is the Co-founder and CTO of Toucan.
Toucan is an immersive language learning browser extension tool that was acquired by the cross platform language learning company Babbel in 2023.
🎙️ –Listen on Apple Podcasts/Spotify
▶️ –Watch full episode on YouTube
Timestamps
(0:00) Introduction
(01:39) Shaun’s dad’s Influence on his career aspirations
(03:25) Problems that technology can’t solve
(04:33) Do humanity’s needs evolve or repeat?
(05:35) Entrepreneurship’s role in moving society towards good
(07:40) Shaun’s career lessons from PRAY.com
(11:30) Measuring non-quantitative social impact
(13:32) Gauging user needs with a growing user base
(15:24) Is entrepreneurship a zero-sum or positive-sum game?
(17:11) Deciding against college over real world experience
(20:09) Was not going to college an irreversible decision?
(21:01) Has Shaun ever made an irreversible decision?
(21:49) Shaun’s meaning of life
(22:44) Jin Young’s meaning of life
(23:29) Shaun’s meaning of work
(24:54) Is one’s career an infinite game?
(25:53) Do we all have a unique gift?
(27:16) Cultivating ‘flow state’ outside work
(28:09) Are activities of ‘flow state’ pre-determined?
(30:30) Is computer programming an innate skill?
(32:01) What is ‘good code’?
(33:16) What is ‘simple’ code?
(34:19) Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) despite limited feedback
(35:43) Relying on intuition vs user feedback
(36:18) How has Shaun’s identity changed since his company’s acquisition?
(37:13) How can we truly measure how much we learn?
(38:59) Ego and the fear of failure in the pursuit of learning
(40:59) How do we truly know what we want?
(42:19) Shaun’s take on Mimetic Theory
(43:25) What drives Shaun to ‘go against the grain’?
(44:35) What does Shaun prioritise between agency and providing social value?
(45:29) Self-love and ‘putting oneself first’
People
- Jin Young Choi – Host
- Shaun Merritt – Guest
keywords:
toolmaking, entrepreneurship, technology, community building, value creation, user needs, collaboration, non-traditional paths, learning, flow state, meaning of life, self-love, thiel fellowship, toucan, chrome extension, babbel, palantir, digital twin, zero sum game, positive sum game, philosophy, higher education, language learning, software engineering, philosophy, growth mindset, carol dweck, mimetic theory, rené girard, going against the grain, agency
Credits:
Taoudella by Blue Dot Sessions
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