Pencil Problems
Episode Archive
Episode Archive
45 episodes of Pencil Problems since the first episode, which aired on September 20th, 2017.
-
Episode 29: Products we love | Fahrenheit Coffee
May 13th, 2018 | 48 mins 20 secs
coffee, espresso, interview, side-projects, startup
Experimenting with a new episode type, Nick chats with Sameer - owner of Fahrenheit coffee. Incredible coffee, amazing dude. This episode is about passion, about craft, and about relationships. It'll also really make you want to drink coffee! Enjoy!
-
Episode 28: Let's Jam | A Social Podcasting App
May 8th, 2018 | 1 hr 33 mins
apps, conversation, ideas, marketing, product, tech
Kent and Nick chat about a product idea: A social podcasting app. Really interesting idea and lots of different directions it can go. Let's jam!
-
Episode 27: Product vs. Marketing
April 30th, 2018 | 1 hr 51 mins
marketing, product, side projects
Nick and Kent give their perspective on the age old debate between product and marketing. Where does product end and marketing begin, what should product people know about marketing? What should good marketers know about the product? How can you apply all of this to your side projects?
This is our most edited episode, please forgive the audio at points.
-
Episode 26: Family-Work Balance
April 19th, 2018 | 1 hr 18 mins
family, life, side-projects, startup, work
Kent and Nick have a conversation around balancing Work, Family and Side Projects.
-
Episode 25: Q&A - Productivity Tools, outsourcing tech, letting someone go.
April 13th, 2018 | 1 hr 5 mins
dads, outsourcing, startups, tech, technology
We open with some project updates (ablecells.com, medium.com/fatherhood) followed by some Q&A from fans (I can't believe people still listen to this!).
-
Episode 24: How morals and ethics affects startups, building ethics into your side project, and deleting Facebook
April 2nd, 2018 | 1 hr 13 mins
ethics, facebook. privacy, morals, politics
Nick asks Kent if he plans to delete Facebook, this leads to a discussion about Facebook's recent drama, how ethics and morals play into business, and how you can build good ethics into your side project or company.
-
Episode 23: Hero worship, self-doubt and winning
March 26th, 2018 | 1 hr 48 mins
hustle, side projects, startup, work
Kent and Nick talk about Hero Worship and Self-Doubt. They ruminate about when/if they'd go all in on something and the secret to winning at side projects. Bonus Parent Corner content at the very end. Enjoy!
-
Episode 22: Pros and Cons of Building Side Projects with a Team or Going Solo
March 18th, 2018 | 1 hr 44 mins
lone wolf, side projects, teams
Nick and Kent talk about the pros and cons of starting side projects with a team or going solo. They also answer a hypothetical question about what would they tell their 25-year-old selves.
-
Episode 21: Filming a Kickstarter Video, How to Deal with a Drop in Shopify Orders - Project Update #3
March 7th, 2018 | 35 mins 49 secs
able cells, project update, the book
In this episode, Kent and Nick give a quick product update on the book and Able Cells. Kent is worried that he went 2 days without an order and wants to rebuild Shopify. Nick is working on storyboards for his likely Kickstarter video. Kent records a slightly awkward outro. Remember to send any questions and feedback to hello@pencilproblems.com
-
Episode 20: Lessons Learned Pitching Sponsors
March 3rd, 2018 | 56 mins 25 secs
sponsorship
In this episode, Nick and Kent talk about how it went pitching the podcast to a few potential sponsors. Like a good math problem, they work out a solution for what sponsorship could look like going forward. Remember to send any feedback or questions to hello@pencilproblems.com or @pencilpod on the Twitter.
-
Episode 19: Getting Sponsors
February 22nd, 2018 | 1 hr 17 mins
meta, parenting, sponsors
In this episode, Nick and I talk about the vision of Pencil Problems going forward and how we would try and pitch it to potential sponsors. We also kick-off Parent Corner around 1:03. Enjoy
-
Episode 18: Book Club
February 16th, 2018 | 2 hrs 7 mins
books
Nick and Kent talk about the books they love and how they shape their actions, worldview, and their kids' future. Full of tangential goodness.
-
Episode 17: State of our Unions
February 2nd, 2018 | 1 hr 1 min
able cells, books, domains, free speech, lumens, picking a name, project update, side projects, trump, twitter, wordpress
Kent and Nick talk about whether Jack should kick Donald off Twitter, then roll right into an extended project update with a snazzy new transition sound effect. Kent rails about Able Cells, while Nick tries to figure out a broader context for his book project. In the end, they sell it all and buy XLM, Spoilers!! Just kidding. Enjoy.
-
Episode 16: Self-driving roulette
January 25th, 2018 | 1 hr 41 mins
bitcoin, ces, email marketing, feedback, fitness, health, keto, products, self-driving cars, side projects, tools
Kent and Nick talk about their side projects, answer listener questions about email marketing, and health and fitness, the difference between tools and products, Nick tells us about CES and Kent and Nick make a bitcoin bet about self driving cars in 2030.
-
Episode 15: Intellectual Summer Camp
January 12th, 2018 | 1 hr 51 mins
academics, computer science, dgp, grad school, masters, phd, research, tag lab, trump, university of toronto
Kent and Nick get their first listener feedback, they talk about their time at The DGP, why grad school is like intellectual summer camp, advice for people thinking about grad school, academic politics, doing research, intellectual freedom and end with a healthy dose of Donald Trump.
-
Episode 14: A time for selling
January 4th, 2018 | 1 hr 57 mins
2018, alt coins, crypto, e-commerce, goals, growth hacking, las vegas, zig ziglar
Nick and Kent talk about the future of pencil problems, their goals for the podcast in 2018, whether or not Nick should dabble in the black hat world of e-commerce, personal goals, las vegas buffets, zig ziglar, kent's crypto corner and so much more. This episode is a MUST download.