Pencil Problems

Episode 31: Running an e-commerce store, cash flow, debt and financing, buying products, managing suppliers, calculating margins and more... A deep retail dive.

May 28th, 2018  |  58 mins 51 secs

Kent recently appeared as a guest on This Commerce Life, a podcast about all things retail, and gets to ask Phil and Kenny, two industry veterans a ton of questions about Able Cells. They cover inventory, managing suppliers, cash flow, margins, debt and financing and more.

Episode 30: Is Google sentient? How do we build side projects in the age of strong AI? Plus some WWDC predictions.

May 21st, 2018  |  1 hr 27 mins

ai, google, sentient, strong ai, turing test

Nick and Kent discuss the Google Assistant demo where an AI places a call and books a reservation. Is this software sentient? No. And how does this shape ambition when building side projects? Are certain industries dead? Plus some WWDC predictions.

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.