Less Hustle, More Art — Moving to a New Model

Hello, my lovelies! This is an important announcement. From June – Dec, 2019, I’m removing ads and sponsors from the podcast for a six-month test. The podcast will continue to be 100% free for everyone. There will be no paywall, and no one has to pay for anything. Instead, the following page — tim.blog/support http://tim.blog/support?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=announcement — offers what many have asked for — a way fans can support. If interested, you can contribute a few (or more) dollars a month http://tim.blog/support?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=announcement to support me doing more crazy experiments and initiatives, or to simply say “thank you” if any of my books, nearly 400 free podcasts, or 1,000+ free blog posts have had a positive impact on you or your loved ones. You can easily cancel anytime at this link https://timferriss.chargebeeportal.com/portal/v2/login?forward=portal_main. Since the podcast has become the engine that fuels everything else, if this experiment doesn’t work out after six months, we’ll go back to sponsors. If it works, we’ll stay with fan-supported. Easy peasy. So, why am I doing this? Two main reasons: #1 – Sponsors and ads chew up a TON of time that I’d rather spend finding and doing cool things I can share with you. To be clear, I don’t think all advertising is evil. I turn away 90-plus percent of inquiries, personally test everything remaining, and then share the best. I feel good about that, BUT it consumes a lot of my time and energy. I would rather focus on finding, doing, and making cool things that I can share with you. That’s what I love, it’s what I’m good at, and it’s why many of you ended up reading my books or listening to the podcast in the first place. #2 – Over the years, thousands of readers and fans have asked me, “How can I thank you?” Aside from the books, I’ve never sold any products, courses, or otherwise, nor do I plan to. Fan-supported subscriptions allow people to say “Thank you, and please do more.” If you want to help fuel more experiments, science, and exciting discoveries, you can easily sign up below and contribute to the cause. Think of it as a monthly gym membership for your mind and career. How much would you gladly pay for that? Then, each time you hear a podcast episode (or see anything from me) that you consider life-changing and want to share with friends, you can smile, knowing that you helped to make it possible. Please only contribute what you feel great about contributing http://tim.blog/support?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=announcement. This is zero pressure, and I’m not mailing out any beer koozies or other crap you don’t want. I’ll just do and share more good stuff. Visit tim.blog/support http://tim.blog/support?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=announcement to learn more and contribute. *** If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tim-ferriss-show/id863897795?mt=2/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews! For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast https://tim.blog/podcast/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=podcast-description. Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/. For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts http://tim.blog/transcripts. Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books http://tim.blog/books. Follow Tim: Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss https://twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss https://instagram.com/timferriss/ Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/ YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss https://www.youtube.com/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show http://tim.blog/podcast include Jerry Seinfeld https://tim.blog/2020/12/08/jerry-seinfeld/, Hugh Jackman https://tim.blog/2020/06/26/hugh-jackman/, Dr. Jane Goodall https://tim.blog/2020/04/16/jane-goodall/, LeBron James https://tim.blog/2018/11/27/lebron-james-mike-mancias/, Kevin Hart https://tim.blog/2020/05/20/kevin-hart/, Doris Kearns Goodwin https://tim.blog/2018/09/07/doris-kearns-goodwin-leadership/, Jamie Foxx https://tim.blog/2015/12/06/jamie-foxx/, Matthew McConaughey https://tim.blog/2020/10/19/matthew-mcconaughey/, Esther Perel https://tim.blog/2017/05/21/esther-perel/, Elizabeth Gilbert https://tim.blog/2020/05/08/elizabeth-gilbert/, Terry Crews https://tim.blog/2017/12/20/terry-crews-how-to-have-do-and-be-all-you-want/, Sia https://tim.blog/2020/08/12/sia/, Yuval Noah Harari https://tim.blog/2020/10/27/yuval-noah-harari/, Malcolm Gladwell https://tim.blog/2016/06/21/malcolm-gladwell/, Madeleine Albright https://tim.blog/2020/05/27/secretary-madeleine-albright/, Cheryl Strayed https://tim.blog/2017/03/30/cheryl-strayed/, Jim Collins https://tim.blog/2019/02/18/jim-collins/, Mary Karr, https://tim.blog/2020/11/11/mary-karr/ Maria Popova https://tim.blog/2014/10/21/brain-pickings/, Sam Harris https://tim.blog/2020/05/15/sam-harris-2/, Michael Phelps https://tim.blog/2021/01/21/michael-phelps-grant-hackett/, Bob Iger https://tim.blog/2020/01/16/bob-iger/, Edward Norton https://tim.blog/2019/10/31/edward-norton-motherless-brooklyn/, Arnold Schwarzenegger https://tim.blog/2015/02/02/arnold-schwarzenegger/, Neil Strauss https://tim.blog/2014/06/24/neil-strauss/, Ken Burns https://tim.blog/2019/09/12/ken-burns/, Maria Sharapova https://tim.blog/2017/08/26/maria-sharapova/, Marc Andreessen https://tim.blog/2016/05/29/marc-andreessen/, Neil Gaiman https://tim.blog/2019/03/28/neil-gaiman/, Neil de Grasse Tyson https://tim.blog/2019/10/03/neil-degrasse-tyson/, Jocko Willink https://tim.blog/2016/09/21/jocko-willink-on-discipline-leadership-and-overcoming-doubt/, Daniel Ek https://tim.blog/2020/12/03/daniel-ek/, Kelly Slater https://tim.blog/2020/09/08/kelly-slater/, Dr. Peter Attia https://tim.blog/2019/11/27/peter-attia-fasting-metformin-longevity/, Seth Godin https://tim.blog/2016/02/10/seth-godin/, Howard Marks https://tim.blog/2018/09/25/howard-marks/, Dr. Brené Brown https://tim.blog/2020/02/06/brene-brown-striving-self-acceptance-saving-marriages/, Eric Schmidt https://tim.blog/2019/04/09/eric-schmidt/, Michael Lewis https://tim.blog/2020/05/01/michael-lewis/, Joe Gebbia https://tim.blog/2018/03/08/joe-gebbia-co-founder-of-airbnb/, Michael Pollan https://tim.blog/2018/05/06/michael-pollan-how-to-change-your-mind/, Dr. Jordan Peterson https://tim.blog/2021/03/01/jordan-peterson/, Vince Vaughn https://tim.blog/2017/05/31/vince-vaughn/, Brian Koppelman https://tim.blog/2020/04/23/brian-koppelman/, Ramit Sethi https://tim.blog/2019/05/07/ramit-sethi/, Dax Shepard https://tim.blog/2020/11/18/dax-shepard/, Tony Robbins https://tim.blog/2014/10/15/money-master-the-game/, Jim Dethmer https://tim.blog/2020/05/18/jim-dethmer/, Dan Harris https://tim.blog/2020/11/19/dan-harris/, Ray Dalio https://tim.blog/2017/09/13/ray-dalio/, Naval Ravikant https://tim.blog/2015/08/18/the-evolutionary-angel-naval-ravikant/, Vitalik Buterin https://tim.blog/2021/03/08/vitalik-buterin-naval-ravikant/, Elizabeth Lesser https://tim.blog/2021/03/16/elizabeth-lesser/, Amanda Palmer https://tim.blog/2019/04/18/amanda-palmer-2/, Katie Haun https://tim.blog/2021/02/18/katie-haun/, Sir Richard Branson https://tim.blog/2017/10/09/richard-branson/, Chuck Palahniuk https://tim.blog/2020/09/02/chuck-palahniuk/, Arianna Huffington https://tim.blog/2017/10/18/arianna-huffington/, Reid Hoffman https://tim.blog/2015/08/31/the-oracle-of-silicon-valley-reid-hoffman-plus-michael-mccullough/, Bill Burr https://tim.blog/2017/09/17/bill-burr/, Whitney Cummings https://tim.blog/2015/06/26/whitney-cummings/, Rick Rubin https://tim.blog/2015/05/15/rick-rubin/, Dr. Vivek Murthy https://tim.blog/2020/03/26/vivek-murthy/, Darren Aronofsky https://tim.blog/2017/09/09/darren-aronofsky/, and many more. 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Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Tim Ferriss?

  Well, hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs, my esteemed and lovely listeners. Short version: I'm getting rid of ads and sponsors for a six-month test, and the podcast will continue to be free, 100% free, nothing behind a paywall, and you can learn more about that and why at tim.blog/support. That's tim.blog/support. I'd really appreciate if you listen to this message in full. It's not gonna be super long. So here is a little bit more. Thousands of you, fans, readers, listeners, have asked me over the years, "How can I thank you? I wanna thank you." On Twitter and all sorts of other places, "What can I do to thank you besides buy your books?"

• 0:43Tim Ferriss?

  And I've never had a product, I've never wanted to just come up with a product or a course or fill in the blank. Nonetheless, nearly 400 episodes with the podcast later, 400 million or so downloads, 1,000-plus blog posts and so on, I've thought about this. And I've thought about it a lot recently because the sponsorship model, when I actually look at the calendar, it's great on a lot of levels, but it cuts into time and resources. I'm not learning very much. And it's an elegant model in some respects. I don't think advertising or sponsorship is evil, and I turn away 90-plus percent of my sponsor inquiries anyway, test everything, reject another 90%, and only share the stuff I end up using personally.

• 1:26Tim Ferriss?

  So I don't feel badly about that at all, I feel really good about it. But it chews up a ton of time and energy for me and my team, which I would rather spend on doing more experiments, doing more crazy pushing-the-envelope stuff that I can then report on and share with you. That is in my power zone, and it's why many of you ended up reading my books or listening to this podcast in the first place. So I'd rather do more of that, sort of less hustle, more art and experiment. So this seems to be, that is a fan-supported model, the most direct way to fix this, and it's just the cleanest, most attractive way to go about it. I wanna simplify, simplify, simplify, do more experiments, do really, really cool stuff, like, for instance, you've seen me support...

• 2:12Tim Ferriss?

  Studies for treatment-resistant depression at Johns Hopkins and other places. I want to do more of that kind of thing. I want to do all sorts of wacky things that I can then report back on. And, look, if we try the fan support model for six months and it doesn't work, then we go back to sponsors. Because the podcast has really become the machine, the engine, that feeds everything else. And I want to have a positive dent in the world, and the fuel for a lot of that comes from the podcast. And what do you get for that? You don't get a beer cozy. I'm not going to mail you a bunch of garbage that you don't want. It's really if you just feel awesome about supporting what I want to do in the world,

• 2:55Tim Ferriss?

  and the experiments I want to conduct, and the learnings I want to share, and so on. That's it. So if my book, if the podcast, if anything, has had a significant impact on you or people you love in any way, just consider giving a few bucks a month to it. And you can find it at tim.blog/support. You can finish the entire process in less than two minutes. tim.blog/support. If it doesn't feel great to do, don't do it. You don't have to pay for it. It's always going to be free. It's never going to be behind a paywall. So, don't sweat it. It should feel awesome. You should feel really good about doing it, if you do it at all. And if you don't, don't do it. Really, you're just going to have an upgraded listener experience for the next six months without sponsors.

• 3:40Tim Ferriss?

  And if this experiment fails, meaning the fan support stuff, then we'll go back to the sponsorship model. Okay, check it out. tim.blog/support. And it would really mean a lot. And it'll also give me an opportunity to see, like, how many diehards are there? How many people out there would actually want to support in this way? So I'm really curious. tim.blog/support. Thanks for checking it out. Love ya. Mwah.