1 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Marcos Show on iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: My guest today is James AL Toucher. James is an entrepreneur, 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: best selling author, National chess Master, and host of The 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: James L. Toucher Show. He is currently also involved in 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: two different companies. So nice to have you on, James. 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 2: Carol is so great to be here. I know we've been. 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 2: I feel like we've been planning to plan the talk 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 2: for us years we are. 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: I love it. You know, it's so funny. You know, 10 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: I got your bio sent over and it doesn't even 11 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: mention you're the author of twenty books out where? How 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: do you do this? How do you even find time for? 13 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: Like life? 14 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 2: You know? 15 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 3: I think if you if every day you kind of 16 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 3: move the needle forward and whatever it is you're passionate about, 17 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 3: you're going to get a lot done over the years. 18 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 3: Like take book writing, for instance, a thousand words is 19 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 3: you know, a couple of pages? Yeah, maybe three pages. 20 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 3: And if you write a thousand words a day, which 21 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 3: is again three pages, maybe it takes a couple hours 22 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 3: a day. So you wake up an hour or two 23 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 3: early and you go to sleep instead of watching TV. 24 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 3: You write for an hour, you're going to end up 25 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 3: with three hundred and sixty thousand words by the end 26 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 3: of the year, which is the equivalent of six books. 27 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 3: So just take the best sixty thousand words and now 28 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 3: you have a book, and then over twenty years you're 29 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 3: going to have more than twenty books. 30 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: Actually make it sound quite easy. I've written a book. 31 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: It didn't go like that. It was great, It was great, 32 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:37,839 Speaker 1: I was a bestseller. I can't complain, but I will 33 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: never do it again. It was extremely difficult. 34 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 3: Ever since my very first book, which was in two 35 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 3: thousand and four, I have said every single time, I 36 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 3: am never going to do this again. I'm never going 37 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 3: to write a book again, and then the next year 38 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 3: I end up writing another book. 39 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: What was your first book? 40 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 3: What was a very financial oriented book called Trade Like 41 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 3: a Hedge Fund. My first couple of books were very financial, 42 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 3: and then I started moving into more really kind of 43 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 3: this sort of writing that I enjoyed reading and the 44 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 3: kind of issues I wanted to talk about as opposed 45 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 3: to just financial stuff, which I kind of find boring. 46 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: So which one's your favorite of the twenty. 47 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 3: I have a book called Choose Yourself, which kind of 48 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 3: was a philosophy that became very important to me when 49 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 3: I realized, Oh, I was always waiting for others to 50 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 3: approve of me, whether it was a boss or let's say, 51 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,519 Speaker 3: a publisher please pick me, or a TV producer or 52 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 3: a girlfriend or whatever. 53 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 2: Like I wanted. 54 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 3: Everyone to choose me. And I finally realized, you know what, 55 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 3: if I really wanted things to happen, I need to 56 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 3: start choosing myself. Like, okay, instead of being just the 57 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 3: best possible employee for a boss, maybe I should start 58 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 3: a company. Or instead of waiting for a mainstream publisher, 59 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 3: maybe I should self publish. Now, of my twenty books, 60 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 3: maybe half are with me mainstream publishers and half are 61 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 3: self published. But by far the best selling ones are 62 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 3: the self published ones. So choosing myself was financially successful 63 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 3: for me. And the same thing too, like, oh, instead 64 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 3: of waiting for this group of people to like me, 65 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 3: or this this social hierarchy that I want to be 66 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 3: a part of to approve of me, you know, always. 67 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 2: Look for ways. 68 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 3: Usually if I'm unhappy, I realize the roots of it 69 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 3: are because I'm not quite choosing myself. I'm not quite 70 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 3: confident enough that I could be create or creative enough 71 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 3: to choose myself. 72 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 2: And that's what that. 73 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 3: Book is about, starting from times when I went broke 74 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 3: waiting for people to choose me, and you know, the 75 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 3: only way to get out of it was to choose 76 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 3: myself because I had no other opportunities. 77 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: It sounds like a much better version of the let 78 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: them you know, Mel Robbins thing that's going on right now, 79 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: which is like, don't wait for other people to you know, 80 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: pick you basically. But you sound like that book is 81 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: about pick yourself first, which is I think an even 82 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: better message. 83 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's really important, particularly now we're in this look. 84 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 3: I wrote that book in twenty thirteen, but I can 85 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 3: easily write a version of it now. Like everybody's nervous 86 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 3: because you have things like AI oh Ai is going 87 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 3: to take all our jobs. AI won't take your job 88 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 3: if you focus on the skills that have always created success, 89 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 3: which is, you know, creativity, and then learning all the 90 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 3: tools that will make you help you make your creativity manifest. 91 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 3: It's the same skills that worked in nineteen twenty eight 92 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 3: when silent movies went to talking movies, and it's the 93 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 3: same thing now, like or you know, in every generation 94 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 3: before and after, Like, AI is not coming to take 95 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 3: your job yours. If you're creative, you're going to succeed. 96 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 3: And it doesn't mean creative like oh, I'm going to 97 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 3: be Picasso or the greatest artist of all the time. 98 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 3: It's easy to be in the top one percent of creativity, 99 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 3: you know, just by focusing on a little bit each day, 100 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:55,239 Speaker 3: as like we were describing earlier. 101 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: So you're optimistic about A Oh, very optimistic. 102 00:04:58,880 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, I love AI. 103 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: So what do you think is gonna I mean, I'll 104 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: ask you my prediction question down the road on this interview, 105 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: But what do you think is because a lot of 106 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 1: people on the show that come on are very worried 107 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: and they think that the economy is going to take 108 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: a giant hit, and not everybody is creative, not everybody 109 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: is really smart. What happens to all those people? Why 110 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: are you optimistic about it? 111 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 2: I'm optimistic? 112 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 3: Well, first off, if it wasn't kind of a net 113 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 3: positive for the economy and for individuals, it wouldn't be 114 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,919 Speaker 3: as popular as it is now. I mean, the fastest 115 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 3: growing companies in the world now are the ones, you know, 116 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 3: building AI tools for consumers to use, and consumers are 117 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 3: using them. And by the way, when companies use them, 118 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 3: companies get more profits. 119 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 2: What do they do with their profits? 120 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 3: They invest in new companies and new industries and new ideas, 121 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 3: and that creates new jobs. The unemployment rate. You know, 122 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 3: despite the rise in AI over the past three years, 123 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 3: the unemployment rate has got there's more employee people than 124 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 3: ever people are. We see in the headlines, Oh, there's layoffs, 125 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 3: but what we don't see is that there's tons of 126 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 3: new businesses starting and again, a number of employee people 127 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 3: has actually gone up since the rise in AI. I 128 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 3: was just speaking at a conference to the movie industry 129 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,600 Speaker 3: where I feel like they're torn in the movie industry. 130 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 3: Is this gonna replace movie screas? Is going to replace actors, 131 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,919 Speaker 3: It's going to replace writers, and to some degree, it 132 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 3: will replace a lot of just like the Internet replaced 133 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 3: a lot of industries, and computers replaced a lot of industries, 134 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 3: and cars replace the horse, you. 135 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 2: Know, driving industry. 136 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 3: AI is going to replace some industries. Yeah, but think 137 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 3: of it as a tool. Think of it as a 138 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 3: tool to be more creative and more productive, and you're 139 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 3: going to you know, you were always competing a little 140 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 3: bit against other you know our colleagues and other people 141 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 3: in the workforce. If you're the one using AI and 142 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,559 Speaker 3: master these skills, no matter what your age, you're going 143 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 3: to do well. And by the way, it doesn't mean, 144 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 3: you know, people at Polaroid Camera didn't suddenly get another 145 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 3: you know, didn't suddenly get a job at a digital 146 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 3: camera company. Maybe they went off and did something completely new, 147 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 3: something that they wanted to do, or or maybe they 148 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 3: were tired, you know, they set expectations differently, they downsized, 149 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 3: they were tired. 150 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: But then Polaroid came back around it became cool to 151 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: be this older thing, you know. I also think there's 152 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: some of that, like people are going to reject the 153 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: just AI movies and go back to like I don't know, 154 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: I don't know what silent films, but back to kind 155 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: of basics with movies. I think it could bring a renaissance. 156 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 2: Yeah. 157 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 3: And also, by the way, there's there's something called microdramas 158 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 3: where a lot of the videos you see on just 159 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,559 Speaker 3: you know, scrolling Instagram or YouTube, you see these microdramas. Yeah, yeah, 160 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 3: those are a lot of those are produced. They're not real. 161 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 3: Like I'm always wondering are those real or not? But 162 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 3: a lot of them aren't real, but we love watching them. Like, 163 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 3: you know, the the outrage ones like oh this woman 164 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 3: won't sit next to somebody with an airplane with a 165 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 3: MAGA hat right well over were all produced videos. 166 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, they completely are. We're going to take a quick 167 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: break and be right back on the Carol Marcowitch Show. 168 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: What was your first job? Like, what was your what 169 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: did you want to be and how did you get here? 170 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 2: Well? 171 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 3: I really wanted to be a writer. I wanted to 172 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 3: write novels. But I went to school for computer science, 173 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 3: so I was a programmer. So so okay, I had 174 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 3: some random jobs. But then my first real job and 175 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 3: took me to the big city in New York City 176 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 3: was at HBO. I figured that's going to be my 177 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 3: back doorway into the entertainment industry. So I was working 178 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 3: in the IT department. My title was like junior programmer analyst. 179 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 3: Nobody would talk to me. I could barely do the 180 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 3: job well, but I figured, okay, this is my back 181 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,079 Speaker 3: doorway into writing novels that will get published and being 182 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 3: in the entertainment industry, which was sort of true because 183 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 3: what happened was there was no intern there was no web. 184 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 3: I mean, the web was just starting. So I convinced 185 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 3: HBO to make a website and convinced them to let me, 186 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,319 Speaker 3: this lowly guy on the totem poll to do their website. 187 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 3: And from that I both built a business making websites 188 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 3: for entertainment companies, but also allowed me to be more creative. 189 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 3: I created web shows for HBO, something they don't currently do. 190 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 2: Actually, now nobody knew what to do with the web. 191 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 3: Now it's a big marketing slash e commerce environment. But HBO, 192 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 3: I said, oh, let me do like creative web shows, 193 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 3: just like you do creative TV shows. And so I 194 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 3: did that, and that way really was my first exposure 195 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 3: to the writing and the entertainment industry and even and 196 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 3: I wrote a whole bunch of unpublished unpublished but I 197 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 3: should also say unpublishable novels, and then ultimately built a 198 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 3: business sold it. Had no idea what to do with money, 199 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 3: so I went completely broke like just like I went 200 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 3: from million like generational wealth to one hundred and forty 201 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 3: three dollars in the bank because they didn't know anything 202 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 3: about investing, always self investing, to the point where then 203 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:10,239 Speaker 3: I was running a hedge fund. 204 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna say, I see you as a 205 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: finance guy, and then like looking into your background, it 206 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 1: turns out you were like this creative writer guy. 207 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, Like I wasn't a finance guy at all, but 208 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 3: then I got interested in it and I got passionate 209 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 3: about it and learned everything I could after I went 210 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 3: broke and and I wrote software to help me trade 211 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 3: the markets. And this was early on when people were 212 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 3: starting to do that kind of like quantitative trading, and 213 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 3: I just got immersed in that, and that became you know, 214 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 3: writing about finance and then also managing money was an 215 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 3: early part of my career after building websites and you know, 216 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 3: and then I started writing books using my I think 217 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 3: you when you take the intersection of your interests and skills, 218 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 3: that's a very powerful way to be number one. 219 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: So they weren't that you happen to have the ones 220 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: that like, you know, the the tech and the finance 221 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:08,719 Speaker 1: and the ability to write, Like that's a very good intersection. 222 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,079 Speaker 1: Not everybody has that kind of intersection, right, So. 223 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 3: I could be like money is made, like like I 224 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 3: could be a finance person who then programs my ideas 225 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 3: to see if they were but then write about them, 226 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 3: to communicate them to the world. So so it was 227 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 3: like like I was like a one man band, you know, 228 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 3: you see the guy with I love It flow on 229 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 3: the tub of them, but also playing the harps. 230 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 2: Chord or whatever. 231 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 3: And I built a career doing that. But then I 232 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 3: got interested in other things, like more and more things, 233 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 3: and combined these these intersections in very interesting ways. And 234 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 3: but I've always been able to ownly my weakness with that. 235 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 3: All is I could only do what I'm passionate about. 236 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:47,839 Speaker 3: Otherwise I'm just really bad at whatever it is I'm 237 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 3: asked to do. 238 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: What would have been a plan be like had this not. 239 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:57,839 Speaker 3: Worked out, probably suicide like James like, And I'm not 240 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 3: encouraging that behavior from anyone, but. 241 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 2: But I don't know. I never really like, I never 242 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 2: had any plan B. When I applied to college. 243 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 3: I only applied to one school, and I like, looking 244 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 3: back on it, I can't even imagine what I was thinking. 245 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 2: I had zero plan B. And you know, I remember 246 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 2: going broke. 247 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 3: And I was thinking to myself, well, should I get 248 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 3: a job here? I had started the company, sold it, 249 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 3: and then I just was dead broke, I was losing 250 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 3: my house, I was really depressed as my family had 251 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:31,080 Speaker 3: didn't generational wealth again, but nothing, you know, I had nothing, 252 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:36,680 Speaker 3: and I was I just I couldn't get myself to 253 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 3: like look for a job. I just had to start 254 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 3: another business, and I started many business I had a 255 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 3: policy of starting businesses and failing them very quickly so 256 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 3: that I could I didn't waste time on any one 257 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:52,719 Speaker 3: business idea. And that process worked. But then I went 258 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 3: broke again, Like it was hard for me. There's three 259 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 3: skills to money. There's there's making it, keeping it, growing it, 260 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 3: And I would would have a hard time keeping it, 261 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 3: you know, for a very long time, for like a 262 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 3: decade or more, I kept making it and then losing it, 263 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,959 Speaker 3: and you know, it's all these skills are very difficult. 264 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 3: Money is a very psychological thing, and it's hard to 265 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 3: deal with all the issues around around money often. 266 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, did you grow up like middle class or yeah, 267 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 4: I would say like lower lower middle class, Like middle 268 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 4: class almost had a different definition when when we were kids, 269 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 4: like you could you could actually be middle class and survive. 270 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 3: Now I feel like middle class you almost like how 271 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,559 Speaker 3: would you survive in New York City as middle class? 272 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 2: Now you can't really, Yeah. 273 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: It's impossible. Actually, yeah, I don't know anywhere. Really, I 274 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: think it's gotten so difficult to be middle class. 275 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, because you just look at you, like, for instance, 276 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,079 Speaker 3: a lot of people send their kids to school. Well, 277 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,959 Speaker 3: the price of a college tuition has risen faster than 278 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 3: inflation for fifty years in a row, so not even 279 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 3: like on average, but just every year inflation might be 280 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 3: three percent, but tuitions are going to rise. 281 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 2: And that's happened every year for fifty years in a row. 282 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 3: So now college is completely unaffordable to middle class unless 283 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 3: you borrow enormous amounts of money. 284 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and the colleges aren't even doing that great. 285 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: There was like this piece in the Wall Street Journal 286 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: about University of Chicago is like not broke, but they're 287 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: they're definitely scrambling around for money, and it's like, how 288 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: do you guys not have money? Just yeah, the whole 289 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: system makes no sense. 290 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 2: It makes no sense. 291 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 3: I personally think they should just force all the colleges 292 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 3: to shut down. 293 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: Like, do you tell your kids, I don't know how 294 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: old are your kids, do you tell them not to 295 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: go to college? 296 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 3: I did tell them not to go to college, and 297 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 3: they didn't listen to me, and then one did leave 298 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 3: college after two years and the other graduated in three years, 299 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 3: so they both ultimately kind of paid attention to me. 300 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 3: But I beg them not to go. Of course, I'm 301 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 3: not going to like deny them going, because you know, 302 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 3: you can't argue with I'm a dad, I have two daughters. 303 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 3: I can't argue with with my daughters. But now they 304 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 3: agree with me. But I think think, I think now 305 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 3: also it's a legitimate conversation now. Wasn't a legitimate conversation 306 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 3: twenty years ago. It's a legitimate conversation now. Hey, are 307 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 3: there alternatives? Maybe I can start a business, Maybe I 308 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 3: can learn from AI or the con Academy or these 309 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 3: other online places and get a Google certificate for it 310 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 3: or whatever. Right, So I think there's much better choices 311 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 3: now than college. 312 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, I see college as just for socializing, and I 313 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: realize I'm going to have to pay a lot for 314 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: my kids to go socialize. But I see it as 315 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 1: maybe somewhere where you might meet your future spouse, or 316 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: where you make lifelong friends or professional connections. But I 317 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: don't see it at all as somewhere that you get 318 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: an education. 319 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 2: Can you remember anything you learned in college. Zero. 320 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: I remember the things I lied about, Like I found 321 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: a paper that I wrote, and I remember writing this 322 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: paper about how like the family is an outdated concept. 323 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: And I was a lifelong conservative. I never believed the 324 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: family was an outdated concept, but I had to say 325 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: it in college in order to get the A. 326 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 3: So that's what I Yeah, you have to be like 327 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 3: a socialist to survive, to make in college. 328 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. What are you most proud of in your life? 329 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 3: Probably this book that I mentioned earlier, Choose Yourself only 330 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 3: because so much like I might even like even to 331 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 3: this day and age, Like I was at an airport 332 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 3: the other day and someone came up to me and said, 333 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 3: I read your book. 334 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 2: It changed my life. Thank you so much. 335 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 3: And when you get that kind of feedback, it feels 336 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 3: really good. And and I get that all the time 337 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 3: from you know, from from from many of my books, 338 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 3: but that one is the most and and I and 339 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 3: it was something of philosophy I really believed in that 340 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 3: that works for me to this day, Like, whenever I 341 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 3: find myself in a rut or going down some path 342 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 3: that's making me unhappy, it's usually because some aspect of 343 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 3: it of some I'm not really following my own advice 344 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 3: from that book. And usually even now when when when 345 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 3: I find myself unhappy, so getting back into the advice, 346 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 3: it always makes me my life better. And again I 347 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 3: see that with other people too, So I think that 348 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 3: that book is the best thing I've ever done. Also, 349 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 3: I mentioned HBO earlier, there was a project I proposed 350 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 3: to them. Then it was called three Am, and it 351 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 3: was a web show on the website. This is in 352 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 3: the mid nineties where I would go out in New 353 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 3: York City at three in the morning on a Wednesday night, 354 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 3: which is sort of an odd night to be out 355 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 3: there in the morning, and I would interview random people. 356 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:20,479 Speaker 3: And I did this for like two and a half years, 357 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 3: and I think that was the funnest I love that 358 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:24,520 Speaker 3: thing I've ever done. 359 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: Wednesday nights in New York City were actually the best 360 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: night because it was the locals night. It wasn't you know, 361 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: nobody coming in from anywhere to go out. It was 362 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,640 Speaker 1: very very fun night. And whenever I head off from 363 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: school on Thursday, Wednesday would be the best night to 364 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: go out. 365 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, if you if you were out on a Wednesday night, 366 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 3: you were up to something and then on a Saturday 367 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,680 Speaker 3: night was out whatever, right, crowded? 368 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 1: Your parents are out on Saturday, you know. 369 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, Like but Wednesday night that was like you're not 370 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,119 Speaker 3: a civilian anymore, Like you're you're you're doing something. 371 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 1: Absolutely Yeah, give us a five year out prediction. It 372 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: could be about the country, the world, music, art, whatever 373 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:04,120 Speaker 1: you want. 374 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 3: Well, you know, I'm very I am very optimistic about AI, 375 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,200 Speaker 3: and I do think what's going to happen is all 376 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 3: of our lives are going to change. Like, let's just 377 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 3: take the most obvious. Medically, every disease is going to 378 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 3: be diagnosable by AI. Wow, within seconds already the AI 379 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 3: is there. But of course there's a lot of regulatory 380 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,920 Speaker 3: hurdles that medical devices have to get through. 381 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 2: But I see it. 382 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 3: Through my own investing, in my own research into AI. 383 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 3: But even furthermore, like AI is changing every job. AI 384 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 3: is going to create a lot more jobs, brand new 385 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 3: industries we can't even think of. Just like when the 386 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 3: Internet was started, nobody could have dreamed of Uber or 387 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:49,360 Speaker 3: companies like that. There's going to be things we can't 388 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 3: even dream of that AI AI is going to supply. 389 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 3: And I'm optimistic also about crypto, not in this kind 390 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 3: of like scammy, you know, make a gazillion dollar buying 391 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:04,919 Speaker 3: this weird crypto, but more like the financial system, like 392 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 3: every industry needs to evolve, and it hasn't really evolved 393 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 3: that much in the past one hundred years. Like you know, 394 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 3: when you put money in a bank, they're just killing 395 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 3: you on transaction fees, and they take your money and 396 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 3: give you almost no interest and they lend it out 397 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 3: at six seven percent interest to people want to buy houses, 398 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 3: Like why are banks in the way of everything we 399 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 3: would want to do with our money. Crypto sort of 400 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:31,640 Speaker 3: removes these intermediaries and gives people more power over their 401 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 3: own money. And I think I think that's going to 402 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 3: be very revolutionary in ways that we haven't we haven't 403 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 3: truly discovered yet. So the combinations of AI, crypto, biotech, 404 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 3: this is going to change life as we know it 405 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,199 Speaker 3: in a good way. And I would encourage people to 406 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 3: embrace that because like, don't fear it. Yes, there's gonna 407 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 3: be scary things, just like the Internet has some scary things, 408 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 3: just like nuclear energy has scary things. Just like there 409 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 3: are a million car accidents a year, so cars aren't 410 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,160 Speaker 3: always great, but ultimately these are all positive forces. 411 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 1: I love it. I love your optimism. I really don't 412 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,120 Speaker 1: feel like I hear enough optimism about AI. I'm kind 413 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,159 Speaker 1: of neutral on it. I like wait and see, you know, 414 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: but I hear so much doom that it's very rare 415 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: for me to hear a very very positive perspective like yours. 416 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,159 Speaker 3: Some things AI is not going to be able to do, so, 417 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 3: I mean, people think AA is gonna be able to 418 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 3: do everything. But you know, AI is just a gigantic 419 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:33,120 Speaker 3: way of doing very sophisticated data analysis. And we've never 420 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 3: had this before, and we've never had this kind of 421 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 3: apple to the in front of us. 422 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 2: Yet. 423 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 3: It's very exciting because there is a lot of data 424 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 3: out there, like, for instance, data about medical diseases, data 425 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 3: about you know, I don't know any kind of analysis, 426 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 3: any kind of analysis. 427 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 2: That you would want to do. AI is going to 428 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 2: be a great tool to do that. 429 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: I love it. I can't wait to see where this goes. James. 430 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: I have been a fan of yours for so long. 431 00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,919 Speaker 1: I have loved this conversation. I just I find you 432 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: so super interesting. I can keep this going forever. Leave 433 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,639 Speaker 1: us here with your best tip for my listeners on 434 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: how they can improve their. 435 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 2: Lives every day. 436 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 3: Take a small little book. Okay, it could be a 437 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,679 Speaker 3: small little notepad. There's my small little notepad fits in 438 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 3: your pocket. Go and have a cup of coffee and 439 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 3: write down ten ideas. And the point ten has to 440 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 3: be ten tens a lot. It is a lot. And 441 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,720 Speaker 3: the thing is they could be ten bad ideas. The 442 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 3: whole idea is that creativity is a muscle, and like 443 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 3: any muscle, if you don't exercise it, it atrophies, and 444 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 3: the atrophies very quickly, like any muscle. And so write 445 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 3: ten bad ideas a day down by the way around idea. 446 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 3: The reason is in ten is important is around seven. 447 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 3: It just happens to me every day. I always think 448 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,199 Speaker 3: I'm done and I count and it's just seven, and 449 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:54,120 Speaker 3: it's the final three. 450 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 2: It's where you start sweating the hardest ones. Yeah. 451 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 3: Yeah, you could feel your brain sweating. And so you know, 452 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 3: maybe it's ten ideas for chapters in a book you'd write, 453 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 3: or ten ideas for books you'd want to write, or 454 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 3: maybe I write down ten ideas for the Carol Markwick Show, 455 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 3: or ten ideas of Amazon how Amazon can improve just 456 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 3: could be about anything, and it's the whole idea is though, 457 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 3: it just exercises that creativity muscle again. You can quite 458 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 3: write just nothing but bad ideas. It doesn't matter. It's 459 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 3: just about exercising that muscle. 460 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,199 Speaker 1: I love that. I'm going to try it. I'm going 461 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: to let you know how it goes. I don't know. 462 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: Ten might be hard, but I feel like I'm gonna 463 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: give this my best shot. He is James L. Tucher. 464 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: Thank you so much James for coming on check out 465 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: his James L. Toucher Show. 466 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you, Carol