The Great Discontent and The Good Life: Brad Smith
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 June 2015
⏱️ 73 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After years of launching, building and selling technology ventures, Brad Smith was at a crossroads. Starting almost accidentally, he parlayed a self-taught expertise in computers and then design into a series of ventures that kept him busily creating. But when the company that bought his last venture was sold, destroying his ability to run the business the way he wanted, he realized it was time to exit.
He took a wild contrarian leap away from technology and joined the team at The Great Discontent to help take their soulful online magazine and grow it into what is quickly becoming a stunningly beautiful "artisanal" print magazine. Some would view this move as nuts. I mean, print is dead, right?
In this week's episode, we explore his sometimes crazy journey, his entry into entrepreneurship and his journey through various startups, mergers, burnout, pulling the kill switch, self-care, time off, the timing of opportunities, making something extraordinary to help people, and returning to the roots of what inspired you in the first place.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I am so excited about this because I wish I had this in my hand when I was 21 years old. |
| 0:09.8 | Leaving college and not knowing what I was going to do. |
| 0:12.5 | I wanted this in my hand and that's what we're doing. |
| 0:15.3 | We want to build this beautiful inspiration tool. |
| 0:21.5 | Brad Smith has had a whole lot of success in his life, along with a lot of bombs like |
| 0:25.3 | every entrepreneur has had. |
| 0:27.3 | He's existed largely in the online world, coming out of Missouri and then building almost |
| 0:32.5 | inadvertent entrepreneurial ventures into the digital world, then the design world. |
| 0:37.6 | He kept growing new businesses, building them, selling them and moving into different places. |
| 0:43.0 | Until finally he ended up as the executive publisher of the great discontent, which started |
| 0:48.8 | out as this extraordinary website with in-depth features with creative professionals, but made |
| 0:54.9 | a really bold move about a year ago. |
| 0:58.4 | They decided to publish a print magazine when all the world is saying print is dead. |
| 1:04.7 | They're the contrarians and not only publishing a print magazine, but publishing a large |
| 1:09.4 | format, gorgeously photographed, art style magazine with a level of investment and quality |
| 1:17.1 | that you literally see as almost like a coffee table book, but it comes out on a regular |
| 1:21.4 | basis. |
| 1:22.4 | So why would they do this? |
| 1:23.6 | Why would they take such a bold country and move? |
| 1:25.8 | And who is Brad and what's the journey that's informed him that shaped his entrepreneurial |
| 1:30.7 | lens, his design lens, his artistic lens and would make him leave so much of his history |
| 1:36.2 | in the online world to go back and embrace print so boldly, along with his entire team? |
... |
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