Unthinkable with Jay Acunzo

Latest Episodes:

Slingshot: Writing Without Bullshit [Creativity Series #27] Dec 05, 2016

Show notes

Josh Bernoff writes a blog about writing, putting him among a TON of others that could be completely the same. So he uses a hook in order to stand out. In this short story about Josh's side project, we dive into how that hook has built him a successful career as a solo entrepreneur and author.

(Slingshots are short stories about a creative side project that led somewhere surprising or unexpected. They run every other week as part of Unthinkable.)

Join the journey to figure out what it takes to trust your intutiion: unthinkable.fm

LINKS TO KNOW:

Josh on Twitter: twitter.com/jbernoff

Josh's writing: withoutbullshit.com

Jay's Twitter (best way to chat and offer feedback): twitter.com/jayacunzo

Jay's Snapchat (go behind-the-scenes making the show): snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Business Writing

Books

Forrester Research

Blogging

Donald Trump

Creativity

Careers

Intuition

Best Practices [Creativity Series #26] Nov 28, 2016

Show notes

Join our Unthinkable journey -- each week, a new hypothesis for what it takes to trust your intuition and suceed. Subscribe at unthinkable.fm or text TRUST to 444999.

TODAY:

If you want to break from convention and follow your intuition, where does that leave all those best practices out there? It's so easy to follow a list or do what someone else says works. But what if best practices aren't even the best?

Go outside the echo chamber with the story of a football coach bucking the trend and finding success -- and hear why his peers STILL think he's crazy, despite mountains of data from Harvard PhDs saying otherwise.

Then, hear the story of Mike Brown and Death Wish Coffee -- and hear about the cardinal sin he committed early on that actually wound up HELPING his brand grow.

LINKS TO KNOW:

Andrew Littlefield: http://twitter.com/fsuandrew

Mike Brown: https://twitter.com/mikebrowndwc

Death Wish Coffee: https://www.deathwishcoffee.com/

Say hi to Jay on Twitter: twitter.com/jayacunzo

Or go behind-the-scenes with making the show on Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

College Football

Best Practices

Marketing

Coffee

Super Bowl

TV Advertising

Ecommerce

Craft

Creativity

Intuition

Slingshot: Beer2B [Creativity Series #25] Nov 21, 2016

Show notes

Juliana Casale's story is not unlike most of ours, because Juliana Casale is not unlike us -- trying hard to use her creative craft to elevate her career. But unlike many of us, Juliana recognizes something about her side project that has launched her career in B2B marketing forward.

In this episode, she shares the story of how it all started in the most unlikely of places.

(Slingshots are short stories about a creative side project that led somewhere surprising or unexpected. They run every other week as part of Unthinkable.)

Join the journey to figure out what it takes to trust your intutiion: http://unthinkable.fm

LINKS TO KNOW:

Juliana on Twitter: http://twitter.com/attackofthetext

Jay's Twitter (best way to chat and offer feedback): http://twitter.com/jayacunzo

Jay's Snapchat (go behind-the-scenes making the show): http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

B2B Marketing

American Craft Beer

Label Design

Side Projects

Creativity

Careers

Intuition

Think Smaller [Creativity Series #24] Nov 13, 2016

Show notes

Subscribe at http://unthinkable.fm to get our weekly hypothesis answering one question, explored through story: What does it take to trust your intuition?

TODAY:

We assume creativity has to be big. We need to tackle broad, sweeping ideals, produce massive, industry-leading projects, and find deep, life-affirming meaning in our work.

But what if to get all that, we need to think smaller?

Today, we go outside our echo chamber with James Miller, creator of the project A Small Fiction. Then, we hear the story of Larry Smith and the Six Word Memoir project.

LINKS TO KNOW:

A Small Fiction on Twitter: http://twitter.com/asmallfiction

The tweet discussed: https://twitter.com/ASmallFiction/status/659251935199891456

Larry Smith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/larrysmith

Six Word Memoir Project: http://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/

Say hi to Jay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jayacunzo

Or go behind-the-scenes with making the show on Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Twitter

Fiction

Writing

Creativity

Books

User-Generated Content

Content Marketing

Social Media Marketing

Magazines

Publishing

Craft

Side Projects

Intuition

Slingshot: 20 Minutes to Do the Impossible [Creativity Series #23] Nov 07, 2016

Show notes

Harry Stebbings managed to break into venture capital -- one of the most difficult industries to work in -- at the age of just 20. And he did so with a side project that took a strong stance on industry norms: The Twenty-Minute VC.

In this episode, he recounts the early days of coming up with his idea, longing to work with millionaires who would hardly give him the time of day, and the moment when everything changed.

(Slingshots are short stories about a creative side project that led somewhere surprising or unexpected. They run every other week as part of Unthinkable.)

LINKS TO KNOW:

Harry's side project: http://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/

Harry on Twitter: http://twitter.com/harrystebbings

Jay's Twitter (best way to chat and offer feedback): http://twitter.com/jayacunzo

Jay's Snapchat (go behind-the-scenes making the show): http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Venture Capital

Tech Startups

Investing

Brad Feld

Mark Suster

Tim Draper

Social Network

Mark Zuckerberg

Podcasting

Side Projects

Creativity

Craft

Career Growth

Jumping the Shark [Creativity Series #22] Oct 30, 2016

Show notes

Subscribe at http://unthinkable.fm to get a quick note from Jay every Monday morning about trusting your intuition.

TODAY:

Why do some people seem totally fine using tactics that make us nauseous? If we're going to trust our intuition, then often times, that means rejecting some of the gimmicks and hacks and cheats that others don't seem to mind using.

Why the gap in thinking? How can we make sense of that? And how does it change our behavior?

Today, we go outside our echo chamber with Emily Hirshey, a writer on Ashton Kutcher's Netflix show, The Ranch. Then we hear the story of two veteran content marketers who completely rejected one of the most common -- if gimmicky -- B2B marketing tactics.

LINKS TO KNOW:

Emily Hirshey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilyhirshey

The Ranch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80077977

Dave Gerhardt Twitter: http://twitter.com/davegerhardt

Erik Devaney Twitter: http://twitter.com/bardofboston

Drift home page: http://drift.com

What did you think of this episode? Say hi to me (Jay) on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jayacunzo

Or go behind-the-scenes with making it each week on Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Television

Happy Days

Creativity

Craft

Art

Growth Hacking

Marketing

Content

Lead Generation

Demand Generation

Scripting

Intuition

SaaS

B2B

Software

Slingshot: The Odyssey of Writing a Book [Creativity Series #21] Oct 24, 2016

Show notes

GET THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION from this episode -- subscribe at http://unthinkable.fm before October 30, 2016.

TODAY:

Jonathan Fields has written several books, hosts a top podcast, and speaks all over the world. By most measures, he's "made it." But his latest book, How to Live a Good Life, caused him to question everything he knew about writing.

In this episode, he recounts the odyssey of writing the book and shares what he learned studying the most successful authors in business. He also geeks out about the most exciting part of reading great writing -- and the weird reaction we all seem to share when we encounter it.

(Slingshots are short stories about a creative side project that led somewhere surprising or unexpected. They run every other week as part of Unthinkable.)

LINKS TO KNOW:

Jonathan's new book is available here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Live-Good-Life-Surprising/dp/1401948413

Jonathan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonathanfields

Jonathan's podcast: http://www.goodlifeproject.com/radio/

Jay's Twitter (best way to chat and offer feedback): http://twitter.com/jayacunzo

Jay's Snapchat (go behind-the-scenes making the show): http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Writing

Books

Reading

Authors

Novels

Creativity

Intuition

Craft

Side Projects

Podcasts

In on the Secret [Creativity Series #20] Oct 17, 2016

Show notes

Subscribe at unthinkable.fm to get a quick note from Jay every Monday morning about trusting your intuition.

TODAY:

If you're going to reject conventional thinking and instead trust your intuition, you'll find yourself sharing tons of ideas with others. But this can feel scary, like our ideas are secrets we'd prefer to keep inside. And when someone shoots them down, we assume they just don't "get it."

But what if the point of sharing our ideas is NOT to get the approval of others?

Today, we go outside our echo chamber with Unthinkable contributor Andrew Littlefield to hear the story of an unusual art project in Brooklyn. Then, we talk to internet legend and creator of PostSecret.com, Frank Warren, to hear the story of his epic project.

LINKS TO KNOW:

Andrew Littlefield: twitter.com/FSUAndrew

Oliver Warden: twitter.com/robotbigfoot

Frank Warren: twitter.com/postsecret

What did you think of this episode? Say hi to me (Jay) on Twitter: twitter.com/jayacunzo

Or go behind-the-scenes with making it each week on Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Creativity

Art

Performance

Craft

Intuition

Business

Marriage

Love

Theater

Side Projects

Slingshot: Magic Markers [Creativity Series #19] Oct 10, 2016

Show notes

SUBSCRIBE at unthinkable.fm to get a quick note every Monday morning containing new episodes, exclusive bonus content, and new experiments to join.

TODAY:

Deb Aoki is like many of us craft-driven creators. She aspires to do great work, but she's held more than a few jobs that treat her like a voiceless, last-in-line asset machine. They decide the strategy and lead the meetings. She inserts copy and creative where they see fit.

Ugh.

But Deb Aoki is no ordinary member of the team. She has a quiet superpower that gives her a massive voice in the room ... all without needing to say a single word.

(Slingshots are short stories about a creative side project that led somewhere surprising or unexpected. They run every other week as part of Unthinkable.)

LINKS TO KNOW:

Deb Aoki's site (comics, sketches, etc.) http://mangacomicsmanga.com/

Deb's Twitter: https://twitter.com/debaoki

Jay's Twitter: twitter.com/jayacunzo

Jay's Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Drawing

Cartoons

Comics

eBay

Meetings

Executives

Graphic Novels

Graphic Recording

Creativity

Intuition

Craft

Art of the Unfinished [Creativity Series #18] Oct 03, 2016

Show notes

FOR EXCLUSIVE BONUS CONTENT: Subscribe at http://unthinkable.fm to get a quick note from Jay every Monday morning.

TODAY:

Your creative intuition is a powerful guide. So why does it occasionally seem like you're wandering in circles, unable to move past a single piece of a project? It just doesn't feel like you can get it RIGHT, so you keep agonizing over that part of the work.

Today, we learn about the Art of the Unfinished. We assume that, to ship something successful, we need to share only the good stuff, the completed stuff. But new Unthinkable contributor Cara Hogan joins us to share a story that refutes that -- the story of the George Washington painting on the US dollar bill.

Then, we hear from two product managers, Adam Sigel and Karen Rubin, about how they involve others in their process. If your default setting is to believe your ideas are wrong, how do you keep shipping your work? We'll find out from them.

LINKS TO KNOW:

Professor Patricia Hills: http://www.bu.edu/ah/profile/patricia-hills/

Cara Hogan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaraHogan27

Adam Sigel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamsigel

Karen Rubin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenrubin

What did you think of this episode? Say hi to me (Jay) on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jayacunzo

or go behind-the-scenes with making it each week on Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/jayacunzo

SUPPORT FOR THIS EPISODE:

RightSideShirts.org - empowering kids to be more creative and helping art programs in need.

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

Creativity

Craft