JJRR 64 Learning apps, the Loop Approach to management - Happy in Finland - with Ben Hughes

Ben Hughes is a serial entrepreneur and author who, after a couple lackluster ventures, found his home in the startup world as employee #1 of learning app Blinkist.com. Listen to JJRR 64 as Ben shares how after adventures in Australia and Berlin, he ended up back in his hometown of Helsinki, Finland managing remotely Blinkist's content creation team (in Berlin). Recently co-authoring the Loop Approach, Ben shares his thoughts on decentralized organizational management and his practice of meditation. https://www.blinkist.com/ https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/L/bo52824093.html https://www.amazon.com/Search-Inside-Yourself-Unexpected-Achieving/dp/0062116932 https://www.penguinhug.de/ http://handbookofawesome.com/intro/ 05:02s Is Finland the  happiest country on Earth? 07:04s Finland and invention of the suana 09:14s Learning and apps, Blinkist.com, and content curation 11:59s Not a book summary company, offering key insights instead 15:47s Typical Blinkist customers / use cases 18:12s 2 minutes with Seth Godin audio blink from Blinkist 18:49s Joining Blinkist in 2012 as the first full time employee 21:38s Starting out as a management consultant and crashing into a kangaroo 25:17s Quitting the dayjob and moving to Berlin to start businesses with Sebastian Klein 30:40s Pivoting from first business Penguin Hug to wellness blogging 32:55s The genesis of Blinkist in Berlin, while Ben is in Helsinki 38:03s Creating content and tackling scalability in Berlin from Helsinki 45:02s The Loop Approach, Ben and Sebastian's new management book 49:0s Pace of change driving distributed / decentralized management structure 53:49s Broader technology changes / opportunities / challenges 57:30s Staying curious to keep your mind open and honoring the finite time we all have 01:01:38s Opening up a new dimension with meditation and mindfulness "Our purpose is basically just to inspire people to keep learning. We try to give them content that you know fits into this kind of modern, busy lifestyle that we're all leading today." "I think it was confidence bordering on arrogance. I'm smart, you're smart, how could we possibly fail to create a like million dollar business in a matter of months." Enjoy the episode? Share with friends! Subscribe in Apple or Google Podcasts! Thanks to our Sponsor! Reach out for a free consultation. https://www.mgshlachter.com/  Reinventing architectural services.  https://www.jimjimsreinventionrevolution.com/resources