Tim Ferriss interview at Commonwealth Club of California January 6, 2011
I joined the Commonwealth Club of California on January 6, 2011. Hours after I joined, I was at their Market Street, San Francisco headquarters watching Tim Ferriss be interviewed by a reporter for Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine. Ferriss is the author of the best selling book The 4-Hour Workweek, which I read last year on the advice of my friend Gleb Budman. I have dismissed books of this genre in the past, but I don’t dismiss this book. There is a lot of wisdom in this book, and I came away from watching the interview thinking even more favorably of Ferriss. Yes, he is an outstanding self-promoter who’s even been voted the most effective self-promoter in the world. Yes, he has done some questionable things I don’t approve of. But he makes a strong case that there is a valid path to success that does not require working round the clock. As far as I can tell, Ferriss works far more than 4 hours per week, and I take the title of his book as being more provocative than literal.
The Commonwealth Club is a public affairs forum, and all speakers volunteer their time to talk at the forum. Thus Ferriss was not paid, although he probably commands a hefty speaking fee in other contexts. Perhaps as a result of the Commonwealth Club’s public mission, there were no requests to shut off cameras or recording devices. In fact, the moderator gave explicit instructions on how to Tweet most effectively about the event so the messages would be discoverable by the Club. As a result of the above, I shot video of the interview with my handheld camera, and part 1 of 3 appears above in this post. The quality is marginal because I can’t hold a camera steady, but the audio is good, and you can still see the action up close despite my less than good camera work. I am not intending to take away from income due Ferriss by posting this here, and if asked by the Club or Ferris or his representatives, I will remove this video immediately. I think that on balance, I help Ferriss by spreading the word to my readership about his work, and it’s in the spirit of helping Ferriss that I post this video here today. I will post parts 2 and 3 over the next week.
Tim Ferriss talks about his latest book, The 4-Hour Body, in this interview. I have not read that book, but I plan to. I flipped through it in the lobby, and it looks worth reading. It’s a large book, probably twice the size of The 4-Hour Workweek. Ferriss is both an entrepreneur and a health advocate, and his passion for both rings true. I got to meet Ferriss at the reception that followed the interview, and he sure makes a great effort to be personable and helpful. He had a swarm of people around him for well over an hour, and I got to meet him toward the end of that time. He was still cheerful and helpful even after what must have been an exhausting several hours for him.
My impression of the Commonwealth Club is great so far, and I look forward to seeing Michael Milken speak later this month.
