It’s the end of Season 1 for Jake & JZ! In this mini episode, we announce that we’re taking a break to publish our new book Click and launch some other cool projects.
Shoot, we gave away the content of the episode in the show notes! Still, it’s worth tuning in to hear our conversation about:
If you have ideas or requests for Season 2, please send us an email at hey@jakeandjz.com. We’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for listening and watching, and we’ll see you soon.
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💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
A conversation with a founder inspired this discussion about maintaining freedom of movement while you build new products and companies. It might be the most important startup thing that nobody ever talks about: The need to stay nimble and not give away your advantages by pre-committing to decisions that steal your freedom of movement.
On episode 17 of Jake & JZ, we also talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer it on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
Two days after recording our last episode about AI, DeepSeek R1 was released, prompting some of you to ask us a set of new questions about how AI will affect the future of work, products, startups, and investing.
Jake is off this week, but we invited our cofounder and partner Eli Blee-Goldman back to help JZ answer these questions and — for at least a brief moment — get us caught up on the latest developments in the world of AI.
This week on episode 16 of Jake & JZ, we talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer it on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
Our latest thoughts on AI! At Character Capital, most of our investments are in AI companies. How will recent advancements change how products are designed and startups are built? Our cofounder Eli Blee-Goldman returns to the podcast to share predictions and highlight the importance of human agency in an AGI future.
Quick note: This episode was recorded right before DeepSeek R1 came out. We have thoughts, of course 🤓 We’ll record a follow-up soon!
On episode 15 of Jake & JZ, we talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer it on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
10 years ago, we learned how caffeine really works, and it changed how we use, consume, and enjoy coffee. Tune in for a Jake & JZ deep dive on caffeine — from working with Blue Bottle, to our current coffee routines, to insights and tactics for making the most of this wonderful substance.
On episode 14 of Jake & JZ, we talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer it on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
We wrote a new book!!! It’s called Click and it’s all about the Foundation Sprint, our new 2-day method for kicking off big projects!
We are SUPER excited to share it with you all, and this week’s episode is a deep dive into the process of writing the book and how it fits into our investing strategy.
Learn more about the book at theclickbook.com
On episode 13 of Jake & JZ, we talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
ANNOUNCEMENT: We are hosting a live online event to introduce the Foundation Sprint!! Join us for an early look at our new sprint method and a cool surprise!
On the podcast: Character Labs is BACK, so this week we’re sharing a What-Why-How-style deep dive on the program. If you want to hear our best ideas and tactics for starting new projects, OR if you’re just curious about Character Labs, be sure to check out this episode.
On episode 12 of Jake & JZ, we also talked about:
Here’s that registration link for the event next week.
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
We discuss three essential books that help us break through uncertainty and focus on the most important work. If you want to get better at designing products and building companies, we think you should read:
On episode 11 of Jake & JZ, we also talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer it on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
Jake gets a bit vulnerable and talks about Perfection Anxiety, which he’s struggled with since childhood. If you ever feel stuck, or worry your work won’t be good enough, be sure to check out this episode — we share a BUNCH of concrete tactics for overcoming Perfection Anxiety and getting started.
On episode 10 of Jake & JZ, we also talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer it on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
This episode is about our SINGLE BEST technique for avoiding distraction every day. In part two of our mini series on Make Time, Jake describes the Distraction-Free iPhone — which he started doing 10 years ago!! If you’re looking for a simple, powerful way to block distraction (ESPECIALLY after episode 8’s discussion of the Highlight Method), be sure to tune in.
On episode 9 of Jake & JZ, we also talked about:
Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com and we’ll answer it on the show.
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
How do you make time for what matters? In this episode, we share a simple habit called The Highlight Method, inspired by the Design Sprint, that we both use to focus our efforts on the most important activities every day. Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com.
This week on episode 8 of Jake & JZ, we talked about:
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund at Character Capital
This might be our most tactical episode ever. If you’re starting something new, check it out! Not to brag, but it’s FULL of proven tactics for making big decisions about new projects.
This week we also answered our very first audience question. Thanks 1sam1216! Have a question for us? Send it to hey@jakeandjz.com.
On episode 7 of Jake & JZ, we talked about:
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund Character Capital
Chapters
0:00 Jake finally reads Anna Karenina
8:10 We visited Google again and gave a talk at YouTube!
11:00 Presenting the Foundation Sprint for the first time
14:00 Helping a founder build something new from day 0 in healthcare
18:05 Should he go direct to patients?
19:30 Design Sprints give you a chance to try something risky and non-consensus
20:35 A lot people told us not to write a book, so we prototyped it
22:10 Prototypes aren’t just for customers; they give founders a chance to see their idea live!
24:30 Our first audience questions!
25:20 Audience question: Do you have a method for naming companies?
26:05 History of the Name Sprint from Google Ventures
28:50 Walkthrough of our Name Sprint for Character Capital
29:45 Step 1: Note-and-Vote on themes of potential names
34:30 Step 2: Note-and-Vote on actual names (as many as possible)
36:40 Jake did not vote for Character
37:45 Step 3: Multiple rounds of voting to narrow down the set of names
38:35 Step 4: Plotting names on 2x2 charts to evaluate brand fit
39:20 We chose Character even though it didn’t fit our abstract brand values
41:05 Step 5: Vetting final names with the pub test (aka the shaky cell signal test)
42:30 Step 6: Final checks (web test, domain, trademark)
44:30 Empty vessel names
47:00 Collecting aspirational domain names (including jakeandjz.com!)
49:55 JZ’s Wisconsin accent
50:30 Lantern Ventures: a free brand for any VCs who love camping
51:30 We chose Character Capital because we had conviction, not consensus
52:45 A special thank you to Laura Melahn
53:30 Jake recommends Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (the book, not the movie)
56:00 JZ recommends NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts
57:15 NPR Tiny Desk is the new MTV Unplugged
A special chance to meet Eli, the third founder of Character, and learn about the inner workings of venture capital. This week on episode 6 of Jake & JZ we talked about:
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund Character Capital
Chapters
0:00 Jake got to ride in the very first Waymo
3:35 Jake & JZ’s impressions of Waymo in San Francisco
7:55 Welcoming our cofounder Eli Blee-Goldman to the show!
8:15 Jake’s rollercoaster of emotion meeting Eli
10:35 Eli’s winding path to VC (it led through Botswana!)
13:35 How Eli developed his famously good intuition
15:40 How Eli got his first job in VC
20:20 Showing up and putting in the work
21:50 A fine Eli-ism: The Conviction Punch!
26:05 The mismatch between founders and VCs
30:40 Why Eli got excited about Phaidra
34:00 Wait, what does Phaidra do, anyway?
36:15 Why we use blinded scorecards to make investment decisions
39:30 How Design Sprints make startups more capital efficient
42:15 The role of board members at an early-stage startup
47:40 Why Eli decided to start Character Capital
50:25 The viral MrBeast production memo
52:05 “This is like Sun Tzu, it’s like the Art of War”
52:45 Jake walks through his annotated version of the MrBeast memo
57:05 Start at the end: Choosing the title and thumbnail BEFORE making the video
59:55 Seth Godin: “Marketing is how we create the conditions for people to find what they are looking for”
1:00:50 MrBeast and Lightning Demos
1:03:00 Clickbait headlines and the feeling of success
This week on episode 5, we talked about:
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund Character Capital
Chapters
00:00 Musical nostalgia
03:40 Technology and pop culture
06:08 Speaking at Stanford BioDesign
08:15 Lightning Demos
14:00 Outside inspiration leads to better ideas
17:35 How we used Lightning Demos with Cala Health
21:35 Lightning Demo Demos
23:04 Lightning Demo: Oura Ring
27:47 Lightning Demo: Fathom
32:35 Making a palette of Lightning Demos
35:33 Lightning Demo: Playdate
43:55 Review of today's Lightning Demos
45:12 The viral Mr Beast production memo
47:27 Seth Godin on the Animal Spirits podcast
This week on episode 4, we talked about:
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund Character Capital
Chapters
00:00 A diabolical dialog box
03:54 The importance of throughline
05:45 Where is Jake's sweatshirt?!
07:39 How sweatshirts work
09:13 Teddy Ruxpin
11:24 Building the pitch for Curiosity Labs
17:04 How a side project became YouTube Kids
22:49 A better way to pitch VCs
33:56 How Fathom got to Series A
40:30 How VCs do outbound sales
45:48 How authenticity shows up in products
53:21 Good beans
57:14 An extended self-congratulatory ad for Character and Design Sprints
This week on episode 3 of Jake & JZ, we talked about:
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund Character Capital
Chapters
00:00 Seinfeld and "Moviefone"
05:13 The Wayback Machine
09:09 Wayback: Uber
18:01 Wayback: iPhone
25:42 Wayback: Slack
This week on Jake & JZ, we talked about:
However, we did NOT talk about the election 😉
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund Character Capital
Chapters
00:00 Nintendo zags when the world zigs
04:49 Character Labs
05:34 What-Why-How Framework
09:18 The Importance of a Clear Story
12:28 Examples of the 'What, Why, How' Framework in Action
21:39 Crafting Clear and Compelling Messaging
23:47 More What-Why-How Examples
33:32 Apple Vision Pro vs Meta VR: Marketing
43:47 Lessons from 'Pattern Breakers'
50:47 Challenging the Idea Maze
This week on Jake & JZ, we talked about:
📩 Get an email about every episode at JakeAndJZ.com
💸 Learn more about our seed fund Character Capital
Chapters
00:00 Jake’s Sketchy Business Expense
06:39 Introducing This Podcast
08:10 Character Labs
10:24 Even More About Character Labs
22:11 The First GPU? Maybe?
23:17 In-Person is Special
25:38 Geographic Memory
36:25 Dropbox Buys Reclaim
40:18 How We Invested In Reclaim
42:11 That One Really Long Taylor Swift Song
42:35 Reclaim’s Multiplayer Sprint
43:35 Sort of a Magic Recipe
44:06 JZ Needs a Decent Timer App
49:46 $17 Per Week?!
51:56 Jake Talks About Nintendo For A Long Time
