Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A: Stephen Wolfram Livestreams

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (September 14, 2022) »

1 hour 4 minutes

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What's your rule of thumb for launching a product (for yourself and for others)? Minimum viable product? Quantum of utility? Other? How did you deal with the boring aspects of developing a product (e.g. marketing, sales) when you didn't have people to delegate to? Would the academic environment be a place where a researcher and inventor could pursue their own research, or at least make some profit from developing patents and designs? I am in the US, just about to start a master's, and am considering starting a PhD in materials science. How do you think Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) will evolve as candidates increasingly try to "trick" them by using keywords in their resumes? View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (August 31, 2022) »

1 hour 28 minutes

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Stephen knows and remembers so much! Any hints on memory techniques and how to learn in general, and especially in math and physics as an adult? What do you think of shifts in perspective as a source of discoveries in science? Is there any place for discoveries based on questioning the status quo? Of the smartest people you have had a chance to communicate with, who stands out the most and why? How do you spend money in a wise way? Do you have some heuristics? What technology would you keep away from your children, and for how long? What might be the best investment opportunities over the next 20 years? Someone said if you hear good reviews of your product from other people, then you have succeeded. If you don't hear any feedback from others, that is usually a bad sign. You mentioned investing in ideas. What is your metric for investing in an individual with an idea? For instance, are the Wolfram Winter and Summer Schools places for you to find those people to invest in? Is there any technological innovation that you are anticipating or hoping is coming in the next few years? What was it like handling the business side of things, being a creator? Was it something you liked or just did out of necessity? Was it hard or easy? Did you do it all yourself, get help or just hire someone else more savvy and in the know to do it entirely? What are techniques for developing intuition, in particular when working with really abstract concepts like those found in math, physics or even business? View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (August 17, 2022) »

1 hour 19 minutes

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I am writing a long-form article about James Lovelock, who was unusual in that he was an independent scientist. It struck me that you count as one too, and I wondered if you had ever blogged about the upside or downside of not being part of the scientific establishment? What is the artifact behind you? It looks like something one might use to trap a mouse. Have you ever focused "too much," such that the focus was detrimental to your work? So you are on an island? I have been looking for an isolated island with limited tourists to spend some stress-free time. They are hard to find! Any tips for building a remote software company, and how to maintain company culture when everyone is working from home? From a business point of view, how do you make the jump to working on highly technical projects that have long development times and higher costs? Hypothetically, if one had the opportunity and means to pursue a completely different avenue in life even though it was not one's formal field of study... Thoughts on big life changes? Any interesting discussion of the history of the whaling business? Sorry for a bit of a silly question, but you seem to like to use a light theme as opposed to a dark theme on your computer. Does it have any effect on your eyes in the long run? How much time do you spend each day on your phone? If you had to spend one year without computers, what would you do? I'm still waiting for phones that can do projection on the wall with a keyboard touchscreen with light detectors. Did you learn anything useful during your brief time as a consultant? If you could go back in time with your laptop running Mathematica, who would you show it to? Euler? Bernoulli? Newton? Others? A discussion between Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing would be interesting. You need to write this fiction, even if it's just blogged in chunks. View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (August 3, 2022) »

1 hour 20 minutes

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In science, when is it preferable to self-publish rather than go through academic journals? What place do you see for competitive behavior (especially in respect to the paper/citation system) in science? What do you think would be a good replacement for peer review? Have you ever considered working in finance instead of physics? Many very smart people work for trading companies (such as RenTech/Jane Street) for a couple years. I sometimes think we waste some of our brightest minds on "making money." Could we somehow "shift" the market demand for technology that highly favors intellectual advancement in ideas sufficiently so that these "analytically bright" people are interested in scientific progression? How do you "decide" to direct your behavior when faced with aggression in tense meetings? Is it possible for low-level employees to prove themselves by solving complex problems in an operation despite lacking the typical formal qualifications of education, but nevertheless being promoted? One of the best docs for technical computing comes from Wolfram. Is there any general philosophy in Wolfram on balancing technical and business-oriented documentation that generates leads? What advice would you have for someone who wants to pursue some academic field that's a bit unorthodox—like, say, your kind of physics—as a graduate student? What I've been told is to save that for when you become a tenured professor (if ever). Is there a way to contribute to science without a college degree? Humans were scientists for a long time before there were college degrees (let alone colleges). View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (June 22, 2022) »

1 hour 14 minutes

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Are periodic boom and bust cycles of the economy inevitable, or should we by now be capable of managing national economies better, simultaneously avoiding both recessions and excessive inflation? What modes does Stephen Wolfram have? What are the personality traits of Stephen Wolfram that have made him become an entrepreneur? Have you ever questioned your competence? If you did, what did you do in that situation? What methodology do you use when you have to solve a problem you don't know how to solve but that has to be solved fast? How does Stephen stay organized, in general? And specifically, how does he organize and write his papers and books? Are there specific questions/audits that you routinely run on your business, life or thought process to facilitate innovation? Problem solving with other people requires understanding other people's psychology. How do you go about understanding how to influence others to be efficient at solving problems? Good banter can enhance the conversation. How do you deal with multiple smart people on your teams disagreeing with each other, e.g. team member A proposes doing f() while team member B proposes g()? Did you know Paul Graham between 2002 (NKS) and 2005 (Y Combinator founded)? Was NKS implicitly/explicitly why he ran many different "programs" (startups) to see what happened empirically? It's mind blowing how many of the important points in time of modern innovation Wolfram was in the room for. View Less »

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A:

Business, Innovation and Managing Life (June 8, 2022) »

1 hour 9 minutes

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What is the value system you follow based on? Have you designed your own value and motivational structure? Do you find exercising your personal thoughts on these livestreams can be a therapeutic experience? Have you ever thought about the role of physical exercise or sports as a companion activity to intellectual pursuits? Exercise has been shown to be the only big booster of neuroplasticity besides being of a developmental age. Curious that campuses have so much of it. Strange that as a university professor, you were not that interested in education—your enthusiasm for these livestreams says otherwise... and unflattering things on formal university education! My capacity to brainstorm and associate ideas while walking is much greater. I highly recommend to approach walking like that. Do you enjoy music? Who is your favorite composer/band? Do you listen to music generated by AI? Oh my gosh, I'm loving the image of Stephen at a Taylor Swift concert. Thoughts on your involvement with the movie Arrival? Do you have any advice (time management, prioritizing) for a first-time parent trying to juggle being present in a kid's life, but also having recently started a business? How did you know you wanted to have children? And did they contribute in any way toward your learning in your field/general lifelong learning? How did you manage at-home office hours? Lock the door and set expectations? On the topic of kids, I'm currently eating a box of Cheerios with my two kiddos while watching this. What do you think about the recent remote-work criticism by Elon Musk regarding innovation not working as well in a distributed/remote manner? View Less »

Stephen Wolfram Livestreams

Business, Innovation & Managing Life Q&A (76 videos)