Founder Stories with Ryan Holiday by Product Hunt

This week in Product Hunt I, Erik Torenberg, chatted with Ryan Holiday. Ryan is an author of three books, including Growth Hacker Marketing, and he’s an Editor at Large at the New York Observer. He dropped out of college at 19 to become director of marketing of American Apparel, and has since advised writer and artist clients such as Robert Greene, Tucker Max, and Tim Ferris and many more.

In this chat, we discuss Ryan’s writing process, both for books and articles, and advice for aspiring writers. We also discuss the media space — Buzzfeed, Vice, the NYT — and the misaligned incentives in journalism today, as elaborated upon in his first book, Trust me I’m Lying.

And then we discuss life stuff: why he lives in the south, why he loves the Stoics, why he dropped out of college, why he reads so much, and whats’ next for him in his career.

He’s a fascinating guy, and we have a great chat.

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And this is the part of where fancy music intro comes in...but i don’t yet have a fancy music intro. Ryan Hoover has really fantastic intro and i’ma get my own i just haven’t, you know, gotten around to it yet and i’m…intimidated...because Ryan’s intro music is just impeccable. Not a day goes by without someone tweeting “LOVE THE INTRO MUSIC”...and here i am just…STEWING...listening to a ton of songs thinking “that could be MY intro music”.

Guys - If any of you have any recommendations for intro music let me know, because right now the intro music is just me whining. If a whine and a whimper and an awkward ramble could be combined that would describe my intro music.

but WORK with me here. I’m getting great guests. The fancy music gonna come. Oh and also there’s a few drop outs but work with me there too. Aw c’mon - this isn’t Ira Glass people! This is a man recording podcasts over Skype in a Hostel and in the process waking up complaining Chilean men in boxers with ear plugs who demand i record in the dingy garage.

I’m going to get a good mic, good internet, and an editor. It’s a process.

But yeah like I was saying, this is a good episode. Let me know what you think and who you want to hear from next. Enjoy.