Welcome to my Meet The Entrepreneur Interview Series, where I interview impactful leaders and ask them to share tips and techniques that have benefited them, both in their personal and professional lives.
This exclusive interview is with masterful entrepreneur Ryan Breslow, Co-Founder & Chairman of Bolt, Co-Founder & CEO of Love, and Co-Founder of Eco. What Ryan is accomplishing is simply remarkable, and I had the absolute honor to interview him and ask him directly what habits, strategies, and tactics are helping him. Enjoy!
As someone who is heavily involved with several high-profile startups, how do you manage your day-to-day? Literally, what app do you use as your to-do list?
I quite literally use the Notes app on my phone. I found it to be the simplest and easiest-to-use app for a task tracker. I used to be an Asana power user. Then I flipped to the complete opposite end of the spectrum.
I love how you prioritize exercise like dancing into your daily routine and make sure to move your body constantly. Do you use a standing desk at work? If so, do you utilize it all throughout the day?
I have both a standing desk and a sitting. I try to use the seated desk for only 1-2 hours per day and then stand for the remainder. Oftentimes I’m walking and working through my emails, TODO list, or knocking down calls.
Conscious culture is all about providing impact. What does your daily work routine look like to amplify that?
I want to spend the least amount of time necessary on any given item to achieve its outcome. I don’t just stick to 30 min meetings. Oftentimes they’re only 5-10 minutes. On the contrary, on a 30 min call, I go over by a whole hour because we’re discussing something that needs to be discussed, knowing that if finality isn’t reached then material progress will be missed.
Some people have this notion that people who meditate are always chill, but we both know that Samurais, athletes, and entrepreneurs practice meditation also to be able to execute and operate in intensive situations. How do you know when to “play with gears”? Are you always on the hunt? Or do you find a certain balance?
I practice krav maga, and anyone who studies martial arts knows that you have to be calm in-between strikes. And even during strikes when possible! The same applies to business. Calm is the name of the game.
What books have impacted you the most?
Spiritual books that no one has ever heard of: on Buddhism, Kabbalah, Hinduism, and Taoism.
What communication channels do you find more effective, email or text?
Text because I like short to-the-point messages and on email, people tend to be long and drawn out. That being said, email is good when you need to get a lot of information concisely written down somewhere as a store of record.
How do you scale yourself?
I hire people who are exceptional whereby I don’t have to constantly be looking over their shoulder. I’m always trying to hire better people. I’ve also made the mistake of over-hiring or over-indexing on pedigree. Recently I’ve become quite in tune with hiring people for effectiveness, and only for roles that are critical.
Which personas inspire you?
Bezos for execution, Jobs for vision, and Musk for being a genius.
What are some of your favorite productivity tools, software, and hacks?
See my thread: https://twitter.com/
What do you think is the future of media?
Twitter.
