Episode 045 Nick Ganju

Summary

• Nick Ganju grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago with two doctor parents
• He majored in computer science and graduated in 1998
• He moved to California in 1999 to join the dotcom boom
• He cofounded ZocDoc, a website where people can search for doctors, read reviews, see photos, and book appointments online
• ZocDoc currently has 500600 employees and 6 million monthly users
• Tim Ferriss and Nick met in 2000 when Tim was looking for an apartment
• Nick was the Bay Area billiards champion
• Nick has a variety of skills, including table tennis and music
• Nick has an interest in computer science and math, which he developed at a young age by programming on his Apple IIc
• Nick Ganju's interest in computer science began when he tried to recreate the game from WarGames in fourth grade.
• He then wrote games on a programmable calculator in high school, hoping to win the attention of the cheerleaders.
• His guidance counselor recommended he pursue a degree in computer science, which he did at the University of Illinois.
• He believes the best computer science schools are diligent about keeping their curriculum up to date.
• Math and computer science can be learned at any age, but certain fields of math are becoming increasingly relevant, such as probability and statistics.
• Calculus is diminishing in importance due to computers being able to more closely mirror reality.
• Humans are bad at understanding probabilities, such as the birthday paradox.
• SMART goals are a framework to help set objectives that can be objectively hit or missed.
• Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely are the five components of SMART goals.
• Poker is a great example of a combination of math and emotional intelligence.
• Jordan Ellenberg's book How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking is a great resource for those intimidated by math.
• Nick Ganju suggests setting measurable goals and writing them down to help with psychological motivation.
• Setting quantifiable, objectively measurable goals is important for success
• Business cases are used to understand the math behind achieving a goal
• Goals are set quarterly and checked in on weekly
• Assumptions are made and modified as needed
• Excel is used to track progress and update projections with actuals
• Research and forethought are necessary to increase the probability of success
• Nick Ganju recommends the book Don't Make Me Think for software engineers to help create userfriendly interfaces.
• He also recommends How to Measure Anything, which is about being outcomebased and setting measurable goals.
• Nick suggests starting with basic Excel to learn the fundamentals before delving into more complex tasks like macros and pivot tables.
• He also recommends Michel Thomas for language learning, who takes the responsibility of teaching onto himself.
• Nick Ganju recommends the book "Measuring the Unmeasurable" which is about how to measure intangible things.
• He also talks about the importance of doing enough forethought and reflection before taking action.
• Nick's favorite movie is Forrest Gump, which he finds to be a good lesson in not taking life too seriously.
• Nick learned to play PingPong at 36 and proclaimed he would beat everyone in the company in 30 days.
• He took lessons and practiced, eventually beating everyone in 60 days.
• Nick's success with PingPong is reflective of his success with ZocDoc, where he reverse engineered antiquated software to make it work.
• Nick Ganju shares his experience of taking PingPong lessons and how he was able to spend less than his friend who bought drinks at the bar.
• He explains the importance of the proper grip and spin when playing PingPong.
• Nick does not have any morning or evening rituals, but he does read a lot and tries to rid himself of cognitive biases.
• Cognitive biases are irrational evaluations of things that humans have due to evolutionary reasons.
• Examples of cognitive biases include loss aversion and sunk cost fallacy.
• Nick Ganju and Tim Ferriss discuss cognitive biases and how to use them to one's advantage.
• They discuss Bill Gates and his success, and how he has gone on to do philanthropic work.
• They discuss the importance of negotiating and books on the subject.
• Nick Ganju suggests the guitar as the best gateway drug for people to learn music.
• He recommends listening to the Beatles, specifically "Across the Universe," "Something" by George Harrison, and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "I Am the Walrus."
• Learning guitar is relatively easy and can be done in a few weeks
• The Axis of Awesome demonstrate how to play almost every pop song with three or four chords
• Chord progression "one, five, six, four" is a useful tool
• Taking entrepreneurial risks in your twenties is beneficial, even if they don't succeed
• To choose a first or next gig, identify a market need and try to solve it
• Nick Ganju can be found on the ZocDoc "About Us" page and on LinkedIn