Get good at something. Everything else is BS

Welcome to?The?Art?of?The?Impossible, a weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces?of?content which I hope will both inspire?and?embolden you.

PODCAST

This week’s pod is a replay from Season 12 to mark mental health awareness month. As founders, I don’t think we talk about the mental health side things enough.

Sean Dadashi is co-founder of Rosebud. Born to Iranian parents who emigrated to the US after the revolution in 1979, Sean grew up in Los Angeles and was on a path of studying mechanical engineering before he switched courses after a year to study Cognitive Science with a minor in Computer Science.

He then became a CTO before starting his own company - Somatic Studios in 2016 – where he used his passion for both tech and wellbeing to experiment with ideas including a web app that provided a health and wellness index for over 160 cities across 6 continents.

The studio also developed VR experiences to teach pain management patients mindfulness and somatic therapy techniques. After Somatic, Sean then joined up with Chrys Bader, who you may have heard of because he previously co-founded several startups including Treehouse and Secret. Together, Sean and Chris have created Rosebud – the number one AI-powered journal for mental health and personal growth and a product I highly recommend. Try it yourself for FREE here.

In this conversation, Sean and I discuss the loneliness epidemic, the importance of good mental health, his passion for helping others, and how he has always leaned towards the marriage of?psychology and the human mind with technology and his passion for creating things, which ultimately led to Rosebud.

I really enjoyed this discussion and think you will too.

I also thought this Barret Brooks podcast episode with Julia DeWahl was great too - she is currently the Co-Founder & President of Antares, working to bring rapidly deployable microreactors across the globe. Also, an angel investor and previously worked on Starlink at SpaceX.

QUOTE

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

- Aristotle

INTERVIEW

Judy Estrin is one of my heroines - a prolific entrepreneur and innovator, more people should know about her. That’s why I am over the moon that The Computer History Museum sat down with her for many hours to document her incredible story - watch here: Part 1, 2 and 3.

From CHM: In part 1, networking pioneer and entrepreneur Judy Estrin discusses her youth, education, and early career. She begins by reviewing the stories of her parents, early computing contributors Drs. Thelma and Gerard Estrin. Judy Estrin was born in Israel when her parents were creating WEIZAC, the first electronic digital computer there.

Her family then moved to Los Angeles, where her parents became faculty at UCLA. Estrin recollects growing up on the UCLA campus, the character of her parents and household, and her exposure to computing. She reviews her undergraduate studies at UCLA, and her decision to pursue a master’s at Stanford in computing in the group of her father’s former student, Vint Cerf. At Stanford, Estrin describes her involvement with networking technology, particularly the Transfer Control Protocol, TCP, within Cerf’s group.

She discusses her decision to join Zilog, and its efforts in Ethernet and local area networking, as well as the connections between Zilog and Xerox PARC. Estrin reviews her activities at Zilog, the development of its networking efforts, and the trajectory of the firm overall.

She discusses her early association with Bill Carrico at Zilog, who would become her professional and personal partner. Estrin details the spin-off of the networking company Ungermann-Bass from Zilog, and her subsequent brief tenure with the firm. She discusses her path to the formation of the networking start-up Bridge Communications with Carrico, and the general context for networking technology at the time. The interview concludes with Estrin’s discussion of the early organization, technology, strategy, and customers for Bridge.

You can also read my interview with Judy (from Female Innovators at Work) - free friend link here.

BOOK

Harold Cohen Catalogue

Harold Cohen (1 May 1928 – 27 April 2016) was a British-born artist who was noted as the creator of AARON, a computer program designed to produce paintings and drawings autonomously. His work in the intersection of computer artificial intelligence and painting lead to exhibitions at many top museums including Tate and SFMOMA.

Having graduated from Slade School of Fine Art, Cohen's first solo exhibition was held at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in 1951. Further solo shows followed, including at Whitechapel Gallery in 1965. Cohen represented the UK at the 1966 Venice Biennale, Documenta III, the Paris Biennale, and the Carnegie International.

Cohen relocated to the United States as a visiting lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, in 1968.? Cohen remained at UC San Diego (UCSD) for almost three decades, as professor, chairman of the Visual Arts Department and eventually in 1992, director of the Centre for Research in Computing and the Arts. During this time Cohen began work on AARON, a venture to which he would devote the next five decades, instigating new areas of study and pioneering generative art.

After his retirement from UCSD, he continued to work on AARON and produce new artwork in his studio in Encinitas, California. In 2014, Cohen received the ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art.

Buy the book here.

WATCH

It’s that time of year again! I am a big fan of watching these commencement addresses and every time I watch one, I wonder why we don’t do this in the UK.

This one is from Jerry Seinfeld at Duke’s - award-winning comedian, actor, producer and author who gives 3 keys to life - including find your fascination vs passion.

Also, worth reading this GQ interview with Jerry. “Get good at something. That’s it. Everything else is bullshit.”

Enjoy!

Thank you for reading?the?newsletter?and?for listening to?the?podcast, and?if you enjoy them, please do share with your network - my goal is to have these stories reach as many as possible so that others can be inspired too. And if you have two minutes, please do leave a review for the podcast - it would mean the world to me and helps others to find it too.

Danielle