Ed Baker is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive, currently serving as the CEO and Founder of AnyQuestion, an AI powered knowledge sharing platform. Prior to this, he played an instrumental role as the Vice President of Product & Growth at Uber and prior to that he sold a company to Facebook where he joined the team as the Head of International Growth. Ed currently sits on the boards of both WHOOP and Form, and his extensive experience in product management, growth strategies, and consumer technology has made him a sought-after thought leader in the tech industry.
My favorite career failure is with Friendly, the first company I started. We never achieved product market fit and ended up selling to Facebook as a talent acquisition. Despite not being the outcome I was originally looking for, I learned so much in that experience, which has helped me become better equipped to build successful companies. Transcript: "Great question, Mike. I think my favorite career failure would probably be what happened at Friendly, which was the first company I started. Where we never fully achieved product Market fit and as a result ended up selling the company to Facebook, not because the company was successful. But more as what they call a talent acquisition basically a way for Facebook, to acquire our team. And, you know, I guess that's not obviously not a complete. Earlier, but it was not a homerun success, and not the outcome. I was originally looking for when I started the company, but what I have to say is, I learned so much in those next several years at Facebook. And then after that, a tuber working at other successful startups, just kind of seen how to build a company, which there was just, there was so much. I didn't know back when I was starting friendly. So, you know, I still have a lot to learn. Everyone always does. But I feel like I'm in a much better place now, because of what I learned working at those other companies."
To lose weight without working out, focus on higher fat and protein foods that make you feel satisfied for a few hours, such as coconut oil. Stay away from sugary or processed foods that will spike your insulin levels and make you hungry soon after. Transcript: "Hey Jasmine, I don't actually know the answer this question since the way I like to maintain my weight is just by working out and eating a lot, but I could ask, Greg Bennett over here. He might have some better ideas. How do you lose weight without working out? Could you tell me that answer right now? Because I'm not working out that much. So, you know, I'm trying to lose weight to but it is like it just said it's calories in calories out. I think looking at foods that Are going to be a bit more make you feel satisfied. So generally, higher fat, higher protein is going to help. Stay away from the bagel that I just ate because that's going to just spike your insulin and make you hungry or again in an hour or two. So try and find foods that are going to just make you feel good for a few hours, some of your oils coconut oils. And that kind of thing will really help out. Cheers."
The biggest difference between a start-up from scratch and bigger companies like Facebook or Uber is that when starting from scratch you have to find product Market fit, whereas at bigger companies they already have it. Also, teams are usually smaller and more diverse at start-ups, whereas at bigger companies the teams are larger and more specialized. Finally, at start-ups, more drastic changes are often needed to find product Market fit, whereas bigger companies will typically only make small product tweaks. Transcript: "I'd say the biggest difference is that when you're doing a start-up from scratch, you have to go from zero to one. So, you're basically trying to find product Market fit iterating on the product. You're not likely going to have product Market fit on day one. So you gotta just keep trying and tweaking things and iterating on things until you really get a product that works. And then you can focus on growing the product. Whereas, when I was at companies like Facebook and Uber, they had already found that product Market. It. So then it was just all about growth and going from one to millions or billions in Facebook's case. Not just 0 to 1. So there are a lot of a lot of things that are different about those two stages. The finding product Market fit stage in the growth stage, which I can go into detail answering other questions, but just to throw it a couple one is the team. So at an early stage startup, you're usually on a very small. Small team, where everyone is wearing, lots of hats. Where is it? A bigger company? You usually have larger teams with people that specialize in certain areas. And I'd say, another difference is just the product itself. When you're a bigger company, you're making smaller iterations on the product. Usually, because you already have that product Market fit, whereas at an early stage company, a lot of times. You're making really big changes. Just trying to make sure your going in the right direction."
I would recommend staying well hydrated with water and electrolytes and taking Morton gel packs throughout the round. Transcript: "Hi Scott. Thanks for the question. I'm not sure if I can say specifically what someone should consume while on the golf course, that's probably more in your area of expertise than it is in mind. But what I can say is when I do an Ironman Triathlon, I like to keep it simple. And first of all, stay well hydrated with water and electrolytes. And then I also like to take these Morton gel packs. It's just a very simple kind of water glucose and fructose and these in the black ones and then these white ones have some added caffeine as well. So I'll sometimes mix that up and do take a couple of these per hour. So I imagine that would also work on the golf course, but I can let you know. It does work on longer distance, triathlons."
I prefer to do higher reps with lighter weights, such as five-pound weights and bands. Transcript: "I tend to do higher reps of lighter weights. In fact, one of the exercises I do uses these five-pound weights, which seems like nothing. But my swim coach Batali will have you do this where I will just slowly let the weights go down and up. And I do it about 15 or 20 times and starts off feeling really easy. But by the end, the shoulders are burning, and it feels like a lot more than five pounds. So, that's one example. I also do quite a bit of stuff, with, with these bands and find that you can get some pretty, pretty good resistance, just with the bands. So anyway, I guess lighter weights for me."
I consume a lot of calories and focus on eating plenty of protein. I also take BCAA powder before my harder workouts and magnesium glycinate at night to help me sleep. Transcript: "I'm not an expert when it comes to nutrition, but I can tell you what I do. First of all, I just consume a lot of calories. I'm always hungry because I'm always working out. So I try to eat a lot of calories. I especially try to eat a lot of protein. So I'll often have eight eggs for breakfast. After I do a morning workout. Although I'll remove the yolks from half of them, and I like to mix that with some veggies. Stove. And I just try to eat all kinds of protein fish, chicken meat as well. And I'll also have protein shakes, probably three or four times a week after some of my longer workouts. I guess a few other things I do one is I take BCAA powder before I do some of my harder strength workouts. That's something that my swim coach recommended. I do. I just kind of mix it with water and the only supplement I take is I'll take magnesium pills at night magnesium, magnesium glycinate, which also helps me fall asleep. So those are, those are a few things that come to mind, basically, eat a lot and eat a lot of protein. And of course, drink, a lot of fluids as well. Mostly water."