When Will.i.am met Shawn Fanning – founder of Napster, his first instinct was one of curiosity, a desire to connect and learn. He wasn’t primarily concerned with the prospect of losing revenue. He started learning about A.I back in 2009 and earlier this year, he launched FYI - Focus Your Ideas
Just watched the latest installment of Ask More of A.I, with Clara Shih and her guest, Will.i.am(below).
I’ve been a fan of Will.i.am and the black-eyed peas for years – but haven’t really followed Will’s foray into the field of technology.
This interview left me feeling inspired on so many levels – below are my key takeaways.
Interesting insights on how will.i.am thinks about ChatGPT, as a musician. I can relate to the analogy about liking the Journey, hiking and being a true trailblazer. Some individuals want to carve out a path that others will take.
“There’s no rules to feeling good about what you’ve created. Whatever makes you feel like you’ve rinsed out whatever you’ve sponged up, you gotta rinse it out”.
Integrate Concepts was created as a vehicle for me to share thoughts on my 3 passions – Leadership Development, Business Model Innovation & Neuroplasticity. I try to find ways to connect and sponge up these concepts, every day. As a Business Leader, Leadership Coach, Blogger – I’ll use whatever platform, channel or outlet available to rinse out whatever I sponge up.
“Everyone is creative – they just don’t believe they are”. “There are no rules – what somebody thinks is horrible, somebody thinks is beautiful. What somebody thinks is not good, somebody thinks is pretty awesome”.
“The differentiation, the commonality between all those things is the belief that each one of those folks has, within themselves. So, you have to believe that whatever you’re making is going to sooth you. You have to believe that you are the calvary to your own problems”.
I encourage myself – and the folks I work with, to believe. As Will mentions – belief is infectious, and it goes a long way.
Probably the most insightful segment of this Interview, for me. First – some great storytelling, complete with some role playing and voice intonation. I felt like I was right there with Will, back in 2000, listening to his conversation with a college student. Never underestimate the importance of using thoughtful storytelling to keep one’s audience engaged.
Staying Curious / Big Picture Thinking: "You started Napster? “Can we exchange numbers”? I wanna know what did it take for you to make that”.
When Will.i.am met Shawn Fanning – founder of Napster, his first instinct was one of curiosity– next was a desire to connect and learn. He wasn’t primarily concerned with the prospect of losing revenue from his music being streamed. He also displayed Big Picture Thinking - after learning about Napster, he instinctively knew that technology was going to impact the Music Business in new and exciting ways, he leaned in to learn more That was how Will.i.am got introduced to the tech world, back in 2000. He started learning about A.I back in 2009 and earlier this year, he launched FYI - Focus Your Ideas
There are several other great takeaways from this interview. Please take a few minutes to watch it - the beauty of sharing is that everyone can benefit in some fashion.
