Get ready for an amazing, inspiring and enlightening conversation with my guest this week, Alysia Silberg - author and Venture Capitalist. She is so many things: a natural entrepreneur with insatiable curiosity and courage. She sees a challenge and she wants to solve it. She is a prolific reader and assimilates knowledge at an incredible rate. She's a survivor with a harrowing and inspiring story. Alysia shares her journey from South Africa to Silicon Valley, where she is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and now author of Unemployable: How I Hired Myself. An early adopter of AI, we also get to dip into Alysia’s amazing AI-enhanced daily routine, from analysing her leadership weaknesses to making sure she takes a yoga class. So much to gain from this conversation - enjoy!
A leadership perspective on integrating AI into daily life
Why you should listen: Stop looking for leadership approval
Saying no can be more important than saying yes
We explore learning and growing leadership skills with AI’s help
Analyse your leadership routine with ChatGPT
Self-experimentation as a leadership superpower
Learn to see your leadership patterns and leverage them for growth
Take action
Explore ChatGPT for personal accountability as well as strategic thinking
Do experiments - your routine, your practices - and notice the impact
Tip from The Olympus Project, inspired by the quote from one of my characters: ‘As a world designer, it's important to know when you've reached the limit of an idea. Wisdom is knowing your ideas are seeds, not fruit.’ I think we can all learn from that.
About Alysia Silberg
Alysia Silberg is a cross between a survivalist and an industrialist – someone who has had to innovate and use whatever resources are available because they had to, and someone who sees opportunities in the marketplace and capitalises on those. Today, Alysia is a leading venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, where she mentors tech startups and helps them go public. She is CEO & General Partner of the investment firm Street Global.
Alysia’s recently released first book, Unemployable: How I Hired Myself, details her harrowing and inspiring life story and is a guide to infinite success and personal development.
Find out more: https://www.readunemployable.com/
Key moments
Planet Human: Nasa is mapping water on Mars. An exciting development for the ultra long-term future.
Planet Zoë : Easing into summer while plotting for 2024, including our next event The Leadership Conclave
**Alysia Silberg's Journey (00:06:58)**
Zoë introduces Alysia Silberg, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and discusses her book "Unemployable" and her journey from growing up poor in South Africa to becoming successful in Silicon Valley.
**The traumatic experience (00:10:53)**
Alysia shares the traumatic experience of her mother being beaten during a carjacking incident in South Africa.
**A journey of resilience and adaptability (00:13:29)**
Alysia reflects on how the traumatic experience shaped her resilience and adaptability, leading her on a journey from South Africa to Canada and eventually becoming a venture capitalist.
**Obsession with learning and the power of knowledge (00:17:04)**
Alysia discusses her obsession with learning, how it was her salvation, and the empowering nature of knowledge
**Seeking patterns in research and venture capitalism (00:23:02)**
Alysia discusses her approach to researching and finding patterns in venture capitalism, and how it has been valuable in her career.
**A structured daily ritual practice (00:25:43)**
Alysia shares her daily routine, which includes meditation, deep work, specific eating and drinking habits, and cryotherapy, and explains how it helps her self-care and self-management.
**Starting self-experimentation (00:33:31)**
Alysia recounts her journey of self-experimentation, which began in 2006 after going through a difficult period in her life and receiving a Tony Robbins recording from her husband.
**Getting involved in AI (00:37:06)**
Early adopter experiences
**The daily check-in with ChatGPT (00:44:34)**
Alysia explains how she uses ChatGPT for daily check-ins, goal setting, and mental health check-ins.
**The future of AI-driven education (00:51:00)**
Alysia expresses her wish for an AI-driven global learning platform to provide high-quality personalised education for everyone worldwide.
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About your host, Canberra leadership expert Zoë Routh:
Zoë Routh is a leadership futurist, podcaster, and multiple award-winning author. She works with leaders and teams to navigate future horizons.
She has worked with individuals and teams internationally and in Australia since 1987. From wild Canadian rivers to the Australian Outback, and the Boardroom jungles, Zoë is an adventurist! She facilitates strategy and culture sessions with audacious teams.
Zoë's fourth leadership book, People Stuff - Beyond Personality Problems: An advanced handbook for leadership, won the Book of the Year at the Australian Business Book Awards in 2020. Her fifth book is a near future science fiction dystopian novel, The Olympus Project.
Zoë is the producer of the Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast, dedicated to asking “What if…?” and sharing Big Ideas on the Future of Leadership.
Zoë is an outdoor adventurist and enjoys telemark skiing, has run six marathons, is a one-time belly-dancer, has survived cancer, and loves hiking in the high country. She is married to a gorgeous Aussie and is a self-confessed dark chocolate addict.