Pirate, Warrior And Patron Of The Arts - CEOLandshark (#1)
159: Interview #1 - CEOLandshark
Welcome reader! For the past few months, we have been considering a return to the traditional written Q&A format. Interviewing a bunch of interesting individuals and friends to share their knowledge and help others. This was how things used to be done before everyone had microphones, and podcasts became a thing. Making this arguably the best way to learn more about someone or something, especially since you won’t waste two hours on things that don’t matter or unnecessary yapping. To avoid making this intro unnecessarily long…
What you can expect from this series:
A collection of Twitter profiles and interesting individuals.
Feel free to leave a comment and suggest profiles you’d like us to interview.
Topics covered? Everything. Money, business, lifestyle, health, and the mind.
At least one or two interviews each month. The planned schedule is at least 12 per year, but we are confident that 20-30 per year might be more achievable. We don't want to make any promises, as life gets busy. But it is something that we know we could pull off.
Disclaimer: None of this is to be considered advice of any kind. The individuals featured in these interviews are trained professionals with extensive experience in their fields.
CEOLandshark (also known as Pyrate)
People don't realize it but out of all the paths, being an entrepreneur (when done right) is the almost-perfect vehicle to hone your soul & move towards a more enlightened way of living. - CEOLandshark
What better way to start the new series than with one of the most impressive minds on Twitter? After getting a bunch of DMs around our guests, and him having a cult-like following from (serious). It was only right to invite CEOLandshark as our first "guest".
We hope you will enjoy reading this as we did.
Q&A
BOSS: Since this series will feature multiple anons with diverse backgrounds and life stories. Who is CEOLandshark? We all know that some call him a pirate, an opportunist and a patron of the arts. How would you describe yourself?
CEOLandshark: Yes, a pirate at heart. Now, pirates are the merchant-warriors of the open seas. At my core, I’m a truth seeker. I seek the truth regarding myself, life and all those mysteries - while trying to live in the best way possible. So it’s a tough and adventurous life. That’s the warrior side. For the merchant side, it’s safe to say that I’ve found business to be a very early love in my life and it evolved over time, making me realize it’s the perfect vehicle for self-actualization. I’m a man who’s pretty much obsessed with becoming his truest self and expressing & living it fully. My life can drastically change but these axes often stay the same over time, so that’s the best way to introduce myself.
BOSS: We never did a poll on who should be our first guest. But without a doubt, you would win as you are by far one of the most popular Twitter profiles out there (at least on this side of Twitter). What was your initial plan and idea behind the account? It is sort of a reflection tool or?
CEOLandshark: That’s very kind of you, thank you for the honor of being the first guest on your new series. The truth is, I remember just waking up one day and feeling like I wanted to tweet. No plan or goals, like growing an audience or anything like that. My first tweets were mostly about online business, I was just having fun. Kind of like an open notebook. One interesting thing is, people can really sense when someone knows what they’re talking about so it initially grew quicker than usual. If you look at it, you’ll see that my account has no “promise” to anyone, like “I tweet about X” or “you’ll learn Y”, and whatever I post is still the same since day 1 - it’s whatever I think is interesting & enjoyable to me. So, anyone that follows me & interacts with me are people who enjoy and appreciate me. I find that to be a real achievement and even at this small scale, it’s something I’m proud of. And the amount of interesting, brilliant, wonderful people I’ve met through this platform is just insane.
BOSS: When someone asks you what you do to make a living. What is your answer?
CEOLandshark: Honestly, it depends on who’s asking. If it’s a random person, I often just say “I do software” or something along those lines. It’s an easy label for people to assume things - some think it’s me operating a devshop, some imagine me in a black turtleneck.. Whatever they assume, I’m fine with it. Like the good old merchant bankers - call yourself a “banker” and people will picture a bank teller or Wall St guy, the whole spectrum. The opacity is kind of intentional, it’s enjoyable. For the initiated, though, I tell them I own a holdco of digital products/online businesses.
BOSS: Would you stick to the same thing if you were starting now?
CEOLandshark: I would and I actually do that every day - because I’m choosing to keep doing it every day, again and again. I’ve set my life up in a way that gives me almost full optionality and freedom, so if I wanted tomorrow, I could pivot the whole thing in a few weeks. Or quit completely. So, every day I’m not doing that, it’s me choosing to continue on this path, and it’s for a good reason. Truth to be told, it’s also not too rare that I find myself questioning WTF am I doing, or doubting the path, etc - and when these bring valuable data, I always listen and if needed, make changes. But it’s totally natural that this occurs. Even the best, at their peak, go through this - funny enough, the higher the growth, the more these occur, in my experience.
BOSS: At the same time what would you say it is the best way to approach learning something about business or starting your own? You once wrote that one of the best things that happened to you was discovering a website with numerous case studies. Do you still think that is the best way to learn?
CEOLandshark: I think “doing” is the best way to learn, it’s just that you need to know “what” and “how” to do, in order to make rapid progress. And for that, one of the best ways (especially if you’re a bit brainy) is to process just massive amounts of information with lots of variety, depth, etc regarding the topic at hand. Some prefer to talk to people or engage with them (apprenticeship, work experience, 1-on-1 discussion, masterminds..) - that’s powerful, too. It’s best if you do them all. Otherwise, even Aristotle talked about this thousands of years ago: Knowledge, learning, training.. These are things for the sake of doing and being. They’re not valuable on their own.
When I was 21, I founded my first “real” company, a startup, and exited it in a little bit more than a year. Calling it an exit because I didn’t shut it down, but in reality, it wasn’t even remotely close to my initial goal of making $20-30M by building that company and selling it within 2 years. I made close to nothing, especially compared to my grand ambitions. So once the deal closed, I had to sit down, chill for a few weeks and do a brutally honest post-mortem - where did it go wrong, what have I done wrong? We missed the mark completely, after all and I was the CEO, the “main” founder, it was my idea, I assembled the whole team, etc.. The answer was simple, I made the most basic first-time founder mistake: We focused fully on the product and built an exceptional product for the market at the time, but had almost zero distribution. Funny thing was, I’ve already read multiple times about this mistake. But when you’re making it, it all looks so normal, it’s hard to see it.
So it was clear: I was shit at marketing, that’s why it didn’t work out. I completely dropped the ball on distribution. And, it’s funny - I’ve made my first dollar online when I was 8 or 9 years old, in some random webmaster forum (remember those?). When I was in high school, I was making 5-6 figures per year doing various online hustles and affiliate marketing. Mind you, this is like 10-15 years ago, so it was kinda impressive back then - especially compared to my peers who were from US/EU, etc. But yeah, even with all of that “marketing” experience, it turns out that I did NOT know “real” marketing, but just some tactics and was just good at making money, and had to start from scratch if I wanted to have a shot at building something real one day. Unless this was fixed, my next company/project would fail or underperform - both feeling dreadful to me, I didn’t want to go through all of that once again, ever.
So, I consciously decided give myself an 18-month period to focus on two things: 1) Improving my marketing skills (I viewed myself as a good product person then, and still, but don’t enjoy it much anymore) - I was going to upskill to a point where my marketing skills would be on par with my product skills, so I would be unstoppable, basically. 2) Try any and every business idea/model I find interesting, see what works well for me and what I really like. That period didn’t even last 18 months but more like 10 months. In that period I’ve built 6-8 different businesses (all different from each other, from MarTech SaaS to two random agencies in different verticals to many other, pretty unrelated experiments). That period taught me what I enjoyed the most, what I hated completely, what I was good at, and obviously a lot of new skills were added to my toolbox, including improving the current ones that I already had.
The reason I’m telling the story is - if you’re completely lost, THIS is your best bet. Unless you have some big bro or uncle who can give you full access and training into some rare business with tons of upside (nepomaxxing), or something like that - your best bet is to piratemaxx and solo-roll into the unknown to come out transformed. If you go intentionally into the unknown, knowing that you’re in experimentation mode, things move very quickly and you’ll be surprised how well you’ll show progress. This is better than reading any case studies or anything like that.
BOSS: Courses yes or no? Seems like they lost their meaning.
CEOLandshark: I assume you’re asking about online money guru style courses? As a native son of the internet and online money world from a very young age, I’ve never really been into the course world, so I’m not the best person to answer this tbh. Of course it depends, but I think the alpha with courses have eroded a lot. Groupchats, communities and coaching is where it happens, from what I can tell.
If you’re serious about making solid, rapid progress and leveling up from ~beginner to decent levels of success, I’d recommend creating a Twitter profile and documenting your journey. With ZERO bullshit, ZERO posturing or anything like that, but with FULL authenticity and clear, active posting on what you’re working on, etc. Make the profile anon if you have to, don’t share the project name or vertical or whatever if you don’t want to. This is NOT “building in public” - it’s documenting the journey. The level of access + information (=leverage) you’ll gain, compared to a random guy who is building a similar thing, will be incomparable. You’ll be surprised.
BOSS: Favorite course while we are at the topic?
CEOLandshark: Not a business/guru style course but I’ve never come across a course that’s more impactful with higher ROI before, so it’s Joe Hudson’s courses. Truly life changing. Not easy to get in and it’ll only get harder, so get in early if you have the chance.
BOSS: To be fair, still not 100% on how to structure Q&As like this…. But it feels like if I had not asked you as much about business, there would be quite a few upset people reading this... But let's wrap it up and move to other stuff. Last question around business. What was the most useful thing you learned in business that has served you across different areas of your life?
CEOLandshark: Here’s a meta-answer: One of the most powerful things about business is that it enforces truthfulness. It’s possible to lie to yourself in relationships, it’s possible to lie to yourself, fake it, be deceitful, etc when it comes to other people and groups and yourself - but with business (if you’re doing it fully and while being self-honest, ofc), it’s very hard to cheat oneself. Because you’re face to face with reality itself, you have to engage with it directly. You can’t cheat the market, at least for a long time. At some point, if you keep lying to yourself, you’ll see that in your numbers, in your best people churning, in your lack of progress, etc. So it’s a good discipline, it demands clarity. It constantly asks things from you - which inevitably brings the loosening up of the rigid identity, beliefs and habits. Again, all of this, if you want to grow for a long time and in a healthy way. If you’re that type, business causes you to build your life around this “facing of true reality” thing, trains you to be effective, real. You can’t really find this in many places, especially for such a long time.
BOSS: Should we all operate on PvP principles, or is it just a cope? Everyone says something different, and it often feels like that is something that confuses those with less experience.
CEOLandshark: I assume by PvP principles, you mean the self-centered, cutthroat, ultra-competitive, scarcity mindset, non-trusting way of living life/doing business? I’ve seen many people win & thrive by being that way, it certainly works for some. I’ve also seen many of the other types of people, especially the more collaborative, abundance driven, feels-good-to-be-around types (think the opposite/shadow of the PvP type) win and thrive, too. There are many ways to succeed, that’s for sure.
Who loses, then? I mean, most people lose, to be honest. But let’s get rid of the laziness, misfortune, etc type of causes of loss and look at their types. The PvP guy who tries to domesticate himself, and the collaborative type who tries to act like the PvP - those are the losers. A human can’t afford to live that way, it takes up too much energy, it’s a total misconfiguration - to NOT be the person you REALLY are.
And people who truly have that PVP mindset, they’d never question it, asking “Should I be more cutthroat?”, etc. They already see the world that way, that’s already who they are, usually. Those would be the questions of a guy who has internal friction. And also, you won’t see much of the PvP types trying to suppress themselves, btw - it’s a rare sight. They have internal friction in other ways, but not with this type of thing. So - the “should I be more PvP” thing clearly is a guy who thinks the only real way to win is to be PvP, and he’s not it, but he wants to be, etc. Thus, he’s not a natural PvP. It’s actually good news. Just observe those PvP types - maybe they “win” but they’re often never happy. Even if they’re not miserable, people around them often are. What kind of success do they have and what kind of a life do they have? Do they die happy?
We’re just purely observing. If you’re reading this and thinking “Ooh, PvP bad - other one good!”.. No, not really. It’s clear: What is good and useful is to live according to one’s true nature. As long as you live true to your essence, you’ll be fine. Even if you have to pay for it, you’ll be fine and be well. Not living true to one’s nature is the surefire way to be a loser. Any time you don’t accept and love your true nature and want to be something/someone else, you’re engaging in self-harm = you’re losing. Any time you’re all in on yourself, fully = you win. Truly, truly doesn’t matter whether you’re the sharkiest shark or phaggy garden flower. If you’re in the wrong place, you lose by default and vice versa.
BOSS: There is a lot of contradiction around it, so you can't blame anyone for feeling lost. Does PvP motivate you, or do you think that business is not as cutthroat as they say?
CEOLandshark: Again, assuming PvP’s meaning as I did in the previous question. What “they say” doesn’t really matter. There are people who work for 20 hours every week and make millions, there are people like Elon. It really depends on what you want. Fortunately the world is a huge, vast place and reality is bendable with some practice. As long as you’re serious about it, you can build pretty much anything - including an ideal life for yourself. That is what I believe in & practice myself. You can completely avoid the PvP types by deciding to never do business with them, or not stepping into a category that requires that. Or the opposite. Pick your game. We have so many choices, it’s paralyzing.
Personally, I’ve never liked competition. It truly is for losers. Being an only child and then growing up as a very willful, intense kid, it just doesn’t come natural to me. If anything, it’s always been other people who wanted to compete with me, or their parents/bosses/ego ideals who wanted something from me - it was never about me. I’m too busy manifesting my personal destiny, and don't have time, mindspace or energy to share with those people. Of course like every human, I sometimes compare myself to others or ideals, but it happens at a very rare occasion and decreasingly so, and always very “unreachable” figures (“external mediation” in the Girard world). And honestly, it feels like an insult - someone trying to compete with me. I’m not playing a game that was defined by someone else, that’s for stupid people. So if you try to compete with me, you assume: You know what game I’m playing, you might have the chance to beat me & I’m willing to compete with you. The audacity..
BOSS: Time to switch to a more lifestyle and mindset. Let's start with the basic one. How do you define a good day?
CEOLandshark: Days where I know I’ve left nothing on the table, haven’t run away from or avoided anything - those are the best days for me. Logistically; getting enough sleep, waking up excited and looking forward to the day is how a good day starts. Executing in flow, with no interruption but with some positive surprises, is how a good day continues. Dinner with friends, some drinks and a cigar is how a good day ends. That’s one of the lean versions of it.
BOSS: How does Landshark start his day? Do you have a routine or mental map for approaching things?
CEOLandshark: I've tried many different morning routines. The only thing that I haven't been able to nail is the sleep schedule. For example, right now I have been sleeping at like 5-6 a.m. nowadays and getting up around noon, which I don't recommend to anyone. And to be perfectly honest with you, I don't think routines work in and of themselves like anything else. Where they come from, where they emanate from is the most important thing. So if it's a matter of trying to discipline yourself, trying to put yourself in a rigid schedule or something, that never worked for me. I think there's one key component to a good morning and it is to have something that you're very excited about waking up for. If you have a mission, it doesn't matter if you wake up whenever, wherever, even if you don't even sleep at all.
That’s why the meme-ified “5AM cold shower routine” works for one guy and is a waste of time for the other. It’s about the intention, where it comes from. I remember, years and years ago, waking up early after like an eight, nine hours of sleep and having a very, very cold shower and then doing very deep breathwork exercises and meditating with a focus on relaxing my muscles, like a progressive muscle relaxation type of meditation. And I remember all of that having immensely positive effects on me, lasting to this day. But once I started to chase those effects, I was coming from a different place. So they stopped working - until I saw this. I think this is a pattern that you can see again and again in life. And it's a very important one to be aware of.
BOSS: You often mentioned personality types. What would you suggest to someone who has determined their personality type?
CEOLandshark: You can't reliably type yourself with just a few tests, it’s too elusive. MBTI is easier since it deals with perception and function, so even a simple test can get close to the real type. I find Enneagram to be deeper and more useful - core fears, ego patterns, etc. But it’s much harder to self-type. There’s one hack with it, though: Take the test multiple times, answer 100% honestly. The type you resist or dread is often your true type. If you’re proud of your result, you probably faked it. Another trick: if you admire a type or want to be like that one, check its stress path - you might actually be that.
BOSS: Has this helped you or is it hardly applicable? Let's say you have an average person who figures out their personality type. It is a benefit, or it requires a lot of digging to get real rewards out.
CEOLandshark: For most people, it serves as nothing but an egoic masturbation thing. Identity reinforcement. “Look, Nietzsche is the same type as me!” etc. That’s pretty much it for the huge majority of the people. That’s also why almost no one takes personality typing seriously and rightfully so. Personality tests are like John Mayer. He’s basically two distinct characters in one: One of the best blues guitarists of all time who fit in perfectly as a peer on the stage playing with Clapton and BB King - and the sensitive-cheesy pop star girls were crazy for, singing “Your Body is a Wonderland”. If someone finds John Mayer cheesy, it tells us two things: They’re not too familiar with him fully and they’re not able to appreciate generational talent (you can tell I’m a big JM fan). So it tells more about the person than JM/personality typing methods.
But let’s get to the actual reason that we are looking at personality types: We're trying to deconstruct the ego through them. A wise man once said that “the highest use of the intellectual center is to use it to deconstruct itself”. So we're trying to use the intellectual center for its highest purpose, through these external mirror-like mechanisms. Enneagram is the most important out of all, then maybe MBTI + Big 5 - this stack is enough, no need to go further. You’d ideally look at the shadows of the types, to integrate them. You can see your deepest fears and problems and luckily, these tools tend to offer paths to integrate, solve them, to level up as your type. At some point, you can’t even be recognized as a type, since you’ll be evolved so much that you won’t fit any mold, people will type you differently, etc. But before that stage, you have a type, which means,you have a predestined fate. Your task is to break out of it. And that can be achieved only through rigorous work and expansion. Otherwise, you’ll have pretty much the same fate as your type. You’re pretty much predictable, I can imagine how I’d fast forward your life and where you’d end up at. That means you’re an automaton, there’s little to no will. That’s the grave danger, that’s what people don’t understand. The key is individuation. Personality types are a tool that help you with that, that’s it.
BOSS: Another one you often mention is NLP / hypnosis. How did it help you? No one can deny that they are a powerful tool…. Even just the basics of NLP can put you miles away from the average Joe.
CEOLandshark: The main benefits were understanding how the mind works better and how they all interact with reality, what constitutes them, etc. Something that’s outrageous like hypnosis forces you to change your model of the world + yourself, how a human works, etc. Because it simply is real, it’s so real that people can’t believe it when they hear about it or watch a video of someone getting hypnotized. So the first time you see someone getting hypnotized, going into trance, receiving some suggestions and then their WHOLE reality changing - it’s hard to compute that. So most people will call it cute and move on with their lives (the ones who don’t have the deep interest in truth), because otherwise it takes a lot of energy and work/study to integrate that into your worldview. And for me, my first reaction was: This is fucking real, then why the hell NO ONE talks about it? I found that to be insane, given how Lindy and powerful it was.
NLP, in my opinion, is sold like a single model but it’s mostly a bag of tricks, more than anything else. Surely useful at the right hands, it can be self-applied, too which is cool. Most of the NLP scene is just too weird, sleazy, and painfully shallow in my opinion. The best ones learn from NLP and move on, seeing its limits and uses. It’s a phase.
The problem with both tools is that the beginner practitioner will have too many psychic defenses so it’ll either take too long to see any results, or nothing will happen at all. I’d recommend seeing a professional for the quickest results. And it’s like taking psychedelics before developing a meditation habit - it jumpstarts things, makes it all easier, etc.
BOSS: Good place to start for those who are interested?
CEOLandshark: Before I recommend anything, I would just ask or tell them to ask themselves, what are you trying to get out of this? What do you think learning about NLP or hypnosis will help you achieve, and are there any other more direct and enjoyable paths to achieve those things?
People tend to assume there are powerful secrets in the world they can use to manage and manipulate themselves and others into their “preferred” outcomes. It’s kind of true but not in the way most would think. It’s said that “Your magic ring won’t work if you’re not Solomon himself.” - the power really isn’t in the crown itself but in the one who wears it. So, the first task is to understand your (assumed) intentions and desires - and seeing what you are trying to avoid and accomplish through these endeavours.
If you have to - Bandler’s Ultimate Introduction to NLP or Trance-formations are good, useful intros. Almost all NLP books are written for the most average person anyways, so they’re easy reads and mostly repetitive. Reading one is almost as good as reading all others. I think the underrated gem of a person in the NLP world is Steve Andreas. I find him to be a more intelligent, sensible and better practitioner than even Bandler, though Bandler is certainly a genius in his own right. Steve’s book Transforming Your Self isn’t a fun read but his models and way of working is very profound and applicable. He passed away but his wife Connirae is doing some interesting stuff, too - more on the spiritual side now, starting with Core Transformation (very powerful stuff) and Wholeness. A bit too advanced, not in the sense that “techniques inside can turn you into a modern Svengali” (which a beginner would imagine it to mean) but more like “you’d get bored and find it underwhelming if you don’t have the depth for it” type of advanced. Worth checking out though.
On another note, I think the Bandler vs Andreas’ is a good juxtaposition, very useful. Just search on Google and YouTube their names respectively and look at their faces, mannerisms, listen to their voices and energy - and how their teachings have evolved. Connirae was still a beautiful woman even when she was younger, but how one grows older and looks when they’re older means much more than any other thing usually. When you look at those people’s faces, especially over time, you’ll see how they’ve “progressed”. Which ones look more healthy, accomplished, connected, loving, one with life, etc vs not, or lesser. And I’ve always believed people’s experiences (thus teachings) tend to reflect all of that. It’s wise to look at the teacher and their top students and how they evolved over time when you’re picking a path.
BOSS: Since we are already on topic… What about George Gurdjieff? We know you are an appreciator. How did it resonate with you? Was it one of those moments when you're just reading, and everything makes sense?
CEOLandshark: I don’t think he’s one of those people where everything makes sense, especially early on. This was one of the factors that drew me to him, how hard it was to understand or explain it all. Relevant to your previous question, the NLP stuff - like I said, read the average NLP book and you'll see how simple, digestible it is. It was clearly written for the consumer. This is a very American thing to do. I don't think there's inherently anything wrong about it. But it’s almost like the teaching needs you, is coming to you - instead of you to the teaching, making sacrifices, etc.
With Gurdjieff, it really is the opposite. He had a big mystical appeal for me. Some people’s energy is so dense, so powerful that it transcends time. When you look at a Gurdjieff photograph, you can sense and feel the energy. The eyes, especially. You can hide everything but can never hide the eyes. I think him being born in the same land as me, Anatolia, and speaking Turkish as one of the many languages he spoke - these were some early factors of feeling kindred to the guy. All of these were also negative factors - you don’t want a person’s charisma, deep pull and familiarity between you and them to be a factor in studying them. Ideally, it should be out of pure interest, for the sake of the power of their teachings. All of those factors pretty much dissipated over time but the power, truthfulness and effectiveness of his teachings are still helping me. He’s one of the true masters.
BOSS: What about external work, internals, and woo-woo? Do you think we are truly creators of our reality?
CEOLandshark: The answer to this question really depends on who you identify as. Depends on what you mean by we or I. If you can define who that is, that might be a non-question even. But from what I understand, there are different levels of consciousness, and your level of consciousness determines your answer to this question, as it probably does to all questions. Apparently there's a level where people ascend from being victims (“life happens to me”) into feeling like they're true creators of their realities (“life happens by me”). And it's said that as you progress even higher than that, your sense of agency also dissolves in a positive manner. This is not a helpless feeling of having no agency, but like a completely different state where things/life start to happen through you, and then later, things and you also dissolve. Only what “is”, is left. This probably sounds cheesy and theoretical as fuck but it’s always important to have perspective into the next levels while also giving one’s full to the current level and enjoying it to the maximum.
Avg man tends to decrease their standards with each new move they make (in life or biz)
Every winner drastically increases their standards with every new step
This is the #1 difference between winners & losers - CEOLandshark
BOSS: How does one form an aristocratic social circle that shares a similar vision and goals?
CEOLandshark: It starts with you. You have to be a person who belongs to a kind of circle like that.
Funny enough, again, a meta-reading, I’d ask the person: Why do you want an Aristocratic circle? If you can answer this question and then address it and separately and fill those gaps and holes, you could either dissolve the desire to have an Aristocratic social circle, and counterintuitively, it would be easier to find yourself among an Aristocratic circle like that.
Ultimately, people congregate into groups and friendships form based on shared values. That is the core of everything. We're not in school anymore, so there's no teacher to put you into a group or anything like that, so groups happen by themselves. Of course, a lot of different dynamics play into it, but at the end of the day, people will group based on their core values. If you're not happy with the current group of friends that you have, you might want to change your values because that's the only reason that you're with these people.
What’s better, though, is to truly understand what your deepest values are - and live true by them. This is the only way you can actually form a friendship group that suits you well and doesn’t leave you drained and unhappy. And the nature of Aristocracy is, it is hereditary. So if you aren’t born that way, you’re out of luck, pretty much. People tend to confuse Aristocracy with Old Money, there’s some tiny overlap but not full. What I sense is people just feel unworthy, unimpressive, like an average layman - and believe that if they can surround themselves with those types of people and do what they do and wear what they wear.. They could maybe feel Aristocratic, then they maybe won’t have to feel like shit anymore. If that’s the psychic mechanism that’s active, then the person is out of luck - you won’t be able to feel good and free from that even if you were made the King, the top of Aristocracy. Do you think insecurities are healed like that? They will shapeshift. You have no choice but to go directly into the darkness, if you want to have freedom from that.
BOSS: What about today's world when it comes to skills? To whom does the world belong, technical ones or creatives?
CEOLandshark: This question made me think, probably in 10-20 years, the “creative versus technical” difference will be a thing of the past. It looks to me like both of these types usually need each other, or you need to be a person with both integrated to a reasonable degree. At their peak, technical people look like creatives, and creatives look like technical people anyway. And I don’t think it matters what type you are if you don’t make it. No one cares if you failed. The world belongs to the person who is able to make it, whatever that means for them.
BOSS: Where are you on that scale, more than one side or the other?
CEOLandshark: I find myself to be more creative, but I’m also decent at the technical application of things - this is true for most domains, not just business. Creativity, vision, big picture thinking, underlying mechanisms, seeing through things.. These are some of the things that come naturally to me. The rest, I had to get proficient to be able to apply my vision.
BOSS: Would you change that? Or do you think it is holding you down in specific ways.
CEOLandshark: I wouldn’t change that, I’m perfectly happy with where I’m at. What I would change or get better at, though, is not getting lost in the big picture or the end stage of things and so on. That is the key danger of a creative - is to move on without finishing projects, not fully making it all realized, and so on. The more creative you are, the bigger of a problem this becomes. You need systems and people around you to ensure your vision is turned into reality. Thankfully we’re also moving towards a world where it’s going to be the norm, though it will take some time.
BOSS: Going with Tim Ferriss right here, trying to wrap it up with rapid-fire type of questions. What is something that you believe is true, but you can not prove it?
CEOLandshark: Each passing year I more & more feel like humans are in possession and the guards of a very precious something, and there are other beings who want this thing, wanting it for themselves. I think we humans are involved in a very grand, big game that we're mostly oblivious to - just like a coup chickens would be, compared to the owner of the ranch. But the sole purpose of life is to figure this game out. Something like that.
BOSS: Last book you have read?
CEOLandshark: I read multiple books at the same time, some partially, sometimes going back & forth etc - so I can't recall off the top of my mind. But here are some solid gold books I've read this year (I made a random mix so no one is too similar to the other):
Core Energetics by Pierrakos - Recommended to the self-transformation & truthmaxxing enthusiasts, this is a must read.
Merchants of Debt by Anders - Crazy story of the best in class PE firm, taught me so many things I didn't expect, indirect tacit knowledge is amazing.
The Prophet by Gibran - I'm not sure why Gibran isn't widely known, a genius.
Don Colacho's Aphorisms by Dávila - Interesting, enjoyable, sometimes repetitive but this will be the first & last time someone talks about this book (or Dávila), so maybe check it out.
And I recommend everyone to re-read their favorite book again.
BOSS: Favorite book or two if you can't pick only one
CEOLandshark: The real ones know that "favorites" are for the dilettante, the amateur - real readers (or anything, really) has a headache trying to answer that. But of course this is inevitably asked and I always reply with "The Magus by Fowles". It's certainly my favorite fiction book and one of my favorite books ever, but also I love to imagine in my head the non-reader to check Amazon searching for it, see that it's a very thick book, their brain signaling 404 error and them giving up & opening Instagram instead.
BOSS: Most crucial trait that someone who wants to be successful (across all areas of life) has to possess?
CEOLandshark: With zero doubt - it's determination. Determination here means flexibility/adaptation + true desire to have it + willingness to go great lengths for it + not giving up for a long long time (ideally until one gets it).It certainly matters more than anything else you could have.
BOSS: How to work on it?
CEOLandshark: There are two types of determination - one is conscious, other one unconscious.
Conscious determination is the one you DECIDE to. Often people decide to do/have things but life inevitably tests all of us and those decisions are reconsidered. Such is not a choice, really, it was just a placeholder. So to be able to consciously be determined, to decide something, you really have to know what you truly want. This is often trickier than people realize, it's not easy to know what you truly want, and even if you do, it takes a while until you can fully, truly admit it to yourself & to the world in most cases. It's probably best to dig up everything, every desire and inclination and want you have, and thoroughly analyze if they have one or few theme(s) underneath (they might be manifestations/different angles of the same desire, after all). Then be shameless and admit all of them fully, and truly own them. That's the first step.
Then, looking at all of the desires and wants, which ones would you be okay not having, just getting rid of the desire right away? Or like "The One Thing" question - out of all of these desires, which one(s) are the most core, non-negotiable ones. You can do this a couple times over a couple months to have the most clarity into your psyche because they'll change at times, see what sticks, see the common patterns. Then, remove all that you can, merge the ones if you can, and you can only be left with a few, very few. It's like the kids' story, hand in a jar, if you try to grasp all, your hand won't come out of the jar & you'll be left to starve, kind of thing.
Once you have only a few desires (ideally a single one), make it very clear and specific (without overdoing it) and then sequence them - one might come after the other, etc. So you have a single one to focus on. Once you have this single desire, it's about turning it into a burning, deep desire. Weirdly enough no one talks about this and I came across almost zero writing about it, but if you can just have a single deep, burning, non-negotiable desire - it will manifest its realization on its own. You often don't need to even engage your rational mind, your unconscious will help find a way. The example of the "drowning man" is given sometimes in the Buddhist world, it's very fitting here: If I pressed your head into a bucket of water and held it there, you wouldn't need to calculate tactics, battle with yourself to give yourself permission, decide this or that - you would do anything and everything, instinctually, to save yourself and have a deep breath. The example sounds simplistic until you realize it's not. So - create the conditions for determination to emerge. Show your conscious & unconscious minds that this is the only true path. Tip: The only way to achieve this on both fronts is the desire being fully authentic to you.
Unconscious determination might be your biggest blessing or curse, but as long as it's not examined, it's not impressive (at least in my eyes). If you have this type of determination, ideally in good form, you don't have to do anything, really - it'll happen by itself. Might take too long but it certainly will, in some way, form or shape.
BOSS: Who was Landshark in his past life?
CEOLandshark: Even though there've been lots of seasons, I feel like my life has been a single unified chapter - so I'll answer this in the most fun way possible, by assuming it's about literal past lives.
I've always felt this deep affinity, like I knew a lot about that way of life, whenever I heard about tobacco merchants and smugglers. The paternal side of my family, throughout the past few hundred years, have always lived in geographies where growing (and processing and selling) tobacco was one of the main ways of life - and it's truly a way of life. It's a whole-family thing, takes the whole year, and impacts people's lives deeply, shapes them. At least that's how it used to be, before it all got industrialized. I can really see myself as the eldest boy of a family of 6-7, living in some Mediterranean village of sorts, soon to be the head of the family, who feels both the responsibility and is venturing/daring enough to take it onto himself, to sell/smuggle tobacco, his little brothers, etc helping him, the family being better off because of him.
Oh and also - a woman I loved a long time ago told me that she knew she was my mistress in my previous life but I refused to divorce my wife to be with her in that life, so she reincarnated and found me to break my heart in this life.. Well, let's say - she needs to find me again in the next one. The lesson is to avoid crazies!
BOSS: Favorite thing you have purchased this year?
CEOLandshark: Coaching/hypnotherapy/TCM/acupuncture. I view them as a big bulk purchase of investing into my life, I’ve found stuff like these to be the highest leverage, highest ROI and most enjoyable (after the initial hump) types of purchases. Very pricey if you work with the best of the best, but no better investment can be found. I've California spiritual bohememaxxed a little bit this year and it's been great.
And - Kakhetian Traditional Winemaking (KTW)’s Tvishi Special Collection (2020) - Very unique, delicious Georgian white wine, I bought 11 bottles because that's all they had in the factory store, gifted half and drank the rest lifemaxxing Mediterranean style. I'm not a big alcohol guy but wine is very enjoyable as you learn more about it.
BOSS: Trying to come up with one closer that will be used across all the interviews in the future… What advice would you give out to normies to help themselves?
CEOLandshark: Normies can’t really help themselves by definition, so the first task is to identify as someone/something else. Easiest and the most sure-fire way to do that is to change your environment and social circle. Go on a journey. Best of luck!
A big thank you to our good friend and one of the most interesting individuals we have met online during this journey.
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Disclaimer: None of this is to be legal or financial advice of any kind.
great job guys
Amazing, really good interview.