Noticing The Obvious
Tan Lay
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A bi-weekly business and philosophy podcast hosted by Tan Lay featuring guests from around the world sharing professional stories and insight.
Why? Because sometimes, the truth is obvious. And obvious things are easy to forget.
Recorded in Helsinki, Finland.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
Sep 1, 2020
028 Startups and Networking in Helsinki
Anna Rosa Lappalainen is a product builder, business builder, service designer, communicator, negotiator, business development expert, and serial entrepreneur with many interests in emerging tech and the startup community in Finland.
I've worked with her in the past and really enjoyed it because she's so passionate when it comes to talking about business and marketing and growing startups.
Aug 25, 2020
027 Renouncing Success in Finland to Move to Hollywood
Ramin Sohrab is an award-winning filmmaker, actor, martial artist and stunt cooridinator.
He was born in Tehran, grew up in Helsinki, and found himself lost in terms of direction despite owning a successful marketing and PR company.
Here, he tells the story of finding his way again.
http://raminsohrab.com/
Aug 18, 2020
026 Buyers, Sellers and Dream Makers!
In this episode, Steven Keys talks to me from his home in the south of England.
He is a man of many skills who is, by his own words, 'juggling many balls'. He has been in sales most of his life, he has been a professional motorbike racer, owned and operated a successful bike dealership and these days he's a television writer, director and creator.
He joins me now to talk about the art sales - or the way Steve puts it: Dream making!
Jul 29, 2020
025 Producing a Hit Crime Documentary for Netflix
Daniel Bogado is a Brit-born Paraguayan and producer/director of multiple award-winning documentaries for major broadcasters around the world.
He's also an old friend from film school.
Here, we talk about his Netflix hit 'Killer Ratings.' We discuss the nuances of telling a compelling story through documentary. And Danny shares his opinion on the power of media to influence the masses.
Jul 22, 2020
024 Cancel Culture and Media Manipulation
Tim Conley is a business coach and mentor. Some of the points we cover in this episode:
- the influence of media on creating fear and anxiousness
- lack of knowledge is not a flaw
- intervening in a situation with unknown variables
- the importance of core principles to live a good life
Jul 15, 2020
023 Building Product vs Marketing Product: Early Stage Startups
Amandine Flachs has been involved in the startup ecosystem for 10 years as a community manager, growth consultant, and now as a founder herself.
She’s from Paris and lives in London. We talk about:
- personal branding
- networking and communicating
- video games
- building your product vs talking about your product
https://www.flachsconsulting.com/
Jul 8, 2020
022 Asia, Technology, Laziness & Innovation
Nathaniel Fetalvero is a writer and producer at Tech in Asia- a media company based in Singapore serving Asia’s tech and startup community.
Tech in Asia has a content production platform providing editorial content, news and analysis. It also has an advertising agency unit delivering marketing and branded content for clients.
Some topics we covered:
- what new technology is currently at the top of Nat's mind
- does technology make people more lazy or more productive?
- how Myanmar is developing as the final frontier in South East Asia
- what common traits Nat has noticed among successful Asian startups
www.techinasia.com
Achieving profitability after a cancelled IPO:
https://www.techinasia.com/achieving-profitability-cancelled-ipo
Jun 29, 2020
021 Bringing Design Thinking Into a 400-Year-Old Company
My guest is Juho Paasonen, the current Design Lead at a 400-year-old national institution that is the Finnish Postal Service Group: Posti.
Juho talks about starting his professional career at the age of 17 which led to working as Interaction Designer at Google before returning to Finland to build a creative design team at Posti. We discuss the differences between making art and making design, and what's required from good design leadership.
Jun 23, 2020
020 Hacking the Brain to Increase Our Ability to Learn
My guest in this episode is Dr. Melissa Farmer. She is a clinician-scientist with roots in sexology, pain research, and neuroscience.
She is also co-founder of a Health Tech startup dealing with chronic pain.
Lots of cool human psychology stuff in this episode including:
- how to fast track information into your brain
- why the brain tends to notice negative situations more
- the principles behind neutralizing traumatic memories... and more!
Jun 18, 2020
019 - Confessions of An Advertising Man From Finland
Riku Vassinen is currently the Managing Partner of Ogilvy Africa.
We talk about attitudes towards advertising and marketing in his native country of Finland. He shares some thoughts and opinions about working in Europe, Asia and Africa.
And since we are both basketball nuts we had to talk a little bit about Michael Jordan and the impact of media hype in the NBA.
May 31, 2020
018 - Being a Good Human Not Required to Be a Good Marketer
My guest in this week's episode is Tim Conley who is a speaker, trainer and a business coach who works with B2B service entrepreneurs.
If you want to hear some straight shooting, clear and simple insights on personal and business growth, this is the episode for you.
We talk about how
- successful marketing does not require good ethics.
- nobody truly has vision.
- our actions do not align with our beliefs.
- we're afraid to define big goals.
- successful leaders often ignore external opinion
- we say we want the truth but not really!
May 28, 2020
The Magnificent Eleven: Highlights Compilation
In this first volume I had 11 excellent guests from the fields of entertainment, business & marketing and even neuroscience who shared valuable stories and insight..
For those of you who are new to this podcast, who haven’t listened to many episodes before this is a good one to start with.
I’ve picked out some of the best bits from each guest .. and put them all together here for you in a highlights compilation.
May 11, 2020
016 - Lessons in Filmmaking from Finland with AJ Annila
Antti-Jussi Annila is a film director whose first film Jade Warrior (2006) had the highest budget ever for a first time director in Finland.
Here, AJ talks about how he handled that pressure… while managing a very ambitious shoot in China.
We also talk about lessons he learned during his filmmaking career and how they’ve helped him become a better creative leader.
May 2, 2020
015 - Communication Skills From TV Presenting: Useful in Real Life?
Nikki is an experienced TV Presenter and Technology Communicator.
We had a really cool chat about the importance of communicating, listening, freelance work, teaching our kids that it's ok to make a mess once in a while... and of course my favourite thing to talk about: why humans can't do the things we know we should do.
Her website is www.nikkidean.com.
And PlanitMum https://www.facebook.com/PlanItMum/
Apr 22, 2020
014 - "Britain's Best Boss" Shares Philosophy
My guest today is Lee McAteer. He is the Associate Director at Tranmere Rovers football club in the English league. He is the founder of multiple successful companies including AmeriCamp, Wrestling Travel, Camp Thailand and Invasion. https://ultrainvasion.com/
This podcast was recorded at the end of March 2020 whilst Lee was stuck in Philadelphia waiting for a flight home to Manchester. He shares stories about how we started his companies and how he was once named Britain’s Best Boss!
Apr 9, 2020
013 - Young Entrepreneur Shares What He Learned in Silicon Valley
Baran Korkmaz is the 17-year-old founder and CEO of ARWAY - a London based startup whose vision is to create context aware Augmented Reality solutions accessible to everyone.
He talks about how he started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 14, building the first demo, getting national media attention and connecting with his co-founder.
He also shares what he learned from his first visit to Silicon Valley during the pandemic outbreak.
Baran's company website is : https://www.arway.app/
Mar 28, 2020
012 - What He Learned From Reading 33 Books in 7 Months
Dima Syrotkin founder and CEO of Finnish startup Panda-Training recently read 33 books in 7 months.
I asked him to share some of the things he learned from some of the best books: The Listening Society, Homo Deus, Atomic Habits and Poor Charlie's Almanac.
Now might be a good time to share a quote which I actually forgot to do in the podcast:
He who does not read has no advantage over he who cannot read.
-- Mark Twain
Connect with Dima on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimasyrotkin/
Visit me on: https://www.tanlay.fi
Mar 23, 2020
011 - Make a Decision and Never Look Back
G'day! In this episode, I speak to Debbie Steer who is an Animation Producer based in Sydney - currently revitalising the hand-drawn industry in Australia. We became friends 13 years ago as struggling filmmakers in Manchester, England.
Debbie shares her story of making the decision to move to Australia and then finding herself in Australia three weeks later! My favourite part is when she shares her mindset towards decision making.
Thanks Debs! (Just FYI - I almost titled this episode, 'Debbie Does Sydney.' Then again, you probably would've preferred it!)
Mar 22, 2020
010 - Acting Only in Reaction to External Events
I've noticed people finally doing things they've resisted doing for so long. What's changed? Just a global pandemic.
Mar 3, 2020
009 - Fail Well, Experiment and Trust Your Processes
My guest today is David Blinov. He’s the Founder of The F Company - a Growth Marketing agency based here in Helsinki.
It was really fun to talk to him- he’s a marketing nerd just like me, but unlike me he started at the age of 15! We talk about the importance of failing well, the importance of experimenting, the value of mentors. And we debate whether humans know everything we need to know by the age of 23.
www.davidblinov.com
www.thefcompany.com
www.tanlay.fi
Feb 24, 2020
008 - Managing Data and Doing Difficult Things
This week I have a friend Marko Lauhiala who is the founder, CEO and CTO of a startup solving the problem of data organization in enterprises.
We discuss what it’s like for him wearing multiple hats in the company, we discuss the importance of being able to understand data visually in order to put it into context… in business situations as well as personal situations.
We also talk about running. Marko runs everyday - he’s pretty obsessed about it which I find very inspiring.
He reminded me how we are all capable of doing difficult things.
You can find Marko at : www.relefant.net
You can find me at: www.tanlay.fi
Feb 17, 2020
007 - Why Everyone Needs a Coach: The External Opinion Matters
Yes, it does.
I was reminded of this recently. It's amazing how different a question sounds when it's asked by somebody other than yourself.
This is why everyone needs a coach / consultant.
Speaking of which, visit my website: www.tanlay.fi
Jan 31, 2020
006 - Neuro-linguistic Programming : Improvement Through Communication and Psychology
My friend Rachel recently started telling me about NLP. It was something that I was not familiar with but being a linguistic geek and a brain nerd, I was immediately intrigued.
And I thought it would be a good idea to record it for the podcast.
You can find Rachel Akili on LinkedIn.
And you can email me on tan@tanlay.fi
Jan 21, 2020
005 - Human Attention Spans Are Short! What Can I Do?
There's research out there that suggests that the average human attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish. Whether I accept this or not, I do notice that the amount of distraction (both internal and external) that's hitting my senses is relentless.
This means I have to be vigilant and very selective with what I spend my attention on.
I've had great ideas that disappear moments after they are born and I've seen other people - old and young - forget important information instantly.
So I'm quickly recording this podcast so I don't forget these thoughts that are passing through my mind!
If you're listening to this, I'm guessing you can relate. You can email me at tan@tanlay.fi to discuss or give feedback.
Dec 29, 2019
004 - Business Training and Coaching for Corporate Escapees
In this episode, I enjoy a chat with Tracey Tait - a marketing coach and trainer based in Newcastle, England.
We discuss Tracey's approach to teaching and learning while working with business owners who have quit corporate jobs.
She shares her observation on what's stopping most entrepreneurs from achieving what they want to achieve.
You can find out more on her website www.traceytait.com
Dec 8, 2019
003 - Newton's First Law Says Humans Are Lazy
Yes, it does.
But Newton's First Law also says humans are industrious. So, as soon as we start noticing this, we should be able to motivate ourselves to do the things we want to do.
Thank you, Sir Isaac!
Oct 28, 2019
002 - Behavior of Humans, Brain of Mice
This week I have my first guest on the podcast. His name is Leo Khirug. He's a scientist. He studies brains. He's very interesting.
If you're interested in human behavior, evolution and science experiments on mice, I think you'll enjoy this episode.
Oct 21, 2019
001 - Being Selfish is Good!
This is the first episode of my podcast. I'm going to lay out my (selfish) reasons for doing this podcast. It's taken me a long time to get this out. I've procrastinated for a while.
But now I'm publishing and hope I find the motivation to stick to my plan of publishing every 2 weeks.
I'm extremely interested in noticing obvious things. Because those are the things we tend to miss.