Calm's Michael Acton Smith: "Dopamine-frazzled zombies"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Michael Acton Smith, co-founder of Calm, the hit meditation app, to talk about starting out with the idea five years ago (4:40), the rise and fall of his previous company Mind Candy (8:30), moving to San Francisco (13:20), trying to build a “moat” around around the app (14:45), how meditating is like jogging (16:45), why Calm uses the smartphone as the delivery mechanism (19:45), the death of boredom (21:15), creating a profitable business (23:30), why sleep is a growth industry (26:35), the science of meditation (28:10), trying to sell rocks as a child (33:10), setting up an Internet retailer in 1998 (35:40), why he thinks Calm is going to be a billion-dollar business (38:45), his plans to buy an island (41:35), and why the world’s top two meditation apps have been created by Brits (43:45). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

From Silicon Valley to The City, tech journalists Danny Fortson and Katie Prescott bring you the inside track on the new industrial revolution.Co-hosted from San Francisco and London, this weekly podcast delivers the latest news and freshest interviews with the people creating the future.As West Coast Correspondent for The Sunday Times, Danny is on the ground to witness the technological whirlwind that first roared out Silicon Valley. From London, working as The Times' Technology Business Editor, Katie has seen the waves of boom and bust rolling through one of the world's financial capitals. Together they explore this strange new world of high finance and tech giants, explaining how we got here and what is just around the corner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.