Welcome back to #UpgradeMe. It's a podcast about the never ending self improvement journey, ideas and life hacks to help you level up and the people who make it happen!

Hosted by Dana Leong, a 2x Grammy Winning Musician, a US Music Ambassador and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.Episode 026 is the first #UpgradeMe live stream, recorded the day the show crossed 100,000 subscribers.

What does it actually take to grow a show past that number without chasing every new feature that comes out? Dana opens with the milestone, takes a live Q&A, runs a full highlights review and walks through the prompt book of AI tools and tricks he actually uses day to day.

He gets into the health side too: cutting back on alcohol, what sleep tracking apps taught him about recovery time and the mental side of an old touring injury that still shows up as tension.

Going Tim Ferriss style, he shares recent reads including Georges St-Pierre's memoir The Way of the Fight, Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True, a Tupac Shakur biography by Jeff Pearlman and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Be Useful, and announces an AI prompt book of his own landing before Christmas.

He reacts to creators including Lucas Popan and Claire Zou, then spends the back half on who influenced him: mentors like bass trombonist David Taylor, educator Justin DiCioccio and YouTube and Google Studios executive Dorian Stone, plus the business, creative and spiritual influences that shaped how he works.

He closes with a discernment lesson: you do not need every new feature to make great work, you just need to know what you actually need.

Chapters:0:00 Welcome and celebrating 100K subscribers

1:12 The "what should I ask" framework

2:03 The weekly time question that reveals everything

4:27 Dana's own health and creativity priorities

6:08 Filtering AI tools and ditching doomscrolling

7:36 Chasing consistent energy through health

8:43 Drinking less and what sleep tracking apps revealed

10:20 An old tour injury and the mind body link to stress

12:08 The Asian Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss comparisons

14:10 Podcast pace, burnout and wanting a next gear

15:02 Catching guests at the Singapore Grand Prix

15:26 Splitting life between Taiwan and Shanghai

16:23 The struggle to keep finding world class guests

17:00 Why this episode is a retrospective, not a new interview

18:03 Life in circles, not levels

18:38 Favorite sources, Tim Ferriss style

19:07 Georges St-Pierre's The Way of the Fight

22:38 Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True

25:04 Tupac, Schwarzenegger and skepticism on diet books

28:14 Announcing the upcoming AI prompt book

32:02 Livestream tech setup and learning as he goes

32:35 Three creators who inspired Dana lately

40:54 Why community and guests make the show work

42:11 Mentor spotlights: David Taylor, Justin DiChiera and Dorian Stone

56:19 Business, creatives and forgiving mistakes

59:25 Michael Jackson's legacy and the Shazam habit

1:02:24 Legal mentors, spirituality and prompting AI as Buddha

1:07:43 Closing thoughts and sign off

Mentioned in this episode: @timferriss @joerogan @schwarzenegger @hubermanlab Georges St-Pierre Robert Wright Tupac Shakur Jeff Pearlman Jordan Peterson David Taylor Justin DiCioccio Dorian Stone Lucas Popan Claire Zou

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100,000 Lessons from #UpgradeMe: 3 Seasons, 6 Truths.** #UpgradeMe just crossed 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, and this episode is Dana's unboxing of the Silver Play Button and a reflection on six truths three seasons of the show have taught him, including the real story of how the show's very first guest, Cung Le, came together over a sushi bar and a 5am text. Plus a look back at ten unforgettable moments from guests including Gene Yu, Bunty Bohra, Nathan East, Justin BUA, DJ Qbert, Eric Liu, Dr. Ta-Lin Hsu, Minami, Tan Le and Cung Le.

Why is Yuga Labs' CEO the same guy who produced Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime?

Figge went from co-founding POSSIBLE (creative studio behind arena tours for Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and 200 other arena shows) to a 2020 Emmy for the world's first Unreal Engine extended reality stage. Then he created WENEW with Beeple. Then four C-suite roles at Yuga Labs in under four years, now CEO of the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and Beeple's HUMAN ONE.

In this episode of #UpgradeMe with Dana Leong, Figge walks through the white hat rescue of millions of dollars in NFTs (29 Bored Apes and 2 CryptoPunks), leadership upgrades, why he hires for curiosity over pedigree, and transitioning to running one of the world's largest digitalized art clubs: Yuga Labs.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Cliffhanger cold open
00:38 Welcome to #UpgradeMe
00:41 Figge intro
02:48 Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour
11:11 The phone might stop ringing
12:07 Emmy nominations and VMAs
17:49 BAYC — best club on the internet
28:00 2020 Emmy for Unreal Engine XR stage
34:27 The CEO paradox
35:18 The $69 million JPEG at Christie's
1:01:08 Films aren't finished. They're abandoned.
1:03:12 White hat rescue — 29 Bored Apes, 2 CryptoPunks
1:09:33 Pressure is a privilege
1:11:27 9-minute mornings
1:12:07 RPM — Result Purpose Map

ABOUT FIGGE
CEO of Yuga Labs (BAYC, CryptoPunks, Meebits, Otherside, HUMAN ONE). Rose through four C-suite roles in under four years. Co-founder of POSSIBLE, the creative design studio behind 200+ arena-scale shows including Lady Gaga Super Bowl LI halftime, VMAs, Coachella, and tours for Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Paul McCartney, Childish Gambino. 2020 Emmy for the world's biggest extended reality stage on Unreal Engine. Lead creative on Louis Vuitton's "Louis The Game." Co-founded WENEW with Beeple and Guy Oseary in 2021.

Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/B76Z1Pqt9Ws

Follow Figge: LinkedIn · X @mfigge · IG @mfigge · yuga.com

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Welcome back to #UpgradeMe. It's a podcast about the never ending self improvement journey, ideas and life hacks to help you level up and the people who make it happen! Hosted by Dana Leong, a 2x Grammy Winning Musician, US Music Ambassador and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Support #UpgradeMe: patreon.com/UpgradeMePod

Join our communities online at:
Instagram: @UpgradeMePod
TikTok: @UpgradeMePod
Facebook: UpgradeMePod
YouTube: @UpgradeMePod
X: @PodUpgrade
LinkedIn: DanaLeong

Subscribe: bit.ly/upgradeytsub

#UpgradeMe is sponsored by TEKTONIKmusic.org (Harmony Heals)