Hacker Paradise CEO Spencer Jentzsch talks about his role running the world’s first international work-travel program for digital nomads. Founded in 2014, HP has taken over 550 people to live, work and play together in 20 countries and has attracted participants from companies like Google, SpaceX and Y Combinator. On the trips HP provides housing, workspace access and a community of cool people to explore and party with, as well as organizing weekly workshops, talks, skill shares, goal sharing sessions, and networking events to help participants with professional development and goal achievement. Spencer shares his hiring practices for building the HP team and talks about the crucial importance of emotional IQ. He also talks about how to manage staff across time zones, how to structure a daily routine to optimize productivity, and how to deal with stress. Spencer also opens up about his personal journey of self-discovery through world travel and tells the story of leaving the US for the first time at age 19 on a Mormon Mission to Korea for two years after which Korean language and culture because his passion and the focus of his academic work. Spencer then tells the story of how his Korean language skills led to his role escorting the CEO of Samsung (the most powerful man in South Korea) at the 2010 Olympics, and then hand-writing Samsung’s Christmas cards to top fashion designers like Marc Jacobs. He also talks about his role in co-founding a Tinder Profile Consultancy, and gives specific suggestions for how to immediately optimize your online dating profile.
Episode #11: Hacker Paradise CEO Spencer Jentzsch on Emotional IQ, Optimizing Your Tinder Profile, and Running the World’s First International Work-Travel Program for Digital Nomads
Episode Summary
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About the Guest
Spencer Jentzsch
Spencer Jentzsch is the CEO of Hacker Paradise, which was founded in 2014 as the world’s first international remote work-travel group. Since then, Hacker Paradise has taken over 500 people to live, work and play together in 17 countries and has attracted participants from companies like Google, SpaceX and Y Combinator. On the trips HP provides housing, workspace access and a community of cool people to explore and party with. But HP also organizes weekly workshops, talks, skill shares, goal sharing sessions, and networking events to help participants with professional development and goal achievement. Originally from Utah, Spencer was an 8 year old hula hoop prodigy, a professional bat catcher and, prior to HP, he was a program manager at a software IT company and the co-founder of a Tinder profile consultancy. He has lived outside the US for a total of 7 years in 28 countries. He speaks and teaches Korean, has a bachelors degree in Korean language and culture, and a Masters Degree in Asian Studies.
What You'll Learn
- What Hacker Paradise Is, Who it is For, And What the Community Experience is Like on The Trips
- Why Emotional Intelligence is So Important and How to Identify and Hire for It.
- The Biggest Mistakes People Make on Their Tinder Profiles and How to Optimize Your Pictures and Text
Links From the Episode
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SPENCER’S WEBSITES:
- Hacker Paradise Website (This Link Gives You a $100 Discount)
BOTTLE OF WINE SHARED IN THIS EPISODE:
BOOK SPENCER RECOMMENDS:
APPS SPENCER RECOMMENDS:
PODCAST SPENCER RECOMMENDS:
CELEBRITY WITH WHOM SPENCER WANTS TO HAVE DINNER:
CITY WHERE THE INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED:
SPENCER’S TOP TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS:
SPENCER’S BUCKELIST TRAVEL DESTINATIONS:
OTHER LOCATIONS MENTIONED:
FOLLOW SPENCER:
Time Stamped Show Notes
[03:22] SPENCER’S UPBRINGING AND CONNECTION WITH KOREA
- What Spencer loves about Korea
- Spencer’s story and upbringing and how he became connected to Korea
- Spencer talks about the culture and lifestyle in Seoul
- Being a child hula hoop prodigy
- Being a bat catcher
- Spencer’s experience at Samsung
[25:42] TIPS ON OPTIMIZING YOUR TINDER PROFILE
- Common mistakes people make on their Tinder profile
- Spencer’s tips for improving their profile text and images
[34:28]SELF-DISCOVERY THROUGH WORLD TRAVEL
- What travel means to Spencer
- Personal growth and self-discovery
[39:26] WHAT IS HACKER PARADISE
- What Hacker Paradise Is and who it is For
- The type of experience Hacker Paradise offers
- Hacker Paradise Community dynamics
[52:40]HIRING AND MANAGEMENT
- The Hacker Paradise hiring process
- Spencer’s focus on company culture
- Understanding and identifying emotional intelligence
- Spencer’s style of leadership
- Empowering staff to resolve problems
- Team communication across time zones
- Building and documenting processes
[1:02:14]TIME MANAGEMENT AND MANAGING STRESS
- Spencer morning routine and day structure
- How Spencer optimizes his productivity
- How Spencer manages stress
[1:06:05]CHALLENGES AND FUTURE VISION OF HACKER PARADISE
- The biggest setbacks that Hacker Paradise has had
- Scaling challenges
- Spencer’s vision for the future of Hacker Paradise
- The Hacker Paradise alumni network
- How Spencer sees the digital nomad eco-system evolving
[1:23:03]LIGHTNING ROUND TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS AND BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS
Most Recommended Book
Most Recommended Apps
Most Recommended Podcast
Celebrity with whom Spencer would most like to have dinner
Advice Spencer would give his 18 year old self
Spencer’s Top 3 Travel Destinations
Spencer’s Top 3 Bucket List Destinations
[1:29:21] HOW TO CONTACT SPENCER AND LEARN MORE ABOUT HACKER PARADISE
