Shaun Merritt is the Co-founder and CTO of ⁠Toucan⁠.

Toucan is an immersive language learning browser extension tool that was acquired by the cross platform language learning company Babbel in 2023.

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Timestamps

(0:00) Introduction

(01:39) Shaun's dad's Influence on his career aspirations

(03:25) Problems that technology can't solve

(04:33) Do humanity's needs evolve or repeat?

(05:35) Entrepreneurship's role in moving society towards good

(07:40) Shaun's career lessons from PRAY.com

(11:30) Measuring non-quantitative social impact

(13:32) Gauging user needs with a growing user base

(15:24) Is entrepreneurship a zero-sum or positive-sum game?

(17:11) Deciding against college over real world experience

(20:09) Was not going to college an irreversible decision?

(21:01) Has Shaun ever made an irreversible decision?

(21:49) Shaun's meaning of life

(22:44) Jin Young's meaning of life

(23:29) Shaun's meaning of work

(24:54) Is one's career an infinite game?

(25:53) Do we all have a unique gift?

(27:16) Cultivating 'flow state' outside work

(28:09) Are activities of 'flow state' pre-determined?

(30:30) Is computer programming an innate skill?

(32:01) What is ‘good code’?

(33:16) What is 'simple' code?

(34:19) Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) despite limited feedback

(35:43) Relying on intuition vs user feedback

(36:18) How has Shaun's identity changed since his company's acquisition?

(37:13) How can we truly measure how much we learn?

(38:59) Ego and the fear of failure in the pursuit of learning

(40:59) How do we truly know what we want?

(42:19) Shaun's take on Mimetic Theory

(43:25) What drives Shaun to 'go against the grain'?

(44:35) What does Shaun prioritise between agency and providing social value?

(45:29) Self-love and 'putting oneself first'

People

• Jin Young Choi - Host
• Shaun Merritt - Guest

keywords:

toolmaking, entrepreneurship, technology, community building, value creation, user needs, collaboration, non-traditional paths, learning, flow state, meaning of life, self-love, thiel fellowship, toucan, chrome extension, babbel, palantir, digital twin, zero sum game, positive sum game, philosophy, higher education, language learning, software engineering, philosophy, growth mindset, carol dweck, mimetic theory, rené girard, going against the grain, agency

Credits:

Taoudella by ⁠Blue Dot Sessions