Podcast Review: The Man Who Made $100 Million To Save His Children's lives

In this podcast Tim Ferriss sits down with John Crowley. It is a deeply powerful conversation with a deeply facinanting gentleman. Just to give you an overview, John is the Chairman and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotechnology company. John moved into biotechnology in 1998 when his two children were diagnosed with Pompe disease a neuromuscular disorder. He left his job and set out to become an entrepreneur on a mission to find a cure for his children. Incredibly, In 2001, Novazyme, the firm he founded was acquired by Genzyme Corporation for nearly $200 million.

John also served as a commissioned intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 2005-2016. He was assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and is a veteran of the global war on terrorism, with service in Afghanistan. He graduated with a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and earned a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and an M.B.A. from Harvard. He previously served (2014-2016) as the National Chairman of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and is a founding board member of the Global Genes Project. John is a Henry Crown Fellow at The Aspen Institute. An incredible guy. 

Highlight:

For me, the highlight of this quite remarkable conversation is actually not John's momentous drive, his success or the drug breakthroughs. But the the story he shares about the time he visited his daughter Meghan in her Dorn at Notre Dame in her first week. She required 24/7 nursing assistance as she was in a wheelchair.  So when John visited her, he found a rota the wall where all scheduled helping her in and out of her wheelchair on a daily basis. But what blew John's mind was that he had totally forgotten that it actually requires two people to help her in and out of her chair. It was then he saw the second rota, where seven times a day students volunteered to help her in and out. When John said it, it sent a shiver down the spine. Quite incredible. As Tim says 'It gives you new faith in humanity'. 

Listen to the full interview here. 

Philosophy: The Most Important Comment Tim Ferriss Has Ever Made?

I can't quite remember when I heard Tim say this - but I found it to be fascinating. I don't consider myself a Type A personality - but I certainly spend vast amounts of time pondering life and why we behave the way we do. I hope you take something from it as I did: 

'Type A personalities have goal pursuit as default hard wiring. This is excellent for pursing achievement, but also anxiety, as you are constantly future focused. Achievement is merely a passing grade in life - it's a C+ that gets you limping along to the next grade, in the right direction. But for anything approaching happiness, you have to want what you already have, which takes perspective. Because if you don't want and like what you have, nothing you get will ever will make you happy' 
 

For more from Tim, click here.