Tim Ferriss - Jake Muise

1) Jake Muise describes an intense rescue mission to save cows trapped under a 20-mile-per-hour lava flow during a volcanic eruption. Muise's team had previously developed a live-capture system to help remove cows from high elevation critical watershed areas where they caused damage. After local authorities reached out to them for help, they began the operation which included picking up the cows with a helicopter by using the heat from the lava flow to give them a boost. While the situation was dangerous, they were able to safely rescue all 50 of the trapped cows.

2) Jake Muise's company is co-founded with his wife, Ku'ulani, who is described as a brilliant person with an in-depth understand of their place. Apart from being a mother of three, Ku'u is a theologian, a designer, and a historian of the place. Jake Muise ties in Maui Nui's pre-colonial agriculture with the tie between New Zealand's Māori culture and calls Hawaiian culture literal geniuses for their ability to navigate all of the Pacific Ocean.

3) Jake discusses the remarkable navigational skills of the Māori people and their ingenious agricultural systems. He highlights the Kohala Field Systems with 500 miles of permaculture lines and 273 varieties of sweet potato that yielded 60% better than current crops. He also talks about the Loko i'a fish ponds with 500-plus fish farms producing three million pounds of fish, as well as their Ahupua'a system built to protect water. Muise then transitions to talking about axis deer in Hawai'i, which were introduced in 1868 as a gift and placed under restrictions for hunting for 15-20 years. Muise mentions that as early as 1898, reports were being made about axis deer population growth and hunting increasing, leading to overpopulation and ecological destruction.

4) Jake discusses the introduction of axis deer, a species that can breed year-round and has no natural predators, to the island of Molokaʻi in Hawaii. Currently, the population is around 70,000 deer, while there are only 7,000 people on the island. Due to the deer's ability to denude entire landscapes in days, their introduction has caused the loss of about a third of the population every seven to 10 years due to overpopulation famine. This results in the loss of vital watersheds, as the deer's grazing results in less capture of water, causing a runoff effect that deposits topsoil on reefs, ultimately causing the death of coral systems and impacting nearshore fisheries.

5) Jake talks about his team's mission to remove axis deer from Hawaii, an invasive species that was damaging the ecosystem and the economy. It took them seven months to get a camera trap image of the first deer and another four months to get the first one. During the three-month period, they did ground transects to look for signs of deer and utilized military tools like forward-looking infrared (FLIR). FLIR significantly increased the detection rates of the deer. They eventually found and removed all the deer, including the two that were born. They took two years to accomplish their mission, but it was a massive success.

6) Muise explains how the technology they developed for the hunt allowed for highly accurate surveys, which enabled them to determine the exact number of deer in an area with a 95 percent confidence interval. This technology was a springboard for a successful project completion in that area, and also led to the development of rules for the harvesting of axis deer on Maui, where there was previously no solution for managing the invasive species.

7) Jake talks about his experience playing volleyball and how it was a way for him to continue playing a sport he loved after his family could no longer afford hockey equipment. He recounts his journey to becoming a professional volleyball player, traveling the world and assimilating into different cultures through the sport. He also tells a story about a language barrier with his Dutch coach, which resulted in a hilarious misinterpretation about getting free pizza after a game.

8) Jake discusses the unique work schedule and benefits system that they have implemented at his company, which was originally designed to accommodate the night-time harvesting operations. The system offers employees seven days of work followed by seven days off, with unlimited overtime available on their days off. However, they found that no one took up the offer of overtime, which Muise attributes to the value of time and the opportunity for employees to pursue interests and hobbies during their time off. This unorthodox system has led to a highly motivated and efficient workforce, and Muise explains the importance of data tracking and metrics in maintaining this level of productivity.

9) Jake discusses the combination of satellite data and ground data to create route planning and improve efficiency in their Maui Nui venison operation. Muise also explains their constant iteration philosophy and how they collect and measure data in order to produce a better product faster with more quality. Muise then talks about the Federal Meat Inspection Act, which they follow to ensure humane and safe processing of the animals. They have developed a shooting system that allows them to miss on purpose 30% of the time to ensure that every shot is perfect and there are no outside injuries. Muise also notes that a decent portion of their customer base is vegans or vegetarians who allow an exception for their venison.

10) Jake explains the process of harvesting animals for consumption. The team uses forward-looking infrared drone technology to locate animals on thousands of acres, before using equipment to assess their health and harvest them without scaring them with lights. The animals are then picked up and carried back to the UTVs, where they are processed and cleaned without contamination or bruising. The process must be completed within a three-hour period, and requires skilled team members with expertise in sniping, rally car driving and butchery.

11) Jake describes the process of training new hires for his hunting and harvesting team, which involves traversing rough, off-road terrain at high speeds in specialized UTVs to move deer from the harvesting team to the processing team. Developing communication skills is key in this high-pressure environment, so Jake worked on creating a language of harvesting, which includes key words to avoid confusion. He also implemented a peer-to-peer evaluation system called HHS, which stands for Humble, Hungry, Smart, to measure humility, work ethic, and emotional intelligence, and uses it in the recruiting and vetting process to ensure that safety is not compromised.

12) Jake discusses the importance of a team accountability process to ensure that extraordinary teams are built. He created a system that uses anonymous team scoring to evaluate employees in 24 different categories, and managers don't have a say in whether an employee stays or not. Instead, they focus on celebrating the categories that employees excel in and pinpoint the categories in which they are underperforming. This system has helped them attract better fits for their team and let go of people that were not a good match.

13) Jake discusses a unique performance management system that he created to gauge his employees' emotional awareness and growth. Called the Humble, Hungry, Smart (HHS) performance review, Muise and his team created 18 questions and graded each answer from one to seven. The score adds up to a percentage, which he uses to reward workers who receive two A-pluses in their first six months of employment, with a raise based on their contribution. At the same time, the HHS system helps weed out those who choose to ignore feedback and not work on areas where they received lower scores.

14) Jake talks about how his company, Maui Nui Venison, worked with Dr. van Vliet at Utah State University to participate in the largest, most in-depth beef study ever done, measuring a thousand-plus biochemicals through advanced metabolomics testing. Maui Nui Venison was the only animal with a choice to eat exactly what it wanted and it outperformed the rest of the beef samples. The study showed that Maui Nui Venison had two to four times the phytochemicals, eight to 64 times the omega-3s, and significantly less oxidative stress.

15) Jake discusses two significant strategies in his life - training his children to be useful people and earn their money, rather than buying gifts for them, and a secret Pinterest board that his wife created to make him look like an amazing gift-giver in front of their children. Muise talks about how the clawback allowance and training for attitude instead of results have made a difference in his kids’ behaviours. As for the secret Pinterest board, his wife invited him to it and dictates the exact item she wants without disclosing it explicitly, ensuring both parties are happy with the outcome. She pretends that Muise figured out what to get her, and they never reveal this to anyone else.

16) Jake Muise and Tim Ferriss discuss two different techniques for finding gratitude in challenging times. Muise's wife plays a game where she pretends to be an 80-year-old woman who has been given a chance to return to the present moment and see her children again, allowing her to appreciate the time she has with them. Meanwhile, Tim Ferriss shares a trick he learned from a book he wrote where he asks himself how much he would pay to relive a mundane moment 50 years from now, which helps him find gratitude in the present. They also discuss the concept of parenting as a tug of war that parents have to lose, a visual that helps parents appreciate the time they have with their children.