Gustav Söderström

And it actually turns out that a lot of my product people and engineers are deeply interested in these things. So I just have something very interesting to talk to people around me about. And then I do sports. I do Brazilian jiu-jitsu with my kids, which is very rewarding. What has that taught you? humbleness.

And it actually turns out that a lot of my product people and engineers are deeply interested in these things. So I just have something very interesting to talk to people around me about. And then I do sports. I do Brazilian jiu-jitsu with my kids, which is very rewarding. What has that taught you? humbleness.

You come in and you think you do something and you get absolutely smashed by someone half your size and they're not even sweating. And you're like, okay, technique matters. It's technique. It's leverage. Yeah. The beautiful thing about Brazilian jiu-jitsu is that the bad thing is real. There's a long story behind it, but the net is that Japanese person bought jiu-jitsu to a who fought a lot.

You come in and you think you do something and you get absolutely smashed by someone half your size and they're not even sweating. And you're like, okay, technique matters. It's technique. It's leverage. Yeah. The beautiful thing about Brazilian jiu-jitsu is that the bad thing is real. There's a long story behind it, but the net is that Japanese person bought jiu-jitsu to a who fought a lot.

There was one brother that was just underdeveloped versus the others. He was just not very strong, so he could not beat his brothers. So he started taking Japanese jiu-jitsu and figuring out how he could just use physics, just leverage. And slowly, slowly, he started beating all his brothers, and that became Brazilian jiu-jitsu. So it was literally, he had to solve the problem.

There was one brother that was just underdeveloped versus the others. He was just not very strong, so he could not beat his brothers. So he started taking Japanese jiu-jitsu and figuring out how he could just use physics, just leverage. And slowly, slowly, he started beating all his brothers, and that became Brazilian jiu-jitsu. So it was literally, he had to solve the problem.

He could not use power. I didn't know that. And then this family put up all these competitions. I like it from an evolutionary product point of view. They said, okay, anyone come here. Karate, kickboxing, just try it. Open. They fought in these basements, just evolving the sport, proving that it was real. A lot of martial arts, it's magic and secret, and they never test their skills.

He could not use power. I didn't know that. And then this family put up all these competitions. I like it from an evolutionary product point of view. They said, okay, anyone come here. Karate, kickboxing, just try it. Open. They fought in these basements, just evolving the sport, proving that it was real. A lot of martial arts, it's magic and secret, and they never test their skills.

It works very well in practice. The other thing I like about it is that I've done a lot of other martial arts, boxing and Thai boxing and stuff. Those things are great as exercise, but for self-protection, it's not very good. You cannot punch someone in the face. You're going to get sued as protection. The beautiful thing about martial arts, which is called the gentle sport, is you control people.

It works very well in practice. The other thing I like about it is that I've done a lot of other martial arts, boxing and Thai boxing and stuff. Those things are great as exercise, but for self-protection, it's not very good. You cannot punch someone in the face. You're going to get sued as protection. The beautiful thing about martial arts, which is called the gentle sport, is you control people.

You constrain them. And you can adapt the level of violence. This is why police use jujitsu and not Thai boxing. Because you can regulate the violence to the other person. You can control them without hurting them. So that's why I think everyone should use it and practice it. It's good both for self-discipline because you get humble.

You constrain them. And you can adapt the level of violence. This is why police use jujitsu and not Thai boxing. Because you can regulate the violence to the other person. You can control them without hurting them. So that's why I think everyone should use it and practice it. It's good both for self-discipline because you get humble.

It's also actually useful and you can use it without harming other people.

It's also actually useful and you can use it without harming other people.

People probably don't know this because how would they? But Spotify, you and Daniel especially, have been probably the most influential people and certainly the company on me and how I've thought about building our businesses over time. And a lot of that comes back to the stuff that you don't see.

People probably don't know this because how would they? But Spotify, you and Daniel especially, have been probably the most influential people and certainly the company on me and how I've thought about building our businesses over time. And a lot of that comes back to the stuff that you don't see.

I purposefully talked about a bunch of it today with you, the bets board, the complexity that's hidden behind a beautiful consumer experience. You were the first person years ago to describe the bets board concept to me. And we've used that very effectively. And so many lessons from Daniel on how to think about what matters to users.

I purposefully talked about a bunch of it today with you, the bets board, the complexity that's hidden behind a beautiful consumer experience. You were the first person years ago to describe the bets board concept to me. And we've used that very effectively. And so many lessons from Daniel on how to think about what matters to users.

And I think Spotify is not only an incredible product, but it's also one where the product is a reflection of the company behind it.

And I think Spotify is not only an incredible product, but it's also one where the product is a reflection of the company behind it.