Podcast of the Week: Jerry Colonna – Legendary Investor And Executive Coach with Jason Calacanis

Jerry Colonna’s new book is out (Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up) so he is making the rounds. For those that have never heard of him, he came from humble beginnings in Brooklyn and had a generous act of goodwill done by a college professor that helped him to graduate and find his first job at CMP Media, publisher of Information Week. In 1995 he left his writer/editor job to join CMG Partners – the first internet focused venture fund. In 1996, he and Fred Wilson started Flatiron Partners which changed the startup and tech investing community in NYC.

A whole lot of life happens, including September 11th, and Colonna eventually decides to start a business and executive coaching practice, Reboot.io (which has its own podcast too). Colonna is known for helping people embrace extreme challenges and stress head-on, and guide them through understanding their reaction to that stress through introspection. In this podcast with Calacanis (This Week in Startups episodes 944 and 946), you’ll get a feel for what he does. Even if it feels a little odd or strange or woo woo to hear, pay close attention to what he’s saying and how he’s saying it. For fans of psychology and psychiatry, Colonna blends his experience with his knowledge of business and self like no one else. I’m very excited to read this book.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Read Fred Wilson’s review of Reboot here. Smart and talented friends are a beautiful thing.

Tim Ferriss also interviews Colonna here. This is a slightly different angle than you’ll get from Calacanis, but the relationship and similarities to Calacanis made me choose to feature his.