The Smartest Way To Be Stupid with comedian Matthew Broussard

Summary

A Bit of Optimism

Episode: The Smartest Way To Be Stupid
Host: Simon Sinek
Guest: Matthew Broussard (comedian, math & science enthusiast)
Date: November 11, 2025

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Episode Overview

Main Theme:
Simon Sinek sits down with comedian and math aficionado Matthew Broussard to explore the intersections between comedy, science, learning, and vulnerability. Their conversation delves deep into topics like the nature of intelligence, creativity, the importance of good teaching, overcoming feelings of stupidity, and staying true to one’s own compass in a world driven by external validation. The episode is rich in optimism, grounded in personal stories, and sprinkled with mathematical metaphors and comedic insights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Overlap of Math, Science & Comedy

• Empirical Nature of Comedy: Matthew sees stand-up as an almost scientific pursuit, aiming to measure laughs and continuously refine material, likening it to running experiments (hypothesis, test, conclusion).
  • “Every decision I make is focus grouped in real time. It’s empirical. It’s extremely empirical.” — Matthew Broussard [00:03]
• Instant Feedback: Both math and comedy provide rapid feedback (“the solution is revealed in that moment”), fueling Broussard’s fascination.
  • “Hypothesis, conclusion. In a heartbeat.” — Matthew Broussard [00:32]
• Creativity not confined to ‘the arts’: Comedy sits at the intersection of art and empirical science, challenging the notion of what “art” is.

2. Career Origins & Navigating Risk

• Parallel Paths: Matthew started as a financial analyst but was drawn to comedy through open mics—initially, a hobby.
  • “I was told from a very young age that I had above average math skills ... It wasn’t until I tried an open mic that I even conceived of the notion that I could do anything else.” — Matthew Broussard [02:29]
• Serendipity and Setbacks: Losing his finance job due to comedy pursuits was “the worst day” of his life, but it catalyzed a full commitment to stand-up, leading to quick gigs and growth.
  • “My bank account is now my shot clock, so let’s really go for it.” — Matthew Broussard [05:19]

3. The Internet & Changing Comedy Landscapes

• Democratization and Challenge: Social media lowered the bar for entry and exposure but made it harder to differentiate as a comedian.
• Strategic Use of Social Media: During the pandemic, Matthew repurposed his TV clips on Instagram and TikTok, shifting from industry recognition to audience-building.
  • “I went back, I took my half hour, my Conan set ... started cutting it up into Instagram Reels and TikToks. And that’s when people started knowing my comedy …” — Matthew Broussard [07:35]

4. Vulnerability, Failure, and the Role of Validation

• Resilience in Comedy: The willingness to face public failure (bombing) is essential for both comedians and great actors, according to Simon.
• Dissecting Motivation: Discussing the “narcissism” or validation-seeking inherent in performing, Matthew and Simon draw parallels to business and personal achievement.
  • “If I could properly validate myself without external sources, I don’t think I would need to do stand-up comedy.” — Matthew Broussard [13:11]
• Why Comedians are ‘Broken’: Reframed as embracing the drive for validation over the fear of failure.

5. Learning, Teaching, and the Myth of Being 'Bad at Math'

• Role of Good Teachers: Both lament poor math education; Broussard advocates for more dynamic, visual teaching methods.
  • “If you just had those visuals... We’re teaching math with a static image drawn on a chalkboard. It should be done by the people at Pixar.” — Matthew Broussard [23:41]
• Embracing Frustration: Feeling stupid or lost is an essential part of the learning process, not a reflection of innate ability.
  • “Anyone who studies math is constantly bombarded by frustration. But you embrace the frustration ... and then in one moment, all of those negative feelings are going to snap to positive feelings. And that’s the moment of understanding.” — Matthew Broussard (quoting Matt Parker) [27:02]

6. Smart Ways to Be "Stupid": Reframing the Learning Journey

• The ‘Smartest Way to Be Stupid’ Concept: Instead of blaming oneself, blame the explanation or the teacher. Seek multiple perspectives; YouTube is a treasure trove.
  • “Show me seven different ways to explain it until I understand it right … It’s okay to feel stupid.” — Simon Sinek [28:45], [29:25]
  • “What the story should be is, ‘I have yet to find somebody who can explain math in a way to me that I can understand it.’” — Simon Sinek [29:49]
• Importance of Patience & Persistence: True learning requires time, patience, and the courage to admit confusion.

7. Vulnerability as Social Good in Comedy

• Self-Deprecation as Connection: Matthew recounts evolving from edgy, brash jokes to self-deprecation and shares how audiences connect more deeply through jokes at his own expense.
  • “If there’s going to be a victim to the joke, why not me? I’m the consenting party.” — Matthew Broussard [37:02]
• Family & Permission: Stories of his mother in his act are recounted with her blessing, illustrating comedy’s roots in truth and vulnerability.

8. Navigating External Metrics vs. Internal Compass

• Dangers of Optimization: Blindly chasing applause, likes, or laughs can lead comedians to stray from their core values.
  • “What if you get it wrong? What if I’m doing well because … those views are the measure, and now you do everything you can to optimize that. ... You’re going to do a lot of things that are clickbaity ... not in the intention of what you wanted to create originally.” — Matthew Broussard [48:55]
• Ethical Guardrails: The importance of saying “no” to opportunities or jokes that compromise their values.
  • “You are as successful as the biggest thing you say no to.” — Mike Lawrence (quoted by Broussard) [52:59]
• Balancing Metrics: Comedy (and life) is like a math equation with different outputs: laughs, respect, career success—each with different weights.

9. Ambition, Growth, and Reflection

• Ambition & Vision: Matthew doesn’t claim grand vision; his focus is on the next special, slow and steady artistic growth, and potentially acting in a sitcom.
• The ‘Iceberg Theory’ of Success: Simon reflects that people see only the visible accomplishments, not the huge body of effort below the surface; he's driven by a ‘destination’ focus rather than a prescribed ‘route.’
  • “Most people are obsessed with the route. I’m obsessed with the destination.” — Simon Sinek [45:56]

10. Personal Stories & Memorable Childhood Moments

• Childhood Memories: Running a personal-best 5k in middle school; a self-made Adventure Time sword—each driven by intrinsic motivation.
• Intrinsic Validation: Both agree that ultimate satisfaction comes not from winning, but from feeling a personal sense of growth and accomplishment.
  • “It’s a validation of the work was worth it.” — Simon Sinek [59:04]

11. Advice & Life Hacks

• Day Job Advice: Hold onto day jobs as long as possible—the struggle makes you interesting and keeps your art authentic.
• Daily Validation List: Matthew recommends a habit of writing down things you’re doing well each morning before making a to-do list. This builds positive momentum.
  • “You work better when you like yourself. Everyone thinks they work better when they hate themselves. No, when you like yourself … you do your best work.” — Matthew Broussard [63:06]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Comedy’s Empiricism:
  “Every decision I make is focus grouped in real time. It’s empirical.” — Matthew Broussard [00:03]

• On Feeling Stupid as a Feature, Not a Bug:
  “Anyone who studies math is constantly bombarded by frustration. But you embrace the frustration ... and then in one moment, all of those negative feelings are going to snap to positive feelings.” — Matthew Broussard (citing Matt Parker) [27:02]

• On Good Explanation & Learning:
  “What the story should be is, ‘I have yet to find somebody who can explain math in a way to me that I can understand it.’” — Simon Sinek [29:49]

• On Ethical Guardrails:
  “You are as successful as the biggest thing you say no to.” — Mike Lawrence (quoted by Broussard) [52:59]

• On Validation & Hard Work:
  “It’s not the result that becomes intoxicating. It’s earning the result. It’s doing the hard work to get the result that becomes intoxicating.” — Simon Sinek [60:57]

• On Self-Validation:
  “You work better when you like yourself. ... When it feels fun and you feel good about yourself, you do your best work.” — Matthew Broussard [63:06]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:03 — Comedy and math overlap; empirical feedback in stand-up
• 02:29 — Matthew’s upbringing and parallel career beginnings
• 05:19 — Turning point: losing his day job
• 07:35 — Using social media to grow an audience
• 13:11 — Nature of validation and insecurity in performing
• 23:41 — Math education critiques & wish for Pixar-worthy instruction
• 27:02 — Embracing frustration as an essential part of learning
• 29:49 — Shifting mindset: “I just need a better teacher”
• 37:02 — Self-deprecation and the evolution of vulnerability in comedy
• 48:55 — The risks of optimizing for the wrong things
• 52:59 — "You're as successful as the biggest thing you say no to."
• 60:57 — The real thrill is doing the work, not just the result
• 63:06 — Daily self-affirmation habit for productivity

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Final Thoughts

This candid, sometimes vulnerable conversation is a philosophical and practical playbook for anyone wrestling with feelings of inadequacy, craving creative growth, or searching for balance between internal compass and external rewards. Matthew Broussard demonstrates that embracing frustration, seeking better explanations, and favoring the journey over the mere destination are all forms of the “smartest way to be stupid.”

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For further inspiration:

• Try Matthew’s daily life hack: List what you’re doing well before you tackle your to-do’s.
• Remember: Not understanding something at first is normal. Blame the method, not yourself.
• Every worthwhile journey—whether in comedy, math, or life—demands patience, persistence, and a willingness to look and feel “stupid” until the lightbulb moment arrives.

Transcript

[Matthew Broussard]

My love for math and my love for comedy and science, I don't think they're separate entities. I was not an artist by training. I think an artist creates things whose value is measured subjectively. Stand up comedy specifically sits at an odd intersection in that you could almost not qualify it as art, because every decision I make is focus grouped in real time. It's empirical. It's extremely empirical. I think that was my draw to it.

[Simon Sinek]

And instant results instantly. Like math, the math, the solution is revealed in that moment. Yes. And comedy. The solution is revealed.

[Matthew Broussard]

Hypothesis, conclusion. In a heartbeat.

[Simon Sinek]

In a heartbeat.

[Matthew Broussard]

In a heartbeat.

[Simon Sinek]

I was surprised when I invited a comedian on the show that we would spend so much time talking about math, but it's to be expected. Matthew Broussard is a former financial analyst who, let's just say, got forced into standup comedy. I found his work on Instagram a whole bunch of years ago and am a huge fan. He's also the creator of Monday Punday, the official name of his channel that is chock full of comedy and, thank goodness, not much math. This nerd at heart taught me an invaluable life lesson. At various times, we all feel stupid, which very often results in us actually believing we're stupid. I, for one, always thought that I was bad at math, but as Matthew explained it to me, I'm not stupid. I was just taught badly. In this episode, we talk about curiosity, finding good teachers and mothers. This is a bit of optimism. This episode is brought to you by Porsche and their new Macan. And when they reached out to us and asked if I would be comfortable to talk about the new Porsche Macan, well, let's just say I already owned one. That's actually my car. So the simple answer was. Was yes. So I discovered you on the Instagram because comedians pop up in my feed. Apparently, the algorithm knows I like funny things. And so you were randomly thrust into my day. And I went down the Matthew Broussard rabbit hole like you like one.

[Matthew Broussard]

And all of a sudden, I'm in your face.

[Simon Sinek]

An hour later, I'm like, shit, I should start work. You are exceptionally smart. Thank you.

[Matthew Broussard]

I appreciate that.

[Simon Sinek]

I have to imagine that somebody has said to you at some point, you're too smart to be a comedian. What are you doing with your life?

[Matthew Broussard]

My parents have definitely said that I was. I've. Yeah, my. My parents didn't want me to pursue comedy. I was told from a very young age that I had above average math skills, specifically, and that was a very employable skill to have and that that skill was luckily fostered quite strongly and I was able to learn. I was also very curious. I was, I was pretty self motivated with it. I went to college for it. And it really wasn't until I tried an open mic that I even conceived of the notion that I could do anything else with my life besides use math. Math to make money.

[Simon Sinek]

Because you talk about math principles in your comedy sometimes. So we know that you know math. You also seem to like science and you have an exceptional grasp of other things. Like, I guess it's part of memory. You just, I mean, I mean we were having coffee beef, you know, before when you arrived and we're talking about the oxidization of coffee in a metal container. I mean the fact that we're having this conversation is ridiculous, you know.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah.

[Simon Sinek]

And it went beyond tastes better not in metal. You know, like the point is, is, is I'm so curious how you picked the path of greater risk. More joy, perhaps? That's a question, I guess.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

Thank you. Like, is this a conversation about do the thing you have aptitude for versus follow your. Follow your dreams and follow your passions?

[Matthew Broussard]

I. So I was, I think, more pragmatic about it than most. I had my first job out of college. I was working as a financial analyst. But not, not to the. Not wal easy hours, not the craziest pay nine to five. I made spreadsheets. For the most part, I didn't feel a sense of pride in what I did. It was private wealth management. My job was to make rich people richer. And I didn't have a product I created. So some part of me felt a little empty doing that. Perhaps if I had been an engineer or a coder and there was an actual product I was creating, I could have taken more pride in that. But I started doing open mics and I saw just.

[Simon Sinek]

Just for fun.

[Matthew Broussard]

Just for fun. Yeah. Well, I mean I, I thought, wouldn't it be cool to do this full time? But I knew the odds were very low and I said, let's try it. And the information was muddled at first, but there was an overall positive trend that I might have been towards the higher end of aptitude for a beginner. And I told myself, just keep noting where you stand against the ranks and how that extrapolates towards a career in this. But hold on for dear life to the career path you've worked very hard to have because I was still young. But stepping away from that could hurt and mean I could never potentially get back to the same level that I was On. On track for.

[Simon Sinek]

So you were parallel pathing it until one. Much as I could. Until one path revealed that this is a risk worth taking.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes. Well, what actually happened was comedy cost me my job in finance. So I was kind of burning the candle at both ends and threw some mistakes on my part.

[Simon Sinek]

Because comedy happens late at night if you're an open mic guy.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes. And in California and trying to do more and more. And it was because comedy was going fairly well that I was trying to move and trying to do more than I should have been doing. I ended up fairly losing my job. And that was the worst day of my life. I think it was October 4, 2013. I was in California. I didn't have a place to live. I was staying with a friend. Everything I own was in my car and had to figure out, like, what I was gonna do. And I said, well, this is, you know, my bank account is now my shot clock, so let's really go for it. And honestly, not that harrowing. Things kind of worked out within, like two months. I started booking college gigs.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah. I'm always fascinated by people who. I mean, show business is a hard business. And I. And I'm curious if the Internet has made it easier or harder for you because. Yes, exposure is easier. I mean, case in point, here we are because of the interwebs, because of social media. But at the same time, there is so much. There are so many open mic night, you know, little. Some talent too. There's some talented people, but there's. So is it better or worse or just different challenges?

[Matthew Broussard]

There's a lot to unpack there. Comedy is stand up. Comedy is. The beauty of it is there's low barrier to entry. The horror of it is there's low barrier to entry.

[Simon Sinek]

Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

Meaning you are fighting through swarms of people. An actor at least goes through acting school and has some audition process, hopefully. Musicians have to have the aptitude to play an instrument or sing. Anyone can do it. And now anyone can post it online.

[Simon Sinek]

Comedy is like anyone can stand on the stage and perform. Yes.

[Matthew Broussard]

And there's also no training for comedy besides getting on stage and performing. There's no school or class you can go to. You have to be good. You have to be on stage a lot. But to be on stage a lot, you have to be good.

[Simon Sinek]

Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

So it's a very difficult track to get started in the Internet, though. The interesting thing with the Internet was I was very fortunate. In the early days of my standup, I was favored by the industry. Comedy Central, Conan. I Got put on a lot of shows, which was nice. It didn't translate into having a fan base. Those are the waning days of media. Not for me, at least. Some luck, some recognition, but I wasn't selling a ton of tickets off of that. Social media wasn't the way comedians were exposed back then. And then the pandemic hit, and then that was really the end of that. Those things don't make stars anymore. I've never been on Netflix. That might be a route, but even that's becoming less of a sure thing. Things changed for me on the business end when, during the pandemic, I realized Comedy Central was asleep at the wheel in terms of copyright issues. So I went back, I took my half hour, I took my Conan set, I took every set I did on television. You pulled that footage off YouTube and started cutting it up into Instagram Reels and TikToks. And that's when people started knowing my comedy and sharing my comedy and recognizing me. So it was an interesting lesson. And rather than say, feeling defeated by this, looking at it as an opportunity to use that footage to, you know, I believed in this thing I'd already done. And then I thought maybe if I can just get people to see this, I could start making an audience for myself. And that, that worked to an extent.

[Simon Sinek]

To an extent. Why is it. And obviously talent, that's where. That's where the wheat and the chaff separate. Because you get more likes, you get more forwards. The algorithm favors you. You'll do better, you'll get it, you'll get a following. I have a theory which I'm, that I think comedians make great actors. You know, you look at people who, with backgrounds in comedy that became great actors. You know, Jim Carrey, Rob Williams, Robin Williams, Jamie Foxx. These are comedians.

[Matthew Broussard]

Michael Keaton, Michael Keaton really was a stand up.

[Simon Sinek]

Was he really?

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

Tom Hanks started doing comedy, not a stand up. But that was his. It was. So all of these, especially the ones who did stand up, Michael Keaton didn't know, especially ones who do stand up, I, I think they have the ability to become great actors because they get. This is my theory, because vulnerability and humiliation are something they're. They're attuned to. Like they have been. Every comedian has bombed. Every comedian has been humiliated. Every comedian has stood there knowing that it is going incredibly badly and you have to finish your set. And what an act a great actor has to tap into is the ability to be that vulnerable, that sort of, to persevere. And comedians just Have a good training to be good actors. Comment?

[Matthew Broussard]

Can I disagree? Of course.

[Simon Sinek]

It's a theory.

[Matthew Broussard]

It's a great theory.

[Simon Sinek]

Theories are to be tested.

[Matthew Broussard]

I think you're right. And the beauty of comedy is the humiliation, is the vulnerability. I think. I really think great comedy can last very long without that. Without that typically yet vulnerability that makes other people feel less alone. Here's what I think separates stand up comedy potentially and potentially why I'm not as good of an actor because of being a stand up comedian. If you were giving someone a massage and they were just completely silent, would you know what you were doing? You might be good at it, you might not. What if they were telling you, that's the spot, go harder there. And even moaning or, or going ow. When you hit bad spots. Which person do you think you would give a better massage to? The vocal one. I like if I can be a bit long winded here. My love for math and my love for comedy and science, I don't think they're separate entities. I was not an artist by training. I think an artist creates things whose value is measured subjectively. Stand up comedy specifically sits at an odd intersection in that you could almost not qualify it as art because every decision I make is focus grouped in real time. It's empirical. It's extremely empirical. I think that was my draw to it.

[Simon Sinek]

And instant results instantly. Like math, the math, the solution is revealed in that moment and comedy, the solution is revealed.

[Matthew Broussard]

Hypothesis, conclusion. In a heartbeat.

[Simon Sinek]

In a heartbeat.

[Matthew Broussard]

In a heartbeat. And then you can iterate endlessly. I didn't.

[Simon Sinek]

I'll change the same word. Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yep. I'll change one word and I'll try three different words in the same joke and go, okay. Based on a lot of data, noisy data, but data. I know this word is the funniest. And that's not the whole process. Obviously you have to trust yourself more than that because there's too many variables. But that process is really wonderful to me. And I think it allows maybe not most artistically inclined people to be somewhat better at stand up because someone tells you when you're good and bad. The reason I struggle with acting, especially film acting, is because I don't know what I'm doing well or poorly. And when my brain hears silence, it panics and thinks it's doing something wrong. I think theater actors, the other side of that is stand up comedians and theater actors also have had lots of time knowing when they're doing well and knowing when they're doing poorly. And then it starts to become Craft. Yes. And unconscious competence, the highest level of before. Right. Yes. So that's very neat to me. And, and just looking at it, more of a science and empirical feedback loop.

[Simon Sinek]

The little end narcissism. Not big end narcissism, but there's a, there's a little end narcissism to that. Right. Which is, which is feed me, feed me, feed me. Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

I think a lot. Yeah. I think, like constant need for validation.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah. And, and is that, is that an insecurity or is that, is it a bug or a feature?

[Matthew Broussard]

Oh, both. Yeah. I think if I could properly validate myself without external sources, I don't think I would need to do stand up comedy. I think it's a need for validation. I think it's a whole. And I think it's probably common in other entertainers and potentially even business people. Yeah. Would you agree that it's some of them?

[Simon Sinek]

Some of them, I think the ones that are more money driven, the ones that I've met that are very, very money money driven, for them, the amount of money that they can achieve or the stock price they can drive, whatever it is, is a direct validation that they're good, smart, et cetera. Even though there may or may not.

[Matthew Broussard]

Be that correlation, it's the only yardstick they can find.

[Simon Sinek]

And it's an empirical yardstick, and it's a measurable yardstick. It's a yardstick that they can hold up to somebody else and be like, see, Right. And somebody goes, I disagree. They're like, but you're wrong, because here's what it says on, on the spreadsheet.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

So, so this plays to the trope that comedians are all a little broken.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes. Yeah, I don't, I don't. I think that's.

[Simon Sinek]

But broken is maybe over overstating. Overstating it. But, but, but the, but that need for, that need for external validation, but.

[Matthew Broussard]

Who doesn't have that? I guess it's just. Is the need for validation higher than the fear of failure? And I guess for comedians, that's because I think a lot of people, I guess a lot of people are very afraid of stand up. But to me, the, the result was so juicy that it was worth falling on my face.

[Simon Sinek]

Right, right.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah.

[Simon Sinek]

The, the, the, the benefits outweigh the risks, which is why you do it.

[Matthew Broussard]

Do you get a rush out of speaking publicly? Is that like, you must enjoy it?

[Simon Sinek]

I think anybody. I think there's no avoiding the adrenaline standing in front of huge audiences sometimes. There's no avoiding the enjoyment of the adrenaline and I think the. What separates the good ones from the mediocre ones is for some they had. Adrenaline translates into fear and anxiety. And for. And for the good ones, we've learned to translate the adrenaline into presence and energy and focus and. And it's all about you. So the adrenaline is my friend. Yes, it makes me better at what I do. But I mean, of course, of course it feels good. Nobody can deny that. And of course I, I like it when I get it. The question is, do I need it? And I don't.

[Matthew Broussard]

What is the part of what you do that is the most satisfying?

[Simon Sinek]

So I am driven. The hard thing for my work is. And when you make the difference between sort of the scientist and the artist, you know, the empirical versus the subjective, which is. Though I have empirical metrics, you know, I have views of videos and I have forwards and I have, you know, book sales. And those things are indicators to me. But the thing that, that drives me is, is impact. What means the most to me is that I'm undoing everything Jack Welch ever did. Like, I want to reverse everything that man broke in capitalism.

[Matthew Broussard]

The why. Yeah, yeah.

[Simon Sinek]

But like, I have a. I have a. I'm chipping away, you know, and, and like the, the people that drive me and inspire me. So like the. All the founding members of the American women's suffrage movement all died before the first woman voted. None of them, none of them, none of them lived to see a woman vote. What I'm. What the reason that inspires me is they still never gave up. It was never in their grasp, yet they continued because their metric was momentum, not result. They obviously wanted the result. They would have preferred it happened in their lifetime. Of course, we know all these things, but the ability to measure momentum and have the peace of mind to know that upon my death, others will take this torch and continue without me. And that means my work was worth it. That to me is super inspiring.

[Matthew Broussard]

That's very noble. That's really wonderful. I think my ego is too strong that I need to see it and get credit for it. Anything I'm a part of. So I'm not a good person. That's lovely. It's like generational starships I read a lot about, like in sci fi. It's like, it's a common thing in sci fi. A spaceship will take off towards whatever other star and the original habitants know they will die before it gets there. But the children, their children's children might see the new world.

[Simon Sinek]

Don't get me wrong, there's no nobility here. I like instant gratification. I like results. Like, you know, I like all those things. You know, it's not, it's not an either or. It's a both. And the mindset, the infinite mindset that's required to have that has some very different standards, which is I have no choice but to rely on people, need people, trust people. I. I have no choice. I can't be a, a lone wolf. It just, it would then it would never work.

[Matthew Broussard]

Right.

[Simon Sinek]

And, and, and so, and again, not better or worse. And I think the opportunity for all of us is to understand where we're selfishly driven totally fine. And where we're, where we're not. We interrupt this episode to have an ad with authenticity. This episode is brought to you by Porsche and their new Macan, which is my actual car. I had it before they called. I didn't want to make some ridiculous over the top car commercial, so instead we went out to a closed track to have a little fun. And just to keep me humble, they brought along race car driver Patrick Long. And if I'm really honest, it did get a little over the top. So I'm not going to lie. Right. So I have a Porsche Macan 4, an electric Porsche, and it has three modes. It has comfort, sport and off road. I thought the off road setting was a joke. It's a fricking Porsche. It's a race car pedigree. Like they put it there, I don't know, in case there's some wet leaves on the road and, you know. But we're now about to do an off road test here where I'm going to drive up an extremely steep dirt road and so we're going to come down that. That's ridiculous. I'm about to eat my hat. So basically the radar is flashing because it thinks I'm going to hit another car. That's how steep this, this road is that I'm going to. Where's my handles? The fact that I'm going up a hill and I can't see anything but sky and I'm convinced that, like, I'm gonna go over the top here and die, but here it goes. This is this great. This is amazing.

[Matthew Broussard]

We're about six, eight stories up in.

[Simon Sinek]

The air right now. This is ridiculous. I'm just like looking straight down at the ground. This is so ridiculous.

[Matthew Broussard]

It's wild.

[Simon Sinek]

Ridiculous.

[Matthew Broussard]

So wild.

[Simon Sinek]

That was incredible. I'm not going to lie. I thought the whole thing was a. Was a farce. And it's not like you said the grip. I feel like there's these claws or.

[Matthew Broussard]

Like a spider, how it sort of just grabs whatever it can as it's.

[Simon Sinek]

Coming up or down. That's super cool. You did a great job there. Well, thank you very much. Do you still do math?

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes. Yeah. Like, for fun, I tutor. Oh, which is great. At what level? I'm lucky. There's. There's. There's this volunteer organization. I work through college, so I agreedly go for kind of the classes at very much the end of my range because those are more fun than going back to the earlier stuff. But college, a lot of, like, engineers. Calculus, calc 2, calc 3. Linear algebra. Wow. Those are the fun stuff. I'm trying to do something. I think it's like maybe like a partial differential equations this semester. And I'm like really having to catch up between sessions on stuff. I didn't learn that well the first time.

[Simon Sinek]

So it is amazing how opposite we are.

[Matthew Broussard]

You don't like math?

[Simon Sinek]

I don't dislike it. I don't have an instinct for it. Like, I'm very proud of this, actually. I've managed to go through all of high school and college and never took calculus. So I don't know anything about calculus. I don't know what it is. I. I understand algebra, I understand geometry and trigonometry. You start to lose me.

[Matthew Broussard]

Trigonometry sucks.

[Simon Sinek]

Okay?

[Matthew Broussard]

There's some bad stops along the way. It's like a series. There's going to be episodes that are duds, but you look at it in its entirety.

[Simon Sinek]

Calculus, I know nothing about.

[Matthew Broussard]

Calculus is a function. The function is you put an X, you get a Y, right? And you can get a curve with that, Right? Yeah, yeah. Calculus is just. Well, how steep is that curve? That's it.

[Simon Sinek]

And what's the practical application of calculus?

[Matthew Broussard]

The steepness of a curve would represent the. Oftentimes the speed. If position. If you're looking at position, the steepness is the.

[Simon Sinek]

So the application is physics and things like that.

[Matthew Broussard]

Physics, a lot of. I mean, physics, chemistry, a lot of stuff. Finance. And then speed and then acceleration. If you take another. If you go another level deeper, it's acceleration. But if you reverse that process, if you have the graph of speed, then you take the area underneath it and that gives you the distance. That's basically calculus in a nutshell.

[Simon Sinek]

I have to say that's interesting.

[Matthew Broussard]

Now I could really. This is what I'm really passionate about. If I could restart and didn't have to do comedy and wanted to do Another dream. It's that math education is. We're doing it very wrong. What good mathematicians, I believe possess is the ability to hold big pictures in their mind and manipulate them, which is a good gift and it gives people some abilities. But what I think is needed is just making those pictures. Those pictures don't exist. Those videos don't exist. There's concepts I learned in college that I thought I knew and I went through the process and I struggled to learn them and I applied them. And then now, 20 years later, I'll see a 10 second video on, on YouTube and I go, that's what that was. That's what was happening. You never showed me that. You never showed me in three dimensions with colors and moving images what was happening. And now that I see that everything I did is unlocked. If you just had those visuals, not everyone's going to understand math. But if you had the proper. We're teaching math with a static image drawn on a chalkboard. It should be done by the people at Pixar. It should be dimensions of time, three dimensions of space, and yet we're limiting to zero dimensions of time, two dimensions of space.

[Simon Sinek]

Here's what I'm taking away from this. This is. And light bulbs are going off, right? And now I realize we're actually more alike, which is what you and I both do is we take complex ideas and we make them that people understand it. Either so that you have clarity or you can find the humor in the thing, right? Because it's the kind of the same thing, right? Which is you're, you're, you're pointing out the absurdities of life, the absurdities of your mom, your, you know, and, and you. It's presented in a way like what makes a great comedian from an okay comedian is that you're presenting it in a way that there's, that I can relate to the story, which is why I find it funny. It's not just the story, right? It's not just the, the funny thing that happened. It, the telling of it matters and, and math and, and, and, and adjacent subjects and have always been for those who have the math mind, quote, unquote. It never occurred to me that it was just being taught badly that if you taught me math the way you tell jokes or the way I explain an idea, because, because I. People, people think that I'm joking when I say this, but I think of myself as an idiot. And I mean that 100%. I mean, there is not a, an ironic nothing. There's nothing ironic about that. Which Is as a kid with adhd in, in high school, I struggled to read, I struggled to study. I couldn't learn by rote, like. And so I still got to pass high school. So you have two options, fail or figure it out. So what I learned to do was be really good at asking questions, get really good at listening. I had to attend class. I couldn't cut school because if I cut. And when I was in college, I had to choose professors who are good at explaining because I could never rely on the book to catch up. Right. And that skill of learning to survive and, and, and, and turn my ADHD into an advantage rather than a, than a deficit gave me this capacity in the future, which is when I hear complex things that people are trying to explain to me. I have no fear. I can't have any fear. It's a survival thing. It's not a courage thing. I have. I have no fear to say, I don't understand. Can you explain it differently? And then they'll try again. I'll say, is this what you're trying to say? And I'll say it in simple terms that I can understand.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah.

[Simon Sinek]

And I go backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards and backwards, forwards until I be like. And I'm drawing little pictures and using metaphors and analogies simply because my little brain is trying to understand this complex thing that you're trying to explain to me. And eventually I understand it because I've boiled it down to something very, very simple.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah.

[Simon Sinek]

So simple that not only do I understand it, but I can then tell somebody else. And then they go, got it. And I get all the credit, which is not fair for being the expl. But I was just trying to understand the complex thing in the first place. And where it fails is when the person's trying to explain it to me and they can't, then I can't understand it because I don't have that analytical kind of mind that just understands sort of math and equations.

[Matthew Broussard]

Don't understand it quickly. This is, this is, I think, the great myth of people who.

[Simon Sinek]

No, no, no. People do. People can do math in their heads very easily.

[Matthew Broussard]

No, no, no. I, like this was said by someone else. I think it was said by Matt Parker of Stand Up Maths, but he said that we all, anyone who studies math is constantly bombarded by frustration. But you embrace the frustration. You know that you're going to feel pain and you're going to feel anger, and then in one moment all of those negative feelings are going to snap to positive feelings. And that's the moment of understanding. And what people who pursue any kind of field of study know is that you have to look it in the face and not back down. That's the moment where.

[Simon Sinek]

Where can you adjust? So, like, when I see. When I look at financial information, like for the company, right. I always ask the finance person, show me a chart and a graph. Like, show me, show me. I want to see the visual, I want to see the trend. I want to see the profit and loss done in pretty pictures. Because then I can understand it. When you just show me huge spreadsheets of number, I just gloss over. Sure, I struggle, but some people, like, they look at those huge spreadsheets and they're like, ah, you're one of those people.

[Matthew Broussard]

No, I mean, well, the analog for me would be I'm constantly trying to learn new things in math. And the first read will always feel make. I'll feel like an idiot, but I know, like, you should feel stupid.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Feeling stupid is part of it. And admit that you're stupid, admit you don't know. And I will look at one thing, read it, go, I don't like that. And I'll look up seven different ways of explaining it until the seventh one, I'm like, this time I get it. And I'll also have to read it over and over again. I don't think that it's necessarily. Some people just inherently get it. They're just willing to admit they're stupid. And like, you're saying, I love it, keep simplifying it until there's one aspect of it you get. And then what's the next thing you can add to that?

[Simon Sinek]

What you just said was absolute genius. No, no, no.

[Matthew Broussard]

Give me too much.

[Simon Sinek]

But no, no, no, no. What you just said was absolute genius. Which is a Prof. Like, which is what we do when we feel stupid is we watch or read the same thing over and over and over again to try to understand it, each time blaming ourselves for being stupid. What you're saying is, and this is the genius. Show me seven different ways to explain it until I understand it right, which is whether it's a leadership concept or a financial concept or a scientific concept or any kind of concept that you're struggling with. It's okay to feel stupid. It's okay to maybe reread it once or twice, but then go seek out. And this is where the Internet is the greatest gift.

[Matthew Broussard]

It's wonderful.

[Simon Sinek]

Which is you can go down a YouTube rabbit hole.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

And have. And you can start. You can hit Play and be like. And you can hit play until somebody, Somebody. It makes sense to you. And then you'll understand this difficult concept. And by feeling a little less stupid in that moment from that explanation, A, you're learning how you learn. But B, now you have the grit. Because you're not.

[Matthew Broussard]

You're not blaming the patience because humility.

[Simon Sinek]

Because here's what we're doing, right? I feel stupid. It becomes a. It becomes a story to ourselves. I am stupid. And then you just, I don't do math. I don't understand math. I'm no good at math. What the story should be is I have yet to find somebody who can explain math in a way to me that I can understand it. Yes, that is the correct mindset plus.

[Matthew Broussard]

Some patience, plus rereading it.

[Simon Sinek]

I, like people thought that we were going to be funny. We have Matthew Broussard, and we're going to talk about learning. But no, but this is. I never want anybody to feel dumb again. This is going to be my mantra. I'm going to say, or, we're all dumb.

[Matthew Broussard]

We all feel dumb all the time.

[Simon Sinek]

But the mantra is don't blame yourself. Blame the way you're being taught.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes. And have patience with those teachings. And then you're talking about communication. There's two. Learning takes someone who's patient enough to learn and someone who's patient enough to teach. And again, I'm very familiar with concepts. Can you tell me a different way? Can you tell me a different way? Can you tell me a different way? Because what might unlock it for me might not for another person. I've been doing something lately that's been something I didn't do in college. I'm sorry, The Internet comment. I think about that so often of when I was in college and I was trying to understand a concept in one of my harder classes. Singular value decomposition. Let's say that one, because it sounds smart. The only thing I could do was go to Wikipedia and read the page for it. You know who wrote that page? My professor. My professors in college wrote all the Wikipedia pages for the concepts we were learning because it wasn't widely shared knowledge at that point. Now, if I wanted to understand that, there's seven YouTube videos I could watch, and perhaps the fifth one is when I really get it because they did a good job with the visuals.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

I've also been reading math textbooks just to learn things I've always wanted to learn at a snail's pace. But something I didn't realize was I thought I was just not good at reading math textbooks because I'll read one page, think I get it, and the second page, my brain goes to mush. Like the endurance over two pages. It's like when you're bad at swimming and you try to swim, you get across the pool, you're like, that was easy. And then you can't make it to the next wall. And. And then I talk to someone who is a math PhD. They go, that's how it is. One page a day is a great rate. It's just that hard. Wow. And the people who accomplish it forget how hard it was or want you to think they're smart. And it's that hard for everyone. I feel that way about comedy. Every. Every line I have that makes the crowd laugh feels like a miracle. And it's like, I think how rarely I write two jokes in the same day.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Like every. Every punchline you hear is one day of my life. And that was the accomplishment for that day. Even if it's just like three words, they get like a chuckle. It's such a. It's what's. What's who? Whose famous line? If you saw the work put into it, it would not be impressive at all.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah. I. I think for me, maybe for other standups, maybe not. It's just not an easy process. It's laborious, but that's what it takes to make something that's engaging. And I imagine you feel the same way about your work. It's just. It's my process.

[Simon Sinek]

It's. My press is a little different. I'm curious. I'm curious. Are you good at crowd work?

[Matthew Broussard]

Like, no.

[Simon Sinek]

Okay.

[Matthew Broussard]

No. I need to learn how to listen better. I think that's the problem.

[Simon Sinek]

Okay. Mm. Cuz the people who are good at crowd work, when they're good at it, it's a thing to behold.

[Matthew Broussard]

Cool.

[Simon Sinek]

It's a thing to behold.

[Matthew Broussard]

They're patient. They have. It's. That's. That's like a real Zen state. You have to be calm. You have to make the crowd feel like they're okay. You have to take what they're saying, know when to ask another question, or know when you have enough stuff to put together.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

And when to have emotional responses, when to try to be clever, when to just try to repeat back what's happening. I would love to be better at it.

[Simon Sinek]

One thing that I love about your work is, first of all, super vulnerable. Like, you share things. I don't know if they're jokes or if they're true, because I know there's some truth. But I also know that you know, when you get on a good idea, you can play with it. But I just watched a bit of. About your inability to please your wife.

[Matthew Broussard]

That is 100% true. Yeah, that is.

[Simon Sinek]

I mean, like, does she want that out there? I understand that you don't mind. I understand that you don't mind having it out there. There's two players in this game.

[Matthew Broussard]

She was a very good sport about that for a while. I was like, can we talk about this? She was like, oh, that's a lot. And then I think at one point she was just like, you know what? It's a good thing to share with people who feel the same way, both men and women who struggle with that. And it might make people feel more comfortable about them and more comfortable in the relationship. So it's a good thing to share with people. Yeah. I love vulnerability. I love. To me, it's my favorite part about comedy is when you can share something that you're embarrassed by. And now instead of being embarrassed by it, you feel a sense of community with other people who feel that or you. You've. Even if that doesn't work, then you've made people who don't have that vulnerability feel better about themselves for not having it.

[Simon Sinek]

Right. Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

So everyone wins.

[Simon Sinek]

But it is. It is the quintessential court jester. Right. Which is. I'm going to say the thing that everybody's thinking, but I'm going to make it okay. I'm going to make it okay, but I get less alone. I have to believe that a lot of your bits started conversations that were for the. Were for good, and it's only because your work. I'm astonished how often you are so vulnerable, whether it's about yourself, your upbringing, even talking about, you know, racism and some sort of. And Hot Topics. You'll go there and. And I just find it very impressive. I've so enjoyed. And I can't remember how long ago it was when I first discovered your work, but I. Your work is getting. For what if. What if it's worth. It's getting better and better and better.

[Matthew Broussard]

Thank you. I really appreciate that. Yeah, thank you. That's very kind.

[Simon Sinek]

Was that always. Were you always that kid that didn't mind being embarrassed, that didn't mind being vulnerable? Like. So how did you learn it?

[Matthew Broussard]

Kind of through stand up. Early on in Stand Up, I was just trying. When I started, I wanted to be brash and offensive because I thought that was cool.

[Simon Sinek]

Andrew Dice Clay style.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah. And I kind of realized later that was more. That was not me being tough and edgy. That was me actually being weak and insecure, needing to put others down to feel some sense of superiority.

[Simon Sinek]

Did it get laughs?

[Matthew Broussard]

Sometimes. Sometimes in front of other people who liked. Who liked that? Of all people. James Comey's memoir really shaped me. There was one chapter. I can't imagine a less funny person than former FBI director James Comey, but he had. I think it was. It goes to speak of how not funny people can sometimes have the best observations about comedy. He had a whole chapter talking about the sense of humor of the three presidents he worked under, which is Bush Jr. Obama and Trump. And he said all three were notably funny guys. Very funny people. Bush Jr. And Trump would often make laughter at the expense of others, which did not equate to good leadership, versus Obama would make jokes at the expense of himself, which would uplift others and bring out the best in them. So, sure, maybe.

[Simon Sinek]

But anyway, moving on, ignoring the politics, Ignoring the politics of the comment. I get it.

[Matthew Broussard]

The idea that. And that was. That was also, for me a great thing of a learning experience in that if there's going to be a victim to the joke, why not me? I'm the consenting party.

[Simon Sinek]

Right. It's a victimless crime. Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

And not just victimless. It helps other people. I think I somewhat possess a bit of status that a comedian wouldn't typically possess. You take a picture of comedian, you often think of like a dirtbag, someone down and out. Yeah. I've had, I think to see me take a tumble is. Is. Is. Is maybe a little more satisfying.

[Simon Sinek]

Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

Because I started falling from a little higher.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah.

[Simon Sinek]

So do you remember the first joke, the. The first risk you took at self deprecation, this new style? Do you remember it?

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah, I was. It was. I was doing jokes about looking like an 80s villain, and it was getting a laugh. And then people came up to me after the show. And you get a lot of great feedback from just drunk people. Not just empirical feedback during the show, but drunk people come up and just really say blunt things. And some guy was just like, yeah, you look like a douchebag, and I didn't like you. And then you started talking about looking like Eddie's villain. I'm like, oh, this guy's not bad. And I'm like, what if we just. What if we. Instead of trying to do that with tricks, just say exactly what he's saying. And I think I was at Sacred Heart College and I was doing a show And I just said, I look like a douchebag. I'm guessing you already didn't like me before I started talking. And that was like, oh, I'm cutting straight to the chase there. I'm acknowledging what they think of me before they've even put it together themselves. And now, now they're more malleable because I've kind of maybe subverted their expectations and shown awareness that they're like, you take the reins, actually, if you. If you're on top of things, you maybe, you know what you're doing. We'll let you. You've taken yourself down a peg in a way that we find satisfying. Yeah, keep going.

[Simon Sinek]

And now it's. And. And does your mom know the way you talk about her?

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes. She's fortunately very. She doesn't mind it.

[Simon Sinek]

She sounds like an absolute caricature.

[Matthew Broussard]

I've. I've barely painted the picture with my stand up of how wild she is. I've included the parts that are digestible. She likes. She doesn't mind anything. The crazy part was the. I don't know if you saw the airport story.

[Simon Sinek]

Oh, I saw the airport.

[Matthew Broussard]

That's. I can't stress how true that story is.

[Simon Sinek]

Do you want to tell the airport story for those who haven't seen it on the YouTube?

[Matthew Broussard]

I'll give the introduction. I was dropping her off at the airport and had to shortly thereafter come back and pick her up. She went to check in. They were giving her trouble over paperwork for bringing a dog in the plane. And she forgot. I swear to God, she forgot the word manager and said, let me speak to your master. And that was. That was where the story starts. Yeah. She signed off on that. I said, can I talk about that in stage? She goes, yeah, it's funny.

[Simon Sinek]

It is funny.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah. I'm like, you sure about that? She was like, yeah. The one thing she doesn't like is the birthday card, which I recommend. I can't do it here, but a birthday card she sent to my wife. I said, mom, this note's really funny. I'm gonna read it on stage. She goes, sure. No one's gonna laugh. And then she saw me do it live. And people laugh at almost every sentence as I read it verbatim. And she goes, why are they laughing? I don't like this. What are they laug. And I had to explain to her. I'm like, they're not laughing at you. They're laughing at the vulnerability, at you saying things we all think but keep to ourselves.

[Simon Sinek]

What's next? What's the ambition?

[Matthew Broussard]

I'm not ambitious enough.

[Simon Sinek]

Do you have vision or do you just keep doing the thing you love and it keeps going in the right direction?

[Matthew Broussard]

I'm not good about all the things you profess, which I don't have the Infinite Game. I just have the next special and wanting to just kind of branch out a little bit at a time. Perhaps I'd be farther along if I had a bigger vision.

[Simon Sinek]

But what do you mean farther along? Like, like, what does that even mean?

[Matthew Broussard]

Be on tv, Be on a TV show. And is that a thing?

[Simon Sinek]

But is that. I mean, it's like. But you don't want to act.

[Matthew Broussard]

I would love to. I love acting. I just find it challenging.

[Simon Sinek]

Okay.

[Matthew Broussard]

I love acting.

[Simon Sinek]

Okay.

[Matthew Broussard]

I would. My, I mean, my dream was to do stand up and put out specials, okay. And I've really accomplished most of that. Like, there's room. But if I, if I, if me when I started, saw where I am now, they'd be like, you're doing it. I'd love to be on a sitcom. That's always been my dream because those perhaps shaped my life more than standup did. And I shouldn't admit that, but like 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Community and then cartoons, Futurama, Adventure Time, those things hold such real estate in my heart. So to be involved with any of those would be the other, like the other box to check. And obviously I want to keep making specials that would be really cool to keep putting out long form.

[Simon Sinek]

Stand up content is stand up comedy. Could you ever walk away from it?

[Matthew Broussard]

I don't think so. I really like it. I really like the feedback from people and getting to go up there and say things and feeling less alone. I think our phones make us feel very, very isolated. Is this synthetic connection, these empty calories of human interaction that make us feel more depleted afterwards. The human to human part of it, I'd feel starved.

[Simon Sinek]

It's, it's, it's, it's kind of a last frontier, right? I mean, where you can interact with each other. And, and when I say each other, I mean, it's, it's up and down, you know, it's, it's, it's comedian to audience, but it's also audience to audience. We laugh next to each other, we look at each other, we elbow each other, we point. You know, it's a, it's a, it's different than theater. Theater is a very lonely experience because you sit by yourself, nobody can see you because you, you can't see anybody. You can only see the back of people's heads.

[Matthew Broussard]

The script is set.

[Simon Sinek]

The script is set. And so it's very different than theater. And to your point, which is where we come for entertainment, and we do put our phones away, and. And we have a couple drinks, and we're forced to have a couple drinks and forced to order some food, because that's the business model. And it is. I don't think comedy is going away, and I don't think live comedy is going away.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah, I don't think live anything is going away. I don't think anything. We just don't have the substitute for. We think that because we can look at something and hear something that it's the same of just even being here in person versus a zoom. It's just more dimensions.

[Simon Sinek]

It is more dimensions.

[Matthew Broussard]

What's next for you? How do you look at growth?

[Simon Sinek]

And so I.

[Matthew Broussard]

And how do you balance growth with already feeling like you've done enough?

[Simon Sinek]

Okay, there's multiple questions there. I think of my work like an iceberg, right? So when I was starting and I was just an. An idiot with an idea, like, literally accomplished nothing. No books, no TED talks, no nothing, nobody knew who I was. Nobody knew my ideas. All I had was a theory of what the world could be like and what business could be like, which is basically an iceberg completely submerged. I'm the only one that can see it and, like, the ability to explain it to a couple of people. So they go, oh, yeah, it's kind of like a tiny bit of iceberg sticking up. And so when people pay me compliments, what they're looking is what they can see above the ocean. When I think about what work I have to do, I still can only see what's beneath the ocean. And so no matter what I've done or accomplished, people will say nice things to me. Look at all the things you've done. And look. And I'm sort of always a little bit sort of like, taken aback because I don't think about it, because what I think is like, oh, I still have so much to do, you know? And it's kind of like the way you talked about feeling stupid with the math, which is, I like learning curves. I like difficult problems. I like problems I struggle to wrap my head around. I like finding different angles to it. And to me, what the iceberg represents is. I still haven't cracked. I haven't cracked it yet. I've just sort of made some steps towards it. But for me, it's all about what still lies beneath. And, like, I said, undoing everything Jack Welch did, that's a real frickin. That's a job. Right? So that's how I think about career and sort of accomplishment. But I also have a very, very different way of going about sort of my whole life. Every performance review I ever had in, every job I ever had, every single one of them said, you're unfocused. And I believed it because everybody kept telling me, even growing up, studying, you're so unfocused. And my work is semi autobiographical. It's me trying to solve my own problems. And so the discovery of things like the why and the discovery of things like the Infinite Game helped me understand that I am actually one of the most focused people I know. I'm just focused on. On a different horizon than most people. And so the way I would describe it is most people are obsessed with the route. I'm obsessed with the destination.

[Matthew Broussard]

Right.

[Simon Sinek]

For example, you're.

[Matthew Broussard]

You.

[Simon Sinek]

You walk outside your front door and you see your neighbor packing their car, and you say to your neighbor, where are you going? They go, vacation. And you go, cool. Where are you going? They said, vacation. I'm like, no, no, no, no. I. Where are you going? I told you, vacation. And you're like, fine. How are you going to get to this vacation? And they're going to. They say, well, I'm going to take 95. I'm going to drive 150 miles a day until I get there. And what they're telling you is the route. And that's what most people have. I'm going to get this kind of job. I'm going to make this amount of money. This is my career path. They have fixed routes, but not 100% clarity of where they're going. Right. And so the route is everything. I have been very different, which is, let's say we're in California now. Where are you going? New York. How are you going to get there? Don't know. And so it's very opportunistic. And so when. When a lot of people, for example, they're offered a job that pays more money, they're like, I'll take that one. It pays more money. And I go, well, will that one help me get to New York? No. Well, then I'm going to turn that one down. And so I realized where so many people are focused on the route, I'm completely agnostic. And if you're focused on the route, that means you're agnostic on the destination. And I know too many people who spend a whole Life climbing a ladder only to get to the end to discover they climbed the wrong ladder.

[Matthew Broussard]

This ties back to calculus.

[Simon Sinek]

Say more.

[Matthew Broussard]

Okay. Calc multivariable calculus and then a class called optimization. I think about this a lot. You're trying to find the highest point. That's what optimization is. You can walk north or west, Right? You're just trying to pick based on two directions. Where's the highest point? Let's say you're walking on a hilly field at night and it's foggy, so you can't see when you're at the top. You're gonna know when you're at the top because your feet are gonna be flat on the ground. Maybe you're at the bottom, but you're gonna. Right. So what is the search algorithm? Your search algorithm is you're gonna walk around, and when it feels steep, you can feel your ankles bend a lot. You walk in the direction of the steepness.

[Simon Sinek]

The.

[Matthew Broussard]

The more steep it is, the longer of a step you take. Right. If it starts to flatten out, then you're near the top. That is what we do mathematically, the steepness, again, that's the slope in calculus. That is actually the math of it. The problem is, what if there's another hill next to you that's higher? You need to wander off the hill to potentially find the highest point. You need to be able to go off that path and potentially explore other ones. So are you finding a local optimum or a global optimum? Optimum. I think a lot about that. When we're. And what we're. What we're optimizing for, what we're trying to maximize. Sometimes we look at. We were talking earlier about the empirical feedback. If we say, oh, these. These results mean I'm doing well. I'm getting a lot of views on my Instagram reels. That's an indicator that I'm. That I'm doing well. What if you get it wrong? And a lot of people do, what if. What if I'm doing well? Because I'm. What if you flip it? Those views are the measure. And now you do everything you can to optimize that. You're going to do a lot of things that are clickbaity things, bad things, just not. Not in the intention of what you wanted to create originally.

[Simon Sinek]

Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

And you. You're optimizing, you're seeing higher and higher numbers, and you think that means you're doing better, but you have to kind of like, get the. Like you're saying the destination in mind, right? Not not the path.

[Simon Sinek]

So you are more visionary than you give yourself credit because you won't do anything just for the view.

[Matthew Broussard]

I try to keep. I try to. I will obviously be corrupted by all of these things because I will look at the data, but I will try to reorient back towards what are you trying to make.

[Simon Sinek]

Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

And that's just what I deem a quality product based on. I hope the crowd laughs. And I. As long as I believe in it, that's what I'd like to keep making.

[Simon Sinek]

This is an interesting question, right. Which is for. And I think a comedian is a metaphor for a lot of people. Right. Which is I want to do something and I want to be rewarded very quickly to know that I'm good. And social media can hijack and corrupt that system.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

Which we know, Right.

[Matthew Broussard]

Because of measurement.

[Simon Sinek]

Right. It's the same feedback loop and it's instantaneous. Get a. Like you get a forward. Whatever it is, you get a view. Right. That's. It's. It's the same thing as a laugh. It's instantaneous. And the comedian who's obsessed with the laugh to the point of hurting themselves or hurting others versus having a point of view or more some morality. So what system do you have to not be hijacked by the click? The.

[Matthew Broussard]

Like the view, the laughs per minute even. You're right. Because even your act can be. Even in the room be corrupted by just trying to make those people laugh as hard as you can. You want to do better than the comic before you. And you're willing to do things that aren't your own standards.

[Simon Sinek]

So what. Like what's. What checks and balances are there to ensure that, yes, you're getting more laughs per minute, but there is a framework within which you're willing to operate enough and you're not willing to go outside even if you could get a bigger laugh.

[Matthew Broussard]

Esoterically, my own moral compass, my own standards. Right. That's harder to measure, though more concretely, the respect of my peers and making other comics laugh.

[Simon Sinek]

The respect of the peers that you respect.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

Yes.

[Matthew Broussard]

Comedians had a moment where someone goes, hey, great joke. You're like, thanks. And you look at who says it. You're like, I should cut that joke.

[Simon Sinek]

So it's the respect of the peers you respect.

[Matthew Broussard]

Aha. The people you look up to liking what you do. You can't make that your whole thing because that can also be an unstable solution to this equation because now you're.

[Simon Sinek]

Serving their moral compass, their needs, their.

[Matthew Broussard]

Tastes, not yourself at the expense of the crowd and at the expense of your career.

[Simon Sinek]

Which is the equivalent of I'm gonna do what my boss likes.

[Matthew Broussard]

I mean, again, this all translates to math for me. You have three different outputs, right? Respect of your peers. Laughs for a minute. And, and let's say career success. And you need to put weighted coefficients in front of each one of them and then maximize that balanced equation.

[Simon Sinek]

And then how do you factor in the hard to measure your own moral compass? The one, the one that you refer to as the esoteric one.

[Matthew Broussard]

That's harder. But because that can also. You can also.

[Simon Sinek]

Is that just gut? Is that just feeling?

[Matthew Broussard]

Is that gut and feeling?

[Simon Sinek]

Is that your wife coming, going like.

[Matthew Broussard]

Revisit your earlier self and what your. What your old standards were. But also don't be so precious. You don't. I don't owe things to my 25 year old self. He didn't have better taste than I do.

[Simon Sinek]

But see, this is. Now this is where math fails me.

[Matthew Broussard]

Sure.

[Simon Sinek]

Which is. Which is. We both acknowledge that the, that the, the esoteric, the intangible, the ethereal thing matters, but it's harder to measure. Nobody else can see it but you. How do you ensure that that thing has the correct weighting, which should be quite a high rating weighting. I mean it should have quite a high weighting because we see it in the world, which is when stock price and profit and revenue are the only metric. We see ethical fading happening all over the place because the weighting is like. I believe in objectivity.

[Matthew Broussard]

I don't know. How do you do? I will steal one page from a great comedian named Mike Lawrence who said something to the effect of in comedy, you're as successful as the biggest thing you say no to. And saying no to things has really made starting to really value the moments. I say I don't want to do that because I don't like that. That's not what I represent. And that's a corruption of what I'm trying to do. And I'm going to say no to. Maybe it's a branded deal or maybe it's a comedy festival somewhere. I guess saying no to things also. That isn't answering your question, but saying no oftentimes for principled reasons is a really good exercise. But do you have an answer? How. I'm also curious because I feel like we're losing our souls, a lot of us, through that ethical fade.

[Simon Sinek]

Can I do an experiment, please? I may be able. This may or may not work. Love the scientific method. Tell me a festival A joke, anything that you were involved in in your comedy career that you absolutely loved, that if everything you ever did from this point on was like that thing, you'd be the happiest person alive.

[Matthew Broussard]

My gut instinct is when I did Conan for the first time, I was very proud of the material I chose, and I was going to be happy either way because I did it. And then it had a pretty big positive response, which was just icing on the cake. So having both those things go my way, doing the set, I wanted to do with no restrictions, without having to dumb it down or water it down in any way, and then also getting rewarded for that. That was one of my happiest moments in comedy, if that answers it.

[Simon Sinek]

But you've done things before that you were proud of. You've done things where you had control over the set. You've done things that had a bump, you know, maybe even a bigger bump than Conan. What was it about that experience that stands out from all the ones that are very similar, with very similar metrics that makes you want to talk about it now?

[Matthew Broussard]

It was early. It wasn't my first, but it was early. It was a show where a lot of comics I really respected were booked for. So when I saw who. Who did it, I'm like, those are people I want to be like, those are people who are pushing comedy to new places. I also got to do a set that probably would have been very much rejected by any other late night booker. And I was surprised that Conan allowed. I think I said vulva eight times in a row. And that was neat to me, that the joke had information that people learned. People learned things that they didn't know from it. While I think getting decently high laps per minute, probably to really answer your question, because it was the first time I did that, and it paid off. And I feel like I've tried to do that every time since. And then I think maybe if there's another time. My set from 2021, I was wearing a denim shirt with floral embroidery on the back. That's the only way I can distinguish the set. But I also did material that was bold for the time in terms of politically being more honest at a time where that could potentially get me in trouble, and saying how I really felt in a way that I think other people agree with but were afraid to say. And again, I put it out there knowing it might not make a splash at all, but it also might really connect, and I felt it connecting as a result.

[Simon Sinek]

Tell me an early specific, happy childhood memory Something I can relive with you. Not like we went to my grandparents every weekend, but something specific that I can relive with you.

[Matthew Broussard]

I went a 2123 in my 5k on a road race. I've been running a lot and the road race happened to be right in my neighborhood, so I knew the path. I'd run it most days and I went a best time on a. On a course that I was very familiar with. So I was in middle school.

[Simon Sinek]

Like, of all the things you did that you could have told me, what was it about this run that I.

[Matthew Broussard]

Worked really hard for it and I got a result I wanted and also might have. Might have just dipped under one of my rivals. Prs or something like that.

[Simon Sinek]

So there's a. You have yours. You are competitive.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

Any other outside of. Outside of comedy? Anything stand out from my childhood? Childhood or even your. Even your financial analyst career?

[Matthew Broussard]

Happy, happy moment.

[Simon Sinek]

Just something you loved being a part of. Something you absolutely loved being a part of.

[Matthew Broussard]

I do, I draw and I sculpt a little bit, but I rarely step out of the boundaries of those two media. But I really liked. I made the sword from Adventure Time. I really like Adventure Time. And I looked up a tutorial and I got poster board and made like a really big sword and took days to make and lots of cutting and painting and stenciling. And when it came out, it was the biggest piece of art I've ever made. It was large and that was really fun and just a weird thing to do and no one pushing me to do it and no real reason to do it. And I did it.

[Simon Sinek]

Okay, so here's a thread. What's interesting in all. All three of those things required a lot of work, right. And it required a lot of self motivation. And there was no particular pressure on you for any of those things other than yourself, right? It's 100% driven by you. And the hard work that you're going to do is going to make that set good or bad. And in each one of those cases, you're willing to do the work to the point where you find great satisfaction in that you did it your way and you did it for yourself. You said it was my personal best for this run. That it, you know, this. It was a. It was a. It was. There was familiarity, there was, there was a learning curve that got you there. And in all of those, there was. There was absolutely accomplishment. But you, you. It's not like it seems to me that you're not trying to accomplish just for the sake of accomplishment. You're not driven simply to win or be the best or outdo others. It's you. Like, I think the reason you like a metric, it's a validation not of you or how good you are or how smart you are, how funny you are.

[Matthew Broussard]

You.

[Simon Sinek]

It's a validation of the work was worth it.

[Matthew Broussard]

Right?

[Simon Sinek]

And I think even the way you talk to be. Talk to me about calculus, which is. And the way we. The way you talk about. Find somebody who explains it to you in a way that you can understand. Find a better teacher. You're not dumb. You just need to find a better teacher. Which is. Which is do. It's not just about grit, because I think the way a lot of people talk about hard work is just about grind. You're not talking about grinding. You're talking about being smart, the way you learn. And if you accomplish something, all of that effort of learning is worth it. And that, to me, is the interesting dichotomy, which is, yes, you like the validation, and yes, you like the laughs permitted. And yes, all of that. But all of that is. Is. Is actually a recognition of the hard work that you've done. You even talked about the quotes that you've made here, which is if you knew how hard it was to get here, you know, if you knew the effort that it took to get here, you'd be very. You'd be very unimpressed by. Or whatever the quote was. And even the way you talk to me about, like, you love tutoring because you want to teach people in a way that helps them access something. And when they get the A on the exam or the B or whatever it is they're striving for.

[Matthew Broussard]

When they understand the concept right there in front of me, that's the best moment. That's when they go, oh, that's it.

[Simon Sinek]

The epiphany.

[Matthew Broussard]

Right?

[Simon Sinek]

And it's whatever the spark is that goes, that was worth it. The ethereal part for you seems to be in the ballpark of you will know that you've done good work for yourself when the. When whatever the world's metrics are look at you and go, that's good. Well done. Well, look at your time. And that will inspire you to want to keep learning, keep pushing, keep doing more, because you'll discover that. That it's not the. It's not the. It's not the result that becomes intoxicating. It's earning the result. It's doing the hard work to get the result that becomes intoxicating.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes.

[Simon Sinek]

Which Is the difference between what you're doing and winning lotteries.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yeah. I feel very. That was very astute. That felt very good to hear you say all that. Thank you. Can I note a way in which I think we're actually kind of different and I want to see if we could reconcile this.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah. And then I have to conclude. But yes.

[Matthew Broussard]

Okay. I was watching your thing about bios and people putting their biographies.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah.

[Matthew Broussard]

And you said, I want to be. How did you phrase it?

[Simon Sinek]

It's not how I want to be recognized.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes, you want to be recognized for yourself and not for your work.

[Simon Sinek]

The thing that I said was too many people confuse their identity with their job or their accomplishments. And you can easily see it when you read someone's bio when it says CEO of or Oscar winning actor, blah, blah, blah, and they're telling you a position they hold or an accomplishment they had 20 years ago. The problem is those people suffer from identity crises. Like. Like without the job, without the responsibility, they literally have an identity crisis. And so I'm fine with accomplishment and I'm fine with ranks and position. But that's not your identity. And so when I write my bios, I put who I am, then what I've done. Optimist and author of. So I want to know, because no matter what I don't do, I'll always be that.

[Matthew Broussard]

That's wonderful.

[Simon Sinek]

What advice do you give people who are told, don't give up on your day job.

[Matthew Broussard]

Don't. Don't hold on to it as long as you can because that's going to be what makes you interesting. You think being a musician or an actor is what makes you interesting? No, the part of you people want to hear about is those salad days and when you struggled. So I would say you are. You are building who you are as a person through that struggle. And money is a real thing and you need to have a way to pay your bills because if you become financially desperate, your art will be compromised instantly.

[Simon Sinek]

Yeah. Any life hacks that you have that help you be more efficient, more productive, personally, professionally, anything that you. Any tricks, tricks that you've learned along the way that are now.

[Matthew Broussard]

Yes. Biggest one for me is I subscribe to Gabor Mate's kind of musings about adhd, that it's a lack of ability to validate yourself, not a lack of focus. So one thing that really helps me every day is when I sit down, I have a to do list and I write a list of all the things I'm doing well and they don't just have to be work anything. Am I recycling? Am I exercising? Am I stretching every day? Am I creative? What? All of it? No back. Nothing backhanded. Well, at least I'm not doing a bad. No, no, no. I'm doing well at. You're doing great is the name of the document. You're doing great is the name of the document. Write all those things out, then start writing my to do list. And not only will you enter that task with momentum of feeling good about yourself, the thing you're always driving towards is that validation. You'll already have that and you work better when you like yourself. Everyone thinks they work better when they hate themselves. No, when you like yourselves, when it feels fun and you feel good about yourself, you do your best work. You also then start to get that Pavlovian rush that when I sit to open my computer, I'm already feeling good because I know it's coming. And then I don't dread starting my day. I. I look forward to it. That's been a huge hack for me.

[Simon Sinek]

Genius.

[Matthew Broussard]

Thank you. I've stolen it from many people.

[Simon Sinek]

I'm, I'm. I'm going to start that one. Matthew, I could talk to you forever. What an absolute joy to meet you. Great. It was super fun. And it, like I said, kind of a personal thrill because I've gotten to know you so well from your videos. It's. It's really, really fun to, like, sit across from you. I know your voice so well. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming in. Such a joy.

[Matthew Broussard]

Thank you.

[Simon Sinek]

Thank you so much fun. A Bit of Optimism is a production of the Optimism Company, lovingly produced by our team, Lindsey Garbinius, Phoebe Bradford and Devin Johnson. Subscribe wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts. And if you want even more cool stuff, visit SimonCinek.com thanks for listening. Take care of yourself. Take care of each other.