My guest for Episode #259 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Michele DeFilippo, the Founder of 1106 Design, LLC, started in 2001 to work with authors to help them take advantage of opportunities in the changing industry of book publishing – providing one-stop publishing services from manuscript to market.

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I’ve worked with Michele on my last two books, Measures of Success and The Mistakes That Make Us.

In this episode, Michele shares her “favorite mistake” story. We also take a deeper look into a significant industry change, – the rise of independent publishing. They trace this journey to the late 90s and early 2000s when independent publishing emerged as a robust alternative to traditional publishing houses. Uncover the misunderstood beginnings of independent publishing and how it has been pivotal in empowering authors.

From its initially misconceived do-it-yourself approach, independent publishing has evolved into a strategic model that allows authors to bring industry professionals together to create high-quality books. In this episode, dive deep with us to explore how this professional, comprehensive approach has shifted the industry's narrative from – “self-published” towards “independent publishers.” Unearth the numerous ways professionalism and strategic collaboration can create a book product that competes favorably at the market level and meets readers’ demands.

• Starting 1106 Design?? Did you look more before you leaped?
• “Independent publishing” vs “self publishing”?
• People DO judge a book by the cover??
• Changes publishers have to make for cover design for online purchasing??
• Compare traditional publishing vs. hybrid vs. indy?
• What does an author need to ask??
• What happens if that company goes out of business and disappeared??
• Manuscript is done… but now what?
• What does it cost to produce a book to traditional publisher standards?
• Mistake to assume your book is going to be sold in physical bookstores?
• Print book vs. eBook?

My guest for Episode #258 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Michael Bloom, Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Praktio, an online learning company whose mission is “to create space for learning through mistakes.”

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Before leaving to run Praktio full time, Michael was the founding director of the Transactional Lab & Clinic, an experiential program at the University of Michigan Law School.

Michael is the co-author of two books on contracts from a transactional perspective: Contracts and Commercial Transactions and Contracts: A Transactional Approach.

Michael earned his J.D. from Yale Law School and earned his B.A. with highest distinction from the University of Michigan, where he studied American history.

This episode focuses on Michael's journey from being a clinical professor to founding Praktio. By creating an environment that promotes learning through mistakes, Michael has challenged traditional paradigms and aligned his unique educational model with the evolving needs of learners in a fast-paced, information-rich world. His entrepreneurial venture, peppered with a fair share of mistakes, has yielded invaluable insights that have guided the development of a highly effective educational model that thrives on constructive feedback and the power of mistakes.

• Is it a mistake to listen to ALL feedback equally?
• Did you fear it might be a mistake to leave the law school and go full time into Praktio?
• How do law firms react to mistakes?
• Framed as learning opportunities or something shameful?
• Tell us more about the Praktio story and product…
• Make mistakes in a safe environment to avoid the real one?
• Learning from the mistakes made by others now?
• What are some common or bad mistakes that could be made with contracts?
• Preventing mistakes vs. more senior inspecting the work?
• LinkedIn Profile: “Make mistakes and learn from them”
• As CEO, how do you think about mistakes INTERNAL to Praktio?
• Cultivating a culture of learning from mistakes?
• Learning from the mistakes of other entrepreneurs?

My guest for Episode #257 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Chris Lewicki, an Astrofuturist, Engineer, and Entrepreneur who is interested in developing strong, thoughtful foundations for the near-future space economy.

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He’s a multi-time co-founder. He first co-founded and was CEO of Planetary Resources Inc. (PRI), which focused on the prospecting, development, and use of resources found on near-Earth asteroids. (Skip) He helped acquire over $60M in investment and revenue, built a team of 80 extremely talented engineers, scientists, and business and policy leaders, and launched 3 experimental spacecraft to advance the adoption of space resources as a crucial part of humanity’s activities in space.

Prior to entering the private sector, Chris was a key member of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers and the Phoenix Mars Lander, serving as Flight Director for the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and as the Surface Mission Manager for Phoenix.

Chris received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona. He’s the recipient of two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals and has an asteroid named in his honor: 13609 Lewicki.

Chris imparts lessons learned from his early days in NASA's Mars exploration projects, where a potential disaster during a rover test thrust him into the limelight as an emerging leader in the field. His poignant recount of the incident underscores the nuanced details that contribute to the success or failure of any mission and the critical concept of design for test( DFT).

Drawing parallels to the broader engineering community, this episode's riveting discussion reveals essential strategies used in this high-stakes industry. The implementation of mistake-proofing tactics, robust system performance to ensure resilience, or ‘poka-yoke', and the introduction of redundancy in spacecraft design all contribute to an airtight spacecraft system. Learn from Chris's profound insights as he unravels the multifaceted considerations that go into ensuring functionality, designing for testability, and anticipating service requirements and testing needs during the initial design phases.

• Was it a connector being reversed??
• New and innovative work… – was it a design mistake to not be “designed for test”?
• Could that have been mistake proofed in some way? It was not
• Would they have fired you? Did you ask??? Ernie or others??
• Took time to be able to tell the story? How long?
• What response did you get to sharing that story online?
• Bringing these lessons into the private sector as CEO?
• How many people have taken you up on your offer to share their failure stories??
• MY $500M MARS ROVER MISTAKE: A FAILURE STORY
• Netflix documentary on the James Webb telescope