Memos from the Head Office with Perry Marshall

BusinessPodcast
Written By Mike Thakur

Perry Marshall literally wrote the book on Google Adwords and then moved on to legendary status through a series of category defining moments. He's one of the most expensive business strategists in the world and his new book, "Memos from the Head Office" covers 13 stories of unbelievable instances where divine intervention inspired people to start something big. Wondering if God is interested in your business or entrepreneurial journey? Then this IS the episode for you!

THE ELEVATOR INTRODUCTION

When Perry meets someone on an elevator or sitting next to him on a plane, one of the ways he introduces himself is; "I wrote the book on google advertising and founded the worlds largest research prize". If that doesn't pique someone's interest then what will? He's working on multiple projects at any given time, and currently has 3 professions, not 1.Years ago he got himself into an online battle over evolution, which culminated in a thread that grew into the longest running (7 years) and largest thread on the world's largest atheist discussion board as he defended his decision that DNA is like computer code, which means it has to be designed by a 'coder' and couldn’t have simply fallen into place. Many of the commentators couldn’t accept his conclusions despite the fact that he defended himself logically and thoroughly, so he decided to challenge them to prove him wrong, with what is now the world’s largest open prize in the scientific community. By collating scientists from Harvard and Oxford to name a couple, he created a judging panel and then put up a monetary amount 10 times larger than the Nobel prize. Now, if someone can prove where DNA came from and how it formed into its strand without a designer or creator, they win $10,000,000.

There’s something very special about life but we have never figured out what it is.

FAITH

His brother was a missionary to China who lost his faith after serving there for a number of years. This took Perry to the intersection of faith and science because he’s an engineer which got his gears turning on what is provable in the faith based space.

It is the glory of god to conceal a matter and it’s the glory of kings to uncover it

The book, "Memos from the Head Office" is Perry's chance to tell real life stories about God's diving intervention in the lives of entrepreneurs, business owners and members of Perry's 'Planet Perry' community.

Prophecy is something many people have different ideas about, but the reality is that whether we believe in something or not doesn’t change whether it is true or not. - MT

As Perry became an adult he continued to encounter this same closed mindedness in the Church that he'd seen as a child, until he attended a vineyard church where, about 1 year while he’d been obsessing about a math problem all day long (and despite not believing in or having ever received a prophetic word in his life), a lady walked up to him and told him that God told her Perry was working on a math problem that he would ultimately solve…. Along with some other details. That word transformed his trajectory and was proved to be true, over the next couple of years.10 years later, he tracked down that lady and they became friends. From that friendship came the idea that they could pull together other entrepreneurs and business leaders, and with nothing more than their first name on a zoom call, begin to prophecy, giving them a memo from the head office… aka. Heaven.

MEMOS

The first time they did this they were joined by approx. 30 people from Perry’s network who were all blown away with what God was saying. He believes that hearing from God should be as natural and easy as writing down questions and then listening for the answers. It’s become one of Perry’s largest online sessions on a regular basis. These aren’t positioned as religious gatherings, but simply a conversation between the small group and heaven.

Every major bible character we read about hears from God, is directed by God and walks with God in a natural way. That’s a big deal to Perry because they’re our models. Even when his brother started to have doubts about his faith, partly because the Bible talked about miracles which we don’t see them anymore (at least we don’t hear about them much).Perry went in search of miracles, because he agreed that the Bible didn’t say they would stop. He looked for names, places, dates of birth, any and every piece of verifiable information that would help him categorically confirm these things do still happen today. Even now, people in those environments sometimes still don’t believe God moves in this way so Perry figured he'd prove it. If we have to pay for the X-rays to prove that God is working then so be it.

What does Perry say to someone who hasn’t heard of things like this before? Be open minded.

One of Perry's most important habits is his daily 'renaissance time', when he journals voraciously to remember what God has been telling him. He also uses this time to write down thoughts that come into his mind while in prayerful dialogue with God. "Don't filter" he says, "and don't edit either". Just write down what comes to mind as you pray and then later on work out whether it could be something God is behind or not.

Check out our episode with John Houston from earlier this year, and hear another guest talk about how he starts each day in the quiet with God, listening and journaling what he believes he is hearing. There's such a strong  parallel between these two guys! 

KEY QUOTES & NOTES

  • You and God is a majority.

  • Even a 6 year old knows the difference between a live puppy and a dead puppy.

  • Most people are pursuing answers…. I believe there’s nothing more important than the question.

  • How do you get code without code?

  • God talks to people way more often than anybody expects.

  • YouTube - Perry Marshall Penn State to learn more about his backstory

Links:

Mike Thakur
Previous

Chasing Your Dreams with Melissa Murphy-Steely
Next

Crazy Happy with Daniel Fusco