Founders
Every week, host David Senra reads a biography of a great entrepreneur and distills the key lessons for listeners. The podcast draws on thousands of years of history to uncover timeless insights on building businesses, inventing technology, and managing teams. It aims to help you learn from the accumulated experience of history's most successful founders.
Episodes
#426 How Obsession Built Christopher Nolan
Obsession is the engine of Nolan’s career. This episode examines Christopher Nolan’s life, working methods, and philosophy through The Nolan Variations by Tom Shone.
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#425 The Merchant Bankers
This episode discusses Joseph Wechsberg’s 1966 book, The Merchant Bankers. Rather than recounting the histories of families like the Rothschilds, Barings, Hambros, Warburgs, and Lehman Brothers, I wanted to extract the principles they shared.
Merchant banking is fascinating. It's a very distinctive form of entrepreneurship. There is an old-school way of doing business that appeals to
#424 Peter Thiel on How to Build a Creative Monopoly
What I learned from reading Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters (for the 3rd or 4th time)
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#423 Soichiro Honda
What I learned from reading Honda: The Man and His Machines by Sol Sanders.
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#422 Joseph Pulitzer
What I learned from reading Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power by James McGrath Morris.
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#421 Jony Ive
What I learned from reading Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney.
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#420 Steve Jobs In Exile
What I learned from reading Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary by Geoffrey Cain.
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#419 Kelly Johnson: Skunk Works
Kelly Johnson’s “14 Points” read like a SpaceX operations manual — 60 years before SpaceX was founded. Kelly Johnson created Skunk Works, which he defined as: “A concentration of a few good people solving problems far in advance—and at a fraction of the cost—of other groups by applying the simplest, most straightforward methods possible to develop and produce new projects. All it is really is th
#418 Phil Knight: Founder of Nike
What I learned from rereading Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike for the 3rd or 4th time.
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#417 Arnold Schwarzenegger
What I learned from reading Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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#416 The Relentless Missionary Creating AGI: Demis Hassabis
This episode is about a once-in-a-generation mind working on what may be the most important problem in history. Based on the new book The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence by Sebastian Mallaby.
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#415 How Elon Thinks
My friend Eric Jorgenson spent years—and thousands of hours—studying Elon Musk. Eric read everything Elon has written, read everything written about Elon, and watched every interview Elon's given. He distilled all of Elon's insights into his new book. This episode is all about How Elon Thinks based on The Book of Elon: Elon Musk's Most Useful Ideas in His Own Words.
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#414 How SpaceX Works
SpaceX is one of the most dominant companies on the planet and their performance gap just keeps getting bigger. In 2025, SpaceX launched more mass to orbit than every other provider on Earth combined. MUCH MORE: every payload from China, Russia, Europe, and all American launchers wasn’t even a fifth of what SpaceX put into orbit. They’re the only company producing rockets at an industrial scale. T
#413 How To Run Down A Dream
Running Down A Dream: How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love by Bill Gurley has been one of the most valuable talks I've heard. For years I have been using ideas from that talk to build this podcast. Bill has written a new book based on that talk: Runnin' Down a Dream: How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love. This episode explores the most valuable ideas from the book and talk.
Epi
#412 How Roger Federer Works
What I learned from reading The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer by Chris Clarey.
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#411 Tortured Into Greatness: The Life of Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi's autobiography is a brutally honest story about a tennis legend who hated the game that made him famous. Agassi traces his journey from a harsh, obsessive childhood training regimen to superstardom, burnout, rebellion, and eventual redemption—revealing the psychological cost of greatness, the search for identity beyond winning, and how he ultimately found purpose on his own terms.
#410 Excellent Advice for Living
On his 68th birthday, Kevin Kelly began to write down for his young adult children some things he had learned about life that he wished he had known earlier. Kelly’s timeless advice covers an astonishing range, from right living to setting ambitious goals, optimizing generosity, and cultivating compassion.
Excellent Advice for Living is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to navigate life
The Singular Life of Rick Rubin
There's no one like Rick Rubin. He's a legendary music producer known for his minimalist approach and relentless pursuit of greatness. This episode is what I learned from reading Rick Rubin: In The Studio by Jake Brown.
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#409 The Creative Genius of Rick Rubin
"I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.” —Rick Rubin. This episode is what I learned from reading The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin.
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#408 How to Make a Few MORE Billion Dollars: Brad Jacobs
In 2024 Brad Jacobs wrote the book How to Make a Few Billion Dollars.
In the book Brad explains how he built 8 separate billion dollar companies and other lessons from his 40+ year career as an elite entrepreneur.
In the two years since Brad has made a few MORE billion dollars and so the sequel to his first book is: How to Make a Few MORE Billion Dollars.
In this episode I share some of Brad
The Life of Jesus
The Life of Jesus as told in the book Jesus: A Biography of a Believer by Paul Johnson.
This episode was originally published on Christmas Eve 2023.
#407 Bruce Springsteen Repairs the Hole in Himself
A viciously unhappy childhood causes Bruce Springsteen to retreat into work in an extreme way as he searches for success (and control). He channels his pain into focus and drive and gets everything he thought he wanted. He didn’t yet know he was lying to himself. He will find that out soon. He falls into a deep depression. One that almost leads to s*icide. With the help of his true friend Jon Land
#406 Christian von Koenigsegg
Christian von Koenigsegg is unapologetically in the pursuit of greatness. Koenigsegg builds some of the fastest and most expensive cars on Earth, has a cult-like following, and relentlessly seeks out challenges he can innovate on. After building his company for more than 30 years, his love and passion for his craft is still as strong as ever. This episode explores some of the most important ideas
Red Bull's Billionaire Maniac Founder
I'm reposting one of my favorite founder stories. If you listened to this first time I recommend listening again. If you missed this before, you're about to hear one of the wildest founder stories of all time.
A few surprising things I learned from reading about Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of Red Bull:
1. He started the company when he was 41 years old.
2. He was making $500 to $800 milli
#405 How Rockefeller Worked
This episode covers the insanely valuable company-building principles of John D. Rockefeller—and nothing else.
I spent over 40 hours reading (and rereading) this obscure biography of Rockefeller that costs $1,000
I then spent several days editing down 25 pages of notes from the book. I deleted everything that was not How Rockefeller Works
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My conversation with Todd Graves
Todd Graves is one of my favorite living founders. He owns over 90% of Raising Canes — a business that is worth at least $20 billion. Todd's maxim is "Do one thing and do it better than anyone else." It is impossible not to be inspired by his terminator levels of determination. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.
Episode show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/to...
#404 How Larry Ellison Thinks
This episode covers the unique way Larry Ellison thinks.
I spent over 40 hours reading (and rereading) this book on Ellison written by Matthew Symonds.
I then spent several days editing down 40 pages of notes into a one-hour nonstop stream of Larry Ellison's ideas.
Episode sponsors:
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My Conversation with Brad Jacobs
I’ve started a new show where I have conversations with the greatest living Founders. The show is called David Senra. It will be on a separate podcast feed from Founders.
So it is very important that you follow David Senra on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you're listening to this so you don't miss future episodes.
Nothing is changing with Founders. I will never stop maki
#403 How Jensen Works
This episode covers the insanely valuable company-building principles of Jensen Huang—and nothing else.
I spent over 40 hours reading (and rereading) this book on Jensen and Nvidia written by Tae Kim
I then spent several days editing down 30 pages of notes from the book. I deleted everything that was not How Jensen Works.
List of ideas:
1. Professor Jensen
2. The Whiteboard
3. Complac
My Conversation with Michael Dell
I’ve started a new show where I have conversations with the greatest living Founders. The show is called David Senra. It will be on a separate podcast feed from Founders.
So it is very important that you follow David Senra on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you're listening to this so you don't miss future episodes.
Nothing is changing with Founders. I will never stop making Found
#402 Thomas Peterffy: The $80 Billion Founder Who Automates Everything
I didn’t know who Thomas Peterffy was. I was shocked to learn that he is 81 years old, worth $80 billion dollars, and has built his $120 billion company, Interactive Brokers, into one of the most efficient companies in the world. I discovered Peterffy by reading this incredible profile about him. I couldn’t put it down. That’s what this episode is about.
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My conversation with Daniel Ek: Founder of Spotify
I started a new show so I can have long-form conversations with the greatest living founders. You can watch on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, X, or the web.
The new show is on a separate feed so don't forget to follow David Senra so you don't miss future episodes. Nothing is changing with Founders. I will never stop making that podcast.
Thanks for the support!
#401 How Bill Gates Works
This episode is about Bill Gates' obsessive drive and hardcore work ethic. Bill Gates had the rarest entrepreneurial talent—the ability to see the leverage point in a new industry, seize it with relentless intensity, and *will* Microsoft into one of the most successful companies in human history.
To make this episode I read Bill's new autobiography, Source Code: My Beginnings, and pulled ideas a
#400 The Stubborn Genius of James Dyson
This episode covers the extreme perseverance and the stubborn genius of James Dyson.
Dyson has a business philosophy which is very different from anything you might have encountered before. A philosophy which demands difference from what exists and retention of total control. For almost four decades, James Dyson has been building one of the most valuable privately-held companies in the world. A
#399 How Elon Works
This episode covers the insanely valuable company-building principles of Elon Musk—and nothing else.
I spent well over 60 hours reading (and rereading) the biography of Elon Musk written by Walter Isaacson. I then spent several days editing down 40 pages of notes from the book. I deleted everything that was not about How Elon Works.
This episode focuses exclusively on the ideas Elon used to b
#398 Steve Jobs In His Own Words (Make Something Wonderful)
A curated collection of Steve’s speeches, interviews, and correspondence, Make Something Wonderful offers a window into how one of the world’s most creative entrepreneurs approached his life and work. In these pages, Steve shares his perspective on his childhood, on launching and being pushed out of Apple, on his time with Pixar and NeXT, and on his return to the company that started it all. Read
#397 Jiro Ono: Simplicity Is The Ultimate Advantage
Jiro Ono is the greatest living sushi chef. He was kicked out his house when he was 9. He started working in a restaurant so he wouldn't have to sleep under a bridge. He never stopped. Over his 75 year career he rose to the very top of his profession. People travel from all over the world to eat at his restaurant. The meal costs $400 per person and lasts 15 minutes. This episode is what I learned
#396 The Obsession of Enzo Ferrari
I've read hundreds of thousands of words about Enzo Ferrari. For this episode I distilled down his most important ideas into 1 hour. Ferrari was truly one of history's greatest obsessives.
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#395 How Geniuses and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport
Those on the margins often come to control the center. That maxim ties together the three remarkable people profiled in this episode:
Colin Chapman, known as “the mad scientist of F1”, did more to influence F1 design than any other person in history.
Bernie Ecclestone, known as “Supremo”, Bernie transformed Formula One from a disorganized, rag-tag, chaotic collection of racing teams, into the w
#394 An Orphan Who Built An Empire: Leonardo Del Vecchio and The Founding of Luxottica
Your dad dies before you’re born. Your mom can’t afford to take care of you. You grow up without a family and in an institution. You learn a trade and start working full time at the age of 14. You work all day and go to school at night. You’re precise, meticulous, restless, and work circles around everyone. You’re promoted to run the factory at 18 but the thought of working for anyone else terrifi
#393 The Marketing Genius of the Michelin Brothers
Your family asks you to take over a failing factory in a remote part of France. This “family business” comes with a stack of unpaid bills, a small team of workers who haven’t been paid in months, and a banker refusing to extend any more credit. You cut every unprofitable product and go all in on making rubber tires. You have no experience and don’t know a single thing about rubber manufacturing. Y
#392 Michele Ferrero and His $40 Billion Privately Owned Chocolate Empire
You take over the family pastry shop and transform it into one of the most valuable privately held businesses in the world. Your father dies young. Your uncle does too. Everyone is relying on you and this keeps you up at night. You insist on differentiation and refuse to make me too products. You obsess over quality. You run tens of thousands of experiments. The products you invent will sell succe
#391 Jimmy Iovine
You grow up in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn. You drop out of college. Your dad is your best friend but you don’t want to work the docks like him. You’re determined to “do something special.” You get a job sweeping the floor at recording studio. You get fired—twice. You’ll do anything to work in the music business, including working on Easter Sunday. That’s how you meet John Lennon. This is the
#390 Rare Steve Jobs Interview
I've read this interview probably 10 times. It's that good. Steve Jobs was 29 when this interview was published, and with remarkable clarity of thought Steve explains the upcoming technological revolution, why the personal computer is the greatest tool humans have ever invented, how the computer compares to past inventions, why software needs to be simplified (You shouldn't have to read a novel to
#389 The Founder of Jimmy Choo: Tamara Mellon
When Tamara Mellon’s father lent her the seed money to start a high-end shoe company, he cautioned her: “Don’t let the accountants run your business.” Little did he know that over the next fifteen years, the struggle between “financial” and “creative” would become one of the central themes as Mellon’s business.
Mellon grew Jimmy Choo into a billion dollar brand and her personal glamour made her an
#388 Jeff Bezos's Shareholder Letters: All of Them!
(I fixed the audio and uploaded a new episode!) "To read Jeff Bezos’s shareholder letters is to get a crash course in running a high-growth internet business from someone who mastered it before any of the playbooks were written." That is the best description of Bezos's letters I have ever read. I just finished rereading these letters for the 4th or 5th time. With clear thinking and ferocious inte
A conversation on focus and finding your life's work
My friend Patrick O’Shaughnessy asked me to come to New York and record a conversation. Patrick had just finished listening to episode #383 "Todd Graves and his $10 Billion Chicken Finger Dream" and he believed there was an important conversation to have on focus and finding your life's work. This conversation was off-the-cuff and from the soul. I hope you find it useful.
If you'd prefer to watch
#387 Jim Simons Built The World’s Greatest Money-Making Machine
Jim Simons never took a single class on finance, wasn’t interested in business, and didn’t start trading full time until he was 40. The company he founded — Renaissance Technologies — has made over $100 billion in profits.
Starting out with the heretical belief that there was a hidden structure in financial markets, Jim decided to staff his “crazy hedge fund” with mathematicians, computer scienti
#386 Akio Morita: Founder of Sony
Akio Morita was a visionary entrepreneur and co-founder of Sony. Born as the first son and fifteenth-generation heir to a 300-year-old sake-brewing family in Japan, Akio eschewed the traditional path to forge his own legacy in electronics.
In post-war Japan, Akio joined forces with Masaru Ibuka to found Sony. They started in a burned-out department store with limited resources—to build their first
#385 Michael Dell
This is one of the most extraordinary founder stories you will ever hear. Michael Dell started his company with $1000 when he was 19 years old. The revenues for the first 16 years of Dell look like this:
1984 $6M
1985 $33M
1986 $67M
1987 $159M
1988 $258M
1989 $388M
1990 $546M
1991 $890M
1992 $2B
1993 $2.9B
1994 $3.5B
1995 $5.3B
1996 $7.8B
1997 $12.3B
1998 $18.2B
1999 $25.3B
Dell had been profitabl
#384 Ken Griffin: Founder of Citadel and Citadel Securities
Because of the podcast I get to meet a lot of super successful people. I'm always asking them "Who is the smartest person you know" and "Who do you think has the best business?". "Ken Griffin" is a very common answer. I've heard Ken described in two ways: "Winner" and "Killer". For years I've come across interesting anecdotes about Ken. Like when he appears as a 19 year old kid in Ed Thorp's exce
The Invisible Billionaire: Daniel Ludwig
Daniel Ludwig was the richest man in the world and no one knew his name. I've read almost 400 biographies of history's greatest founders and this book is one of my all time favorites. Daniel Ludwig started his company at 19 and was working on it well into his 90s. He built a massive conglomerate of over 200 companies operating in more than 50 countries. Spending the time to learn how he did this i
#383 Todd Graves and his $10 Billion Chicken Finger Dream
Todd Graves is one of my favorite living entrepreneurs. He's a great example of Charlie Munger's maxim: Find a simple idea and take it seriously. Todd wanted to create a quick service restaurant that only focused on quality chicken finger meals and nothing else. Everyone told him that couldn't possibly work. The college paper that described the idea that would turn into Raising Canes got the lowes
#382 Who Is Michael Ovitz?: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Most Powerful Man in Hollywood
At the core of Michael Ovitz's success is his relentless work ethic and commitment to mastering his craft. 50 years ago he founded Creative Artists Agency. CAA starts out as just five young guys in a run down office and eventually becomes the most powerful agency in the world. Ovitz's autobiography explains how that happened. As the Wall Street Journal wrote: When the history of Hollywood is writt
#381 I Had Dinner With Michael Ovitz
What I learned from having an intense and fun 3 hour dinner with Michael Ovitz.
1: Mediocrity is always invisible until passion shows up and exposes it.
2: There's no ceiling on where you can push your profession.
3: Don't be unequally yoked. Pick partners that have the same ambition as you.
4: Read biographies. Know everything about the history of your industry.
5. Have a profound sense of belie
#380 Four Hundred Pages of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger In Their Own Words
For over 30 years the Berkshire Hathaway Annual meetings were recorded. Munger and Buffett answered over 1700 questions from shareholders during that period. Alex Morris watched hundreds of hours of these meetings and then he gathered, organized, and edited the most interesting ideas into 450+ pages — all in Buffett and Munger's own words. I thought it would be fun to rip through a bunch of Munge
#379 Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys)
Jerry Jones rolled the dice until his knuckles bled. He started working at 7 years old. Jerry could sell, sell, sell. He sold fruit at his father’s grocery store in grade school and sold shoes out of the trunk of his car in college. After failing to sell pizza franchises he tried real estate and insurance. He never met a high risk deal he didn’t like. Jerry got pitched a deal to drill for oil that
#378 The Last Oil Baron: Leon Hess
Your father goes bankrupt. You work for 50 cents a day to try to help your family survive the Great Depression. At 19 you see an opportunity where others see nothing. You start “a little fuel delivery business” with one used truck. Five years later you have 10 trucks. World War II breaks out and you serve as the fuel supply officer for General Patton. You come back to America and apply what the wa
#377 Expanding A Family Dynasty: Marcus Wallenberg Jr.
Marcus Wallenberg Jr's impact on Swedish industry was so substantial that during the 1970s, Wallenberg family businesses employed about 40% of Sweden's industrial workforce and represented 40% of the total worth of the Stockholm stock market. The Wallenberg family is one of the most fascinating family dynasties you could read about. The family has survived — and continues to thrive — for 170 years
#376 Jensen Huang: Founder of Nvidia
What I learned from reading The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant by Tae Kim.
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Founders Not
#375 The Single Biggest Individual Financier In The World. The Richest Woman In America: Hetty Green
Hetty Green bailed out New York City. Her decisions on what interest rates to charge moved markets and were reported in major newspapers. She was a one woman bank and the single biggest individual financier in the world. She took no partners and ran her own money. She built a financial empire of stocks, bonds, railroads, and real estate. She battled the great men of her day and kept a gun on her d
The Most Inspiring Autobiography I've Read: Chung Ju-yung Founder of Hyundai
Chung Ju-yung grew up so poor he had to eat tree bark to survive. He founded Hyundai and became the richest person in Korea. When Chung was in his 80s, he wrote an autobiography that tells the devastating reality of growing up in dire poverty, how he escaped through manual labor, and how he founded and grew one of the world's largest conglomerates. Along the way he shares advice like why you shoul
#374 Rare Jeff Bezos Interview
Jeff Bezos on retirement being lame, AI, the electricity metaphor for AI, the good fortune of being alive during multiple golden ages, long term life long passions, refusing to underestimate opportunity, dancing with curiosity, inventing, wandering, crisp documents and messy meetings, willing to be misunderstood, and why he doesn't do many interviews.
This episode is what I learned from reading a
#373 Breakfast with Brad Jacobs + How To Make A Few Billion Dollars
Brad Jacobs is one of the most talented living entrepreneurs. Brad has started 8 different billion dollar or multi-billion dollar businesses. He has done over 500 acquisitions and has raised over $30 billion. He started his first company at 23, has over 40 years of experience as an entrepreneur, and is the most energetic person I have ever been around. Earlier this year he published his life story
#372: Amancio Ortega: The Genius Behind the Inditex Group
Amancio Ortega is one of the wealthiest people in the world. Ortega is the founder of Inditex, a pioneer of fast fashion, an entrepreneur with over 60 years of experience, and has created a business model that is studied in universities that he could not access. His life story is inspiring, educational, and full of valuable ideas for future generations of founders. This episode is what I learned f
#371 James J. Hill: The Empire Builder
What I learned from rereading James J. Hill: Empire Builder by Michael P. Malone.
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Founders Notes gives you the
#370 The Founder of IKEA: Ingvar Kamprad
What I learned from reading Leading By Design: The Ikea Story by Ingvar Kamprad and Bertil Torekull and The Testament of a Furniture Dealer by Ingvar Kamprad.
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Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your bu
#369 Elon Musk and The Early Days of SpaceX
What I learned from rereading Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX by Eric Berger.
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Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more.
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Steve Jobs and Edwin Land
What I learned from rereading Instant: The Story of Polaroid by Christopher Bonanos.
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Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more.
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Founders Notes gives you t
#368 Rockefeller's Autobiography
What I learned from rereading Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller.
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Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more.
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Founders Notes giv
#367 Inside the Contrarian Mind of Sam Zell
What I learned from reading Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks: Inside the Contrarian Mind of Billionaire Mogul Sam Zell by Ben Johnson.
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Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and
#366 Mr. Beast Leaked Memo
What I learned from reading How To Succeed in Mr. Beast Production and how ideas from Sam Zell, Charlie Munger, Nick Sleep, Warren Buffett, Sam Zemurray, Bob Kierlin, Steve Jobs, Li Lu, Edwin Land, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, James Cameron, Anna Wintour, Walt Disney, Bernard Arnault, and Brad Jacobs immediately came to mind.
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Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, wat
#365 Nick Sleep's Letters: The Full Collection of the Nomad Investment Partnership Letters to Partners
The best investors are not investors at all. They're entrepreneurs who have never sold. — Nick Sleep
Nick Sleep’s letters are a masterclass on the importance of understanding the underlying reality of a business — what he calls the engine of its success.
I read all 110,000 words of Nick’s letters (twice!) to make this episode and what I found most important is Nick’s ability to develop a deep unde
#364 Nick & Zak's Excellent Adventure: How Nick Sleep and Qais Zaharia Built Their Investment Partnership
How Nick Sleep and Qais Zakaria built their radically unconventional investment partnership. From the incredible book Richer, Wiser, Happier: How The World's Greatest Investors Win In Markets and Life by William Green.
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#363 Li Lu and Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett
I sent a friend this text: I'm working on another Li Lu episode but this one is about his remarkable investing career. Can be summarized by: 1. Studied Buffett and Munger. 2. Did that. Last episode was about how Li Lu survived one of the most horrific childhoods imaginable. This episode covers how he thinks about investing and entrepreneurship—in his own words.
Sources:
The forward to the Chines
#362 Li Lu
Charlie Munger said that Li Lu was the only outsider he ever trusted with his money. Decades before Li Lu made Munger half a billion dollars, Li survived one of the most horrific childhoods imaginable:
Born into poverty, abandoned, hungry, beaten, surrounded by death. Persistent. Smart. Disciplined. Intensely curious. Obsessed with reading and learning. Determined to escape. This is a story you a
#361 Estée Lauder
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger said it was a crime that more business schools didn't study Henry Singleton. I think it's a crime that more entrepreneurs don't study Estée Lauder. She is one of the best founders to ever do it. This is the story of how she went from a childhood obsession, to a single counter in a beauty salon, to a multibillion dollar empire.
This is my third time reading this b
#360 Robert Kierlin: Founder of Fastenal
Since its founding in 1967 Fastenal has grown from a small fastener store in Winona, Minnesota, into a multibillion-dollar global organization. How did a small town “nuts and bolts” shop become one of the world's most dynamic growth companies? Whenever asked, company founder Bob Kierlin attributes Fastenal's success to the company's high-quality employees and their commitment to a common goal: Gro
#359 The Russian Rockefellers: The Nobel Family Dynasty
The name of Nobel usually calls to mind Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, and the internationally prestigious prizes that bear his name. But Alfred was only one member of a creative and innovative family who built an industrial empire in prerevolutionary Russia. The saga begins with an emigre from Sweden, Immanuel Nobel, who was an architect, a pioneer producer of steam engines, and a maker of w
#358 I had dinner with John Mackey, Founder of Whole Foods
What I learned from having dinner with John Mackey and reading his autobiography The Whole Story: Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism.
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