Ben Wilson

Yeah, we talk a lot. You've been super generous to me with your time and with your money, and you've advertised on how to take over the world, which I really appreciate. And we do kind of similar things. So I thought we'd talk a little bit today about just the stuff that we always talk about, right? Which is we've got podcasts about people who achieve great things and how they do it.

And, um, this is a lot of what we already talk about. Um, I guess I want to start off talking about like, you've been doing this for how long now? You started in 2015, almost eight years, almost eight years, almost eight years. By the end of this year, I'll be over 400 biographies or autobiographies read for. And like so many of the lessons are the same, right?

And, um, this is a lot of what we already talk about. Um, I guess I want to start off talking about like, you've been doing this for how long now? You started in 2015, almost eight years, almost eight years, almost eight years. By the end of this year, I'll be over 400 biographies or autobiographies read for. And like so many of the lessons are the same, right?

That's what makes it so powerful is you find these like common things amongst, um, a bunch of people and then you're like, oh wow, this is a really powerful lesson because if all these people are doing the same thing, that means it's really powerful.

That's what makes it so powerful is you find these like common things amongst, um, a bunch of people and then you're like, oh wow, this is a really powerful lesson because if all these people are doing the same thing, that means it's really powerful.

But I guess the opposite side of that is, do you still find things that surprise you, like new lessons, or do you feel like it's reinforcing a lot of the same stuff at this point?

But I guess the opposite side of that is, do you still find things that surprise you, like new lessons, or do you feel like it's reinforcing a lot of the same stuff at this point?

What you were just saying is, Reminds me a little bit of that quote that you quote a lot. I think it's from Charlie Munger, which is take an idea and take it very seriously. Find a simple idea and take it very seriously. There it is. Find a simple idea and take it very seriously. And I think that's true more often than not. Before we hopped on, we were talking, I was talking about

What you were just saying is, Reminds me a little bit of that quote that you quote a lot. I think it's from Charlie Munger, which is take an idea and take it very seriously. Find a simple idea and take it very seriously. There it is. Find a simple idea and take it very seriously. And I think that's true more often than not. Before we hopped on, we were talking, I was talking about

uh john d rockefeller and how he wanted to work for one of these big firms in cleveland he goes interviews with every single one of them every one of them says no and he's like all right well i'll just interview again because i know exactly what i want so he just goes two or three times and i think so often people think they need to find a novel approach and they don't at all uh there's another good quote

uh john d rockefeller and how he wanted to work for one of these big firms in cleveland he goes interviews with every single one of them every one of them says no and he's like all right well i'll just interview again because i know exactly what i want so he just goes two or three times and i think so often people think they need to find a novel approach and they don't at all uh there's another good quote

from one of the British generals in World War II. And they asked him about the difference between American and British problem solving approaches. He says, Americans don't solve their problems. They overwhelm them. It's like so often you actually don't need to solve your problems. You actually just need to overwhelm them.

from one of the British generals in World War II. And they asked him about the difference between American and British problem solving approaches. He says, Americans don't solve their problems. They overwhelm them. It's like so often you actually don't need to solve your problems. You actually just need to overwhelm them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So you're like this crazed evangelist, which I love about you. And you're a complete obsessive about founders and about podcasting. Was there anything before podcasting like this for you?

Yeah. So you're like this crazed evangelist, which I love about you. And you're a complete obsessive about founders and about podcasting. Was there anything before podcasting like this for you?

I mean, and one of my big takeaways from both what you do and from that episode in particular, which I really liked, was it's chicken strips, right? It's chicken strips. Chicken fingers. Chicken fingers. Excuse me. Wow. Is there a difference between chicken fingers and chicken strips?

I mean, and one of my big takeaways from both what you do and from that episode in particular, which I really liked, was it's chicken strips, right? It's chicken strips. Chicken fingers. Chicken fingers. Excuse me. Wow. Is there a difference between chicken fingers and chicken strips?

He's like, I'm on a chicken finger dream. He's very adamant about that. But he takes it very seriously. He does it very well. And when people are looking for startup ideas, it's often just like, again, what we talked about at the beginning, take a simple idea, take it very seriously. Just look around your room. Is there nothing that you can think of that could be better?