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Founders

Founders

By: David Senra
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 Learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs. Every week I read a biography of an entrepreneur and find ideas you can use in your work. This quote explains why: "There are thousands of years of history in which lots and lots of very smart people worked very hard and ran all types of experiments on how to create new businesses, invent new technology, new ways to manage etc. They ran these experiments throughout their entire lives. At some point, somebody put these lessons down in a book. For very little money and a few hours of time, you can learn from someone’s accumulated experience. There is so much more to learn from the past than we often realize. You could productively spend your time reading experiences of great people who have come before and you learn every time." —Marc Andreessen Economics Leadership Management & Leadership World
Episodes
  • #399 How Elon Works

    #399 How Elon Works
    Aug 25 2025
    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 build his companies and his truly singular career. There is no one else like him — living or dead. Episode sponsors: ⁠⁠⁠⁠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 time and money.⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ramp.com⁠⁠ Automate compliance, security, and trust with Vanta. ⁠⁠Vanta helps you win trust, close deals, and stay secure—faster and with less effort⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠Find out how increased security leads to more customers by going to Vanta⁠⁠⁠. Tell them David from Founders sent you and you'll get $1000 off. ⁠https://www.vanta.com/founders⁠ Collateral transforms your complex ideas into compelling narratives. Collateral crafts institutional grade marketing collateral for private equity, private credit, real estate, venture capital, family offices, hedge funds, oil & gas companies, and all kinds of corporations. Storytelling is one of the highest forms of leverage and you should invest heavily in it. You can do that by going to https://collateral.com
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • #398 Steve Jobs In His Own Words (Make Something Wonderful)

    #398 Steve Jobs In His Own Words (Make Something Wonderful)
    Aug 14 2025
    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 the book for free courtesy of The Steve Jobs Archive. This episode was originally published April 17, 2023. Episode sponsors: ⁠⁠⁠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 time and money.⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://ramp.com⁠ Automate compliance, security, and trust with Vanta. ⁠Vanta helps you win trust, close deals, and stay secure—faster and with less effort⁠. ⁠⁠⁠Find out how increased security leads to more customers by going to Vanta⁠⁠⁠. Tell them David from Founders sent you and you'll get $1000 off. https://www.vanta.com/founders Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here.
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    2 hrs and 2 mins
  • #397 Jiro Ono: Simplicity Is The Ultimate Advantage

    #397 Jiro Ono: Simplicity Is The Ultimate Advantage
    Aug 4 2025
    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 from reading the transcript of the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi and is full of ideas you can use in your work. Episode sponsors: ⁠⁠⁠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 time and money.⁠⁠⁠ https://ramp.com Automate compliance, security, and trust with Vanta. Vanta helps you win trust, close deals, and stay secure—faster and with less effort. ⁠⁠⁠Find out how increased security leads to more customers by going to Vanta⁠⁠⁠. Tell them David from Founders sent you and you'll get $1000 off. https://www.vanta.com Join my free email newsletter to⁠⁠⁠ get my top 10 highlights from every book⁠⁠⁠ https://davidsenra.com
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    41 mins
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