Focus: What Separates the Good from the Greats
Lessons from Founders - a podcast by David Senra
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, introduced me to Founders - a podcast by David Senra. He mentioned to start with the episode profiling famous billionaire, Felix Dennis. The episode didn’t disappoint. I was hooked.
Earlier this week, I found myself looking for another episode from the podcast to listen to. I chose, “the Best Interview I’ve ever done on Founders,” an episode where David Senra is interviewed by Patrick O’Shaughnessy, another critically acclaimed podcast host / investor, and also someone that I’ve looked up to online for ages. About half-way through the podcast episode, I thought to myself two things:
I want to go run through a wall for this man.
While, many, like myself, probably come for the lessons from the famous founders profiled, they certainly stay for David, and his star power.
The background of the podcast is this: David, reads one entrepreneurial bibliography a week, and then records and uploads a podcast on it. Simple. He’s done episodes on individuals like, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos. Past figures, like, Winston Churchill, Napoleon, and Ernest Hemingway - entrepreneurs in their own right. And, has read now 323 bibliographies, and has 1000 left to go, as of October 6th, as referenced by his Twitter profile. Felix Dennis, the first profile I listened to, described an eclectic billionaire, that eventually traded in a life of fame, fast-money, and faster women, for poetry, self-reflection, and peace. The second episode I listened to was the one I mentioned above with Patrick. It was here that I made the distinction between people coming for information on these renowned founders, but staying for the clarity of thought and intensity from the host.
One story that stood out for me on this, amongst an array of knowledge bombs, maxim drops, and being a rolodex of entrepreneurial history, was David’s description of his preparation for the show. While, others accused him of merely having a good memory, he refuted. He argued that his ability to flip through quotes, maxims, and history lessons at will, was far less about memory, and much more about preparation. He goes on to outline his preparation for the show.
Step 1: Read the book and highlight.
Step 2: Re-read the highlights before recording the podcast.
Step 3: Record the podcast.
Step 4: Edit the podcast.
Step 5: Take pictures of quotes for Readwise app. Upload one by one.
I really haven’t ever heard a podcast like this, or maybe, been so inspired by one. Why? David’s obsession to detail, and intention to just do one thing really, really well, is inspiring. Towards the end of the podcast, he expresses this sentiment: “I can lock myself in my room, with a book, a ton of espresso, and a microphone, and I’ll come out every 5-7 days with an audio recording that’ll help you with you job.” He goes on to add that, “I’m not going to start a fund, I’m not going to start another business, I’m only going to do this.” This is what he does, just this, and he’s going to be the best at doing just this one damn thing.
David Epstein, another author I admire, and the author of “Range,” expresses in his book that “we need more Rogers {Federer}: people who start broad and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives while they progress: People with range. I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Epstein, however, I think the evolution of Range is David Senra, and others like him. Once you’ve explored. Once you’ve tried. And once you’ve experimented. You stick to that one thing that is working. You stop playing games. You stop messing around. Instead, you do that one thing you were meant to do for the next 5, 10, 100 years of your life. That is what really separates the good from the greats. Doing that one thing, and doing it really, really, well.
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