David Senra (@FoundersPodcast)

I read Ogilvy on Advertising for the 3rd time A list of ideas from the book: 1. The beginning of greatness is to be different and the beginning of failure is to be the same. 2. Down with committees. Committees can criticize, but they cannot create. 3. Search the parks in all your cities; you...

A few lessons I learned from reading Steven Spielberg’s biography: 1. Whatever is there, he makes it work. 2. He would visualize himself winning an Oscar and thanking the Academy. He was twelve. 3. He aimed straight at the top from the very beginning: "He said, 'I want to be a director.' ...

Rockefeller on Napoleon: “I have thought that if he had applied himself to commerce and industry he would have been the greatest businessman the world has ever known. My, what a genius for organization! He had what I have always regarded as a prime necessity for large success in any enterprise—...

A new podcast on the founder of Rolex is available now! A few surprising things I learned from reading about Hans Wilsdorf: 1. He was an orphan. 2. He was the sole owner of Rolex. 3. When he founded Rolex only women wore wrist watches. 4. Everyone told him the idea to make wrist watche...

My notes from Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist turned into maxims: 1. Genius lies in ignoring the unimportant.  2. Intensity is the price of excellence.  3. If you’re not working on your best idea you’re doing it wrong.  4. Writing a check separates conviction from conversation.  5...

29 notes from “The Mind of Napoleon” 1. Imagination rules the world. 2. Destiny must be fulfilled— that is my chief doctrine. 3. The simplest moves are the best. 4. All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some a...

A few ideas from Rockefeller I found in his autobiography: 1. Hire talent as found, not as needed. 2. The tyranny of compounding costs can devastate the miracle of compounding returns. 3. Err on the side of speed. Be intolerant of slowness. 4. Writing a check separates conviction from con...

14 ideas from Buffett and Munger I don’t want to forget: 1. The one thing that has surprised me all my life is how many people with high IQs do massively stupid things. 2. The real issue is mediocrity. There are too many .240 hitters on boards. Businesses often settle for a notch or two above med...

10 of my favorite lines from this book: 1. Wisdom is prevention. 2. The fundamental algorithm of life: repeat what works. 3. We schedule time to think. Most people schedule themselves like a dentist. 4. The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very success...