I read 66 biographies last year— Here are my top 10!

Here are 10 episodes to start with: #168 Driven: An Autobiography by Larry Miller #171 The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune #219 Anthony Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography #223 Unstoppable: Siggi Wilzig's Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend #216 Authentic: A Memoir by the Founder of Vans #212 Michael Jordan: The Life #210 Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft #193 Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder #185 Ritz & Escoffier: The Hotelier, The Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class #170 My Life in Advertising ---- 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. ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00David Senra?

  So like the title says, I read 66 biographies last year. I did, made 66 new episodes in 2021 of Founders Podcast, based on the 66 biographies I've read. And so in total, in the entire four years that I've been doing Founders Podcast, I've read 235 biographies of entrepreneurs and there's 235 episodes in the archive. And so I had this idea, I was like, you know what? People don't know exactly where to start. And so I was like, I'm going to make a top 10 list for the six, out of the 66 biographies I read in 2021, I'll make a top 10 list with short descriptions on why I think you should listen to these episodes. And then if you're interested, read the books. They're a top 10, but it's not necessarily, this is, you know, the first one I'm going to tell you about is not necessarily the number one.

• 0:43David Senra?

  It's really hard because there's a reason why the smartest and most productive people that ever lived, all read biographies. And it's because reading biographies is some of the most actionable and educational reading you can do. And it's something I'm just completely obsessed with. So I can't really pick, say, oh yeah, this one's better than that one. It just depends on where you are in life and what impact like these stories have on you. So I made this top 10 list right now, based on how these books impacted me this year. And even though the books stay the same, you change as a person. So if I had to go back through, let's say, next year, a year from now, I had to go back through and list and rank all the 10, rank only 10 of the, out of the 66 biographies I read in 2021, the list might change. So the first recommendation is Driven, an autobiography by Larry Miller.

• 1:28David Senra?

  This is episode number 168. This may be the single book, out of every book that I did last year, that I got the most feedback on. It was remarkable. And it's remarkable because the ending is unexpected. So, quick blurb on this. Larry went from dropout to the richest person in Utah, but he sacrificed his health and his family relationships along the way. He wrote this autobiography as he was dying. He wanted to warn future entrepreneurs. He said that his story is a cautionary tale. So that is the, I think there's three main reasons why you can go back and find the greatest minds in histories. All learned from biographies. And I think one, and they talk about these three reasons.

• 2:10David Senra?

  Two, one is they want to understand how the great people that lived before them thought. Okay. Number two, they want to copy the best ideas that somebody else maybe took the entire length of their career, 40, 50, 60 years to figure out. So they want to copy their best ideas. And number three, they want to avoid their worst mistakes. There is something in human nature that when people get to the end of their life, they want to document that information and pass it on to the future generations. Almost no entrepreneurs write autobiographies when they're still in the midst of their career. It's when they're at the end, whether they're 60, 70, 80 years old, or if they happen to know they're dying. In Larry's case, he was dying little by little. He died early because he had really abusive health. Same thing with Sam Walton. Sam Walton has a fantastic autobiography.

• 2:55David Senra?

  He wrote it when he had cancer and he was very, very sick. And he says so in the book. If I wasn't sick, I wouldn't be taking the time to write this biography. So that's the first one. And again, don't worry, these are all going to be listed down below. Number two, I've never, ever come across anybody like this person. So number two is episode number 171. It is The Billionaire Who Wasn't. How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune. So Chuck Feeney made, he's still alive, by the way. Chuck Feeney made $8 billion in cash, by the, and gave it all away while he was still alive. He lives now in like a tiny apartment in San Francisco. I think he kept $2 million just to live on until he dies. Out of the $8 billion he made, he was a gifted entrepreneur who secretly created a cash flow machine.

• 3:40David Senra?

  This story is crazy and insisted on living life on his own terms. So he built a, I'm pretty sure he didn't even raise any money, built a business with his partners that produced billions and billions of dollars in cash flow. And then they went up selling it towards the end and he gives everything away. It's just a crazy story. The book is amazing, too. Number three, one of my favorite people that I've read his books. I loved his shows. Was episode number 219, Anthony Bourdain, The Definitive Oral Biography. So, his longtime assistant interviewed like 100 people that knew and worked with Tony Bourdain, and she put these edited interviews into a book that was just amazing.

• 4:20David Senra?

  So, my short description on this was a short life filled with euphoria and terror, a world-class storyteller plagued by demons. This book shows the complete Tony, a mass of contradictions, just like the rest of him. He was a real person that's missed by millions and millions of people. Number four, another one, I'm going to repeat myself because every time you read a biography, right? By definition, you're learning from people that lived a life so remarkable that somebody decided to write a book about it. So, I didn't know who this person was before I read the book. This is episode number 223. The book is called Unstoppable, Siggy Wilzig's Astonishing Journey From Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend.

• 5:04David Senra?

  My description of the book was Auschwitz survivor, Nazi hunter, penniless immigrant, relentless entrepreneur. Reading this book will put your troubles into perspective and make you think twice the next time you're tempted to quit. Number five, Authentic, A Memoir by the Founder of Vans. So, this is by Paul Van Duren. He's the founder of Vans, the beloved shoe company. It almost has like a cult following. What's crazy is he wrote the same situation I was just telling you. They don't write autobiographies until they're towards the end of their life. He was 90 years old when he wrote this book. So, that's what I said. Paul grew up with no indoor plumbing, started working at the age of six, dropped out of school in ninth grade, and created the beloved shoe brand Vans.

• 5:46David Senra?

  Reading this book gives you the opportunity to have a one-sided conversation with a 90-year-old founder. Number six.

• 5:55David Senra?

  This, oh my goodness. Number six is episode number 212, Michael Jordan, The Life. 700 pages on how Michael Jordan approached his craft. I have thought about this book every day since I reread it. It blew my mind. I will definitely be rereading this book in the future. When I do reread books, so six out of the 66 books I read last year, where I had read for either the second or third time. Every time I reread a book, I make a new episode about it. Because again, the book stays the same. You change as a person. So there's been cases where I read a book maybe three years ago, made a podcast on it. Now, three years later, I've read 200 and some biographies. Like, I've obviously learned a lot. That knowledge has compounded. That changes how I see the words on the paper. Just like the way I want founders.

• 6:39David Senra?

  When you listen to founders, you're not gonna, it's impossible for you to be the same. There's no way that you're gonna download the best and worst, the best ideas to copy and the worst ideas to avoid, or worst mistakes to avoid, from hundreds of history's greatest founders and be the same. That's just impossible. So, Michael Jordan, The Life, number 212. Absolutely love that book. Just his dedication to practice, the fact that he was able to live in the moment. There's just tons of ideas that, again, he used to get to the very top of his profession that we can then copy and use to try to get to the top and be better at our work, right? Number, where am I at? So that was one, two, three, four, five, six. Okay, so now I'm at number seven? I don't know. There's 10 on the list. I guess it doesn't even matter what number I'm on. Okay, so this one was amazing, too.

• 7:22David Senra?

  This is recommended, a lot of these books, I don't even know, I'd never heard of them before, but they're recommended by, because there's thousands of entrepreneurs and investors that listen to founders. And entrepreneurs and investors read a hell of a lot more than the average person. And so, every day, I get messages for new book recommendations. This one was recommended to me, and it blew my mind. It is Stephen King's autobiography. Okay, I've never read any Stephen King's books. I just know that he's a gifted writer, he's got a lot of following, he's sold like 350 million books. This is the only book of his I've ever read, and it was amazing. It's called Stephen King on Writing a Memoir of the Craft. This is my short blurb about it. This book emphasizes practice, immune. So I'm basically describing Stephen King, not even the book.

• 8:05David Senra?

  So Stephen King emphasizes practice, the importance of practice, being immune to rejection, superhuman persistence levels, blue collar work ethic applied to a creative endeavor, work that feels like play and soul in the game. Every founder will learn something valuable from this book, no doubt. This one, the next one is episode number 193, Arnold, The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is the second autobiography I've read of his. This is the one that he read, wrote when he was 30. And his other book is also in the archive. It's also amazing. Both of his books have been absolutely amazing because you get to study somebody that's unapologetically extreme. So what I said about this book is, listen, just read the first 113 pages. So it's in two sections.

• 8:49David Senra?

  The first 113 pages in this book is what I cover on the podcast. The second part is like his workout routine and all that stuff. It's essentially the autobiography of a 30-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger who talks about his approach to becoming the famous, the most successful bodybuilder I ever lived. And at the end of the book, he lifts off, he says, "It's the same process that I used to get to the top of this profession. I'm going to use to build my business empire. I'm going to use to become the most famous actor, successful actor in Hollywood." He calls his shot way before he actually, and then he goes out and does these things. So he predicts his future success. He really gives the blueprint in this book. Like what I said is this is not a book about bodybuilding. It is a book about what it means to be 100% mentally dedicated to achieving a goal.

• 9:34David Senra?

  Same thing. I'm definitely going to reread the first 113 pages of this book, probably multiple times throughout my lifetime. It just, it makes you, you read the book or you listen to the podcast and it just makes you believe that you can run through walls. Next one. I've only got two more for you and we'll wrap this up. Number 185. So this is Ritz and Escafier, The Hotelier, The Chef and the Rise of the Leisure Class. This was just a fantastic book. This is crazy. It is a story about the partnership between two of history's greatest obsessives. So Cesar Ritz will go on to inspire a generation of hoteliers. You know his last name. He founded the Hotel Ritz and the Carlton Hotel. Combine that, you get Ritz Carlton, right?

• 10:19David Senra?

  Brand is still around to this day. And then he was partners with August Escafier, who is the most influential chef ever. So the idea that the most influential hotelier and the most influential chef were actually, not only did they know each other, but they were partners for many, many years. And so you read this book and you listen to that podcast to understand how they approached their work. And you realize, okay, they think very similar, even though they have two different jobs. I'm trying to be the best chef in the world. I'm trying to be, run the best hotel. And yet, the way that you, it's, it's how they go about their work that is applicable to so many different domains. And then finally, this was amazing. This is number 170, My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins. This book is 100 years old and it's filled with timeless wisdom from the greatest copywriter

• 11:04David Senra?

  to ever live. So he, Claude Hopkins, in turn, inspired generations of advertising executive founders. So David Ogilvie, Albert Lasker, all these other people. And the importance of learning from him is because he teaches you how to sell your product. And as any entrepreneur, the history of entrepreneurship is very clear about this. It's not, it's great that you, you can make a good product, but that's not enough. Everything has to be sold all the time. Claude teaches you how to sell. And that's, and he talks about how did, he became the greatest copywriter ever lived. How did that happen? And he goes through in the, in the book, exactly. Not only just give you the ideas on advertising, sales, psychology and all this other stuff, but how he approached, excuse me, how he applied that to his own work.

• 11:49David Senra?

  So you read this book, you listen to that podcast to learn how Hopkins got to the very top of his profession. And then there's a twist at the end, at the very end of the book, and why he would advise his son not to follow in his footsteps.