What makes a good biography and biographer

David Senra (Website, X) is a podcaster and loves that title more than anyone. He hosts Founders, where he teaches the lessons of history's greatest entrepreneurs by way of the biographies he reads of them. This week, he launched a second show, David Senra, where he talks to the greatest living entrepreneurs (often about the lessons from Founders). The first episode with Spotify Founder & CEO Daniel Ek is available now, and the show is in partnership with Scicomm Media, the team behind Huberman Lab.

David is an enthusiast about four things: entrepreneurship, reading, history, and podcasts. His two shows are the articulation of those obsessions in a form of service for the rest of us. He is following Charlie Munger's advice: "take a simple a idea and take it seriously."

David is one of the most energizing people I've ever met and has greatly inspired my work. I've had several multi-hour conversations with him that left me buzzing afterward, and I'm pleased that this is no exception. We cover many of his favorite lessons and founders, his process, biographies, focus, fear, endurance, service, and legacy.

I hope you are inspired to commit yourself to something worth your days and years.

Transcript and extensive linked references: https://dialectic.fm/david-senra

Special thanks to Josh Kale for producing this episode. Please check out his show Limitless on frontier technology and AI.

Timestamps:

• (0:00) - Open
• (1:49) - Intro
• (3:02) - Podcasts are Energy Transmission
• (7:52) - People Buy Simple Stories
• (12:38) - Repetition Doesn't Spoil the Prayer
• (16:11) - Trust in Brands and Products (and Podcasts)
• (19:40) - Continuous Improvement and Speaking to a Moving Parade
• (26:18) - Confidence and Simplicity
• (34:55) - What Makes a Great Biography and Biographer
• (42:17) - Humanity in Context: Why Biographies are So Practically Helpful
• (48:52) - Fear
• (54:32) - Self Reflection and Commitment
• (1:06:52) - Considering Stuff Beyond Podcasting
• (1:10:40) - Focus and Making Time for Relationships
• (1:14:00) - What Should David Delegate?
• (1:24:36) - Advice for 2017 David
• (1:28:21) - Storytelling and Clear Thinking
• (1:32:19) - Defying Rationality and Creating Magic with Obsessive Details
• (1:38:09) - Self-Deception and Understanding Who You Are
• (1:45:01) - Intuition
• (1:48:34) - Being Easy to Interface With
• (1:52:26) - Biography Most Founders Would Benefit From: James Dyson's Against the Odds
• (1:57:05) - Simplicity and Edit Before You Make
• (2:02:42) - Lesson for Tech People: Learn from History
• (2:06:14) - What David Hopes His Kids Say About Him

Dialectic with Jackson Dahl is available on all podcast platforms.
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