Eric Ross is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Striveworks, specializing in Machine Learning Operations. He enlisted in the Army after high school and joined the 75th Ranger Regiment as an 11B infantryman in the mid-1990s, where he served for six years until he left for an assignment with US Army Special Operations Command at Ft. Bragg, NC. He served 24 years before retiring in 2020 with numerous combat deployments. 

Over those 24 years, Eric graduated from many military schools and selection events, such as RASP, Combat Dive School, and HALO school, and won the Best Ranger competition in 2010. Eric has an undergraduate degree in psychology and an MBA from MIT Sloan Business School. 

Ben Allen is a former Army Green Beret and the CEO of Apex Path, a pioneer in readiness informatics that combines special operations warriors, elite computer scientists, and world-class fitness training to deliver a one-of-a-kind performance system for today’s warfighters. 

Despite never attaining his goal of bench pressing more than Eric, Ben is a highly accomplished athlete and performance expert, which is what led him to cross paths with Eric and eventually work together in their civilian roles. .

Timestamps:

00:00:22 Intro to Eric Ross

00:01:08 Intro to Ben Allen

00:02:12 What is Apex Path?

00:03:12 What is Striveworks?

00:05:28 What Data is Their Algorithm Measuring?

00:06:30 What Skills Has Eric Learned From Ben?

00:08:01 Specific Changes in Eric's Performance Training

00:09:34 Sponsor Note: Stress Inoculation Training

00:10:17 What Training Processes Prepare You to Succeed Under Stress?

00:12:31 The Value of Those Around You

00:14:18 Advice About Selection Courses

00:17:47 Fallacy of Picking "The Perfect Training Program"

00:20:55 Success Rate of Different Personality Types in Selection

00:23:44 Managing Failure and Setbacks

00:28:07 Choosing the Perfect Guy vs the Right Guy for the Job

00:30:15 What to Expect On Eric & Ben’s Next Episode

00:30:30 Outro