David Senra - Lessons from the Founder Historian - [Art of Investing, EP.4]

Today's teacher is David Senra. David is an absolute force of nature who is taking the world by storm with his podcast "Founders." In class today, we enjoy access to the full spectrum of learnings from his decade-long study of history's greatest entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, and leaders. The library David built reflects a range of study that is boundless. From Alexander the Great to Catherine Graham to Alexander Graham Bell, from Warren to Jimmy Buffett, and from J. Gould all the way to Jay Z. He helps us gain an understanding of why virtually all of the greats in history devote themselves to the study of those that came before them. Please enjoy today's class with David Senra. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Summus. Summus is a revolutionary health benefits solution, driving superior employee engagement while dramatically lowering your company's enterprise-level healthcare spend. They're completely transforming the world of health benefits by providing employers and their employees in any location, fast access to over 5,100 of the top medical specialists from America's very best medical centers for support across all health questions. If you're looking for a benefit that drives your employee engagement, truly takes care of your people in their most scary and vulnerable times, all while improving your healthcare ROI, visit SummusGlobal.com. This episode is brought to you by Hunt Club. Hunt Club unlocks relationships and helps companies grow. Whether it's recruiting your next hire, landing your next big partner, or financing your business, a trusted introduction always works more effectively. Hunt Club’s tech-enabled search model leverages the largest community of its kind to refer amazing talent on your behalf. Additionally, its software program, Atlas, helps organize the entire network of a company or fund and assists in streamlining the right introductions. If you're looking for the ideal solution for all of your talent needs, visit HuntClub.com/AOI. ----- Art of Investing is a property of Pine Grove Studios in collaboration with Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Art of Investing, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ArtofInvest | @Buhrman_Rick | @PaulBuser | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:05:23) - (First question) Understanding the need to devote oneself to something (00:09:10) - The profound and helpful insights gained from learning about historical figures (00:17:05) - Advice for a 22-year-old about the value of relentless effort (00:27:14) - Hard work as a prerequisite for achieving greatness (00:32:37) - How time and effort influence the compound interest equation (00:41:34) - Factors that hinder the pursuit of greatness (00:47:40) - Seeking voices that guide you toward the right path (00:56:02) - Curiosity as an innate talent or a cultivated skill (01:00:44) - Letting go of interests that obstruct your goals (01:08:45) - Striking a balance between work and family for a fulfilling life (01:14:50) - Basic steps within our control to become the person we aspire to be (01:19:10) - The unique appeal of podcasting as a business (01:24:19) - Turning information from biographies into actionable knowledge.