Ben Munoz

Step 23: Landing Your Plane On The Great Wall

By benmunoz June 25, 201767 Steps

The Big Idea: Problems are going to confront you. Be prepared by expecting them, putting them into perspective, developing the fortitude to overcome, and learning how to innovate past them. To succeed,…

SAS Survival Handbook by John Wiseman

By benmunoz May 27, 2017library, outdoors

The Big Idea: if you head out to the wilderness, tell someone exactly where you are going. Take a wilderness survival course to learn how to survive for a few days until…

Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg

By benmunoz May 13, 2017library

The Big Idea: Productivity can be learned. Chapter 1: Motivation To feel motivated, people must feel like they are in control. Leadership is learned. Don't praise people for intelligence; praise…

Aquaponic Gardening by Sylvia Bernstein

By benmunoz May 6, 2017library, outdoors, permaculture

The Big Idea: Aquaponic gardening is a symbiotic, permaculture-friendly version of gardening in which fish supply nutrients to plants, which then remove all fish waste from the water. Aquaculture dates…

Step 22: The Seven-Fold Path To The Obvious Signs

By benmunoz April 15, 201767 Steps

The Big Idea: Experiment. Experiment. Experiment. Set the right goals and cut out anything that is not moving you towards your goals. Don’t delude yourself. Embrace the truth when you’re asking…

The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox

By benmunoz April 5, 2017favorite-business, library

The Big Idea: identify the bottleneck. Relieve the bottleneck. Repeat. The Goal is one of Jeff Bezos' three required books for his senior team. (Also, Effective Executive and Innovator's Dilemma)…

Step 21: Mastering The Four P.A.S.E. Energies & Casanova’s Chameleon

By benmunoz March 13, 201767 Steps

The Big Idea: Understand your strengths. Work on your weaknesses. Learn to identify the strengths of other people. Speak in the language of other people's strengths. When you’re a worker,…

Step 20: Richard Branson’s Hurricane & The Imaginary World Of Kanye West

By benmunoz March 9, 201767 Steps

The Big Idea: If you were independently wealthy, what kind of life would you create? Work backward from there to engineer your ideal life. An entrepreneur creates the world in his…

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

By benmunoz February 25, 2017library, outdoors, permaculture

Last year, I planted my first ever square root, raised bed vegetable garden with my girlfriend and had no idea what I was doing, we also had some trees, but…

Made in America by Sam Walton

By benmunoz February 18, 2017favorite-business, library

The Big Idea: Walmart succeeded through a combination of unique culture, very effective strategies, and lots of hard work. Nadine West's two favorite role models are 1) Southwest Airlines and 2)…

The Best Place to Work by Ron Friedman

By benmunoz February 2, 2017favorite-business, library

The Big Idea: Happy employees are a competitive advantage. Chapter 1: Success is Overrated, Why Great Work Places Reward Failure make it okay to try new things and fail learn…

Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

By benmunoz January 15, 2017favorite-business, library

The Big Idea: the purpose of life (and business) is happiness, not money. Business is not about money. It's about making dreams come true for others and yourself. Making a…

Good to Great by Jim Collins

By benmunoz January 8, 2017library

The Big Idea: Chapter 1: Good is the Enemy of Great Good to Great companies always had Level 5 Leaders. Recruit the right people before choosing a direction/mission/vision/strategy. Confront the…

High Output Management by Andy Grove

By benmunoz December 11, 2016library

The Big Idea: Understand the principles of factory production and apply them to business management. Chapter 1: The Basics of Production Focus efforts on identifying and fixing the bottleneck (limiting step)…

Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit by Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon

By benmunoz October 16, 2016library

The Big Idea: Invest more in creating an exceptional customer experience. What is the cardinal rule of exceptional service? Anticipate the needs of your customers. What are the four basics of good…

Step 19: Amazon.com & The $32,000 Brain Budget

By benmunoz October 15, 201667 Steps

The Big Idea: Spend 30% of your monthly income on reading and learning. Do an audit of your finances. Find out how much you spend on 1) consuming vs 2)…

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams

By benmunoz September 25, 2016library

The Big Idea: Losers have goals. Winners have systems. Losers have goals. Winners have systems. Your mind isn't magic. It's a moist computer you can program. The most important metric to…

Step 18: Man-On-The-Moon Contrast and Keeping Easy Things Easy

By benmunoz September 17, 201667 Steps

The Big Idea: Break down complex things into simple things, but keep simple things simple. Ask yourself: is what you’re trying to do harder than putting man on the moon?…

Step 17: Elon Musk‘s 14-Hour Workday vs. The 4-Hour Work Week

By benmunoz September 5, 201667 Steps

The Big Idea: The most successful men work 14 hour days, not 4 hour work weeks. Learn to love the grind. — John Calipari In fifty years, you will wish you…

Step 16: Rousseau, The Renaissance Man, & Iron Sharpening Iron

By benmunoz September 2, 201667 Steps

The Big Idea: The most successful people are generally renaissance people, who know a lot about a lot. Our brains are simulation machines. Jet pilots do not start learning by doing,…

Step 15: Descartes & Solving Problems With A Calculator

By benmunoz August 28, 201667 Steps

The Big Idea: To run a successful business, you must be comfortable with math and statistics. Math is the only 100% certain truth. — Descartes I was dyslexic, but I…

What They Don’t Teach You At Business School About Entrepreneurship

By benmunoz August 12, 2016videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHVJF9VaWfo -startups are best for people who crave flexibility, excitement -partners (cofounders) are great, it's so difficult to do it all by yourself -it's okay to not have all the…

Scaling Up Excellence by Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao

By benmunoz August 9, 2016favorite-business, library

THE BIG IDEA Scaling is a ground war, not just an air war. Scaling requires grinding it out; building the organization brick by brick, day after day. One more metaphor...it's…

Nuts! by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg

By benmunoz June 28, 2016favorite-business, library

The Big Idea Southwest succeeded by focusing on profitability over market share and by taking the time building a fun and positive culture. Doing this likely slowed down their growth…

Smartcuts by Shane Snow

By benmunoz May 21, 2016library

The Big Idea Work smarter, not harder. Key Takeaways Hacking the Ladder: sometimes the fastest way up is side-to-side; eg. US presidents with little political experience, movie stars with little…

Get Acquired by Ian Bednowitz

By benmunoz May 11, 2016library

F***ing amazing Udemy course for founders on how to get acquired -- taught by the former head of M&A for eBay, Ian Bednowitz. THE BIG IDEA Fortune 500 M&A teams have…

The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington

By benmunoz May 7, 2016library

95% of this book was about why sleep is so important. 5% of the book is about how to get better sleep. Save time by reading this article instead. THE BIG…

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

By benmunoz April 19, 2016library

THE BIG IDEA: We, as individuals and organizations, operate by habit; learn how to engineer good habits; learn how to identify keystone habits that shape many other habits KEY TAKEAWAYS…

Traction by Gabriel Weinberg

By benmunoz April 4, 2016library

The Big Idea: concentrate your efforts on the core traction channel that really matters; learn how to quickly identify your core traction channel because it will change as your startup grows…

Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras

By benmunoz February 17, 2016favorite-business, library

This is a study on how to build a company that is resilient and exceptional. It's one of my favorite books. The Big Idea: visionary companies have a strong inner core (core purpose,…

Basic Wilderness Life Support

By benmunoz February 9, 2016outdoors

This was from a wilderness medicine course I took at BCM. The Big Idea: boil all water, clean wounds with soap and water, wash off poison ivy within 1-4 hours,…

Emergency by Neil Strauss

By benmunoz February 5, 2016library

After reading Emergency, I watched the bleak, post-apocalyptic The Road, with Viggo Mortensen. Bad combination for a good night's sleep. The Big Idea: when the shit hits the fan (WTSHTF),…

Cosmos with Neil DeGrasse Tyson

By benmunoz January 31, 2016library

Just finished watching Cosmos on Netflix. Amazing work! Had to post this final monologue by Carl Sagan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any…

Get Backed by Evan Baehr and Evan Loomis

By benmunoz January 27, 2016libraryNo Comments

The Big Idea: you need a well-designed pitch deck and a well-planned road show to raise serious money for your startup. Pitch Deck Overview Opportunity Problem Solution Traction Customer or…

Step 14: The Shaolin Monk & Touching An Electric Fence

By benmunoz January 21, 201667 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Prepare for what is difficult when it is easy. If you take the approach that everything is your fault, you can begin to anticipate and plan for many scenarios (disease,…

Step 13: The Amish Vacation, Tap Dancing To Work, & Avoiding What You Love

By benmunoz January 19, 201667 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: If you have to go on vacation from what you do, don’t ever come back. The Amish work almost every day but don’t feel the need for a…

Step 12: Mike’s Stack Of Resumes, My 96 Year-old Grandma, & Your Eulerian Destiny

By benmunoz January 17, 201667 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Stay focused on the one thing you do best. Be able to share your life mission in one sentence. (Understandable by a 96 old grandma.) Jordan the baseball…

Step 11: The Whispers Of 10,000 Generations, Dunbar’s 150, & Evolutionary Mismatch

By benmunoz January 15, 201667 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Don't Fight Your Evolutionary Hardwiring; Understand It. The biological impulses you have come from 10,000 generations of evolution. However, the world has completely changed over the last 10…

Step 10: Stoic vs Epicurean, Arnolds 1000 Reps, Apache Cold Showers, and the Spartan Whipping Post

By benmunoz December 19, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Do Things That Develop Toughness a nation is born stoic and dies epicurean — Will Durant stoics say sacrifice today for tomorrow (invest wisely) epicureans say live…

Step 9: Warren Buffett’s Book-A-Day Diet & Making War With A Multitude Of Counselors

By benmunoz December 19, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Reading Voraciously for Success billionaires read voraciously Warren Buffett reads 8 hours a day a rich man’s house always has a library — Jim Rohn Alexander the…

The Next 100 Years by George Friedman

By benmunoz December 6, 2015libraryNo Comments

The Big Idea: U.S.A will dominate the next hundred years, first by controlling the oceans, then by controlling space. Geographic isolation gives the U.S. military advantages few nations can claim, which…

Step 8: The Integrated Good Life and The Four Pillars of Eudaimonia

By benmunoz November 28, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: The good life integrates four pillars of health, wealth, love, and happiness. The Amish are so happy because they do not compartmentalize work from life. Do whatever…

The One Thing By Gary Keller

By benmunoz October 19, 2015favorite-business, libraryNo Comments

The Big Idea: 1) find your purpose and then 2) for four UNINTERRUPTED hours every morning, focus on THE ONE THING that will get you there fastest. If you chase two rabbits, you…

Step 7: Martin Seligman’s Salary Slave and Learned Helplessness

By benmunoz October 12, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Take risks in life The modern education system trains students to rely on others for their education Read a book a day and become self-educated for happiness Learned…

Step 6: Sculpture vs Lottery and the Anthropic Media Bias

By benmunoz October 3, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: The media lies to you about success. Success takes years of focused work towards a wisely-chosen goal. The media lies to you about success The media doesn't emphasize Bill Gates worked…

Step 5: My Poor Friends & Cameron Diaz’s Parrot

By benmunoz October 3, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Study how successful people think. Don’t pick your friends based on their success, but be selective about which friend's advice you listen to. Pay attention to how your…

Step 4: Picasso’s Rising Tide and the Law of 33%

By benmunoz October 3, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Use mentors to shorten your learning curve. Good artists copy and great artists steal. —Picasso If I'm great it's because I'm standing on the shoulders of giants.…

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

By benmunoz September 27, 2015library

One of the top ten most influential books of the 20th century. It's a great book to read or re-read when I'm in need of a little perspective and inspiration in…

Remote by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

By benmunoz September 27, 2015library

This is another quick read from the founders of 37 Signals and creators of Ruby on Rails. Nadine West has been working remotely from the beginning and there isn't anything in the book…

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by Kamal Ravikant

By benmunoz September 19, 2015library

Two things about this book: it's very short and it has a very simple message: repeat "I love myself" over and over, every day. I bought it because it was…

Work Rules by Laszlo Bock

By benmunoz September 13, 2015libraryNo Comments

Preface: Why Google's rules will work for you Companies who follow many of the same principles: grocery chain Wegman's, a Sri Lankan clothing manufacturer, a Nike factory. The book's key…

Advice From First Round Capital

By benmunoz August 16, 2015libraryNo Comments

The Most Dangerous Leadership Traps — and the 15-Minute Daily Practice That Will Save You Spend 15 minutes a day in reflection — true reflection, in a quiet space, with…

Step 3: Sam Walton’s Night in a Brazilian Jail, Stealing from McDonald’s, and Michael Jordan’s Humility

By benmunoz August 9, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: the most successful men are usually the most humble. They read and study constantly because they know there is much they do not know. I've never met…

Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff

By benmunoz August 8, 2015libraryNo Comments

I read in the Amazon reviews that Oren Klaff is the Neil Strauss of Wall Street. That comparison makes a lot of sense. I really liked this book. My notes are…

Step 2: Blue Footed Booby Birds, ESS, and the 500 Year Old Mind

By benmunoz July 26, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: Change is the basic law of nature in life, so be an adaptability machine. Read, learn, and expect occasional setbacks towards success. Change is the basic law…

Step 1: The Billionaire’s Brain and Jennifer Lopez’s Voice

By benmunoz July 26, 201567 StepsNo Comments

The Big Idea: To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. Awareness is key to success. If you’re not successful, be self-aware enough to understand why.…

Unbeatable Mind by Mark Divine, Part 2

By benmunoz July 19, 2015libraryNo Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I posted some notes on Unbeatable Mind, based on a quick skim and video from Philosopher's Notes. I'm adding some more in-depth notes today. Intro Mark…

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

By benmunoz July 6, 2015favorite-business, libraryNo Comments

This book is on my top 20 books of all-time list. I must have been in middle school when I first got my hands on this book and read it…

Entrepreneurs Are Made Not Born by Lloyd Shefsky

By benmunoz July 6, 2015libraryNo Comments

Written by my Entrepreneurship professor at Kellogg. Ch 1 luck is opportunity meets preparation learn how to overcome rejection Ch 2 believe in your dream take the angel money do…

Unbeatable Mind by Mark Divine

By benmunoz June 27, 2015libraryNo Comments

For this book, I'm piggybacking off of Philosopher's Notes' book summary. 1. First Premise Win first in your mind and then on the battlefield. An unbeatable mind knows it will…

Simplify by Joshua Becker

By benmunoz June 20, 2015libraryNo Comments

This book, from the blogger behind Becoming Minimalist, wasn't terrible, nor was it great. But at least it was only $3 on Kindle and took 20 minutes to read. 1. Be Convinced…

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz

By benmunoz June 15, 2015libraryNo Comments

Not a classic business book, but I'll post my summery anyways. When you are down to three sheets of toilet paper, you are very careful with it. When starting a company,…

Delivering Happiness By Tony Hsieh

By benmunoz June 15, 2015favorite-business, library

This is one of our top 5 business books. Our first company tagline was "Happiness in a Pink Package." Book notes are below: Books recommended: Good to Great, Tribal Leadership, Fred Factor, Fish,…

The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

By benmunoz June 5, 2015favorite-business, library

This one's a classic business book by the dean of business thinking. Effective executives know where their time goes Effective executives focus on results Effective executives build on strengths Effective…

Life of the Party by Bert Kreischer

By benmunoz June 1, 2015libraryNo Comments

Collection of hilarious real-life stories by stand up comic and Joe Rogan regular Bert Kreischer. Below are my notes from the book: That is all.

Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

By benmunoz May 31, 2015libraryNo Comments

This book has some simple but valuable ideas on how to change your life. The message is simple, probably similar to what you've read or heard elsewhere but still valuable. Another…

Predictive Analytics by Eric Siegel

By benmunoz May 31, 2015libraryNo Comments

Predictive analytics is about what the mass media calls data science or big data. It seems that practitioners prefer the more precise term, predictive analytics, which is what is sounds…

The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday

By benmunoz May 24, 2015libraryNo Comments

Stoicism is trending these days on the internet, especially among entrepreneur-types. What is Stoicism? Wikipedia says that stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy (300 B.C.) with a number of tenets…

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

By benmunoz May 23, 2015favorite-business, library

We want to model Nadine West after Zappos. Happy employees = Happy customers. Happy customers = Happy company. Which means, we need to study the science and psychology of happiness. Below are my…

Like a Virgin by Richard Branson

By benmunoz May 23, 2015libraryNo Comments

Weekends are for good books, podcasts, and blogs. Richard Branson is my favorite entrepreneur. According to Branson, success in business is best measured by whether or not you have created something…