John Mackey is the co-founder of Whole Foods Market, where he also served as the company's CEO for 44 years (1980–2022). More recently, Mackey is the co-founder of Love.Life, a wellness company focused on a holistic approach to health. He is an entrepreneur, author and advocate for conscious capitalism who spent over four decades building the natural foods industry.

Under his leadership, Whole Foods grew from a single store in Austin, Texas, in 1980 to the world's largest natural and organic foods retailer, with over 500 stores across North America and the United Kingdom before its acquisition by Amazon in 2017 for $13.7 billion.

After dropping out of the University of Texas at Austin, Mackey opened SaferWay Natural Foods in 1978 with Renee Lawson Hardy. He merged SaferWay with Clarksville Natural Grocery in 1980 to create Whole Foods Market. He became known for pioneering high-quality natural foods retail, championing stakeholder-oriented business philosophy and popularizing the concept of conscious capitalism.

His accomplishments include building Whole Foods into a Fortune 500 company, co-founding the Conscious Capitalism movement with Raj Sisodia, serving as CEO of Whole Foods for 44 years until his retirement in 2022, co-authoring "Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business" in 2013 and "The Whole Foods Diet" in 2017 and launching Love.Life in 2023 to focus on longevity and integrative medicine.

Episode show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/john-mackey

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Function Health: https://functionhealth.com/senra

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Chapters

(00:00:00) Fanatical Entrepreneurs: Why Work Feels Like Play

(00:02:18) The Missionary vs. Mercenary Co-Founder Conflict

(00:06:16) The Shirtless Hitchhiking Hippie and Johnny Rockefeller

(00:08:12) Entrepreneur Confidence: Solving Puzzles and Cracking the Code

(00:10:19) Flying Under the Radar: How Supermarkets Ignored Whole Foods

(00:10:52) Venture Capitalists Are Hitchhikers With Credit Cards

(00:14:03) Builder Entrepreneurs vs. Serial Entrepreneurs

(00:16:31) Time Is the Only Filter I Trust

(00:20:52) How Walmart Accidentally Fueled Whole Foods' Success

(00:24:01) The Jaw-Drop Effect: When Customers First Walked In

(00:27:17) Growth Through Acquisition: Building Geographic Platforms

(00:29:19) Secret Allies: The Natural Foods Network

(00:33:17) Mrs. Gooch's and the Revelation of Scale

(00:34:52) Missionaries Sharing Financial Statements and Building Friendships

(00:38:10) Never Competing Head-On With Friends

(00:41:22) Going Public and Creating Liquidity for the Network

(00:42:00) Continuous Learning: The Michael Dell Principle

(00:44:10) Steve Jobs and Spotting Markets With Second-Rate Products

(00:46:50) The Joy of Watching Team Members Become Millionaires

(00:48:09) Capitalism: The Greatest Thing Humans Ever Invented

(00:55:59) Cult Brands Are Built by Evangelists

(00:58:01) Passion Is Infectious: The Reality Distortion Field

(01:00:08) From Busboy to CEO: The Resume of an Entrepreneur

(01:02:57) Learning From Near-Death Experiences

(01:04:05) Money Means Freedom: Early Work Ethic

(01:05:25) Shoe Dog as the Benchmark: Belief Is Irresistible

(01:09:16) Documenting Time: Why Chronology Matters in Memoirs

(01:11:14) Rockefeller, Bezos, and Musk: The Master Strategists

(01:14:39) Using Doubt as Fuel: The Slow Burn of Proving People Wrong

(01:20:04) Daniel Ek and Having No Ceilings

(01:23:09) How His Father Shaped His Ambition

(01:25:52) Firing His Father From the Board: The Hardest Decision

(01:28:01) His Mother's Deathbed Wish and Lasting Regret

(01:34:47) The Ceremony of Forgiveness

(01:36:17) MDMA Therapy and Breathwork: Accessing Deeper Consciousness

(01:38:54) The Entrepreneurial Journey as a Spiritual Journey

(01:40:45) Conclusion

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Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the Chairman Emeritus of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, the founder of Colossus, and the founder and CEO of Positive Sum. He is an investor, author, and podcaster who has devoted his career to understanding the world's best investors and entrepreneurs.

Under his leadership, Colossus has become one of the largest investing-focused podcast networks in the world, producing shows including the flagship Invest Like the Best, which he hosts. At Positive Sum, he invests in early-stage companies creating and reinventing categories, with portfolio companies including Tegus, ID.me, Etched, and Vanta.

After starting as an intern at his father's quantitative asset management firm in 2008, O'Shaughnessy became CEO in 2018. He became known for his deep research into factor-based investing, his quantitative approach to stock selection, and his ability to communicate complex investment ideas to a broad audience.

His accomplishments include growing OSAM into a leading custom indexing platform before its acquisition by Franklin Templeton in 2021, launching Invest Like the Best in 2016 which was named among The Wall Street Journal's "5 Investment Podcasts You Should Listen To," founding Colossus in 2020 to build a media platform around his vision of learning in public, and authoring “Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune in 2014.”

Episode show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/patrick-oshaughnessy

Survey: https://forms.scicommedia.com/t/mw83tpmsRzus

Made possible by

Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com⁠

HubSpot: ⁠https://hubspot.com⁠

Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/senra

Chapters

(00:00:00) The Joy of Championing Undiscovered Talent

(00:02:21) How One Tweet Changed David’s Life

(00:05:07) The Upanishads Passage That Shaped Patrick’s Worldview

(00:08:34) Growth Without Goals Philosophy

(00:10:40) Why Media and Investing Are the Same Thing

(00:28:41) The Search for True Understanding Through Biography

(00:31:04) The Daniel Ek Dinner That Launched This Podcast

(00:34:28) Making Your Own Recipe From the Ingredients of Great Lives

(00:39:11) The Privilege of a Lifetime Is Being Who You Are

(00:48:25) Bruce Springsteen’s Battle With Depression and Self-Worth

(00:53:21) Clean Fuel vs Dirty Fuel: The Source of Your Ambition

(00:57:03) Professional Learners: The Unfair Advantage of Podcasting

(01:00:18) Relationships Run the World

(01:06:30) The Origin Story of Invest Like the Best

(01:08:05) Building Colossus: Why Start a Magazine in 2025

(01:14:01) People Are More Interested in People Than Anything Else

(01:17:32) Finding Jeremy Stern and Hiring Through Output

(01:23:40) Learn, Build, Share, Repeat

(01:30:07) The Daisy Chain: How Reading Books Led to Everything

(01:30:32) Red on the Color Wheel: Sam Hinkie’s Observation

(01:37:13) Finding Your Superpower and Becoming More Yourself

(01:42:57) Repetition Doesn’t Spoil the Prayer: Teaching as Leadership

(01:46:02) Life’s Work: A Lifelong Quest to Build Something for Others

(01:49:51) The Ten Roles Game and What Matters Most

(01:57:03) Husband, Father, Grandfather: The Roles That Endure

(01:59:48) The Kindest Thing: Tim O’Shaughnessy and Meeting Lauren

(02:05:11) Conclusion

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James Dyson is the founder and chairman of Dyson, a technology-led company present in 84 markets worldwide. He is an inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who has devoted his life to solving problems through new technologies.

Under his leadership, Dyson created some of the most iconic household products in the world: the bagless vacuum cleaner, the Airblade hand dryer, bladeless fans, and the Supersonic hair dryer. Around half of Dyson's global team are engineers and scientists, with research interests spanning robotics, AI, machine learning, solid-state battery development, material science, and high-speed electric motors.

After developing 5,127 failed prototypes and being rejected by every major manufacturer, Dyson launched his own company and reshaped the vacuum industry by the 1990s. He became known for his iterative engineering approach, his cyclonic separation technology that eliminated bags, and his ability to bring products to market against fierce opposition.

His accomplishments include building Dyson into a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise, establishing Dyson Farming in 2013, founding the James Dyson Foundation in 2002 to inspire young engineers and run the annual James Dyson Award, and creating the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology in 2017—a degree program where students study while working full-time in Dyson's engineering team.

Dyson was awarded a Knight Bachelor in 2007, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2015, and appointed to the Order of Merit in 2016—the highest honor, and the only one within the monarch's personal gift.

Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/james-dyson

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Chapters

(0:00) Introduction: A Love for History and Technology

(0:48) The Inspiration Behind Writing a History of Great Inventions

(2:01) The Importance of Learning from History

(2:38) The Struggles and Triumphs of Starting Founders

(3:53) Embracing Failure and the Joy of Experimentation

(5:38) Discovering a Passion for Engineering

(7:10) The Influence of Jeremy Fry

(10:39) Lessons Learned from the Sea Truck

(12:16) The Value of Naivety in Innovation

(15:35) The Dyson Institute: A New Approach to Education

(21:47) The Decision to Leave and Start the Ballbarrow

(23:04) Reflections on Risk and Personal Loss

(30:49) The Challenges of the Ballbarrow Business

(37:24) The Importance of Persistence

(37:46) Accidental Discoveries in Engineering

(38:34) The Cyclone Vacuum Cleaner Invention

(42:44) Challenges of Seasonal Products

(45:15) The Struggles of Licensing and Manufacturing

(49:06) The Coach House: Birthplace of Innovation

(52:25) The Journey of Prototyping

(55:42) The Role of Hands-On Work in Innovation

(1:04:29) The Electric Car Project

(1:08:44) Reflecting on Painful Experiences

(1:09:33) High Energy and Health Optimization

(1:10:59) Applying Skills to New Products

(1:13:13) Focus and Single-Mindedness

(1:16:14) The Journey of Dyson's Vacuum Cleaner

(1:27:35) Dogged Determination and Success

(1:36:09) The Influence of Early Life Experiences

(1:37:40) Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Michael Ovitz is the co-founder of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of the most powerful and influential talent agencies in Hollywood history, built on a revolutionary approach to representation that fundamentally transformed the entertainment industry.

He is an entertainment executive and dealmaker widely regarded as one of the most formidable operators in Hollywood. During his time leading CAA, Ovitz represented virtually every major star, including Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, David Letterman, Barbra Streisand and many more.

Starting as a mailroom trainee in the 1960s and reshaping the power dynamics of the entire industry by the 1980s, he became known for his relentless strategic thinking, his creation of the "packaging" model that bundled talent for studios, and his ability to orchestrate deals of unprecedented scale and complexity. He built a reputation in entertainment circles through his fierce intelligence, relentless work ethic and his ability to build CAA into what many called "the most powerful company in Hollywood."

His major accomplishments include co-founding CAA in 1975 in an audacious break from the establishment, pioneering the packaging system that gave agents unprecedented leverage over studios, orchestrating landmark deals including the sale of Columbia Pictures to Sony, serving as President of The Walt Disney Company and building CAA into a multi-billion dollar enterprise that expanded far beyond traditional talent representation into sports, consulting and global entertainment infrastructure.

Read the episode show notes at davidsenra.com.

Made possible by

Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com⁠

HubSpot: ⁠https://hubspot.com⁠

Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/senra

Chapters

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:00:09) The Genius of Marc Andreessen

(00:03:03) The Art of Conversation and Adaptability

(00:04:00) The Evolution of Cloud Computing

(00:05:38) The Power of Co-Founder Relationships

(00:09:01) The Importance of Personal Growth and Drive

(00:13:39) The Rockefeller Connection

(00:30:37) The Nobu and Wolfgang Puck Stories

(00:37:31) The Art of Spotting Talent

(00:44:58) Starting Out in a Competitive Environment

(00:46:39) Early Lessons in Business and Teamwork

(00:48:09) The Importance of Knowledge and Curiosity

(00:51:25) The Impact of Technology on Learning

(00:57:35) Building Relationships and Integrity in Business

(01:01:13) The Role of History and Transparency in Success

(01:07:17) The Power of Big Thinking and Disruption

(01:26:25) The Influence of Art and Culture on Business

(01:27:45) The Coke Commercial Revolution

(01:28:38) The $3 Million Check Incident

(01:31:29) Mentorship and Integrity

(01:32:52) Self-Reflection and Personal Growth

(01:34:56) The Power of Perseverance

(01:38:31) The Drive for Success

(01:43:19) Enduring Ambition and Curiosity

(02:00:40) A Tribute to Michael Crichton

(02:06:58) Closing Thoughts

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Todd Graves is the founder and CEO of Raising Cane's, one of America's most successful and fastest-growing restaurant chains built on a radically simple concept that nearly everyone told him would fail.

He is an entrepreneur and restaurateur widely regarded as one of the most determined founder-operators in the fast-food industry. Rising from rejection in the mid-1990s to building over 800 locations by the 2020s, he became known for his unwavering commitment to doing one thing better than anyone else—serving quality chicken finger meals with the exact same menu he launched in 1996. He became a household name in restaurant circles through his relentless focus on simplicity, his refusal to franchise or take on outside investors, and his missionary-like devotion to a business he calls his "chicken finger dream."

His career highlights include getting the worst grade in his college business class for the Raising Cane's concept, working as a boilermaker in oil refineries and commercial fisherman in Alaska to fund his first restaurant after being rejected by every bank, opening the first Raising Cane's near LSU in 1996, maintaining over 90% ownership while growing to 900+ locations and billions in revenue by staying fanatically true to a menu that has remained virtually unchanged for three decades.

Episode show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/todd-graves

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HubSpot: ⁠https://hubspot.com⁠

Function: https://functionhealth.com/senra

Chapters

(0:00) The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Sleep and Business Obsession

(2:13) The Birth of Raising Cane's: Overcoming Skepticism

(3:29) Inspiration from In-N-Out Burger

(7:17) The Importance of Quality and Focus

(14:49) The Journey to Success: Hard Work and Sacrifice

(19:21) The Early Days: Building Raising Cane's from Scratch

(21:23) Financing the Dream: Unconventional Paths

(32:28) The Relentless Pursuit of Success

(33:02) Commitment and Oaths: The Camping Trip

(34:02) Fanaticism and Relentless Focus

(34:53) Learning from Others and Continuous Improvement

(35:06) The Never-Satisfied Mindset

(36:04) The Importance of Founders in Business

(39:55) The Purpose Beyond Profit

(51:52) Financing the Dream: Credit Cards and SBA Loans

(55:47) Building the First Restaurant

(57:56) Expanding the Vision

(58:59) Positive Motivational Management

(1:00:51) Creating a Coaching Culture

(1:01:42) Intrinsic Motivation vs. Titles

(1:02:41) The Importance of Being Present

(1:06:35) Respect, Recognition, and Rewards

(1:09:12) The Power of Encouragement

(1:18:10) The Myth of Delegation

(1:22:57) Focus on What You Do Best

(1:30:07) Dining at Jiro in Tokyo

(1:30:59) The Franchise Model Debate

(1:32:50) Challenges of Franchising

(1:35:21) Building a Business Authentic to You

(1:37:07) Financing and Expansion Strategies

(1:49:13) Surviving Hurricane Katrina

(1:55:48) Lessons from Estée Lauder

(1:58:06) Final Thoughts and Reflections

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Brad Jacobs is the chairman and CEO of ⁠QXO, Inc.⁠, and the founder of eight separate billion-dollar companies including XPO Logistics, United Rentals and United Waste.

He is an entrepreneur and logistics executive widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in industrial consolidation and operational transformation. Rising to prominence from the 1980s through the 2000s, he became known for revolutionizing fragmented, labor-intensive industries through aggressive M&A and technology integration, founding eight companies and growing each into billion-dollar or multi-billion-dollar enterprises. He became a household name in business circles through his serial entrepreneurship and track record of delivering outsized returns by bringing operational sophistication to traditionally fragmented markets.

His career highlights include founding United Waste Systems (which was acquired by what is now WM), founding United Rentals and building it into the world's largest equipment rental company, founding XPO Logistics and growing it through 18 acquisitions into a top-ten global logistics provider, and most recently launching QXO to consolidate the $800 billion building products distribution sector.

Episode show notes are available at davidsenra.com.

Made possible by

Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com⁠

HubSpot: ⁠https://hubspot.com⁠

Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/senra

Chapters

(0:00) Introduction and Setting the Tone

(0:31) Mentorship and Key Lessons from Ludwig Jesselson

(2:41) Embracing Problems as Opportunities

(6:07) The Importance of Recruiting Top Talent

(7:58) Maintaining Long-Term Reputation

(10:14) Finding Context and Centering

(19:50) Perfectionism and Cognitive Therapy

(26:29) Building Billion-Dollar Companies

(36:50) The Role of A Players in Success

(42:27) The Power of People in Business

(44:23) The Importance of Superior Intelligence

(45:54) Balancing Work and Life

(48:11) The Role of Passion in Success

(51:59) Effective Leadership and Meetings

(1:05:41) Feedback Loops and Continuous Improvement

(1:16:29) Public vs. Private Companies

(1:22:55) The Drive for Stress and Passion

(1:23:16) Learning from Other Entrepreneurs

(1:23:41) Fred Smith's Legacy and Influence

(1:29:19) The Importance of Technology in Business

(1:40:25) Time Management and CEO Responsibilities

(1:54:34) The Power of Incentives

(2:01:04) Going All In: Final Thoughts

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Michael Dell is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies.

He is an entrepreneur and technology executive widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in personal computing and enterprise technology. Rising to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, he became known for revolutionizing the computer industry through his direct-to-consumer sales model and for building one of the world's largest technology companies. He became a household name through Dell's rapid growth and market disruption, and his career highlights include founding Dell with $1,000 from his University of Texas dorm room in 1984 at age 19, becoming the youngest CEO to earn a Fortune 500 ranking in 1992, and executing one of the largest technology deals in history by taking Dell private in 2013, combining it with EMC and VMware in 2016, and returning it to public markets in 2018.

Made possible by

Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com⁠

HubSpot: ⁠https://hubspot.com⁠

Function: https://functionhealth.com/senra

Chapters

(00:00) The Early Obsession: Dell’s Beginnings

(00:18) Middle School Memories and Early Financial Fascinations

(01:11) The Spark of Stock Market Interest

(02:14) Unreleased Products and Unwavering Enthusiasm

(02:35) Family Conversations and Motivations

(03:11) The Puzzle of Technology

(04:50) Taking Things Apart: A Lifelong Curiosity

(05:52) The Economics of IBM and Early Business Insights

(09:19) Cost Control and Competitive Advantage

(16:36) The Importance of Storytelling in Business

(20:58) Learning from the Greats: Influences and Inspirations

(25:00) The Challenge of Self-Sabotage in Entrepreneurship

(29:48) Embracing Change and Innovation

(43:09) The Power of Data and AI in Business

(46:55) Cultural Differences and Resistance to Change

(47:22) Investing in Technology: Lessons from Andrew Carnegie

(49:05) The Concept of ‘Dad Terminal’

(50:54) Supply Chain Mastery

(56:18) The Importance of Energy Management

(57:59) Early Financial Challenges and Solutions

(01:02:05) The Negative Cash Conversion Cycle

(01:18:17) The Mail Order Stigma and Overcoming It

(01:19:39) The Rise of E-commerce

(01:28:48) Fear of Failure and Final Thoughts

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Daniel Ek is the co-founder and CEO of Spotify.

Daniel Ek is an entrepreneur and technology executive widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in music, podcasting and audio streaming more broadly. Rising to prominence in the 2000s and 2010s, he became known for revolutionizing how people consume music and for transforming the music industry through digital innovation, platform development and strategic partnerships. He became a household name through Spotify's global expansion, and his career highlights include co-founding Spotify in 2006, growing it to over half a billion users worldwide and pioneering the freemium streaming model that reshaped music consumption. As an advocate for artists and music accessibility, he has also championed fair compensation models and music discovery algorithms, further cementing his influence and legacy in digital music culture.

Made possible by

Ramp: https://ramp.com

HubSpot: https://hubspot.com

Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/senra

Chapters

(00:00) Reflecting on a Life-Changing Conversation

(01:17) Optimizing for Impact Over Happiness

(04:08) The Journey of Self-Motivation

(08:58) The Importance of Trust and Relationships

(14:24) The Role of Criticism and Self-Reflection

(16:24) The Evolution of an Entrepreneur

(22:14) Building a Company True to Yourself

(33:43) The Power of Trust in Business

(41:12) Intellectual Humility and Learning from Others

(41:36) Shadowing Leaders for Growth

(43:48) Learning from Mark Zuckerberg

(47:02) Balancing Personal Taste and Metrics in Product Decisions

(52:22) The Evolution of Leadership at Spotify

(58:00) Building a Company That Outlasts the Founder

(01:14:12) Managing Energy Over Time

(01:24:18) The Never-Ending Game of Life

(01:24:41) Lessons from Henry Ford

(01:25:55) The Value of Solving Problems

(01:30:29) The Importance of Quality

(01:36:07) The Power of Focus and Patience

(01:53:19) Balancing Work and Life

(01:59:12) The Journey of Self-Discovery

(02:07:30) Final Reflections and Gratitude

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Nine years ago, I launched Founders.

Today, I'm launching a new podcast called David Senra.

The first episode goes live this Sunday, September 28. Subscribe wherever you watch or listen to podcasts.

Founders will still come out every week.

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