bwagy, the blog of Ben Young

I am an enthusiastic runner. Like a happy lap dog, just chuffed to be here. Thursdays for me is run day, whether it’s early, lunch or after work. I try to get one in. 5km. Certain times of years I try to push the time, usually November, when it’s a bit cooler. I’ll run in all temperatures & weathers. Just as long as it’s not icy. Some of my favorite runs, are the foreign run, up early to explore a city. Or early run with a friend, then we go for coffee afterwards. I’ve even been lucky enough to have a vineyard run with my kids. Wonderful.

Some of my bucket list runs, are those mega endurance races in New Zealand, where you run a huge distance. The extra element is ensuring a steady footing, whilst exhausted. Or an antarctic run. Or I’ve heard there are kilometers of wine cellars in France, that might be fun.

If it is too cold, I’ll swap, to tabata runs inside, working on my pace.

With running, it is 10-15% of my overall activity, I’ll cycle 5-7km a day most days. A fortunate byproduct of living in New York. As well as other work outs. As well as work & family. Running is a pillar, but it exists within all of these things. That means, I’m not going to blow out a run, for that to then roll into other areas.

With my intention of a weekly run, that’s been fairly consistent the past 10 years. And over a year, I usually end up with 40-44 or so runs, with travel, work or something else popping up.

I don’t run with music, I don’t mind a podcast though but also happy to just run, smile, enjoy. Happy lap dog you see.

As a founder, running is an interesting analogy. First there’s the actual benefits of doing it, it’s like a mental wash, it rinses away all the stress, because, you’re focused on the run, and if you’re pushing yourself, you’re stopping carrying those thoughts in the back of your mind. And you come back feeling refreshed. That’s a huge win.

Then, building heart health, improving your v02 max, wearing yourself out physically to help with that full night sleep. And a full night sleep, then sets you up for the next day. Flushing that stress has benefits all round too.

The example you set others, in amongst everything they manage to find that time, to keep that up.

And running, requires working a few different mental muscles, holding the pace, to go the distance. But knowing, when to swap, and to focus on speed. But even going further than that, having the fitness, the capability, the fortitude to be able to change the speed. You can’t just desire to be faster, you have to have the capability to be faster.

Malcolm Gladwell, is also an avid runner, I suspect at a much better pace than myself. And he talks about this too, the best runners, know in training, to pace themselves, build the capability, and then in the race, build the timing, to hit the best pace in race conditions. For a runner, it’s easy to be, all out, as much as you can. Or to just take an easy pace. The best runners mindsets can encompass both in the same shell. They can be Travis Kalanick, attack, and Tim Cook. And it’s developing that, that’s the hard skill, that’s the top performers.

Younger founders, will go hard, sprint for 18 months, then jam up. Seasoned founders, find the rhythm to go at peak sustainable speed. And seasoned founders, know when to swap. This is go time, go all out, sleep on the factory floor, make the hard decisions. This is peace time, let’s harvest, and prepare for the next phase. And time between phases can be 6-7 years. Multiples on the younger founders 18 months sprints, they can’t even see the phases. Beyond that are multi-decade changes, which the best founders, attack, but on longer horizons.

If you’re a founder, but not yet a running, just get out there. Don’t think about next weeks run, plan a rhythm that gives you a years worth of running.

Same as the perfect year. But for the weekend.

What is it for you? What’s important? Not important?

How do you unwind from the week? How do you set up for the weekend?

What works for your partner? Your kids?

is it a habit if you haven’t kept it up for 10 years?

Is it a commitment if it’s less than 10 years?

Do you have experience if it’s less than 10 years?

Not to say it isn’t, but there’s a huge valley of opportunity if you stick with something. And there’s a short supply of people that want to commit for that long.

But also, you don’t want to flit from one habit to another, if it’s working, keep it up, build on it, fine tune, improve. Do the same thing 50 times. Find ways to make it go further.

I like this, I think many time in your life, you are one of those 100 people. It’s just figuring out what is that grouping.

But it’s an interesting thought to think about, what would be distinctive attributes of that group that you would belong in.

I see this pattern, an entrepreneur gives something audacious a go. It doesn’t work out. So they dust themselves off, recoup, then try something again. But they try something less audacious. Safer. Less likely to fall. But also less likely to have a big pay off.

This is the wrong thing, if you tried, it didn’t work, try again, or try again bigger. (I always think, try again bigger).

The lessons you just learnt were at that scale, so that’s your experience, at that scale or bigger.

If you try something new, less audacious, you’re now learning skills, tactics for that smaller scale. Or another lens on it, as an entrepreneur, do you want to fine tune your muscles to small opportunities?

It’s like that analogy, don’t wrestle with a pig. Not only will you get muddy and dirty but the pig is better at wrestling in the mud as you are.

It is fine, to rest, recoup, but when you go out again. Go big. A ship isn’t made to be in the harbor, it’s made to be out there in the ocean.

I’ve made a habit the last few years to read the original sources.

The book. The earnings calls themselves.

So much fidelity is lost in the summaries and rewrites. If you read the original, you understand exactly what they were trying to outline. You pick up on the excitement that made other people write up or summarise this work.

I.e. a podcast episode you enjoyed is based on one or a couple of books, grab those books and read them, the fidelity of reading the source materials will yield so much more.

Those are the things that tickle the brain.

I think we’ve just entered the Age of Machines.

Remember playing Civilization? And your civilization enters a new age and everything gradually upgrades to that new age. Like the Bronze Age, the Modern age etc.

What tips us, is ClawdBot, or now MoltBot. But the first consumer (ish) personal agent, that is very capable.

Each of us, is going to have our own AI agents, that we take with us to our jobs, in our relationships, in our learning. And our own companies are going to have their own machines too.

Except for, the agents don’t sleep, they run 24/7, they don’t need lights (they do need electricity) but they don’t need restrooms. And they also don’t need to move at human speed. In fact, in a few circumstances agents have formed their own language to communicate faster (!). Turns out English slows them down.

And like every other age before it, I think we’ll see this age, as a gradual change across society. I agree the pace of change of AI is high but I think that the pace at which it is adopted by society, will be similar to other ages.

You know those beautiful macro shots on nature programs, where they’re showing you a frog up close, or as a bee gets the nectar from a flower.

That richness of detail is wonderful.

And when producing your own work, finding those areas to add that detail, adds the same sort of joy, for those who consume your work.

Buffett released his final letter as CEO.

I remember reading the Buffett biography, on the beach in Samoa. With my (then) girlfriend (now wife). And it was meaty. 800 or so pages. It was heavy, and even the physicality of it, matched the story within.

After that I went and read The Intelligent Investor (and have a few times since).

I’ve also read the Amazon letters over time and the Berkshire ones.

The art of writing, putting your thoughts into words, helps build your own knowledge but then shares it with the world.

But so, it was a little sad, to know this was the last.

“When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don’t put in the time or energy to get there.” -Steve Jobs.

Just keep it moving.

I really enjoyed this Max Verstappen chat with Chris Harris.

In the discussion, it comes about preparation and practice. When he goes out for a lap, he’s on it straight away. Whereas other drivers might do a couple of laps to check out the track.

All drivers get the same amount of time on the track, by doing this he’s extending his exposure to race conditions over every other driver.

Another was that if you’ve practiced a lot, you end up having spare capacity to push further – when others don’t.

And I think this really is the differentiator in high performance environments. If you are well practiced, you can handle a load, that requires less effort than others. Giving you more capacity to find new areas of competition.

Readers know I love a good foreign run. Where you’re in a new town, and you take an early morning lap around town, or up to that sight and get a feel for the place. Not only does it help shake the jet lag, you get a feel for the place, and start the day off on the right foot.

If you like to keep active, travelling can make it tough. Even at hotels, no two hotel gyms are the same, and barely any are equipped well. All your at home routines are out the window.

Here’s some things I’ve found worked for me:

• Pre and post flight. My goal at the gym Is to feel limber. That is do regular work out, but emphasise the stretches, don’t overdo anything to introduce muscle fatigue, just to leave the gym feeling limber.
• Any length of work out is an acceptable one. Sometimes I get in for 8 minutes, in-between room check in, and I have to go at half past, just getting in is acceptable. Same with the run, sometimes you’re more fatigued than you realized, it’s ok if it’s just 2km. That’s 2km more than not doing anything.
• An empty or bare gym, with all the wrong equipment, is an exercise in creativity. Treat it as a challenge, to craft or create the best workout you can in there. Do what you can, invent want you can. You can also do marsoc anywhere (which I did a bit during covid). I take bands with me now, exercise bands with handles. With these, you can put together a good work out in any conditions. My default is actually bands, outside, that I can do anywhere. Or if with the family, whilst the kids play at a playground. And if stuck, you can do inside in your room.
• Finding outdoor gyms is a fun one, sometimes that would be the run destination.
• When you do get the perfect gym set up, capitalise! Put in some extra time, go twice, or push a bit harder.
• When with family, anytime is a good time to go. Morning is better, but really, finding an ebb in the day, where it’s least disruptive, makes you more inclined to go. And if you have kids, involve them (if they want).
• If for work, sometimes you can make this part of your trip agenda. An early morning run & coffee or breakfast with a friend/colleague works well.

As a habit, I do log my exercises, but also note any abnormal conditions (i.e. where, or if something hurts). I think this is just good practice regardless. And keep a list of things to do when you get home when you get back to your regular schedule.

As good as other forms of entertainment get, nothing beats sliding into a good book.

(My eldest has just hit this age where she gets engrossed in a good book. Bliss.)

In many things, you just have to beat the average.

And averages are easy to beat, because they include everyone, including those that don’t care, are not even trying.

Just trying to be good at something, can put you above the average.

Committing extra time to learn, improve, study the best. Above average.