Business Book Club

Unlike most business books, How to Get Rich doesn't sugarcoat the sacrifices, the ego, or the sheer obsession required to build wealth.
The late Felix Dennis—founder of Maxim magazine was one of Britain's richest self-made men. As he wrote How to Get Rich, he sat on a goldmine of hard-won lessons. He explains how wealth is really made and why most people will never do what it takes.
Joining me to unpack this unfiltered playbook is Alex Bodini, CEO and co-founder of Spin Group. Alex has built a global social media agency of 80+ people while launching multiple ventures like Acid Running and Janji Europe. For Alex, it’s never been about perfection but about momentum, learning, and loving the ride.
Key Takeaways & Timestamps
00:00 – Introducing How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis.
02:40 – Don't Listen to Jeremiahs: Why "wantrepreneurs" project their fears onto you.
06:40 – The Information Diet
09:23 – "Overhead Walks on Two Legs”: The dangerous trap of hiring too fast and buying fancy offices.
12:28 – Rules of Thumb: The "7% Rule”.
13:56 – Diversify Your Baskets (After Success):
15:21 – The Regret Minimization Framework: How to make decisions today that your 80-year-old self will thank you for.
Get the book here
📚How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis
Mentioned in the episode
Spin Group: Alex’s Social Media Agency
Acid Running: One of Alex’s side ventures
Janji Europe: Another venture in Alex’s portfolio

Alex Bodini, Co-Founder of Spin Group
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If there is a Bible for Silicon Valley CEOs, it is High Output Management by Andy Grove.
Though this isn't just a book—it is the operating system that helped Intel scale to become the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer. It is the framework used by leaders at Apple, Facebook, and Google. But does a book written about a chip manufacturer in the 80s actually apply to modern creative businesses?
To find out, I’m sitting down with my co-founder at Fascinate Productions, Rich Willan. Rich is obsessive about systems. He turned our creative workflows into a well-oiled machine, and he credits this book with changing how he leads.
Key Takeaways & Timestamps
00:00 – Introducing High Output Management by Andy Grove.
01:48 – The Breakfast Factory: Why everything—even creative work—is a process.
05:39 – The "Podcast OS": Rich reveals the system he built to produce the Zoe Science & Nutrition show
10:05 – Systemizing Personal Life: How Rich uses SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to book holidays and avoid "desert madness."
11:32 – Task Relevant Maturity (TRM): The definitive guide on when to micromanage vs. when to delegate.
16:56 – Leverage: How to distinguish between $10 tasks and $10,000 tasks.
18:19 – Negative Leverage: Why being late to a meeting destroys more value than you think.
19:37 – The Calendar Audit: Andy Grove’s method for color-coding your schedule to maximize output.

Get the book here
📚 High Output Management by Andy Grove
Mentioned in the episode
Tim Ferriss & Tobias Lütke Podcast: The episode where Rich first discovered the book.
Zoe Science & Nutrition: The podcast Rich produces using his "Podcast OS."

Guest Info
Rich Willan, Co-Founder of Fascinate Productions
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Joe Dispenza is a New York Times bestseller known for bridging the gap between neuroscience, epigenetics, and human potential. He challenges the idea that we are hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of our lives.
In this episode, Annika Lundström, former Youth Olympian and founder of the medtech startup Reminded, explains how she used the principles of this book to transition from high-level sports to the high-stakes world of startups. She breaks down the science of "neuroplasticity" and why your internal dialogue is actually the architect of your business outcomes.
Key Takeaways & Timestamps
00:00 Introducing Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza.
02:14 Neuroplasticity 101: "To change your life, change your brain." Annika explains how to utilize awareness to rewire your mind.
03:20 Auditing your Inner Dialogue: Why the most important conversation you have is the one with yourself.
06:51 The "Future Anxiety" Trap: Sam shares a story about rugby legend Johnny Wilkinson to illustrate how high-performers struggle to live in the moment.
09:44 The 15,000 Euro Pitch: How Annika used "presence" to win the Google Pitching Competition in Helsinki.
11:02 Radical Responsibility: "Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny." Why you must stop blaming external circumstances for startup setbacks.
13:02 Pivoting based on feedback: How to detach your ego from your idea during fundraising.
16:46 Reminded: Annika’s mission to revolutionize stress hormone detection.
Get the book here
📚Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza
Mentioned in the episode
Reminded -Annika’s MedTech startup.
The "Future Anxiety" Case Study: Jonny Wilkinson’s Mental Health Journey
The Power of Obsession: Mr. Beast on the Joe Rogan Experience

Guest Info
Annika Lundström, Founder of Reminded

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Kim Scott is a heavyweight in the tech world, having coached CEOs at companies like Dropbox and Twitter and led teams at Google and Apple University.
In this episode, Ramsey Marwan, co-founder of MG Relations, unpacks how Radical Candor became a turning point in his career. He explains why "ruinous empathy" is the most dangerous trap for nice founders and why the best managers are the ones willing to have the conversations that sting in the moment but help in the long run.
Key Takeaways & Timestamps
00:00 Introducing Radical Candor by Kim Scott.
01:54 To scale, you must let go: Why jumping in to "fix" things yourself destroys trust and prevents your team from growing.
06:44 Don't just keep it professional, actually care: You cannot run a team without trust. Treat your employees like human beings, not robots or resources.
11:15 Mastering Silence: Why you need to "shut up" during one-on-ones to let the real issues surface.
15:40 – The Trap of Ruinous Empathy: Ramsey breaks down the famous 4-quadrant diagram (Caring Personally vs. Challenging Directly) and explains why being "nice" can actually hurt your team's reputation.
16:03 The 4 Quadrants Defined: Understanding the difference between Radical Candor, Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy.
17:14 The "Zipper" Analogy: A simple way to understand how to apply the quadrants in real life.
22:00 Real-World Application: Ramsey shares a story of confronting a colleague who spoke poorly of a team member in a meeting.
Get the book here
📚Radical Candor by Kim Scott
Mentioned in the episode
The Radical Candor Matrix: The 4-quadrant framework (Care Personally + Challenge Directly)
FX Digital (Ramsey’s previous startup)

Guest Info
Ramsey Marwan, Co-Founder of MG Relations

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Most entrepreneurs are stuck in a race they never signed up for, chasing a version of success that leaves them burnt out and unfulfilled. In this episode, Caitlin Rozario, founder of Interlude, deconstructs the wisdom of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. Caitlin shares her raw journey of shutting down her software business to pivot toward her "zone of genius”—revealing that the most successful people usually aren't the ones working the hardest, but the ones who have mastered the art of being themselves.
Key Takeaways & Timestamps
00:00 Introducing The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson.
01:54 The power of deep specific knowledge: what is it & how you can “find” yours
03:20 Identifying "Play" vs. "Work": How to do the thing that feel like play to you but will look like work to others
04:25 The Ikigai Pivot: Caitlin describes using the Japanese concept of Ikigai—the cross-section of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for—to finalize her decision to shut down her app and move into workshops
08:15 Top tip - The "Smile File": How to combat the entrepreneurial "negativity bias”
09:19 Escaping Competition Through Authenticity: "If you are fundamentally building and marketing something that’s an extension of what you are, no one can compete with you on that."
18:02 Accepting you are a rat in a race: the best-case scenario is simply being a rat who is mindful enough to look up at the clouds once in a while
21:50 Defining Your Own Success: Why you must plan your career around your lifestyle rather than the other way around
Get the book here
📚The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
Mentioned in the episode
Cal Newport’s Deep Life Stack
The Ikigai Diagnostic Tool
Naval’s "How to Get Rich" (The 3-Hour Podcast)
Guest Info
Caitlin Rozario, Founder of Interlude
Interlude: The Anti-Toxic Productivity Bootcamp

Sam's things
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