I’m a small business operator, occasional writer, and Excel fanboy. I love steak, wine, football, and reading.
I try to live by the advice of legendary investor and billionaire Charlie Munger, who said:
"I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up, and boy, does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you."
I want to be a learning machine, and I want to go to bed every night a little bit healthier, wealthier and wiser than when I woke up in the morning. I trust that over time, those small gains will compound into a good life.
That’s what I write about on this site — and that writing has been featured in
Business Insider,
Inc Magazine and the
Huffington Post.
best of
These are the most popular posts I've written in the past ten years:
For a full list of everything I've ever written, just
click here.
podcasts
Here's a list of some of the best podcast interviews I've done. As you can tell from the descriptions below, it's an eclectic mix.
Made You Think with Neil Soni and Nat Eliason
Our review of the book The Quest of the Simple Life by William Dawson. We covered topics like rejecting modernity, city vs country living, finding value in the work you do, and whether money is a good guage of success. Listen here:
Spotify |
Apple |
OvercastBusiness Brainstorms with Jakob Greenfeld
Entrepreneur and indie hacker Jabok Greenfeld and I chat twitter, the trend of real-world activities as a reaction to the metaverse, and a few business ideas we've both come up with like Primal Weekend, Zero to Wine, and more. Listen here:
Spotify |
Apple |
OvercastCPA Advisory Show with Chris Hervochon and Jeremy Wells
Chris and Jeremy both run CPA advisory firms in the US. We talk data dashboards, the value of soft skills in a technical profession like accounting, and how advisors and consultants can better serve their clients. Listen here:
Spotify |
Apple |
Overcastmore about me
- I live in Nottingham, UK. Used to live in Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham, and spent some time in Austin, TX, too.
- I’m an econ grad and CIMA qualified accountant who’s worked at big companies, little companies, and companies in between. I help them to make more money.
- I was the first full-time hire at Scribe Media, Tucker Max's latest company, which was an awesome learning experience.
- I’m a lifelong fan of Everton FC (unfortunately).
- My favourite book is The Big Short by Michael Lewis.
- I love stand-up comedy, so much that I once tried it myself (which probably makes me unique among accountants).
core principles
In my career and personal life, I’ve seen a couple of common themes emerge among individuals and companies that achieve their goals:
- Extreme ownership: the acceptance that you, and you alone, are responsible for everything that happens in your domain.
- Focus on process over outcomes: winning championships doesn’t come from playing well in one game; it comes from turning up to practice and training hard every day.
- Relentlessly practice and master the basics: if you want to write concertos, you need to be able to write sheet music. If you want to play basketball, you need to be able to run, shoot, jump and pass. No way around it.
- Continuous improvement: if you’re standing still, you’re going backward. Make small steps forward, every single day.
If you can make these themes a big part of your life, I believe you can be successful in your domain -- however you choose to define that success.
newsletter
I write a weekly email newsletter called Human Capital, where I share all the interesting things I’ve written or found. I aim to make you healthier, wealthier, wiser, and smarter than when you woke up in the morning.
Sign up below and you’ll get the very next one. No spam, ever.
