David Rosenthal & Ben Gilbert - From Obsession to Profession - [Art of Investing, EP.2]

Today's teachers are Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, founders of Acquired, the podcasting sensation telling the stories and strategies of the world's great companies. In this episode, we turn the tables on Ben and David in order to discover their own stories and the fairy dust behind Acquired's success. We'll cover the history of the formation of one of the most successful podcasts in the world, why having a co-founder & friend is vital to building an enduring company throughout the highs and lows, and their most valuable lessons learned from dissecting the greatest stories in business, investing, and entrepreneurship. Please enjoy our class with Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Summus. Summus is a revolutionary health benefits solution, driving superior employee engagement while dramatically lowering your company's enterprise-level healthcare spend. They're completely transforming the world of health benefits by providing employers and their employees in any location, fast access to over 5,100 of the top medical specialists from America's very best medical centers for support across all health questions. If you're looking for a benefit that drives your employee engagement, truly takes care of your people in their most scary and vulnerable times, all while improving your healthcare ROI, visit GoSummus.info/AOI. This episode is brought to you by Hunt Club. Hunt Club unlocks relationships and helps companies grow. Whether it's recruiting your next hire, landing your next big partner, or financing your business, a trusted introduction always works more effectively. Hunt Club’s tech-enabled search model leverages the largest community of its kind to refer amazing talent on your behalf. Additionally, its software program, Atlas, helps organize the entire network of a company or fund and assists in streamlining the right introductions. If you're looking for the ideal solution for all of your talent needs, visit HuntClub.com/AOI. ----- Art of Investing is a property of Pine Grove Studios in collaboration with Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Art of Investing, visit staygrovey.com.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ArtofInvest | @Buhrman_Rick  | @PaulBuser | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:05:36) - (First question) - Acquired podcast's journey, founders' insights, and entrepreneurial lessons (00:11:00) - David Rosenthal's journey from 80s Pennsylvania to entrepreneurship (00:23:12)- How David's exposure to entrepreneurship shaped his beliefs and co-founder dynamics (00:14:12) - How Ben and David forged a unique friendship through their shared passions (00:30:54) - Exploring side hustles & transforming hobbies into career opportunities (00:42:07) - Why building success requires nurturing intrinsic compounding factors (00:52:15) - The roles of luck and persistence in achieving success (00:56:35) - Prioritizing product over monetization for long-term success (00:60:57) - The importance of staying authentic amidst success (01:08:15) - Balancing success and well-being with Acquired's freedom-driven approach (01:10:37) - Recognizing the value of ownership in the journey to success (01:15:32) - The power of optimism in overcoming challenges and achieving success (01:19:27) - The significance of authenticity in long-term success (01:25:07)- Upholding integrity in interactions as an essential component of success (01:35:04) - Why successful companies often mirror the founder's personality (01:43:17) - Acquired's biggest strength and the potential risk on the horizon