You Don't Need This Podcast - Always Growing

“Behind mountains, there are more mountains.”

Well spoken by Chief Farmer of Clayton Farms, Clayton Mooney. This dude runs a kabillion miles by running 20+ ultrarunning, went through Y Combinator, stays stoic with painting, writes, illustrates poetry books, played poker professionally back in the day, enjoys boxing, and has felt the summit of many mountains. Clayton arrived in his Tesla Cybertruck, so we tightened our driving gloves and cruised inside the Pour Over Publishing studio. You’re gonna love this early episode of Season 2 for You Don’t Need This Podcast!

As you’ll see/hear, the team at Clayton Farms have been growing technology on a thesis of providing food that people deserve. They’ve been building with aeroponics for indoor farming, delivered ultra-local greens directly to people’s doors, and are now converting closed restaurants into 24/7/365 farming. You’ve heard of farm-to-table. This is the future of farm-to-window.

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BONUS MATERIALS
https://ClaytonFarms.com
https://substack.com/@openclayton
https://x.com/MooneyMillions
Following October – Poetry Book
http://Always-Growing.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com
http://YouDontNeedThisKeynote.com
http://CollectorHardbackEdition.com
http://RoastedReflections.com
http://BENBOT.ai

Ben McDougal is an author, founder, technologist, and entrepreneurial ecosystem builder in the connected era.

Ben has been called a polymath. He evolves ideas into reality and accelerates others through the art of connection. Check out the innovations this leader has activated over time!

2004 | Iowa 3v3 Soccer Challenge <SOLD>
2006 | Jet Set Studio
2007 | The Hunt Zone <SOLD>
2012 | FliteBrite
2020 | OpenOpen
2020 | Pour Over Publishing
2021 | You Don’t Need This Book
2022 | NFT Collection
2022 | web3dsm
2023 | BEN BOT
2023 | You Don’t Need This Podcast
2024 | Collector Hardback Edition
2025 | now brewing – let’s chat

You’ve likely met Ben or heard him speak.

You Don’t Need This Podcast has been the place to enjoy a podcast every Wednesday morning for a while now! McDougal’s latest creation unites 80+ timeless episodes, each with featured guests in-studio! Listen and watch as leaders brew through the fabrics of an entrepreneurial lifestyle. The content creation never stops either. 160+ writings are now minted into Roasted Reflections. This library is a literary journey for the mind and could present a compelling path toward an all-new format coming soon.

Shifting gears, the quest that is FliteBrite remains compelling and an active part of Ben’s journey as a founder. Since 2012, their electronic serving system and beer festival app have created tech-infused paths for craft breweries and event organizers. This tasty story continues to be written, with fun, friendships, successes, learnings, and more fun, every step of the build.

Alongside his ventures, Ben caffeinates a nationwide movement called 1 Million Cups. After leading 1MC Des Moines for 5 years, Ben now collaborates with the Kauffman Foundation as the @1MCMidwest Regional Rep. He’s been making a ruckus in this position for over 5 years. What glorious collision, with endless generous 1MC organizers, in countless entrepreneurial ecosystems. Ben loves this leadership role brewed to connect and support 1MC organizers from 100+ communities throughout the Midwest and nationwide!

When it comes to nationwide efforts, Ben also had the privilege of teaming up with Techstars as an Entrepreneur in Residence and Ecosystem Builder. Investing 2021-2023 to build through the Iowa Techstars Accelerator was fantastic. That marketing-flavored, community building, culture, and founder-support role allowed Ben to continue accelerating inspired entrepreneurs… while connecting mentors and investors from around the globe.

Such experiential wisdom is translated into BENergy as McDougal speaks with a variety of different audiences. For example, You Don’t Need This Keynote activates students, while other talks accelerate young professionals, founders, side hustlers, and intrapreneurs. Watch fantastic examples here, then let’s chat about your next event, keynote speaker ideas, workshop collaborations, and/or entrepreneurial initiatives.

There’s so much more too. The full story is linked below and a spacious museum will keep you appreciating work that feels like play. As you’ll see through stories, Ben also enjoys travel, golf, EDM expeditions, reading, Seth Godin, philosophy, wine, craft beer, pinball, and spending treasured time with his wife and daughter. May the best of your todays, be the worst of your tomorrows. Cheers!

FULL STORY