Pinball Wizards

Ben Sinclair is a wizard who builds amazing technology just for fun. This episode is hilariously awesome as The Bens chat about their special origin story. We open the gates on the evolution of FliteBrite, building an electronic serving system, and a beer festival app. Laugh with Ben and Sinclair as we have fun connecting jokes with WWDC23, astronomy, web2 vs. web3, OpenOpen, being present as a parent, building as co-founders, and staying professional over pinball.

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By Ben McDougal, ago

Triangulation

Cross-checking helps to determine distance, maneuver around obstacles, and identify rogue objects. Alongside the math, a triangulated team increases dependability.

Diversity of thought, talent, and real skills add synergy to accelerate progress and increase a team’s confidence when a problem is attacked from multiple angles. This nimbleness is leveraged as co-founders create a culture that makes each person feel significant.

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Building alone is easy.

Team up to make it fun.

On the prowl for co-founders? Consider triangulating a hipster (customer experience), hacker (technology), and hustler (business development). When these complimenting archetypes also blend hints of founder-market-fit, a timely curation gives any team exponential capacity.

To find missing links, connectors become connected. So show up and be quick to make interesting introductions. When the first degree of contact lacks obvious opportunity, remember it’s the second and third degree of connectivity that delivers precision. Over time, generosity in an entrepreneurial ecosystem expands and tightens engaged networks. Instead of forcefully recruiting co-founders, the open-ended activity of a serendipitist will have us colliding with friends we simply haven’t met yet.As teamwork begins, bonds that have formed naturally will support lasting collaboration with people you respect. That said, established trust is not an excuse to get complacent.

To nurture the power of triangulation be honest and transparent from start to finish. Every story ends, so don’t avoid difficult discussions. When structuring a business, agree on the terms, leave space for change over time, and maintain an operating agreement to ensure clarity with less tension. A commitment to abundant communication helps each team member remain attentive to details.

Professionals will take it further—inviting responsibility, then keeping the promise. For any idea maze, we take the blame, willingly give credit, and celebrate in style.

Lone wolves move fast but the expanded capacity of a team helps an odyssey go far. When a fun, long-term cast plays long-term games together, the chemical reaction can be an affinity toward work that feels like play. Cheers!

Brewed From Within
#12 📖 Entrepreneurship

By Ben McDougal, ago

Goodnight Moon

Star parties assemble people who are curious about the cosmos. Let’s set the scene. Imagine a remote place with dark skies and very little light pollution. Each campsite includes 1–3 telescopes. The astronomy equipment ranges from homemade to expensive. There are scopes made for visual observations and others geared for astrophotography.

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Explore my cosmic creations.

Daylight is relaxing, but the heavenly show starts as the sun begins to set and the first observations kickoff an evening of exploration. Tonight, our first stop is our own setting moon. From there, we spin the scopes to target a transitory comet. Planets in our solar system are next, then we go deeper. Globular clusters form dimensional shapes, with distant galaxies that look like eraser marks on black paper. The Milky Way can be seen all night, as constellations help star gazers navigate the rotating sky.

Space is for everyone, and astronomy makes everything feel small. Star parties remind us how we are all weird. Not an alienating type of weird, a wonderful weird that bonds people who care about anything together.

Brewed From Within
#106 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

Behind The Action

Brandon T. Adams is an ambitious leader who tells stories with video. BTA is also an author, investor, speaker, and advisor who uses his experience to accelerate fellow founders. Join us for this VIP conversation on how to earn your way onto cap tables, building an audience that cares, all that is Rise and Record, the value of masterminds, his first video, pro tips for content creation, and what to do when you’re with Kevin Harrington and your private jet lands in the wrong country.

To celebrate the 10th episode of YDNTP, we collaborated with BTA to bring you into our studio! Along with listening to this show anywhere you enjoy podcasts, below is a special video of our time together. Enjoy!

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By Ben McDougal, ago

Wildly 41

I turn 41 at 1:41PM EST on May 19th, 2023.

As I reflect on a few recent birthday wishes, my 33rd birthday wish was granted, there’s less anticipation and a compelling sense of retirement from 39 remains on tap, and this year’s birthday definitely feels less poetic than Eclipsing 40, but I’m still here. Let’s celebrate.

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What’s one word to describe your work?

One word to sum up my work this year, is wild. I remain thankful for the privilege to perceptually learn through the art of connection, content creation, and exploration on the frontiers of technology. Here are a few ways we’ve continued to collaborate together!

Along with the wild in my work, I’m just as grateful for the health and happiness of family and friends. There are countless milestones that have brewed joy in different ways. While most will remain cherished without sharing, here are a few memorable moments that have art to accompany the adventure. Stay wild my friends!

©1982-2023

By Ben McDougal, ago