Real Skills Archives - Ben McDougal

Student Founders

Ben was back at UW Stevens Point, speaking and collaborating inside the UW Stevens Point Center for Entrepreneurship. During his time on campus, Alex Suscha and Haley Densow joined him for another “In The Wild” jam session.

Hear how these two college student founders are building beyond the classroom by embracing the tension of going beyond the status quo. We speak about building a company while balancing school work, how to win pitch contests, and growing up in the connected era. For leaders who build on the timeline of now, this timeless episode is brewed just for you. Enjoy!

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BONUS MATERIALS

https://sourcerai.co

https://uwsp.edu/news/haley-densow-dormdash

https://x.com/SentrySchool/status/1896335458461778294

https://x.com/BENovator/status/1894227286326464568

http://Student-Founders.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

http://YouDontNeedThisKeynote.com

http://PlayforcePrinciples.com

EP17 – Schoolhouse Rock 🎙️ Anika Yadav

EP31 – What is School For? 🎙️ Russ Goerend

EP53 – Now & Later 🎙️ Evan Stanislawski + Matt Vollmer

EP54 – Blurring Lines 🎙️ Kevin Neuman + Chris Klesmith

EP69 – Generative Humans 🎙️ Chris Snider

EP81 – Technology Soup 🎙️ Carl Lippert

https://BenMcDougal.com/slide-deck-design

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

By Ben McDougal, 5 months ago June 18, 2025

You Don't Need This Podcast

Cartoonist

Nathan T. Wright is an artist. He has origins in the early days of social media, made impact inside corporate marketing, and now illustates remarkable art with drawings, cartoons, murals, and more. Ben and Nathan jam on The Adventures of Fatberg, the early (fun) days of social media, the speeds in-house at a large company, leading a creative process with clients, real skills for studying the arts, and understanding the business of being a full-time artist.

After the break that features a reading of Aphorism, Nathan and Ben dive back in by talking graphic recording at live events, the positive tension of smart cartoons, and extending value by reformatting great content into books. EP90 of YDNTP is an absolute bop – share with a friend!

EXTRA SHOT

Nathan T. Wright is the friend who illustrated the mug that has become part of a brand that is Ben McDougal.

What started as the caffeinated, community-driven cover art for You Don’t Need This Book, now extends through the Roasted Reflections NFT Collection, imprinted phygital clothing, the front of tiny ideabooks, temporary tattoos, a huge neon sign, and of course, the artwork for this timeless podcast! Cheers to this episode and another shared relic that keeps the fun brewing!

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BONUS MATERIALS

https://nathantwright.com

The Adventures of Fatberg

https://etsy.com/shop/ntwillustration

City of Santa Ana FOG Activity Book

Roasted Reflections Break: Aphorism

https://NewYorker.com/latest/cartoons

http://Cartoonist.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

https://MainframeStudios.org

EP21 – Pinball Wizards 🎙️ Ben Sinclair

EP44 – Do What You Love 🎙️ Scotty Russell

EP55 – Inextinguishable Light 🎙️ Jim Morgan

EP60 – Goosebumps 🎙️ Nic Roth

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

https://BenMcDougal.com/NFT

http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, 6 months ago May 14, 2025

You Don't Need This Podcast

Adapttitude

Rachelle Keck is the 14th president of Grand View University. Students join us in-studio as we discuss the energy of leadership. We also talk about writing a book and how to leverage an adapttitude, which is an attitude that fosters an aptitude for adaptation.

After an extended break that celebrates Playforce Principles and Seth Godin’s Real Skills, we navigate the ROI of higher education, cosmic curiosity, and what’s worth sacrificing to achieve progress. We close with a viking story from Rachelle, on how she burnt the ship by selling her law practice to pursue more grand adventures.

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BONUS MATERIALS

https://Wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachelle_Keck

https://Grandview.edu/about/about-gv/president

https://x.com/rachellekeck

https://linkedin.com/in/rachellekeck

http://Adapttitude.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections Break: Playforce Principles

EP9 – Future of Work 🎙️ Nancy Mwirotsi

EP31 – What is School For? 🎙️ Russ Goerend

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Roasted Reflections on Discord

http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, 8 months ago March 19, 2025

You Don't Need This Podcast

Agents of Change

Amner Martinez goes for the heart and bridges cultural gaps by inviting us all to tell our stories. Along with The Amner Martinez Podcast and Amplified DSM delivering an inspired environment for podcasters, Infinite Resources connects companies recruiting diverse talent and job seekers looking to fuel positive change within a new team.

If you’ve thought about starting a podcast, Amner and Ben will help you stay creative without a roadmap. After the break, we explore hiring talent and how job seekers can find a team to sing their own song of significance.

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BONUS MATERIALS
https://AmplifiedDSM.com
The Amner Martinez Podcast
https://InfiniteResourcesDSM.com
http://Agents-of-Change.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com
https://BenMcDougal.com/Producing-a-Podcast
http://CollectorHardbackEdition.com
http://RoastedReflections.com
http://FliteBrite.com
http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, 1 year ago October 9, 2024

You Don't Need This Podcast

Now & Later

Welcome to Wisconsin! Ben McDougal was visiting UW Stevens Point to deliver You Don’t Need This Keynote at the 2024 Think Like an Entrepreneur event. As part of a wonderful whirlwind, he jumped into a local recording studio with two local leaders at different stages in life.

Evan Stanislawski is a recent graduate of UWSP, while Matt Vollmer did the same 10 years ago. After a traditional start to his career, Matt is now an adjunct professor and the CEO of Arbré Technologies, which enables data to help the horticulture industry track the lifecycle of plants. Evan is making a ruckus in vintage clothing, while also turning a wrench in the family plumbing business, which may lead to business succession opportunities.

Together, we chat about building on the timeline of now, while staying patient to make better business decisions. We also jam on real skills, diversified career portfolios, activating digital depth, and how the non-linear path toward success often includes combinations of achievement and lasting fulfillment.

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By Ben McDougal, 1 year ago June 5, 2024

Ben McDougal is an energized friend, author, founder, technologist, and community 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!

You’ve likely met Ben over a brew, read his writings, listened to his podcast, watched his films, or heard him speak. Along with being an intrapreneur, founder, and community leader, You Don’t Need This Book was published in 2021. The literary journey continued as 3 years of weekly writings evolved into the Roasted Reflections library and paved a path toward an all-new format coming soon. You Don’t Need This Podcast has also emerged as a remarkable collection of 100 timeless episodes, all recorded in-studio with remarkable featured guests!

The quest that is FliteBrite also remains a compelling part of Ben’s work as a founder. Since 2012, their electronic serving system and beer festival app have ignited new opportunities for craft breweries and event organizers. This tasty story continues 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 has collaborated inside the Kauffman Foundation, as @1MCMidwest Regional Rep since 2017. What glorious collisions, with generous leaders, in countless communities. Ben loves this role brewed to connect and support 1MC organizers from 100+ communities throughout the United States!

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 worldwide.

Such experiential wisdom is translated into BENergy to energize different audiences. For example, You Don’t Need This Keynote activates students, while other workshops and keynotes accelerate fellow founders, side hustlers, and intrapreneurs.

While this is a delightful amuse-bouche, the full story is linked below and his creative museum visualizes work that feels like play. As you’ll see, 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