HIIT: Ben Walters
Diving into the second season of HIIT:VC, I had a blast powering through a workout with none other than Ben Walters. Let's just say, any notions I had of being 'too busy' for a solid session were quickly put to shame. As the VP of Enterprise BD & Partnerships @ Hopper, Ben's schedule is nothing short of jam-packed. Yet, his commitment to his health and wellness? Unwavering. Prior to Hopper Ben was the Co-founder and CEO of Gravy.ai.
Q: What does your morning routine look like?
A: When I’m not on baby duty I’m up at about 7am, black coffee, read through my newsletters, drink about a litre of water, then I'm good to go.
Q: What does your evening routine look like; how do you unwind?
A: One of the best decisions I made was to put a steam shower in my basement, so 3 – 4 times per week, I steam and cold shower in the evening. I do a good 15 to 20 minutes of stretching and mobility in the steam then fall asleep usually reading a fiction book, something that let’s my mind wander.?
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Q: How many hours of sleep do you need to feel like you’re ready to take on the world?
A: I need about 8 hours, which I get 85% of the time and I’m usually in bed by 9:30 pm.
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Q: Do you track any biometrics using wearables?
A: I don’t track anything now, but I do want to be more in tune with my body and since consuming a lot of Andrew Huberman and Dr Peter Attia content I’ve been wanting to get a DEXA scan and a Vo2 max test.
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?Q: What does high performance mean to you? Has this changed from your time as a founder to now an operator?
A: For me, high performance means your brain moves quickly and you have high agency, someone you don’t need to coach or tell what to do. I also believe in a maniacal sense of urgency when it comes to work stuff. When you’re an early-stage company, doing every little thing that doesn’t need to get done right now, right now is the difference between weeks, months and years, when those little decisions compound themselves over and over again.?
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Q: How has this informed your philosophy on team building? Has this changed from your early days as a founder to your current role as an operator?
A: I’d say I’ve come to realize a few things that I thought I would never come to terms with. Typically, when you’re running a startup, you’re cash constrained and so you operate within the budget for any given hire. With Hopper having raised a substantial amount of capital, we can afford top talent and almost always, I’ve found paying someone 2-3x their salary usually produces a 5-10x better person and that money pays itself back in droves. So, in hindsight if I were to start a company, I would rather pay 5 people top market salary than 12 super scrappy people. The only other thing I would say is I’m a strong believer in complimentary skillsets.
Q: What does leadership mean to you?
A: The most important quality in a leader, is to lead by example, so that means nothing is beneath you, you’re the one tweaking the deck at midnight, doing the small things right and trusting that will permeate throughout the organization.
If you want to try our workout, here's this week's circuit:
Fintech/Insurtech investor
1 年I love reading how high performers manage their days. It's cool to see how they prioritize. It's inspiring! That said, I am not trying this workout any time soon!
Carbon Markets at Deep Sky
1 年Legends!