The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Summary)

Notes

• Ben was the youngest of 17 kids.
• He made soap and candles for his dad’s business as a kid. He didn’t like it.
• He loved reading ever since he was a child. He spent nearly all of his money on books. He didn’t receive much formal schooling, he was largely taught through reading and talking to others.
• In 1717, Franklin goes to work for his brother as a printer.
• He would borrow books for a night and stay up reading them because they had to be returned in the morning.
• Writing changed Ben’s life. He would write stories and his brother would print them and bind them into books. Then he started selling his books and people actually bought them. He’s still very young at this point.
• “Writing has been of great use to me in my life and has been a principal means in my advancement.”
• He wrote under his own name and several pseudonyms.
• Ben’s older brother wants to start the 2nd newspaper in America. His brother’s friends tell him it’s not a good idea because they thought one newspaper was enough for America.
• Ultiamtely, Ben's brother decides to start the newspaper. Ben delivers them to town for sale.
• People from the town would slip writings under the door of the newspaper office to be picked for inclusion in the newspaper.
• Ben thought that his brother wouldn’t include his writings in the newspaper, so he wrote under a pseudonym. His brother loved Ben’s writings and thought that they were written by respectable men.
• At 17, Ben leaves his family and moves to New York. He goes to the local printer and asks for work. That printer directs him to a printer in Philadelphia who’s looking for an employee.
• The printer notes that Ben will win because of his industry and his frugality.
• The printers in Philadelphia are unskilled, so Ben decides to make his own printing business.
• Ben’s 18 and traveling on a train. Two women his age are giving him attention. A grandma speaks to him and tells him to watch out for those women. She was right—the two young women were trying to rob him.
• The lower your expenses, the more freedom you have.
• Franklin refused patents and copyrights because he wanted to spread knowledge freely.
• Franklin did not drink alcohol. He only drank water.
• Older people that Ben meets are jealous of him because he’s younger than them but smarter and more well-read. It’s best to try to boost the ego of people older than you so you don’t make them feel bad about your intellect.
• Newsletters are like the modern version of Franklin’s media business, but video/audio are probably even better.
• People need to see you doing the work. Franklin would purchase newspapers at the store but them wheelbarrow them home so that people think he’s out delivering papers. This reminds me of how Elon Musk will sleep in the Tesla factory out on the floor so everyone can see him. This makes the employees think that if Musk is working hard, they should too.
• More people wanted to buy from Franklin because they thought he was delivering the papers himself. (The modern version of this could be sending a newsletter with your name/picture even if an employee writes it.)
• Franklin created the first subscription library. This reminds me of how Robert Kiyosaki made a subscription comic book library when he was a kid. It also reminds me of digital newspapers that have paid subscriptions.
• “Reading was the only amusement I would allow myself.” — Benjamin Franklin
• He made conferences where everyone would get together and talk about books, business, philosophy, history, etc.
• Make an exclusive club of smart people who get together and talk business, philosophy, etc.