Ben is Partner at Village Global.

He is a serial tech entrepreneur who started his first enterprise software business at age 14.

Ben is the co-author (with Reid Hoffman) of two New York Times bestselling books: The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, about how to recruit and retain entrepreneurial employees, and The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career, a career strategy guide translated into over 15 languages.

Prior to co-founding Village Global in 2017, Ben spent two years working on special projects at LinkedIn and Greylock Partners. A native of San Francisco, he has spoken in front of tens of thousands of entrepreneurs in over 60 countries around the world.

Q&A with Ben

What’s the common thread that runs through your career?

When I was 12 years old, a schoolteacher made me memorize Apple Computer’s “Think Different” television advertisement, and ever since, I’ve identified as an entrepreneur. I love challenging the status quo. I love invention. I’ve also always loved writing. Writing is uniquely intellectually stimulating to me. Writing and entrepreneurship — sometimes writing about entrepreneurship! — are the common threads in my career so far.

What’s one of your superpowers?

Building high trust, long term relationships with other humans.

A book you commonly gift to people?

Depends on the topic! The Blank Slate about human nature. The Mind Illuminated or Why Buddhism Is True about meditation. Zadie Smith or Rachel Cusk for fiction. I’ve reviewed a lot of other books on my blog.

In your spare time?

I love to read, travel, play with my dog Oreo, and scuba dive.