# Book takeaways and where to start

- **Episode:** [193](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/193.md) (2025-05-01)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** book, takeaways, sweaty-startup, resources
- **Time:** 51:30–56:30 (start 3090s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/193?t=3090](https://truthliesandwork.com/193?t=3090)

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[51:30] Al Elliott: Is there a part, we've got this link, sweatystartup.com/ideas. Is that a good place for people to start?
[51:35] Nick Huber: Yeah, go download that list of business ideas. And then there's some other resources. That's the best place. Go to sweatystartup.com/ideas. That'll also put you on my newsletter and you can get my thoughts every week on You know, management, on opportunities, on marketing, and kind of how I think about business and life
[51:50] Al Elliott: Thank you so much, Nick. It's been a genuine pleasure and a career highlight for me. Thank you so much for your time
[51:55] Nick Huber: I love your stuff. Thanks for having me on
[51:57] Leanne Elliott: That was Nick Huber, author of The Sweaty Startup and founder of not one, not two, but multiple million-dollar businesses
[52:06] Al Elliott: It's really refreshing to hear someone cut through all this startup nonsense. Nick focuses on what actually works, which is boring, Reliable businesses that make money from day one
[52:16] Leanne Elliott: What we're saying is boring is the new sexy
[52:17] Al Elliott: We are exactly saying that. We are
[52:19] Leanne Elliott: My stock is going up then. Um, I personally, I really enjoyed, um, Nick's interview and his approach to, to team building. He is very clear, he's very direct, and he is focused on hiring people who solve the problems and make the decisions. Look, I might not entirely agree with everything in his approach as a psychologist, And that's just the case with most fast-moving entrepreneurs and businesses. It's just the way it is. You can't always do things, you know, by the book. So it's nothing against Nick and his ways, but what I do think he's tapping into is something that a lot of leaders overcomplicate. He's not spending time on these personality tests or frameworks, which, let's be honest, can be absolutely useful in the right hands, but they're not often in the right hands, and they're not magic. Um, they don't predict performance all that well in terms of the different psychological assessment methods we can, we can use. And if they are misused, then they can actually be more confusing and more harmful. If you don't know what you're measuring or why, it's not a good place to start. So what Nick's really getting at is just really good job design. So understanding what the role actually involves and then finding people who can do that well. And that's the bit I completely, completely agree with. And I think as well, his point about, um, high performers leaving when they're surrounded by low performance. Yeah, this is absolutely right. It's backed by research as well. There's a recent study that showed that nearly 70% of people said that working with low performers dragged down team morale, and 44% said it made them more likely to leave. Um, so yeah, it's brilliant advice from Nick there
[53:52] Al Elliott: If you want to learn more about Nick's approach, go and grab a copy of his book, The Sweaty Startup, or check out sweatystartup.com/ideas for his list of 200 low-risk business ideas. And some leadership ideas in there too. And if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review. It makes our day. As Leanne said on Tuesday, it makes our day when we see a notification of a new review coming through. So make us happy
[54:12] Leanne Elliott: Yeah, it really would make us happy. Um, what would also make us happy—
[54:15] Al Elliott: It sounded really sad then, like—
[54:16] Leanne Elliott: Well, because it's a lonely life, Al, podcasting
[54:20] Al Elliott: It is
[54:20] Leanne Elliott: You don't always know in the moment how people respond and like it
[54:24] Al Elliott: No, we need to play some sad music. Okay, I was gonna say, are we back next week?
[54:30] Leanne Elliott: Yeah, no, we would, and we hope you're back next week too. We'll be back next Tuesday with our regular This Week in Work, which includes our news roundup, our hot take, and our surgery. Um, but we're actually recording this tomorrow because we're on holiday next week. As I might have mentioned, um, last week, I may be a bit harsh when I said I won't think about you at all. I probably will because it's inevitable, isn't it? How could I not? You're my people. Um, but we're always telling you lovely listeners to make sure that you try and set these boundaries between work and life that you try and, if not a balance, some kind of healthy integration. So we're doing the same and having an entire week off. So there'll be no LinkedIn, there'll be no guest interviews, there'll be no recording. There will just be sunshine and tapas
[55:11] Al Elliott: Spain, as I'm sure you've guessed, that's where we're going. Northern Spain. Gonna go eat and drink away around an area we've not spent that much time in. We have been up to northern Spain over a period of like 2 months, but, uh, we're gonna go properly in depth with Spain. We're gonna get inside you
[55:25] Nick Huber: That's a bit creepy
[55:25] Leanne Elliott: Yes, we are, in a non-creepy way. Um, the good news is though—
[55:29] Al Elliott: I might be a bit creepy
[55:29] Leanne Elliott: You're very creepy. The good news is though that nothing will change for you. You won't even notice that we're gone. Um, you'll still have the regular Tuesday edition. Um, we'll also be bringing you a full interview that we did recently with the CEO of Mind, Dr. Sarah Hughes. Um, the full unedited, unfiltered version. And I have to say, this interview really did stay with me. Sarah is incredible, and she spoke so honestly um, and powerfully about the reality of mental health and mental illness in the UK. Um, some things to expect: she talked about the serious gaps in how we support people with complex mental illness, and it was that call to action that actually inspired our episodes on psychopathy and on schizophrenia. Sarah also talks about the social and economic cost of getting it wrong and why we can't just drop in a well-being program and hope for the best. Um, so just so you know, as I said, there is content in this interview that's never been heard before. There are some heavy themes in there, so you, you have been, you have been warned
[56:28] Al Elliott: So we'll speak to you very soon. Bye-bye