Episode
INTERVIEW | Make Money by Playing the Long Game in Business and Investing with Rufus Griscom
- Podcast
- Travis Makes Money
- Published
- Jun 3, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1904
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Summary
Rufus Griscom is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and media pioneer who has built and sold multiple companies over the last three decades. From launching Nerve.com during the early days of the internet to building Babble and selling it to Disney, Rufus has experienced the highs and lows of entrepreneurship firsthand. Today, he's the founder of The Next Big Idea Club and host of The Next Big Idea podcast, where he interviews some of the world's most influential thinkers. In this conversation, Rufus shares hard-earned lessons on startups, investing, wealth building, and achieving what he calls "financial independence escape velocity." On this episode we talk about: Lessons learned from building and selling multiple digital media companies Why most successful entrepreneurs fail before they succeed The importance of persistence, timing, and learning from mistakes Rufus's unconventional investing philosophy and focus on technology stocks How financial independence creates the freedom to do meaningful work Top 3 Takeaways Entrepreneurship is often a game of persistence. Most successful founders experience multiple failures and setbacks before building something that truly works. Building wealth isn't just about earning money—it's about investing wisely and allowing compounding to work over long periods of time. The ultimate purpose of financial success is freedom: the ability to spend your time working on projects and causes that genuinely matter to you. Notable Quotes "I think it's more common to not have your first startup work than to have it work." "The greatest luxury is to be able to do the work you care about." "Financial independence escape velocity is the inflection point where the money you've made can grow at a pace that makes it possible to pursue the things you…