I've always loved to write, and I kept a diary of what I thought about my business, being an entrepreneur and other things of interest to me.

Sometimes I have to pause to make the distinction between Ben the teenager and Ben the businessman.

I have a broad range of interests, so I'll always be working on something.

Expose yourself to as much as possible. Attend conferences no one else is attending. Read books no one else is reading. Talk to people no one else is talking to.

It got a little stressful in my first two years of high school, trying to make conference calls with investors in between classes, but I definitely learned a lot of important time-management lessons.

If you really understand something, you can: 1) explain it using a clear metaphor and 2) explain the strongest counter-argument to the idea.

I’m skeptical of passive learning. If you don’t write down what you’re hearing and learning, what the odds you remember it?