Founder and CEO of Citadel Ken Griffin on why every CEO regardless of their title is ultimately a salesperson:
When the man who backed Ken Griffin out of college retired, he gave Ken his pick of anything from his office.
Ken chose a plaque that probably cost $9.99.
It read: "If we're all going to eat, someone's got to sell."
He says that line captures the entire story of being an entrepreneur or a CEO.
"Every CEO — they're a salesperson. They got to sell a venture capital firm. They got to sell a customer. They have to sell an employee. They got to make sure that with the government that they sell like what we do, we do right. We dot the i's, cross the t's, we follow the regulations. You are always selling."
And if you happen to dislike selling? Ken's advice is simple: "Get over it."
He speaks from experience. At 20 years old, he had no interest in selling either.
But in 1994, he found himself flying to Switzerland to raise money for Citadel, and the humbling moments came fast.
He shows up to a lunch meeting, and the man across the table takes one look at him and says: "You're not John Griffin."
Ken explains he's Ken Griffin. The man replies he thought he was meeting John Griffin from Fenchurch and promptly gets up and leaves.
Ken had just flown across the world for a lunch that walked out on him.
Later that same day, in a beautiful Geneva office, he sits across from another prospect, a man settled into a gorgeous sofa, smoking a cigar, who looks at Ken and says:
"So sad. Such a bright young man, so picked the wrong career."
Two rejections. One day. One city.
His takeaway?
"You just got to play through these moments."
Because that's the job. Not just for salespeople but for every founder, every CEO, every leader who wants to build something that lasts.
Someone has to sell. It might as well be you.
To fall asleep, you first pretend to be asleep. Life works the same way. You become by practicing. You grow by acting. Confidence comes after the first step. The version of you that you're becoming begins as something you choose to embody before it feels real.
🚨 THIS IS NOT NORMAL
Every 4 years, in July, the market gets hit with a major correction.
July 1998 → -23.71%
July 2002 → -32.41%
July 2006 → -9.60%
July 2010 → -18.94%
July 2014 → -11.05%
July 2018 → -19.27%
July 2022 → -19.92%
Now the next date is July 2026.
NEW: Ret. Army Colonel and Trump 1.0 SecDef senior advisor Douglas MacGregor on the October 7 attack on Israel:
"It was... allowed to happen... Clearly this was a setup"
"why did it take 3 hours for reaction forces to show up and defend the Israeli population?"
"The Israelis had done a brilliant job of carefully following and monitoring everyone inside Gaza. They knew what was happening almost before it happened"
"we know that there were a group of, I think it was six or seven, Israeli women on the IDF whose entire focus during their term of enlistment was to focus on Gaza. And they raised the red flag of what was going on in Gaza several times. And for whatever reason, nobody reacted"
This clip of MacGregor (@DougAMacgregor), who's also a combat veteran, military analyst, and author, is taken from an interview with James Patrick (@BigPictureWatch) posted to the BIG PICTURE YouTube channel on June 29, 2026.
----------------Partial transcription of clip---------------
Patrick:
"And do you think this October 7th thing set all this in motion? ... Do you think that was a false flag?
MacGregor:
"Yeah. Well, it wasn't a false flag. It was simply allowed to happen.
"And I think that at some point, it'll become patently obvious, because I visited that headquarters in 2020. The Israelis had done a brilliant job of carefully following and monitoring everyone inside Gaza. They knew what was happening almost before it happened.
"They knew who had taken a shot at them and who hadn't. They'd learned how to defend themselves against these tunnels. I think they knew.
"And now we know that there were a group of, I think it was six or seven, Israeli women on the IDF whose entire focus during their term of enlistment was to focus on Gaza. And they raised the red flag of what was going on in Gaza several times. And for whatever reason, nobody reacted.
"Then they were told by the deputy chief of staff for intelligence in Egypt. He called over to the Mossad, presumably, maybe Shin Bet, I don't know which it was at the time, and said, Look, we see a big attack coming out of Gaza.
"Well, why didn't somebody react? And then when it did come, why did it take three hours for reaction forces to show up and defend the Israeli population? Clearly, this was a setup.
"It was designed to trigger the response that they wanted from the rest of the world, as well as from their own people, against the Muslims living in Gaza, the people they called 'Amalek,' animals."
Patrick:
"Is Israel engaging in a classic example of imperial hubris here? Imperial hubris?"
MacGregor:
"Well, of course. I mean, the arrogance and hubris are stifling. But that's because of their control of us. And I think that's what people have to understand. They say, when does this end? And I try to tell them when Israel no longer controls the United States armed forces, and that means no longer controls Congress and the presidency. Right now, they effectively control them."
@MichelleLA1981 Na, it’s just another scam to increase immigration they will never serve or train. Just another way around to get these third world savages into the country.
Why do Black queer folks have so many negative things to say about Atlanta? It’s our city!!
STIs/HIV doesn’t have a face. They don’t live in a specific city. They are everywhere and can affect anyone.
Please…grow up.