- Charlie Munger Franklin is the model the whole Almanack is built around — the title, the format, and the idea of using self-made wealth to buy independence rather than display. Peter Kaufman’s introduction to the book calls Munger ‘this generation’s answer to Benjamin Franklin.’ source ↗
Benjamin Franklin's own account of his life from humble beginnings in Boston through his rise as a printer, inventor, diplomat, and founder — written as a letter of instruction to his son, it remains one of the great American autobiographies.
Franklin is the model the entire Poor Charlie's Almanack is built around — the title, the format, and the idea of using self-made wealth to buy independence rather than display. Peter Kaufman's introduction calls Munger 'this generation's answer to Benjamin Franklin.' For founders, Franklin's autobiography is the original case study in the 'deserve what you want' method: he became a successful printer by working harder and more reliably than his competitors, he became a scientist by pursuing curiosity without regard for professional boundaries, and he became a diplomat by cultivating the reputation for disinterested public service. Franklin's daily virtue checklist was the first Munger-style mental model checklist, long before the term existed.