Read the tape

**Anyone can achieve success-if they learn to read the tape. ** Bennett Gates has never really been into podcasts. These days what he's into is throwing the ball for his dog while brooding on his many life failures. He's single, out of work, driving his dad's truck, and visiting his nosy family in Virginia. Lucky for him: one of those nosy family members is Uncle Jim, a successful entrepreneur and business owner who tells him about a can't-miss podcast called "Read the Tape."

Bennett starts listening-begrudgingly at first-but by the end of the first episode, he's hooked. It seems like the host, Mike Shapiro, is speaking directly to him. When Mike talks about 90 Percenters, people who get 90 percent of the way to their dreams and then back out, Bennett recognizes himself. He's always been afraid of taking risks, and he's terrified of failing.

But according to Mike, failure isn't something to be avoided. It's actually cause for celebration. Only once you've fallen flat on your face can you use that information to do the right things at the right times in order to move forward.

Armed with new knowledge and fresh ambition, Bennett starts making changes. He talks to that cute tech girl at the street fair. He meets up with her at the Ex Machina tech conference and learns more about what kind of app would transform her small business. He starts coding a prototype of that very app.

Meanwhile, he learns more about Mike Shapiro-and discovers he'll be one of the investors on The Lions' Den, a reality TV show where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to see if one of the Lions will invest. The taping's just a few days away, so Bennett borrows money and buys a plane ticket to California where he's sure all his dreams are about to come true.

Nope. Bennett hasn't quite been reading the tape while making his app. He's been so focused on the code, he forgot all about the design and user experience. When he pitches the app to Mike and the other Lions, he bombs on national television.

But all hope is not lost. Bennett must leverage the lessons he's learned from Mike Shapiro to finally read the tape. His adventure takes him all the way to Orange County to meet Mike in person and make his pitch-which is when the real adventure begins.