Who am I?

My name is Ben Fox, and I am a serial entrepreneur who loves to read. I live in Northern Portugal with my amazing wife and 7-year-old son, Calico Jack (named after the pirate). 

I can remember the exact moment when I learned to read. I was trying to read The Snow Baby and jumping from word to word. There was this magical moment when the words came alive, and it all clicked. It was one of the most amazing feelings in my life. I read 100+ books a year, and I thank my parents for making books a massive part of my life. 

Please don't mistake me for a crazy dreamer.

Here is my LinkedIn profile to see my background as an entrepreneur.

I plan to build a sustainable business that does good. I have big goals, and Shepherd will eventually rival Goodreads in scale. I have started and grown numerous companies over my career. One of the largest companies grew to 55,000 clients with 130 team members spread over 18 countries. 

Why am I creating Shepherd?

I want to create an experience that is like wandering the aisles of your favorite bookstore.

As a reader, I am incredibly frustrated with online book discovery.

When I look for a new book online, it feels soulless.

Online bookstores sell books like toothpaste or underwear. Something about that is profoundly wrong. 

A book is an experience, and the process of finding a book is part of that experience. 

I love wandering around bookstores and letting random books capture my attention. Nothing will ever replace the "bookstore experience," but I want to reimagine online book discovery with more serendipity and delight. 

To start, I've asked 9,000+ authors to share five of their favorite books around a topic, theme, or mood and why they love each book. This infuses each book with magic and meaning.

We are just getting started... book DNA is coming soon!

I will share more about our book DNA program for readers in 2024. We will help them match their book DNA with others to find powerful recommendations. 

Authors deserve a better book website. 

Book marketing is utterly broken. 

I have a longer post coming on this topic, as the entire system is broken.

Authors need more places where they can meet readers who would be interested in their book.

Amazon's book results are mostly ads, and Goodreads does nothing for authors. There are almost no places where authors can market their books to readers without paying for ads. We need a strong and independent book ecosystem to help authors. 

How do we connect books to the most interested readers?

We need to help authors connect with readers interested in their book. And if their book has that magic spark, I want to help them meet more readers. I don't want to live in a winner-takes-all book market where we are stuck with the same big-brand authors. 

How will Shepherd help authors?

We launched in April 2021, and we are just getting started. 

Increase respect for complexity.

I want to improve the world by increasing our understanding and empathy for complexity.

Humans are at their best when they appreciate the complexity of civilization, nature, society, and their fellow humans. And books are one of the best ways to feed this attribute.

One of the biggest global problems is that people are losing trust in the institutions that run our society.

Some politicians tell us that there are easy and simple solutions to large and complex problems. They are pandering to this simplistic nonsense to gain power. It is reminiscent of the rise of fascism in the early 20th century and is terrifying. I think books are one way to fight this trend.

If someone feels that immigration will be "solved" with a wall, they need to read a book to understand the complexity of immigration. If someone thinks the E.P.A. is causing more harm than good, they need to read a book that shows them what the river and air was like before the E.P.A. If someone thinks the American university system is fixed by forgiving $10,000 in debt, they need to read a book to understand how utterly broken the current system is (and how it could be fixed). 

As the site grows, I want to do more to challenge readers to learn about these complex issues so that they are not fooled by politicians trying to gain power at any cost. 

I feel powerless. I want to do something to improve the world on a bigger scale. 

We live in a time when social media algorithms only reinforce existing worldviews and propagate overly simplistic solutions. A book is one of the best ways to help us see the world through different eyes and understand the hidden complexities we are surrounded by. We need a lot more of both of those things right now. 

I want to impact the soft culture in the USA and globally over the next thousand years. I want to play a role in creating cultural values that will create a better world for our children, their children, and so on. I am tired of feeling powerless, and Shepherd is a vehicle to help create a better world. 

What type of world do I want to help build? 

A world where science and scientists are respected and science is recognized as the best way to understand the physical world around us, where justice is accessible to the rich and poor, where healthcare is affordable for everyone, where critical thinking and financial skills are taught in schools, where citizens have a vote in how they are governed, where meritocracy is actively pursued and respected, where democracy is recognized as the best form of government that we currently have, where being poor is not seen as a moral failing, where political corruption has adverse outcomes, where starting and running a business is accessible and not full of overly burdensome licenses and needless bureaucracy, where college and vocational education are low cost so that everyone who wants to better themselves can, where labor and workers have a fair say in the economic system, where people are free to express their views without governmental punishment, where the environment is protected from pollutants that harm human/animal/plants, where religion helps you find *your* meaning in the world rather than personal beliefs forced upon others, and where taxes are fair for both the wealthy and poor. 

I don't think any of those things are partisan.

They are about us creating a world we want for our kids and future generations after that. And we need to have respectful discussions about what each of those things means and where we can meet on them. I will write and expand more as the project gets further along as well. 

Who are your guiding stars on this project?

Anthony Bourdain is one of my guiding stars for this project. He is someone I've always admired. He epitomizes the ethos that humanity is similar and every human has something to teach us. I also admire his constant soul-searching while not letting it hold back his day-to-day actions. He is missed. 

Khan of Khan Academy sums up a lot of what I hope to do with this project with this quote: "If you believe in trying to make the best of the finite number of years we have on this planet (while not making it any worse for anyone else), think that pride and self-righteousness are the cause of most conflict and negativity, and are humbled by the vastness and mystery of the Universe, then I'm the same religion as you." 

And, of course, Wikipedia has done so much to help people learn and is an excellent source of truth in this world. 

What values do you want Shepherd to advocate for?

It is early, and I have a lot of thoughts here. I will share more as I get further along. 

• Advocating for democracy as the best form of government we have. 
• Advocating for science and the scientific process as the best way to understand the physical world around us. 
• Advocating for freedom of religion (the right to practice whatever religion, or lack of religion, one chooses).
• Advocating for meritocracy as an ideal we should forever strive for. 

More to come, but I wanted to share that. 

Where can I learn more?

Always feel free to email me; I am an open book!

Here is more info about Shepherd:

• The business model
• How sharing book recommendations will help you sell your book (with sales data)
• Our marketing plan
• A blog/newsletter that I update every two weeks about building Shepherd. 
• A monthly newsletter for authors that shares traffic and other data. 

Huge thanks to...

My family and friends for advising me and testing countless site versions. My brother for giving me fresh eyes on the project and helping me understand authors better. My wife for helping me with visuals and grammar checks. And my parents who instilled a love of reading :). 

Want to help us build features faster?

I launched a membership program for founding members at the urging of authors and readers. 100% of the money goes toward developing new features and my goal of hiring a full-time developer in 2023 (currently, we only have one part-time developer).