Someone had to read them all.
Heroic started with one person, a stack of books, and a stubborn belief that the best ideas ever written about living well were sitting where almost nobody would ever find them.
Twenty years, one at a time.
The reading
Two decades of reading the best books ever written on living well — philosophy, psychology, performance — and distilling each one down to six pages you can actually finish.
The library
750+ Philosopher's Notes and 50+ classes across 50 domains. Every one read and written by a human. Not AI summaries. Hand-crafted, one at a time.
The practice
Reading was never the point. The app turns the ideas into a twenty-minute daily loop — and a randomized controlled trial says that's enough to move the numbers inside a month.
The people
10,000+ certified Heroic Coaches in 100+ countries, and 100,000+ people running the practice. The method spread because it worked, not because it was marketed.
The choosing is the product.
Anything can summarize a book now. That was never the hard part. The hard part is knowing which idea, from which book, matters for the person in front of you today — and that takes someone who read all of them.
You don't need to read 750 books. You need the one idea from the right book, today — chosen by someone who read all of them. That's the job.
Help 51% of humanity flourish by 2051.
Heroic is a Public Benefit Corporation, which means that mission is written into the legal charter rather than a values page. $25M+ raised from people who understood they were funding a fifty-year goal.
The people who could hire anyone.
“Heroic is the best self-development platform in the world.”
“If you're looking to supercharge your quest to cultivate a deep life, Philosopher's Notes is where I'd start.”
“It enhances how leaders at Mariner think and how our teams execute.”
About Heroic.
Looking for how the method actually works, or the research behind it?
Read the science01 Who's behind Heroic?
Heroic is a Public Benefit Corporation founded by Brian Johnson, author of Areté and creator of Philosopher's Notes. $25M+ raised, 20+ years of curation, and a stated mission to help 51% of humanity flourish by 2051.
02 What does “Public Benefit Corporation” actually mean?
It's a legal structure, not a marketing term. The mission is written into the charter, which means leadership is obligated to weigh it alongside shareholder return rather than instead of it.
03 Are the Notes written by AI?
No. Every Philosopher's Note is read and written by a human — that's the whole point, and it's the one thing that can't be automated. The choosing is the product.
04 Is this religious or spiritual?
No. It's drawn from 2,500 years of philosophy and modern behavioral science, and it's been validated in a randomized controlled trial. People of every faith and none run it.
Twenty minutes tomorrow.
You'll know by Friday.