David Rosenthal and Ben Gilbert — of the Acquired podcast — invited me to San Francisco for a discussion on our mutual obsession: spending every waking hour studying the history of entrepreneurship and sharing those lessons on our podcasts. Follow Acquired in your podcast player here or at Acquired.fm This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders. Get in touch with Tiny by emailing hi@tiny.com. [3:00] David’s time with Charlie Munger[5:30] Henry Flagler after Standard Oil[8:30] What makes a great biography, and how to capture all sides of complex characters?[11:00] Studying history is a form of leverage to achieve success[13:00] How do we figure out what the true story is for an episode we're doing?[20:30] Silicon Valley should focus more on durability than growth[21:30] How David got into reading biographies and podcasting[25:40] What were each of their influences before starting Acquired and Founders?[35:30] How to suck less over time[37:30] What motivates, Ben, David, and David to get better?[45:00] Dead ends: business model changes, paid podcasts, changing the name to “Adapting”, and Senra's “Autotelic”[51:30] “You’re not advertising to a standing army, you’re advertising to a moving parade”[56:00] Comparison of podcasting business models[1:00:10] Senra’s insane Readwise "healthy twitter" habit[1:04:30] Is it possible for the ultra-wealthy not to mess up their kids?[1:14:30] The fleeting moments you get to spend with your kids[1:17:00] The value of building relationships with best-in-class peers[1:19:30] How the book publishing industry works[1:28:45] How to differentiate yourself as an investor in 2023?[1:38:30] The greatest historical examples as content marketing[2:02:00] The best businesses are cults (and Senra starts one on the episode)[2:07:00] Senra gives feedback to Ben and David on Acquired episode format[2:15:30] Steve Jobs’ 1997 product matrix[2:17:00] The moral imperative to market products that help people[2:23:00] Ray Kroc and Steve Jobs: deeply flawed founders[2:23:30] The founders we idolize are world-builders[2:28:00] When yachts and jets are underpriced assets[2:32:00] How to compete when money is cheap vs. when there are real interest rates[2:39:30] When Ben and David have fixed broken episodes in post-production[2:44:30] Why masters of craft are so interesting to study[2:45:30] Should you listen to advice?[2:51:00] David’s first job detailing cars[2:52:30] The Cuban experience immigrating to Miami[3:01:00] College entrepreneurship programs[3:04:00] Ben’s experience learning UNIX as a kid[3:08:30] David remembers Tim Ferriss guest lecturing in collegeIf you have scrolled this far and still haven't followed Acquired in your podcast player please do so here! 

What I learned from reading The Taste of Luxury: Bernard Arnault and the Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton Story by Nadege Forestier and Nazanine Ravai.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders.  ----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best ![1:16] I am the boss. I shall be here on Monday morning and I shall be running the company in person.[4:30] The Taste of Luxury: Bernard Arnault and the Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton Story by Nadege Forestier and Nazanine Ravai[5:01] I highly recommend listening to Acquired’s episode on LVMH. It is excellent.[5:16] Business Breakdowns episode LVMH: The Wolf in Cashmere’s Conglomerate[6:16] Napoleon: A Concise Biography by David Bell. (Founders #294)[6:18] Mind of Napoleon: A Selection of His Written and Spoken Words by Napoleon and J. Christopher Herold.[7:20] I’m not so dominant that I can’t listen to creative ideas coming from other people. Successful people listen. Those who don’t listen, don’t survive long. — Driven From Within by Michael Jordan (Founders #213)[9:00] “I am very competitive. I always want to win.” —Bernard Arnault[10:39] What I'm interested is in doing.[11:43] He believed in extreme discretion.[11:56] I Had Dinner With Charlie Munger (Founders #295)[16:17] Beneath his civilized appearance there lurked the spirit of an adventurer. He wanted more.[17:45] He wanted to go far. He had an iron will. At a laboriously won tennis match he said “I may lose once but I never lose twice.” —Bernard Arnault[19:45] Problems are just opportunities in work clothes.[23:30] Arnault remained inflexible. He wanted control. There was no question of his becoming the Willots’ partner.[24:15] Far from discouraging him, this consensus of opinion (that this would lead to failure) acted as a stimulus.[24:25] “I remember people telling me, it does not make sense to put together so many brands. And it was a success, it was a recognized success, and for the last 10 years now, every competitor is trying to imitate. I think they are not successful, but they try.” —Bernard Arnault[30:43] “In business, I think the most important thing is to position yourself for long-term and not be too impatient, which I am by nature, and I have to control myself.” —Bernard Arnault[33:35] He had such an appetite for victory and such a capacity for work that he was bound to succeed.[35:26] “People think of politicians having true power, but that’s less and less true. After all, they are often constrained or being edged into a corner by a whole series of contingencies ... I’m lucky in that I can say, ‘I want my group to be in such and such a situation in 10 or 20 years’ time’ and then formulate a plan to make that happen.” –Bernard Arnault[42:37] Those on the margins often come to control the center.[43:10] Invest Like the Best episode Doug Leone —Lessons From A Titan [48:31] Difference for the sake of it. In everything. Because it must be better. From the moment the idea strikes, to the running of the business. Difference, and retention of total control. — Against The Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson (Founders #200)[1:01:20] My relationship to luxury goods is really very rational. It is the only area in which it is possible to make luxury profit margins.[1:02:45] Arnault wants to take power everywhere and immediately.[1:07:40] Arnault is an iron fist in an iron glove.Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from having dinner with Charlie Munger and rereading The Tao of Charlie Munger.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders.  ----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best ![5:45] The blueprint he gave me was simple: Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.[8:48] He has never forgotten the importance of having friends in high places.[9:04] Most people systematically undervalue their time. — Peter Thiel[11:08] Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward Larson. Founders #251)[12:23] Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America by Les Standiford. (Founders #284)[15:02] Charlie took the excess capital out of Blue Chip Stamp and invested it in profitable businesses.[12:56] Charlie started seeing the advantages of investing in better businesses that didn't have big capital requirements and did have lots of free cash that could be reinvested in expanding operations or buying new businesses.[17:38] Go for great.[21:33] In everything I’ve done it really pays to go after the best people in the world. —Steve Jobs[27:15] If you're in a good business just know that it's human nature to mess it up. Don't mess it up. Just stay there and let time do its work.[27:34] One truly great business will make your unborn grandchildren wealthy.[28:08] All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin. (Founders #286)[34:39] I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span.[34:54] Charlie Munger on how he made $400 or $500 million by reading Barron’s for 50 years.[35:11] One of the reasons Charlie and Warren have never worried about anyone mimicking their investment style is because no other institution or individual has the discipline are the patience to wait as long as they can. [35:47] Wisdom is prevention.[36:50] Only play games where you have an edge. — A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Ed Thorp. (Founders #222)[38:31] Wise people step on big and growing troubles early.[44:51] I am continually amazed at the number of people who are presented with an opportunity and pass. There’s your basic dividing line between the people who shoot up in their careers like a rocket ship, and those who don’t — right there. — Marc Andreessen's Blog Archive (Founders #50)[46:28] The most inspiring biography I’ve read so far: Born of This Land: My Life Story by Chung Ju-yung. (Founders #117)[47:11] Invest Like The Best #204 Sam Hinkie Find Your People[42:42] Rober Caro’s Books:The Power BrokerThe Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IMeans of Ascent: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IIMaster of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IIIThe Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IV[48:46] We just got after it and we stayed after it. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)[52:39] Some brand names own a piece of consumer's minds and they do not have any direct competition.[55:30] We are individual opportunity driven.[57:08] Size and market domination can create their own kind of durable competitive advantage.[56:15] Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney. (Founders #178)[1:01:57] Extreme specialization is the way to succeed. Most people are way better off specializing than trying to understand the world.[1:04:44] Wise people want to avoid other people who are just total rat poison and there are a lot of them.[1:05:35] Charlie and I have seen so much of the ordinary in business that we can truly appreciate a virtuoso performance.[1:09:00] Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel by Sam Zell. (Founders #269)[1:10:15] Charlie looks at nearly everything through the lens of history. You aren't changing human nature. Things will just keep repeating forever.[1:13:13] There should be more willingness to take the blows of life as they fall. That's what manhood is, taking life as it falls. Not whining all the time and trying to fix it by whining.[1:14:40] Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson. (Founders #290)[1:17:00] Arnold Schwarzenegger autobiographies and episodes:Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #141)Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #193)----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading Napoleon: A Concise Biography by David Bell.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders.  ----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best ![3:00] He could think quicker and along more individual and original lines than any of them.[4:00] John D: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers by David Freeman Hawke. (Founders #254)[4:14] Miami meetup with Shane Parrish [7:31] His life was enormously important, endlessly fascinating, and connected to some of the most controversial and constantly reinterpreted events in the world history.[8:37] Paul Johnson’s books:Churchill by Paul Johnson. (Founders #225)Mozart: A Life by Paul Johnson. (Founders #240)Socrates: A Man for Our Times by Paul Johnson. (Founders #252) [10:54] Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle by Paul Johnson. (Founders #226)[12:20] He knew the importance of actively crafting his image in all available media.[15:08] Napoleon found comfort and companionship in books[17:02] The revolution was overturning age old hierarchies and giving worldwide prominence to previously obscure figures.[17:24] Napoleon was ruthless.[18:36] Only after that battle did I believe myself to be a superior man. And did the ambition come to me of executing the great things, which so far had been occupying my thoughts only as a fantastic dream.[20:00] Many are the historical opportunities that have been lost for lack of talent or vision. In Napoleon's case, the man met his hour.[20:13] He could see in a moment how to maneuver everything for maximum effect.[21:03] Napoleon was a man of stone and iron.[26:27] Napoleon was something new and the keenest observers understood it.[29:06] I wanted to rule the world, who wouldn't have in my place?[29:26] If papa could see us now.[29:45] Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward Larson. (Founders #251)[32:15] You might as well send a cow in pursuit of a rabbit. The Indians were accustomed to these woods.[35:30] The Empire was increasingly coming to resemble a skyscraper built in haste without a proper foundation.[35:58] Driven: An Autobiography by Larry Miller. (Founders #168)[39:24] The key to victory was to plan and pursue a war exactly contrary to what the enemy wants.[39:49] Hardcore History Ghosts of the Ostfront series[41:08] The distracted do not beat the focused.[42:36] Success is never permanent. The same person that built the empire, destroyed it.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders.  ----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best ![2:00] I have always believed that each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems.[4:00] I was fascinated by the simplicity and effectiveness of the system they described that night.Each step in producing the limited menu was stripped down to its essence and accomplished with a minimum of effort.[5:00] When I flew back to Chicago that fateful day in 1954, I had a freshly signed contract with the McDonald brothers in my briefcase. I was a battle-scarred veteran of the business wars, but I was still eager to go into action. I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and incipient arthritis. I had lost my gall bladder and most of my thyroid gland in earlier campaigns. But I was convinced that the best was ahead of me.[6:00] It’s not what you do it’s how you do it:Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind the Mystique by Jeffrey Trachtenberg. (Founders #288)Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson. (Founders #290)The Invisible Billionaire: Daniel Ludwig by Jerry Shields. (Founders #292)[8:00] I never considered my dreams wasted energy. They were invariably linked to some form of action.[10:00] For me, work was play.[13:00] I vowed that this was going to be my only job. I was going to make my living at it and to hell with moonlighting of any kind. I intended to devote every ounce of my energy to selling, and that's exactly what I did.[14:00] Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life by Michael Schumacher. (Founders #242)[20:00] This was the first phase of grinding it out—building my personal monument to capitalism. I paid tribute, in the feudal sense, for many years before I was able to rise with McDonald's on the foundation I had laid.[21:00] Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.[26:00] I was putting every cent I had and all I could borrow into this project.[28:00] Perfection is very difficult to achieve and perfection was what I wanted in McDonald's. Everything else was secondary.[29:00] If my competitor was drowning, I'd put a hose in his mouth.[44:00] Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow. (Founders #248)John D: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers by David Freeman Hawke. (Founders #254)[47:00] The advertising campaign we put together was a smash hit. It turned Californians into our parking lots as though blindfolds had been removed from their eyes.[48:00] Authority should go with the job.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading The Invisible Billionaire: Daniel Ludwig by Jerry Shields. This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders.  ----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best !----[2:00] Obsessed with privacy, Ludwig pays a major public relations firm fat fees to keep his name out of the papers.[4:00]  An associate speaks of his unlimited ingenuity in dreaming up new ways of doing things.[5:00] Ludwig’s most notable characteristic, besides his imagination and pertinacity, is a lifelong penchant for keeping his mouth shut.[5:00] I'm in this business because I like it. I have no other hobbies.[6:00] Holding strongly to an opinion, purpose, or course of action, stubbornly or annoyingly persistent.[8:00] Risk Game: Self Portrait of an Entrepreneur by Francis Greenburger (Founders #243)[10:00] At his peak, he owned more than 200 companies in 50 countries.[23:00] War makes the demand for Ludwig's products and services skyrocket.[25:00] Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson. (Founders #290)[28:00] He did not mellow as he grew richer and older.[28:00] Some years later, the captain of a Ludwig ship made the extravagant mistake of mailing in a report of several pages held together by a paper clip. He received a sharp rebuke for his prodigality: "We do not pay to send ironmongery by air mail!"[29:00] Ludwig’s tightfistedness, however, persisted after the Depression, putting him in sharp contrast to such free spenders as Onassis and Niarchos. It also was largely responsible for many of his innovations in the shipbuilding industry.[29:00] Onassis: An Extravagant Life by Frank Brady. (Founders #211)[30:00] Ludwig’s ridding his ships of any feature that did not contribute to profits pleased his own obsessive sense of economy and kept him a step ahead of the competition. When someone asked why he didn't put a grand piano aboard his ships, as Stavros Niarchos did, Ludwig snapped, "You can't carry oil in a grand piano."[31:00] Stay in the game long enough to get lucky.[32:00] The world is a very malleable place. If you know what you want, and you go for it with maximum energy and drive and passion, the world will often reconfigure itself around you much more quickly and easily than you would think.  The Pmarca Blog Archive Ebook by Marc Andreessen (Founders #50)[37:00] The yacht was as much a business craft as any of his tankers and probably earned him more money than any of them.[40:00] Like the Rockefeller organization, Ludwig had mastered the practice of keeping his money by transferring it from one pocket, one company to another, while appearing to spend it.[42:00] He had learned something by now. Opportunities exist on the frontiers where most men dare not venture, and it is often the case that the farther the frontier, the greater the opportunity.[43:00] The way to escape competition is to either do something no one else is doing or do it where no one else is doing it.[43:00] Much of Ludwig's success was due to his willingness to venture where more timid entrepreneurs dared not go.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company by David Packard.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.  ----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best ![2:01] Do our products offer something unique?[3:00] Customer satisfaction second to none is the only acceptable goal.[4:00] What I learned from rereading Jeff Bezos' Shareholder Letters for the 3rd time (Founders #282)[5:00] In Silicon Valley, the ultimate career standard was set by David Packard: start a company in a garage, grow it into the leading innovator in its field, then take it public, then take it into the Fortune 500 (or better yet, the Fortune 50), then become the spokesman for the industry, then go to Washington, and then become an historic global figure. Only Packard had accomplished all of this; he had set the bar, and the Valley had honored his achievement by making him the unofficial "mayor" of Silicon Valley.—The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company by Michael Malone [6:00] Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson. (Founders #214)[9:00] Gates read the encyclopedia from beginning to end when he was only seven or eight years old. — Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson. (Founders #290)[10:00] My father wouldn't let me quit.[11:00] Given equally good players and good teamwork, the team with the strongest will to win will prevail.[13:00] Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel. (Founders #278)[17:00] That was a very important lesson for me —that personal communication was often necessary to back up written instructions.[21:00] Insisting On The Impossible: The Life Of Edwin Land by Victor McElheny [28:00] More businesses die from indigestion than starvation.[33:00] I found, after much trial and error, that applying steady, gentle pressure from the worked best.[38:00] Bill and I knew we didn't want to be a “me too” company merely copying products already on the market.[38:00] Netbooks accounted for 20% of the laptop market. But Apple never seriously considered making one. “Netbooks aren’t better than anything,” Steve Jobs said at the time. “They’re just cheap laptops.” Jony proposed that the tablets in his lab could be Apple’s answer to the netbook.—— Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney. (Founders #178)[46:00] Gains in quality come from meticulous attention to detail, and every step in the manufacturing process must be done as carefully as possible, not as quickly as possible.[47:00] Exponential growth is based on the principle that the state of change is proportional to the level of effort expended.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 292 The Business of Gaming with Mitch Lasky and 293 David Senra Passion and Pain !----[4:00] Gates read the encyclopedia from beginning to end when he was only seven or eight years old.[4:00]  Gates had an obsessive personality and a compulsive need to be the best.[5:00] Everything Bill did, he did to the max. What he did always went well, well beyond everyone else.[6:00] You want to maneuver yourself into doing something in which you have an intense interest. —  Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger.[7:00] Gates devoured everything he could get his hands on concerning computers and how to communicate with them, often teaching himself as he went.[9:00] A young man with no money and tons of enthusiasm. — The Dream of Solomeo: My Life and the Idea of Humanistic Capitalism by Brunello Cucinelli. (Founders #289)[10:00] He consumed biographies to understand how the great figures of history thought.[11:00] The idea that some people were super successful was interesting. What did they know? What did they do? What drove those kinds of successes?[12:00] Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft by Paul Allen. (Founders #44)[13:00] “I’m going to make my first million by the time I'm 25.” It was not said as a boast, or even a prediction. He talked about the future as if his success was predestined.[15:00] Gates and Allen were convinced the computer industry was about to reach critical mass, and when it exploded it would usher in a technological revolution of astounding magnitude. They were on the threshold of one of those moments when history held its breath... and jumped, as it had done with the development of the car and the airplane. They could either lead the revolution or be swept along by it.[17:00] Bill had a monomaniacal quality. He would focus on something and really stick with it. He had a determination to master whatever it was he was doing. Bill was deciding where he was going to put his energy and to hell with what anyone else thought.[18:00] Don’t do anything that someone else can do. — Edwin Land[21:00] You've got to remember that in those days, the idea that you could own a computer, your own computer, was about as wild as the idea today of owning your own nuclear submarine. It was beyond comprehension.[23:00] There would be no unnecessary overhead or extravagant spending habits with Microsoft.[25:00] “Pertec kept telling me I was being unreasonable and they could deal with this guy [Gates]. It was like Roosevelt telling Churchill that he could deal with Stalin.[27:00] Four years in and Microsoft had only 11 employees.[28:00] Gates sustained Microsoft through tireless salesmanship. For several years he alone made the cold calls and haggled, cajoled, browbeat, and harangued the hardware makers of the emerging personal computer industry, convincing them to buy Microsoft's services and products. He was the best kind of salesman there is: he knew the product, and he believed in it. Moreover, he approached every client with the zealotry of a true believer.[29:00] When we got up to 30 employees, it was still just me, a secretary, and 28 programmers. I wrote all the checks, answered the mail, took the phone calls.[31:00] This might be Bill’s most important decision ever: IBM had talked to Gates about a fixed price for an unlimited number of copies of the software Microsoft licensed to IBM. The longer Gates thought about this proposal the more he became convinced it was bad business. Gates had decided to insist on a royalty arrangement with IBM.[34:00] You have to be uncompromised in your level of commitment to whatever you are doing, or it can disappear as fast as it appeared. Look around, just about any person or entity achieving at a high level has the same focus. The morning after Tiger Woods rallied to beat Phil Mickelson at the Ford Championship in 2005, he was in the gym by 6:30 to work out. No lights. No cameras. No glitz or glamour. Uncompromised. — Driven From Within by Michael Jordan and Mark Vancil. (Founders #213)[36:00] Overdrive: Bill Gates and the Race to Control Cyberspace by James Wallace. (Founders #174)[42:00] You can drive great people by making the speed of decision making really slow. Why would great people stay in an organization where they can't get things done? They look around after a while, and they're, like, "Look, I love the mission, but I can't get my job done because our speed of decision making is too slow."—Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos (Founders #155)[43:00] Alexander the Great: The Brief Life and Towering Exploits of History's Greatest Conqueror--As Told By His Original Biographers by Arrian, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius Rufus. (Founders #232)[44:00] Gates was intolerant of distractions.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading The Dream of Solomeo: My Life and the Idea of Humanistic Capitalism by Brunello Cucinelli.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 293 David Senra Passion and Pain ![4:00] I am reminded of Machiavelli: during his exile, he too spent his afternoons playing board games and drinking wine, while at night, in the austere silence of his studio, he engaged in solitary, literary conversations with the ancient scholars.[6:00] The true meaning of my life seems to be a spontaneous drive and energy.[7:00] I am driven by an immense desire: that my life, when it reaches its end, will not have been useless.[7:00] Brunello Cucinelli by Om Malik [8:00] God assigns to all of us a mission to fulfill. Our task is first to discover the nature of our summons, then to follow it.[11:00] We schedule time to think. Most people schedule themselves like a dentist. It's so easy to get so busy that you no longer have time to think- and you pay a huge price for that. —— All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin. (Founders #286)[14:00] Try to be your son's teacher until he's ten years old; his father, until he's twenty; and his friend, for the rest of his life.[14:00] The problem is not getting rich, it's staying sane. —Charlie Munger[18:00] What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. —Carl Sagan[23:00] Postponing the reward increases the appreciation, a fact that has been forgotten in the current culture of impatience.[29:00] I could see the humiliation in my father's eyes. His teary eyes were the source of inspiration for my life.[33:00] I have always been firmly convinced that in order to successfully stand out you need to focus on one single project representing the dream of your life.[36:00] A young man with no money and tons of enthusiasm.[41:00] Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind the Mystique by Jeffrey Trachtenberg. (Founders #288) [43:00] One thing I never did—which I’m really proud of—was to push any of my kids too hard. I knew I was a fairly overactive fellow, and I didn’t expect them to try to be just like me. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)[48:00] Invention: A Life by James Dyson. (Founders #205)[49:00] The greatest minds can convey deep and complex thoughts with words that are understandable to everyone.[50:00] Enthusiastically build an extraordinary reality day after day.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium to listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes + ask me questions directly. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free here.  ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind the Mystique by Jeffrey Trachtenberg.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 311 John Fio — Creating Magic for Consumers, episode 307 Jeremiah Lowin: Explaining the New AI Paradigm, and episode 293 The Business of Gaming. [2:01] When I lumped him together with a handful of other designers during casual conversation, he snapped: “Don't put me with those designers. My business is not compared to anybody else's."[3:00] In practice Ralph Lauren is a tough, intensely ambitious businessman.[3:00] Ralph has always possessed immense self-confidence; it is central to his character, an asset as valuable as his sense of color, fabric, style.[4:00] Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie. (Founders #199)[7:00] Few outsiders understood fully how lucrative the licensing business had become. Ralph would have been a successful designer in his own right. However, he would never have qualified as one of the world's richest men without licensees willing to pay him 5 to 7 percent of sales.[7:00] His privately held fashion empire was on the brink of bankruptcy. Geffen surmised that the company should be transformed from a manufacturing firm to a design, marketing, and licensing company. "You guys stink at manufacturing," he said. "You need to get out of that business." Instead, Geffen continued, the company needed to focus on what it really knew: how to design and market the Calvin Klein brand name. — The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells The New Hollywood by Tom King[14:00] When my customers come to me, they like to cross the threshold of some magic place; they feel a satisfaction that is perhaps a trace vulgar but that delights them: they are privileged characters who are incorporated into our legend. For them this is a far greater pleasure than ordering another suit.” —Coco Chanel, 1935[16:00] What he lacked in experience he compensated it for an energy and enthusiasm.[17:00] Differentiation is survival. — Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos' Shareholder Letters (Founders #282)[19:00] Mediocrity is always invisible until passion shows up and exposes it.[22:00] From the beginning I've been aware of the need to sell everybody. — Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys by Joe Coulombe. (Founders #188)[26:00] Difference for the sake of it. In everything. Because it must be better. From the moment the idea strikes, to the running of the business. Difference, and retention of total control. — Against The Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson (Founders #200)[28:00] Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony by Akio Morita. (Founders #102)[32:00] Intransigence is my only weapon. — Charles de Gaulle by Julian Jackson. (Founders #224)[41:00] It's torture being a partner to somebody you don't want to be a partner with.[45:00] On a Thursday night he wins an award for best men’s wear designer. The next day he could not meet his payroll.[49:00] When bills come due, only cash is legal tender. Don't leave home without it. — The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham. (Founders #227)[54:00] You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you’re too inefficient. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton.[55:00] The thing that set Ralph apart was his single-mindedness of purpose. Everybody else moved from place to place, from trend to trend. He wasn't trendy. He stayed with it. It's the single most important thing about him. To this day there are people walking around saying Ralph Lauren isn't that special, I could have done it. It's the weirdest thing. They couldn't be more wrong. Ralph is the most special guy in the apparel business.[55:00] Graham Duncan on the Tim Ferriss Show----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers ask me questions directly which I answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading Rolls-Royce: The Magic of a Name: The First Forty Years of Britain s Most Prestigious Company by Peter Pugh.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode Mitch Lasky—The Business of Gaming----[2:31] Henry Royce had known poverty and hardship all his life. The only university he had graduated from was the one of hard knocks.[3:00] Rolls on Royce: I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Mr. Royce and in him I found the man I had been looking for for years.[5:00] A great product has to be better than it has to be. Relentlessness wins because, in the aggregate, unseen details become visible. All those unseen details combine to produce something that's just stunning, like a thousand barely audible voices all singing in tune. — Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham (Founders #277)[6:00] You can always understand the son by the story of his father. The story of the father is embedded in the son. — Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life by Michael Schumacher. (Founders #242)[9:00] This ability to observe, think about and then improve on existing machines (products) was to be a consistent theme throughout Royce’s life.[10:00] Many times our position was so precarious that it seemed hopeless to continue.[12:00] Against The Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson (Founders #287)[12:00] Some have tried to give the impression that it was almost by chance that Royce became involved in designing a motor car. Royce was not a man to rely on chance. He saw that the motor car had a great future and that it would be an ideal product for his business.[12:00] This part is excellent: There was nothing revolutionary about Royce’s car. He had taken the best of current automobile design and improved on every aspect of it. I do not think that Royce did anything of a revolutionary nature in his work on motor cars. He did, however, do much important development and a considerable amount of redesigning of existing devices so that his motor cars were far and away better than anyone else’s motor cars. He paid great attention to the smallest detail and the result of his personal consideration to every little thing resulted in the whole assembly being of a very high standard of perfection. It is rather to Royce’s thoroughness and attention to even the smallest detail than to any revolutionary invention that his products have the superlative qualities that we all know so well.[13:00] Henry Royce ruled the lives of the people around him, claimed their body and soul, even when they were asleep.[14:00] They didn't understand how important this was to me. —Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie. (Founders #199)[16:00] He's made-and remade-Apple in his own image. Apple is Steve Jobs with ten thousand lives. — Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney. (Founders #204)[21:00] Thomas Edison on how overregulation crippled the British car industry: The motor car ought to have been British. You first invented it in the 1830s. You have roads only second to those of France. You have hundreds of thousands of skilled mechanics in your midst, but you have lost your trade by stupid legislation and prejudice.[27:00] This is a first: A company so focused on quality that they risked going to prison. Claude Johnson took the bold stand that he would tear up every drawing and go to prison rather than agree to risk inferior skills of other companies. Johnson said that the plan of using other manufacturers was futile and would yield nothing but mountains of scrap.[28:00] Royce admitted it: I prefer to be absolute boss over my own department (even if it was extremely small) rather than to be associated with a much larger technical department over which I had only joint control.[31:00] They worked in monastic seclusion in an office situated in the middle of the village about a quarter of a mile from Royce’s house. To ensure a minimum of distraction the office was for a number of years forbidden the luxury of a telephone. This was the team responsible for the design of every car and all their components from 1919 until Royce died in 1933. In matters concerning the actual model which eventually went into production, Royce’s decision was final.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes ----I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin. This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode Mitch Lasky—The Business of GamingFollow the podcast Gamecraft to learn more about the history of the video game industry. ----[2:01] Buffett and Munger have a remarkable ability to eliminate folly, simplify things, boil down issues to their essence, get right to the point, and focus on simple and timeless truths.[3:00] The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Naval Ravikant and Eric Jorgenson.  (Founders #191)[4:00] Warren Buffet or Charlie Munger are the very wise grandfather figure that I never had.[5:00] To try to live your life totally free of mistakes is a life of inaction. —Warren Buffett[5:00] The sign above the players' entrance to the field at Notre Dame reads ´Play Like a Champion Today.' I sometimes joke that the sign at Nebraska reads 'Remember Your Helmet.' Charlie and I are 'Remember Your Helmet' kind of guys.' We like to keep it simple. (You must structure your life and business to be able to survive the inevitable bad decisions you’re going to make.)[5:00] Wisdom is prevention. —Charlie Munger[6:00] We make actual decisions very rapidly, but that's because we've spent so much time preparing ourselves by quietly sitting and reading and thinking. —Charlie Munger[7:00] If you get into the mental habit of relating what you're reading to the basic underlying ideas being demonstrated, you gradually accumulate some wisdom. —Charlie Munger[7:00] At Berkshire, we don't have any meetings or committees, and I can think of no better way to become more intelligent than sit down and read. I hate meetings, frankly. I have created something that I enjoy: I happen to enjoy reading a lot, and I happen to enjoy thinking about things. —Warren Buffett[7:00] We both hate to have too many forward commitments in our schedules. We both insist on a lot of time being available to just sit and think. —Charlie Munger[8:00] I need eight hours of sleep. I think better. I have more energy. My mood is better. And think about it: As a senior executive, what do you really get paid to do? You get paid to make a small number of high-quality decisions. — Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson. (Founders #155)[9:00] I think people that multitask pay a huge price. When you multitask so much, you don't have time to think about anything deeply. You're giving the world an advantage you shouldn't do. Practically everybody is drifting into that mistake. I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span. —Charlie Munger[9:00] Jony Ive on Steve Jobs: Steve was the most remarkably focused person I’ve ever met. (Video)[11:00] It is just that simple. We've had enough good sense when something was working well, keep doing it. The fundamental algorithm of life: repeat what works. —Charlie Munger[13:00] ALL THE BUFFETT AND MUNGER EPISODES:Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders 1965-2018 by Warren Buffett. (Founders #88) The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. (Founders #100)The Tao of Warren Buffett by Mary Buffett & David Clark. (Founders #101) Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein. (Founders #182) A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers From Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett and Peter Bevelin. (Founders #202) The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham. (Founders #227)  Tao of Charlie Munger by David Clark (Founders #78) Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor by Tren Griffin. (Founders #79) Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. (Founders #90) Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger by Janet Lowe. (Founders #221) [14:00] Buffett: It's an inversion process. Start out with failure, and then engineer its removal.[15:00] Munger: I figure out what I don't like instead of figuring out what I like in order to get what I like.[15:00] Repetition is the mother of learning.[17:00] Munger: You can see the results of not learning from others' mistakes by simply looking about you. How little originality there is in the common disasters of mankind. (Business failures through repetition of obvious mistakes made by predecessors and so on.)[18:00] Munger: History allows you to keep things in perspective.[18:00] Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.[19:00] Berkshire was a small business at one time. It just takes time. It is the nature of compound interest. You cannot build it in one day or one week.[20:00] Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, “Make me feel important.”[22:00] Buffett: In almost 60 years of investing we found it practically useless to give advice to anyone.[23:00] Munger: One of my favorite stories is about the little boy in Texas. The teacher asked the class, If there are nine sheep in the pen and one jumps out, how many are left? And everybody got the answer right except this little boy, who said, None of them are left. And the teacher said, You don't understand arithmetic. And he said No, teacher. You don't understand sheep.[25:00] Quite often Henry simply talked about his philosophy of running a corporation and the various financial strategies that he came up with as he sat in his corner office each day, often working at his Apple computer. He was a brilliant business strategist, just as he was a brilliant chess strategist and he came up with many creative ideas, ideas that were sometimes contrary to the currently accepted methods of managing a large corporation that prevailed in those days.“He always tries to work out the best moves," Shannon said, "and maybe he doesn't like to talk too much, because when you are playing a game you don't tell anyone else what your strategy is." — Distant Force: A Memoir of the Teledyne Corporation and the Man Who Created It by Dr. George Roberts. (Founders #110)[28:00] Buffett: The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.[29:00] If you want to know whether you are destined to be a success or a failure in life, you can easily find out. The test is simple and it is infallible: Are you able to save money? If not, drop out. You will lose. You may think not, but you will lose as sure as you live. The seed of success is not in you. — James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone. (Founders #96)[31:00] Buffett: Life tends to snap you at your weakest link.[35:00] Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary & Social Innovator by Robert E. Price (Founders #107)[38:00] Paul Graham’s essays (Founders #275-277)[39:00] I'm very suspect of the person who is very good at one business, who starts thinking they should tell the world how to behave on everything. —Warren Buffett[42:00] The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham. (Founders #227)[44:00] This life isn't a greenroom for something else. He went for it. —Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever.[44:00] Buffett: We're here on the earth only one time so you ought to be doing something that you enjoy as you go along and you can be enthusiastic about.[48:00] Personal History by Katherine Graham. (Founders #152)[49:00] The problem is not getting rich, it is staying sane. —Charlie Munger[54:00] Learning is not memorizing information. Learning is changing your behavior. Most people can’t learn from the experiences of other people: Charlie and I don't expect to win you over to our way of thinking—we've observed enough human behavior to know the futility of that, but we do want you to be aware of our personal calculus.[57:00] We are individual opportunity driven. Our acquisition technique at Berkshire is simplicity itself: We answer the phone.[1:00:00] A brand is a promise. —Warren Buffett[1:01:00] Obsess over customers. Buffett said this about Amazon in 2012: Amazon could affect a lot of businesses who don't think they will be affected. For Amazon, it is very hard to find unhappy customers. A business that has millions and millions of happy customers can introduce them to new items, it will be a powerhouse and could affect a lot of businesses.[1:03:00] Munger: We should make a list of everything that irritates a customer, and then we should eliminate those defects one by one.[1:04:00] Most companies, when they get rich, get sloppy.[1:05:00] Munger: One of the models in my head is the 'Northern Pike Model. You have a lake full of trout. But if you throw in a few northern pike, pretty soon there aren't many trout left but a lot of northern pike. Wal-Mart in its early days was the northern pike. It figured out how the customer could be better served and just galloped through the world like Genghis Kahn.[1:09:00] Practice! Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby. (Founders #212)[1:10:00] Market forecasters will fill your ear, but they will never fill your wallet.[1:11:00] We don't have any new tricks. We just know the old tricks better.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune by Greg Steinmetz.Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes [0:01] A series of spectacular financial triumphs had made Gould fabulously rich. At age thirty-six, he was the most notorious businessman in the country.[1:00] Vanderbilt told a newspaper that Gould was "the smartest man in America." Rockefeller, when asked who he thought had the best head for business, answered "Jay Gould" without pausing to think.They  recognized Gould as a master of his craft. No one disputed that he was an extraordinary problem solver, an unparalleled negotiator, an expert communicator, a lightning-fast thinker, and a masterful tactician with a staggering memory.[2:00] Railroads changed America in the nineteenth century much as automobiles changed the country in the twentieth century and the internet has changed the twenty first century.[5:00] American Rascal shows the complex and quirky character of the nineteenth century's greatest robber baron. He was at once praised for his brilliance by Rockefeller and Vanderbilt and condemned for forever destroying American business values by Mark Twain. He lived a colorful life, trading jokes with Thomas Edison, figuring in Thomas Nast's best sketches, paying Boss Tweed's bail, and commuting to work in a 200-foot yacht.[6:00] I consider this part two in a two part series on Jay Gould. Make sure you listen to part 1: Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons by Edward J. Renehan Jr. (Founders #258)[9:00] He read whatever he could get his hands on. Jay was often nowhere to be found. He was off hiding somewhere with his books.[10:00] He would wake up at three to study by firelight.[10:00] My Life and Work by Henry Ford. (Founders #266)[12:35] “As you know. I’m not in the habit of backing out of what I undertake, and I shall write night and day until it is completed.”[13:00] Relentless and self-confident: Gould toyed with the idea of college. He visited Rutgers, Yale, Harvard, and Brown. He concluded college was an expensive indulgence. Why bother with college when he could teach himself from books?[13:00] I am determined to use all my best energies to accomplish this life's highest possibilities.[22:00] The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Naval Ravikant and Eric Jorgenson. (Founders #191)[22:00] All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin[26:00] Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday. (Founders #31)[30:00] The good ones know more. — Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy (Founders #82)[37:00] The story of how Gould seized Erie shows his brilliance as a financial strategist, his deep understanding of law, a surprising grasp of human nature, and a mastery of political reality.[41:00] Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer by Stephen Dando-Collins (Founders #55)[42:00] There isn't any secret. I avoid bad luck by being patient. Whenever I'm obliged to get into a fight, I always wait and let the other fellow get tired first.[44:00] James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone. (Founders #96)[52:00] Edison and Gould shared some traits. Both were born into poverty. Both thought about little beside their obsessions —inventions for Edison, money for Gould. Both worked all the time. Both had spent their childhoods reading anything that came their way.[53:00] Edison: A Biography by Matthew Josephson. (Founders #267)——Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America by Les Standiford.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.—Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best  and check out these great episodes: #137 Bill Gurley: All Things Business and Investing#88 Sam Hinkie: Data, Decisions, and Basketball#204 Sam Hinkie: Find Your People—Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes —[0:01] Frick had been the man Carnegie trusted above all others to manage the affairs of Carnegie Steel.[2:00] Carnegie had delegated the job of holding the line on wages and other demands to Frick—a Patton to Carnegie's FDR.[3:00] The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie.  (Founders #283)[5:00] Here's a starter pack of essentials  for Day 1 defense: customer obsession, a skeptical view of proxies, the eager adoption of external trends, and high-velocity decision making. —Jeff Bezos’s Shareholder Letters (Founders #282)[7:00] In less than half a century the United States had been transformed―from a largely agrarian and underdeveloped federation of competing interests, to a relatively cohesive economic juggernaut. The age of the Founding Fathers was over. The Age of the Titans had begun.[12:00] By 1863 Carnegie was earning more than $45,000 a year from this and all his other investments, compared with a mere $2,400 from his railroad salary. Yet he understood that it was the contacts he made and the information he derived from his association with the railroad that made everything else possible.[13:00] More control. Less costs. More profit.[15:00] Technology is just a better way to do something: As a result of the process for transforming iron to steel that bore his name (Bessemer), a quantity of steel that might formerly have taken as long as two weeks to produce could now be made in fifteen minutes.[17:00] Carnegie starts his company during a financial panic. The best time to expand is when no one else dares to take the risk.[20:00] Already the best but still wants to do better: Even his key employees were not spared Carnegie's heavy-handed management style. To almost every positive report Carnegie's response was "Good, but let us do better."[21:00] Cut the prices, scoop the market, watch the costs, and the profits will take care of themselves.[21:00] Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson (Founders #140)[22:00] He could make steel more efficiently than any of them.[24:00] Henry Clay Frick: The Life of the Perfect Capitalist by Quentin Skrabec Jr. (Founders #75)[24:00] Like Rockefeller, Henry Clay Frick used a lot of borrowed money to get his start in the coke business. There was a line in one of Rockefeller’s biographies where it said “he was the greatest borrower I’ve ever seen.”[26:00] Frick knew his business down to the ground.[26:00] LIke Carnegie, Frick expands his business during an economic panic. Frick, who would later recall this as one of the most grueling times in his life, proved as undaunted in the face of adversity as Carnegie had been.[34:00] Carneige was accustomed to obedience from his subordinates, but if he expected unquestioned subservience from Henry Frick, he had gravely miscalculated.[36:00] Frick was no puppet, but rather a man willing to take considerable risks in defense of his principles.[37:00] Frick had ambition, a singleness of purpose, and a lack of self—doubt that even Carneige envied.[38:00] Carnegie would repeat the mantra time and again: profits and prices were cyclical, subject to any number of transient forces of the marketplace. Costs, however, could be strictly controlled, and in Carnegie’s view, any savings achieved in the costs of goods were permanent.[39:00] On this issue the two men were of one mind. Frick had made his way in coke by the same reckoning that Carnegie had in rail and steel: if you knew your costs down to the penny, you were always on firm ground.[39:00] Frick had always understood how essential new technologies were in driving costs down. Cost control became nearly an obsession.[47:00] [Frick was shot] Only after he was finished with his day’s work did Frick permit himself to be carried from the office to an ambulance.[49:00] You must not allow anything to discourage you in the least. Even if things do not go well for some time to come, or even if they should get much worse. Just keep at it, doing the best you can. Do not allow the fact that you are not getting along as well as you would like to lead you to put yourself in a compromising position.[1:03:00] Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World by Jill Jonnes. (Founders #83)[1:04:00] J.P. Morgan understood the folly of a long-term battle with the Carnegie Company, a firm that controlled its own sources of raw materials, transport, and manufacture, and that was far more deeply capitalized than his or any other of the upstarts. They might stay in the game for a while, and they might put a dent in Carnegie's armor, but in the end, Carnegie would run them into the ground, every one. Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes —I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/—“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie. —This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.—Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best  —Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can now ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes [1:01] 3 part series on Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick:Meet You In Hell: Andrew Carnegie Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Transformed America by Les Standiford. (Founders #73) The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie (Founders #74) Henry Clay Frick: The Life of the Perfect Capitalist by Quentin Skrabec Jr. (Founders #75) [2:00] What these guys all had in common is they were hell bent on knowing their business down to the last cent. They were obsessed with having the lowest cost structure in their industry.[2:00] Highlights from Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America:—Cut the prices, scoop the market, watch the costs, and the profits will take care of themselves.—Frick knows his business down to the ground.—Frick’s rise from humble beginnings was obviously intriguing to him. It signaled to Carnegie that Frick was another of the fellow “fittest,” and those were the individuals with whom Carnegie sought to align himself.—Carnegie would repeat the mantra time and again: profits and prices were cyclical, subject to any number of transient forces of the marketplace. Costs, however, could be strictly controlled, and in Carnegie’s view, any savings achieved in the costs of goods were permanent.—On this issue the two men were of one mind. Frick had made his way in coke by the same reckoning that Carnegie had in rail and steel: if you knew your costs down to the penny, you were always on firm ground.[6:00] Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. (Founders #115)[7:00] A sunny disposition is worth more than a fortune. Young people should know that it can be cultivated; that the mind like the body can be moved from the shade into sunshine.[7:00] The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. (Founders #100)[8:00] The most important judge of your life story is yourself.[9:00] You can always understand the son by the story of his father. The story of the father is embedded in the son. —Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life by Michael Schumacher. (Founders #242)[10:00] Invest in technology, the savings compound, it gives you an advantage over slower moving competitors, and can be the difference between a profit and a loss.[17:00] He is working from sunrise to sunset for $1.20 a week and he is ecstatic about being able to help his family avoid poverty. [18:00] Andrew Carnegie had manic levels of optimism.[20:00] Do not delay. Do it now. It is a great mistake not to seize the opportunity. Having got myself in, I proposed to stay there if I could.[21:00] I felt that my foot was upon the ladder and that I was about to climb.[21:00] Lesson from Andrew Carnegie’s early life: Focus on whatever job is in front of you at this very moment and do the best you can. You can never know what opportunities that will unlock in the future.[24:00] On the miracle of reading and having free access to a 400 volume personal library: In this way the windows were opened in the walls of my dungeon through which the light of knowledge streamed in. Every day's toil and even the long hours of night service were lightened by the book which I carried about with me and read in the intervals that could be snatched from duty. And the future was made bright by the thought that when Saturday came a new volume could be obtained.[26:00] To Colonel James Anderson, Founder of Free Libraries in Western Pennsylvania:He opened his Library to working boys and upon Saturday afternoons acted as librarian, thus dedicating not only his books but himself to the noble work. This monument is erected in grateful remembrance by Andrew Carnegie, one of the "working boys" to whom were thus opened the precious treasures of knowledge and imagination through which youth may ascend.[28:00] Running Down A Dream: How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love by Bill Gurley[36:00] Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons by Edward J. Renehan Jr. (Founders #258)[43:00] This policy is a true secret of success: Uphill work it will be.[46:00] Put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket.[46:00] The most expensive way to pay for anything is with time.[48:00] The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it. It is surprising how few men appreciate the enormous dividends derivable from investment in their own business.[48:00] My advice to young men would be not only to concentrate their whole time and attention on the one business in life in which they engage, but to put every dollar of their capital into it.[51:00] The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow. (Founders #139)[52:00] Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean by Les Standiford. (Founders #247)Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can now ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes —I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/—“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading Jeff Bezos' Shareholder Letters (for the 3rd time!) Read Jeff's letters in book form: Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos or for free online: Amazon Investor Relations—This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.—Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best  Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can now ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes [2:30] Amazon hopes to create an enduring franchise[3:00] Because of our emphasis on the long term, we may make decisions and weigh trade-offs differently than some companies.[4:00] We will continue to focus relentlessly on our customers.[4:00] We will work hard to spend wisely and maintain our lean culture. We understand the importance of continually reinforcing a cost-conscious culture.[4:00] We set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way.[5:00] Word of mouth remains the most powerful customer acquisition tool that we have.[5:00] We are working to build something important, something that matters to our customers, something that we can all tell our grandchildren about. Such things aren't meant to be easy.[6:00] "To read Bezos’ shareholder letters is to get a crash course in running a high-growth internet business from someone who mastered it before any of the playbooks were written." — From CB Insights[7:00] Common themes repeated in Jeff’s letters:More innovation is ahead of us.It is still early. The opportunity —if we execute well — is enormous.We will move quickly.We will endure. Amazon will be a durable, long-lasting company.We will focus on cash flow.Once in a lifetime opportunities will be risky. Jeff gave himself a 30% chance of success— at best.Customer obsession is our North Star. It is what we will bet the company on.We will be BOLD.We will have a frugal, lean culture that Sam Walton would approve of.This will be hard. All valuable things are.We will have to learn along the way.[8:00] Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)[11:00] I would love to ask Jeff the question, “If you could only have one word to describe you on your tombstone, what would it be?” My guess is he would pick “relentless.”[16:00] We believe we have reached a "tipping  point," where this platform allows us to launch new ecommerce businesses faster, with a higher quality of customer experience, a lower incremental cost, a higher chance of success, and a faster path to scale and profitability than any other company. (A company that builds companies)[17:00] Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony by Akio Morita. (Founders #102)[19:00] We will continue to invest heavily in introductions to new customers. Though it's sometimes hard to imagine with all that has happened in the last five years, this remains Day 1 for ecommerce, and these are the early days of category formation where many customers are forming relationships for the first time. We must work hard to grow the number of customers who shop with us. (He was right about this — what is the lifetime value of an Amazon customer over 17 years?)[21:00] To us, operational excellence implies two things: delivering continuous improvement in customer experience and driving productivity, margin, efficiency, and asset velocity across all our businesses.Often, the best way to drive one of these is to deliver the other.For instance, more efficient distribution yields faster delivery times, which in turn lowers contacts per order and customer service costs. These, in turn, improve customer experience and build brand, which in turn decreases customer acquisition and retention costs.[22:00] Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs by Ken Kocienda (Founders #281)[24:00] Jeff Bezos on The Electricity Metaphor for the Web's Future[27:00] Repeat this loop: Focus on cost improvement makes it possible for us to afford to lower prices, which drives growth. Growth spreads fixed costs across more sales, reducing cost per unit, which makes possible more price reductions. Customers like this, and it's good for shareholders. Please expect us to repeat this loop.[29:00] The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone. (Founders #179)[35:00] My Life and Work by Henry Ford. (Founders #266)[40:00] Jeff Bezos is unapologetically extreme. He is already the best and still wants to be better.[41:00] This part is incredible— on the need for good judgement and why data may lead you to make the wrong decision:Our quantitative understanding of elasticity is short-term. We can estimate what a price reduction will do this week and this quarter. But we cannot numerically estimate the effect that consistently lowering prices will have on our business over five years or ten years or more. Our judgment is that relentlessly returning efficiency improvements and scale economies to customers in the form of lower prices creates a virtuous cycle that leads over the long term to a much larger dollar amount of free cash flow, and thereby to a much more valuable Amazon.[43:00] Don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business. — Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel. (Founders #278)[44:00] Differentiation is survival.[49:00] Missionaries build better products.[50:00] Long-term thinking levers our existing abilities and lets us do new things we couldn't otherwise contemplate. It supports the failure and iteration required for invention, and it frees us to pioneer in unexplored spaces. Seek instant gratification-or the elusive promise of it-and chances are you'll find a crowd there ahead of you. Long-term orientation interacts well with customer obsession. If we can identify a customer need and if we can further develop conviction that that need is meaningful and durable, our approach permits us to work patiently for multiple years to deliver a solution.[52:00] Problems are just opportunities in work clothes.[53:00] Similar idea said two different ways:Jeff Bezos: The financial results for 2009 reflect the cumulative efforts of 15 years of customer experience improvements.Peter Thiel: If you focus on near-term growth above all else, you miss the most important question you should be asking: will this business still be around a decade from now?[55:00] The most radical and transformative of inventions are often those that empower others to unleash their creativity—to pursue their dreams.[57:00] A dreamy business offering has at least four characteristics.—Customers love it—It can grow to very large size—It has strong returns on capital—It's durable in time-with the potential to endure for decades.When you find one of these get married.[1:03:00] Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. — Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney. (Founders #204)[1:03:00] I believe high standards are teachable. High standards are contagious.  —Jeff Bezos[1:04:00] Leaders have relentlessly high standards. Many people may think these standards are unreasonably high.[1:07:00] The key point here is that you can improve results through the simple act of teaching scope-that a great memo probably should take a week or more.[1:10:00] Differentiation is Survival and the Universe Wants You to be TypicalIn what ways does the world pull at you in an attempt to make you normal?How much work does it take to maintain your distinctiveness?To keep alive the thing or things that make you special?We all know that distinctiveness – originality – is valuable.What I’m asking you to do is to embrace how much energy it takes to maintain that distinctiveness.The world wants you to be typical – in a thousand ways, it pulls at you.Don’t let it happen.Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can now ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes —I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/—“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from rereading Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs by Ken Kocienda.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best  [2:01] We're going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because perfection is not attainable. But we are going to relentlessly chase it because, in the process, we will catch excellence.[2:01] I'm not remotely interested in being just good.[3:00] Gentlemen, this is the most important play we have. It's the play we must make go. It's the play that we will make go. It's the play that we will run again, and again, and again.[4:00] In any complex effort, communicating a well-articulated vision for what you're trying to do is the starting point for figuring out how to do it.[4:00] A significant part of attaining excellence in any field is closing the gap between the accidental and intentional, to achieve not just a something, or even an everything, but a specific and well-chosen thing.[6:00] Every day at Apple was like going to school, a design-focused, high-tech, product-creation university.[8:00] A story about Steve’s clarity of thought.[9:00] Although Steve's opinions and moods could be hard to anticipate, he was utterly predictable when it came to his passion for products. He wanted Apple products to be great.[11:00] The decisiveness of Steve Jobs.[16:00] Steve wasn't merely interested in paying lip service to this goal. He demanded action. Steve found the time to attend a demo review so he could see it. His involvement kept the progress and momentum going.[17:00] Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Hack away the unessential.[17:00] People do not care about your product as much as you do. You have to make it simple and easy to use right from the start.[18:00] Steve Jobs believed that stripping away nonessential features made products easier for people to learn from the start and easier to use over time.[19:00] Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success by Ken Segall[22:00] Don’t rest on your laurels. Steve said: “I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next.”[24:00] The sooner we started making creative decisions the more time there was to refine and improve those decisions. (The sooner you start the more time you will have to get it right.)[26:00] The simple transaction of buying a song, and of handing over a credit card number to Apple in order to so, became part of what Steve had begun calling “the Apple experience." As a great marketer, Steve understood that every interaction a customer had with Apple could increase or decrease his or her respect for the company. As he put it, a corporation "could accumulate or withdraw credits" from its reputation, which is why he worked so hard to ensure that every single interaction a customer might have with Apple-from using a Mac to calling customer support to buying a single from the iTunes store and then getting billed for it-was excellent. —— Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli (Founders #265)[29:00] Studying great work from the past provides the means of comparison and contrast and lets us tap into the collective creativity of previous generations. The past is a source of the timeless and enduring.[29:00] Design is how it works. —Steve Jobs[31:00] Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham (Founders #275, 276, 277)[34:00] Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney. (Founders #178)[37:00] Our clarity of purpose kept us on track.[38:00] Concentrating keenly on what to do helped us block out what not to do.[40:00] Steve Jobs on the importance of working at the intersection of liberal arts and technology:“The reason that Apple is able to create products like the iPad is because we've always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, to be able to get the best of both, to make extremely advanced products from a technology point of view, but also have them be intuitive, easy to use, fun to use, so that they really fit the users. The users don't have to come to them, they come to the user.”[42:00] Steve Jobs provided his single-minded focus on making great products, and his vision motivated me.—I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/—“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading Copy This!: How I turned Dyslexia, ADHD, and 100 square feet into a company called Kinkos by Paul Orfalea.Follow Invest Like The Best in your favorite podcast player hereTwo episodes I recommend: Paul Orfalea - It's About the Money episode 299David Senra - Passion & Pain episode 292 [5:23] I've never met a more circular, out-of-the-box thinker. It's often exhausting trying to keep up with him.[6:21] I graduated from high school eighth from the bottom of my class of 1,200. Frankly, I still have no idea how those seven kids managed to do worse than I did.[9:29] I also have no mechanical ability to speak of. There isn't a machine at Kinko's I can operate. I could barely run the first copier we leased back in 1970. It didn't matter. All I knew was that was I could sell what came out of it.[11:24] Building an entirely new sort of business from a single Xerox copy machine gave me the life the world seemed determined to deny me when I was younger.[14:04] The A students work for the B students, the C students run the companies, and the D students dedicate the buildings.[24:02] I learned to turn a lot of busywork over to other people. That's an important skill. If you don't develop it, you'll be so busy, busy, busy that you can't get a free hour, not to mention a free week or month, to sit back and think creatively about where you want to be heading and how you are going to get there.[25:07] There's no better way to stay "on" your business than to think creatively and constantly about your marketing: how you are marketing, who you are marketing to, and, always, how you could be doing a better job at it. You'd be amazed what kind of business you can generate by a seemingly simple thing like handing out flyers.[27:18] The phone rang. It was one of our store managers calling to ask me how to handle a bounced check. I held the receiver away from my face and looked at it, flabbergasted. If every store manager needed my help to deal with a bounced check, then we really had problems.[40:55] I never walked in the back door used by coworkers. I walked in the front door so I could see things from the customer's perspective.[49:06] You had to remember he'd been picking up the best ideas from all around the country.[55:14] I believe in getting out of as much work as I possibly can.[55:45] By now, you’d have to be as bad a reader as I am not to figure out that I have a dark side. You rarely hear people talk about their dark sides, especially business leaders, which is a shame because successful businesses aren't usually started by laid-back personalities. I don't hide the fact that I have a problem with anger.[1:04:37] I'll give you an example of a corporate view of money. We used to sell passport photos at Kinko's and we advertised the service in the local Yellow Pages. It would cost us 75 cents to make a passport photo. I calculated that price jumped by $1 to $1.75 when you added in the cost of the Yellow Pages ads. We'd sell those photos for $13 a piece. You think this is a nice business? Shortly after we sold a controlling stake in Kinko's, the new budget people came in and, to make their numbers, they got rid of the Yellow Pages ads. They saw it as an advertising expense and didn't take into account how it affected the rest of our business. I used to go to the office and think, "Are they deliberately trying to be idiots?" These straight-A types drove me nuts. Then, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, we abandoned our passport business. That is corporate dyslexia. There is a lot of corporate dyslexia going on out there.

What I learned from reading Starting At Zero: His Own Story by Jimi Hendrix. This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: The easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders. Capital: Banking built for Founders. Raise, hold, spend, and send—all in one place. [0:01] He was also a compulsive writer, using hotel stationery, scraps of paper, cigarette cartons, napkins—anything that came to hand.[0:01] Decoded by Jay Z. (Founders #238)[1:00] He always claimed that for him life and music were inseparable.[5:00] I liked to be different.[5:00] The Autobiography of Bob Dylan Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan. (Founders #259)[6:00] Bob Dylan: Billy asked me who I saw myself like in today's music scene.I told him, nobody. I really didn't see myself like anybody.What really set me apart in these days was my repertoire.It was more formidable than the rest of the players. There were a lot of better musicians around but there wasn't anybody close in nature to what I was doing.[7:00] Anthony Bourdain on Jimi Hendrix: I often compare the experience of going to Japan for the first time, going to Tokyo for the first time, to what Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend must have gone through, the reigning guitar gods of England, what they must have gone through the week that Jimi Hendrix came to town. You hear about it, you go see it.A whole window opens up into a whole new thing.And you think what does this mean? What do I have left to say? What do I do now?[12:00] The first guitarist I was aware of was Muddy Waters. I heard one of his records when I was a little boy, and it scared me to death.  Wow! What was all that about?[15:00] I loved my music, man. You see, I wasn't ever interested in any other things, just the music. I was trying to play like Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. Trying to learn everything and anything.[16:00] My first gig was at an armory, a National Guard place, and we earned thirty-five cents apiece and three hamburgers.[16:00] It was so hard for me at first. I knew about three songs, and when it was time for us to play onstage I was all shaky, so I had to play behind the curtains. I just couldn't get up in front.And then you get so very discouraged. You hear different bands playing around you, and the guitar player always seems like he's so much better than you are.Most people give up at this point, but it's best not to. Just keep on; just keep on. Sometimes you are going to be so frustrated you'll hate the guitar, but all of this is just a part of learning. If you stick with it you're going to be rewarded. If you're very stubborn you can make it.[18:00] I had very strange feelings that I was here for something and I was going to get a chance to be heard. I got the guitar together because that was all I had. Oh Daddy, one of these days I'm gonna be big and famous. I'm gonna make it, man![20:00] It was pretty tough at first. I lived in very miserable circumstances. I slept where I could and when I needed to eat, I had to steal it.[24:00] I lived in very miserable circumstances. Sleeping among the garbage cans between them tall tenements was hell.Rats runnin' all across your chest, cockroaches stealin' your last candy bar from your very pockets.I even tried to eat orange peel and tomato paste.People would say, "If you don't get a job you'll just starve to death."But I didn't want to take a job outside music.[27:00] I don't wanna play backup on somebody else's team. I have my own ideas that I have to bring to life, and I'm willing to sacrifice my comfort to do so.[31:00] Obsess over customers.[33:00] I don't give a damn so long as I have enough to eat and to play what I want to play. That's enough for me. I consider ourselves to be some of the luckiest cats alive, because we're playing just what we want to play and people seem to like that.[37:00] A lesson from Charlie Munger: Look at the behavior of people you dislike, or you don't respect, and do the opposite.[39:00] Once you've made a name for yourself you are all the more determined to keep it up.[44:00] James Dyson’s 2nd autobiography: Invention: A Life by James Dyson. (Founders #205)[49:00] We call our music Electric Church Music because it's like a religion to us.—I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/—“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading What I Learned Before I Sold to Warren Buffett: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Developing a Highly Successful Company by Barnett Helzberg Jr.This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: The easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders. Capital: Banking built for Founders. Raise, hold, spend, and send—all in one place. Tegus is a search engine for business knowledge that's used by Founders, investors, and executives. [5:00]  Then, right there on the sidewalk I told one of the most astute businessmen in America why he ought to consider buying our family's 79-year-old jewelry business."I believe that our company matches your criteria for investment, I said. To which he replied, simply, "Send me the information. It will be confidential.”My conversation with Buffett lasted no more than half a minute.[8:00] My dream buyer for the family business all along was Warren Buffet.[11:00] "This can be the fastest deal in history," Buffett said."But what about due diligence?" I asked, surprised at how fast the negotiations were moving.Most suitors demand to see every scrap of paper you've ever generated and to interview every top manager.That wasn't Buffett's way. "I can smell these things, Buffett said. "This one smells good.”[12:00] First A Dream by Jim Clayton. (Founders #91)[13:00] Buffett on his management technique: “Managers run their own shows.They don't have to report to central management. When we get somebody who is a .400 hitter we don't start telling them how to swing.”[14:00] I was always taught that many, many people were out there developing ideas I could use. I have found that to be true throughout my life. These thoughts and ideas have all been borrowed or stolen from many wise people.Think of the world as your garden of marvelous people and ideas with unlimited picking rights for you.[17:00] Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business by Mark Robichaux. (Founders #268)[23:00] Despite missteps, entrepreneurs are a special breed who do not give up on the larger goals.[24:00] It's not hard to express the quality we're looking for in metaphors. The best is probably a running back. A good running back is not merely determined, but flexible as well. They want to get downfield, but they adapt their plans on the fly. — Relentlessly Resourceful by Paul Graham[25:00] Entrepreneurs are driven to succeed. They possess an almost naive belief that nothing can stand in their way, they are mentally deaf to those who belittle their chances, they love to compete, and they have the skills of broken field runners who take the bumps and bruises along the way, change course when necessary, and stay focused on the goal.If this is not you, don't try to fool yourself. It's not worth it.Thinking you can start your own business or wanting to be your own boss, just because you hate your job, when you really have no desire or stamina to go it on your own, is courting disaster. Where there is no real will, there is no way.Some people are more  enamored by the concept than the reality. They would rather contemplate the beauty of the mountain from the base.The entrepreneur wants to climb the mountain first, briefly appreciate the gorgeous vistas from the summit, and then find the next mountain. If you possess this obsession of seeing your own creative notions succeed and are willing to pay the price, then you have no choice but to pursue the life of an entrepreneur.[29:00] He taught us to concern ourselves only with those things over which we have control.I thought he was unique in this until I realized this is one of the key common traits of highly successful people.Those folks are never victims; they take what comes and handle the situation. The rest is a waste of time.[30:00] Upgrade the herd annually: "You make more money closing bad stores than opening new ones.”His philosophy made sense. We decided we would rather spend time and effort on a $4.5 million store that could ultimately achieve annual sales of $6 million than on a lower-volume store with less potential.[32:00] Focus is your lever to success.Do not underestimate the incredible amount of mental discipline it takes to focus yourself and your teammates. Wonderful alternatives and seductive opportunities abound and temptations to go in multiple directions are unlimited.Commit yourself to be the best, define what that means, and focus on the head of that pin like no one in your industry.[32:00] Estee Lauder was a master at doing things don’t scale. — Estée Lauder: A Success Storyby Estée Lauder. (Founders #217)[33:00] To be successful, have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart. —Thomas Watson The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson Sr. and The Making of IBM by Kevin Maney (Founders #87)[38:00] Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet. —African Proverb[40:00] Some of our partners created an inhospitable climate for customers. Some posted negative signs.At one store a manager hung a sign in red warning customers that they would be charged a steep fee if they bounced a  check. It said, "The bank doesn't make copies and we don't cash checks." That really got me boiling.I jumped up on the counter and ripped it down as customers and coworkers looked on, amazed. That may sound extreme, but I needed to make the point in a memorable way. I didn't want signs like that staring our customers in the face.I told our coworkers that the occasional hit we took for a bounced check cost far less than what we lost-and couldn't quantify-by creating a subtly hostile atmosphere. —Copy This!: How I turned Dyslexia, ADHD, and 100 square feet into a company called Kinkos by Paul Orfalea.[42:00] Nearly any action or communication means far more when done urgently.Trust only movement.[42:00] One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests. —John Stuart Mill[43:00] None of this works if you can’t trust your own judgement.[46:00] This reservoir of knowledge and human experience creates tremendous opportunities and advantages for you as an entrepreneur. You are heir to the discoveries of many entrepreneurs who skinned their shins trying something new. It is likely other  entrepreneurs before you have experienced the same challenges and problems, and found ways to surmount them.[47:00] You have the experiences of thousands of experts and mentors at your fingertips.[47:00] The incredible, wonderful, and unavoidable truth is that seeking the help of others can put you light years ahead of other people who beat their heads against the wall trying to reinvent the wheel[48:00] I’ve never found anybody that didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help. I called up Bill Hewlett when I was 12 years old. He answered the phone himself. I told him I wanted to build a frequency counter. I asked if he had any spare parts I could have. He laughed. He gave me the parts. And he gave me a summer job at HP working on the assembly line putting together frequency counters. I have never found anyone who said no, or hung up the phone. I just ask. Most people never pick up the phone and call. And that is what separates the people who do things, versus the people who just dream about them. You have to act. —Steve Jobs[53:00] "Max kept repeating, 'As hire As. Bs hire Cs. So the first B you hire takes the whole company down." — The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni.[54:00] “The greatest thing you can do for your competition—hiring poorly.” —Bill Gates[59:00] I wish that I had known sooner that if you miss a child's play or performance or sporting event, you will have forgotten a year later the work emergency that caused you to miss it. But the child won't have forgotten that you weren't there.—I use Readwise to organize and remember everything I read. You can try Readwise for 60 days for free https://readwise.io/founders/—“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast