Podcast
Founders
Learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs. Every week I read a biography of an entrepreneur and find ideas you can use in your work. This quote explains why: "There are thousands of years of history in which lots and lots of very smart people worked very hard and ran all types of experiments on how to create new businesses, invent new technology, new ways to manage etc. They ran these experiments throughout their entire lives. At some point, somebody put these lessons down in a book. For very little money and a few hours of time, you can learn from someone’s accumulated experience. There is so much more to learn from the past than we often realize. You could productively spend your time reading experiences of great people who have come before and you learn every time." —Marc Andreessen
Episodes
1:25:47
Published: Mon Feb 10 2020
Description
What I learned from reading Distant Force: A Memoir of the Teledyne Corporation and the Man Who Created It by Dr. George Roberts. Henry was much more than a salesman, mathematician, engineer, inventor, and chess champion. He was a student. An observer of the history of manufacturing, of the progress and growth of corporations from the days of Henry Ford, the growth of General Motors, the manner of successful corporations in growing by acquisition. [0:01]Henry reminds me of de Gaulle. He has a singleness of purpose, a tenacity that is just overpowering. He gives you absolute confidence in his ability to accomplish whatever he says he is going to do. [2:00]Henry spent time doing exactly what we are doing — learned from entrepreneurs and great people of the past. [3:45]According to Buffett, if one took the top 100 business school graduates and made a composite of their triumphs, their record would not be as good as that of Singleton, who incidentally was trained as a scientist, not an MBA. / Here is a direct quote from Buffett: The failure of business schools to study men like Singleton is a crime. / "Henry Singleton of Teledyne has the best operating and capital deployment record in American business.” —Warren Buffett [8:30]Genius is an oft-misused word, but it cannot be denied that Henry Singleton brought exceptional brilliance to the creation and development of the enterprise he undertook. . .Many of these strategies, new at the time, have now become commonplace in the business world. [12:57]My only plan is to keep coming to work each day. I like to steer the boat each day rather than plan ahead way into the future. —Henry Singleton [14:36]Within eight years of founding Teledyne had bootstrapped their startup investment of $450,000 into a company with annual sales of over $450 million. [17:24]Henry’s early faith that semiconductors would become the dominant factor in future electronics, even while this was still being debated by others in the industry. [31:15]Henry’s three great ideasRecognizing the future importance of digital semiconductors when this technology was in its infancy.Acquiring and organizing a selection of financial companies to provide a strong financial base [The idea Henry learned by reading Alfred Sloan’s of GM’s book]His innovative strategy for stock buybacks [40:30]Henry knew where he could create the most value and focused on that. Are you doing the same? [50:16]There is no speed limit: In the company’s first six years net income rose from $58,000 to $12,035,000 [52:20]There are ideas worth billions in a $30 history book. [56:10]Henry Singleton the teacher / Claude Shannon on being smart and quiet [1:06:45]By 1977 Teledyne was the largest shareholder in nine Fortune 500 companies. But Henry didn’t want control. He didn’t even want a board seat. [1:13:40]There are companies that will sell one division and buy another because today this divisions generally sports a low multiple and the one they’re buying has a high multiple. That absolutely turns me off. The whole concept is repulsive. We don’t do things like that. We look at the economic long term possibilities. —Henry Singleton [1:17:05]----“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
https://www.founderspodcast.com/
PodcastFounders
1:13:26
Published: Mon Feb 03 2020
Description
What I learned from reading Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and The Family Feud That Forever Changed The Business of Sports by Barbara Smit.This story begins at a time in history when money and sports were still two separate worlds [0:01]A family business struggling to survive / drafted into WWI / Adi Dassler’s EXTREME resourcefulness and personality / [3:15]Early distribution and marketing of sports shoes [10:06]The Dassler Brothers were opposites: Adi was the quiet craftsman with soul in the game. Rudolf was ostentatious and loud. [12:46]The chronicle and biography of Adi Dassler: A story about someone obsessed with making high quality products [14:00]Was Adi Dassler a Nazi? / My experience with the totalitarianism of the Castro regime / tearing up thinking of having to risk the lives of your children [24:30]Adi Dassler reminds me of Henry Royce [29:30]The difficulties of building a business during World War II [32:15]Adi starting over at the age of 46 / How the Adidas stripes came about [38:15]Athletes start requesting bribes to wear Adidas / How the payoffs happened [46:00]Breaking into a new market was a slow, labor intensive process [50:45]While Adidas and Puma are distracted fighting each other, opportunity opens up for Phil Knight and Nike / pursue your crazy idea / famous last words: “it’s just a toy”, “jogging isn’t a real sport”, “Nike is not a threat because we have more demand than we could service” [55:05]If you have a business that makes you miserable, somewhere along the line you lost the plot. [1:06:45]—“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
https://www.founderspodcast.com/
PodcastFounders
1:07:25
Published: Sun Jan 26 2020
Description
What I learned from reading The Man Who Solved The Market: How Jim Simons Launched The Quant Revolution by Gregory Zuckerman The story of the greatest moneymaker of all time [0:01]Simons prefers to move in silence [1:40]Unknown Unknowns > Known Knowns / Wise people always know exactly why something won’t work. That is why I never employ an expert in full bloom. —Henry Ford [2:42]A one word summary of the book: PERSISTENCE [4:15]Simons’ early life / Only the arrogant are self-confident enough to push their creative ideas on others. —Nolan Bushnell [4:44]Advice from his father: Do what you like in life, not what you feel you should do. [6:16]Personality: Jim had a persistent and burning desire to be wealthy [7:20]A seed has been planted + Jim’s existential crisis [9:55]Lessons from codebreaking that Jim applies to his business later [14:08]Jim Simons at 29 years of age: Fired, father of 3 young children, no idea what his future holds [20:00]Jim Simons at 33 years of age: Genius and madness are next-door neighbors [21:44]Jim Simons at 40 years of age: Jim finally makes the jump. Only misfits understand misfits [22:55]Jim’s first trading style [28:00]We all go through times like this: DON’T QUIT! [29:15]Jim Simons at 44 years of age / Jim’s partner doesn’t see the point in developing automated trading system / Giant success followed by giants failures [34:30]Back to being filled with self-doubt [37:15]Our mind loves playing tricks on us [38:00]Jim Simons studied the past to gain an information advantage [41:00]Finally, the new strategy starts working! / Even with wild success people will tell you that you are wrong [46:55]Business is like nature, it doesn’t care if you arrive at the right answer from the wrong reasoning. [52:50]Emperors want empires [57:02]Life advice from an 82 year old Jim Simons [1:02:40]—“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
https://www.founderspodcast.com/
PodcastFounders
1:08:32
Published: Mon Jan 20 2020
Description
What I learned from reading Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary & Social Innovator by Robert E. Price.What was it about this man that engendered so much admiration and respect? [0:01]Sol Price’s early life [4:39]Sol Price was a misfit / “If you want to understand the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent. The delinquent is saying with his actions, "This sucks. I'm going to do my own thing.” [5:40] Learning to love being productive / Sol Price on the importance of time / DO IT NOW! [12:20]The beginning of FedMart [16:00] Sol Price learned from other founders [21:25] Sol Price’s business philosophy [28:50]What happened when Sol opens a pharmacy in FedMart / A creative solution to being cut off by gasoline suppliers [36:25] Sol Price’s idea on teaching and “alter egos” / “You train an animal. You teach a person.” —Sol Price [39:13] The intelligent loss of sales [42:00] The idea for Price Club [52:37] What Sol Price meant to his son [1:05:28]—“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
https://www.founderspodcast.com/
PodcastFounders
1:06:12
Published: Sun Jan 12 2020
Description
What I learned from reading The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh. [0:01] I believe it’s much the same in one’s profession: Superb, reliable results take time. [4:55] How Jack Dorsey describes The Score Takes Care of Itself: He took at team that was at the bottom and brought them to the top. He focused on the details. He didn’t say you need to win games. He said you need to tuck in your shirts. You need to clean your lockers. This is how we answer the phones here. He set a new standard of performance. [6:53] Bill Walsh on his father / What he learned from his early life [10:15] Bill Walsh on why should you care about your standard of performance: Pursuing your ambitions, especially those of any magnitude, can be grueling and hazardous, and produce agonizing failure along the way, but achieving those goals is among life’s most gratifying and thrilling experiences. [14:15] A great description of the book: Bill Walsh loved to teach. This is his final lecture on leadership. [16:20] Bill Walsh built a new culture. He calls it his Standard of Performance. [20:30] Make a commitment to be the best version of yourself— even when your current external results may not warrant that belief [26:16] The prime directive was not victory [28:45] Winners act like winners before their winners [32:20] Bill Walsh experiences the entrepreneurial roller coaster [37:00] An incredible story about his idea of the west coast offense [46:20] Be unswerving in moving towards your goal [47:25] Sweat the little details but the right little details [49:00] Don’t focus on your competitors —spend that time making yourself better so it is harder for them to compete against you [50:00] Don’t let anybody call you a genius / If you sleep on a win you’ll wake up with a loss / Success Disease [54:15] Without a healthy ego you’ve got a big problem [58:05] There is no mystery to mastery [1:03:05] A pretty package will not sell a crappy product [1:04:16] Avoid burnout: Can you imagine how burned out you must be to wait fourteen years to return to doing something you love? ----“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
https://www.founderspodcast.com/
PodcastFounders
1:01:46
Published: Sun Dec 22 2019
Description
What I learned from reading The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age by Janet Wallach. [0:10] She was the smartest woman on Wall Street, a financial genius, a railroad magnate, a real estate mogul, a Gilded Era renegade, a reliable source for city funds.[0:19] “I have had fights with some of the greatest financial men in the country. Did you ever hear of any of them getting ahead of Hetty Green?”[1:10] I go my own way, take no partners, risk nobody else’s fortune.[1:29] She was considered the single biggest individual financier in the world.[1:58] A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman (Founders #95)[2:55] Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.[3:31] Don’t close a bargain until you have reflected on it overnight.[4:00] I am always buying when everyone wants to sell, and selling when everyone wants to buy.[4:51] I never set out for anything that I don’t conquer.[5:55] To live content with small means; To seek elegance rather than luxury, And refinement rather than fashion; To be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich.[7:27] Her father’s advice: Never owe anyone anything.[9:44] By the time she is 13 she is the family bookkeeper.[11:53] She paid attention when he (her father) repeated again and again that property was a trust to be taken care of and enlarged for future generations. She obeyed when he insisted that she keep her own accounts in order and later praised the experience. “There is nothing better than this sort of training,” she said.[13:28] Hetty hungered for money itself.[14:08] List of financial panics discussed in the book: Panic of 1857, Panic of 1866, The Long Depression 1873-1896 which had several panics within, (Panic of 1873, 1884, 1890, 1893) Panic 1901 and Panic of 1907.[16:18] She was a master at studying what happened before her.[16:31] The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by TJ Stiles. (Founders #54) and Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer by Stephen Dando-Collins (Founders #55)[17:15] Clever men like Russell Sage, a future role model for Hetty, kept substantial amounts of cash on hand and used it to buy stocks at rock-bottom prices. John Pierpont Morgan told his son there was a good lesson to be learned from other people’s greed and good bargains to be found in the aftermath. In future times, Hetty would always keep cash available and use it to buy when everyone else was selling. Much later, Warren Buffett would do the same. But most people watched their money wash away in the flood.[23:57] This was the start of the contrary investing she followed for the rest of her life: buying when everyone else was selling; selling when everyone else was buying. “I buy when things are low and nobody wants them. I keep them until they go up and people are crazy to get them. That is, I believe, the secret of all successful business,” she said.[26:46] Hetty, like Claude Shannon, Warren Buffett, and Ed Thorp, collected a lot of information. Hetty read more and studied more than most other people.[28:07] The opportunities were enormous for those with the stomach to take the risks.[30:25] The markets may change, the methods may be revamped, but as long as human beings are propelled by greed and ego, they are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.[31:11] She had a pile of cash when others were scouring for pennies, but she also had a deft mind and the colossal courage to push against the crowd.[36:17] Hetty’s investments were not always known: she purchased property under fictitious names, bought stocks under other identities, and was praised by shrewd observers for how closely she held her positions.[37:41] Williams greeted his new customer with all the courtesy and respect due a woman of her wealth. “I have observed that many a tattered garment hides a package of bonds and that gorgeous clothing does not always cover a millionaire,” he told his colleagues.[44:14] The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King by Rich Cohen (Founders #37)[45:52] Hetty didn't like the idle rich. She respected authentic achievement.[48:48] Companies who stocks had skyrocketed collapsed when their lack of capital was revealed.[49:22] The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company by David Packard. (Founders #29)[49:30] More companies die from indigestion than starvation. —David Packard[50:58] She used her intelligence to increase her wealth, her independence to live as she wished, and her strength to battle anyone who stood in her way.[55:24] They sought her out to sell off their possessions. As rates rose, more and more of “the solidest men in Wall Street,” she said, from “financiers to legitimate businessmen,” came to call, begging to unload everything from palatial mansions to automobiles. “They came to me in droves,” she recalled.[59:30] When it comes to spending your life, there have to be some things neglected. If you try to do too much, you can never get anywhere.[59:53] You see this advice over and over again. You just got to figure out what that thing is that you want to focus on. No one can answer that question for you.[1:00:14] I think the key to a happy life is getting to the end of your life with the least amount of regrets as possible.[1:00:24] She prized the life she led. “I enjoy being in the thick of things. I like to have a part in the great movements of the world and especially of this country. I like to deal with big things and with big men. I would rather do [this] than play bridge. Indeed, my work is my amusement, and I believe it is also my duty.”——“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
https://www.founderspodcast.com/
PodcastFounders
1:26:14
Published: Sun Dec 01 2019
Description
What I learned from reading The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder.[0:01] What he was teaching were the lessons that had emerged from the unfolding of his own life [4:35] The dichotomy of Warren Buffett [9:20] Warren Buffett wants to be remembered as a teacher [11:52] Buffett’s idea of Inner scorecard vs Outer scorecard [13:49] Warren Buffett’s early family life [18:03] Learning to avoid the habit of thinking in only one direction (18:03), [24:30] Warren’s WHY [29:58] A young troublemaker and how Warren’s dad convinced him to change his behavior [32:20] Warren did what you are doing right now: Since a young age Warren had studied the lives of men like Jay Cooke, Daniel Drew, Jim Fisk, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie. [33:48] Turning a rejection into one of the best things to ever happen to him[38:30] Mimicry instead of independent thought: Warren didn’t understand why they couldn’t see what was right before their eyes. [42:20] One of the most inspiring things about reading biographies is you are constantly reminded that we all have the ability to improve. A young Warren Buffett was so afraid of public speaking he would vomit. [48:06] Warren learning from and working with his idol: Ben Graham[52:20] Warren’s advice for everyone: Sell yourself an hour a day [57:28] Intensity is the price of excellence and examples of people Warren wanted to do business with [1:01:08] Warren Buffett is an obsessive/Munger would later call Buffett an implacable acquirer, like John D. Rockefeller in the early days of assembling his empire, who let nobody and nothing get in his way. (1:01:08), [1:13:10] Warren Buffett on his biggest mistake [1:16:11] What Buffett valued in the lives of others/His idea about claim checks [1:19:25] His “Twenty Punches” approach to investing [1:22:38] Warren’s answer to the question, “What has been your greatest success and greatest failure?” ----“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
https://www.founderspodcast.com/
PodcastFounders
58:13
Published: Mon Sep 19 2016
Description
What I learned from reading Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee VanceThe conventional wisdom of the time said to take a deep breath and wait for the next big thing to arrive in due course. Musk rejected that logic by throwing $100 million into SpaceX, $70 million into Tesla, and $10 million into SolarCity. Short of building an actual money crushing machine, Musk could not have picked a faster way to destroy his fortune. He became a one-man-ultra-risk taking venture capital shop and doubled down on making super-complex physical goods in two of the most expensive places in the world, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. [2:13]What Musk has developed that so many of the entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley lack is a meaningful worldview. He’s the possessed genius on the grandest quest anyone has ever concocted. He’s less a CEO chasing riches than a general marshaling troops to secure victory. [9:17]The life that Musk has created to manage all of these endeavors is preposterous. [9:53]He felt as if the public had lost some of its ambition and hope for the future. [14:34]His fears that mankind had lost much of its will to push the boundaries were reinforced one day when Musk went to the NASA website. He expected to find a detailed plan for exploring Mars and instead found bupkis. [14:58]The men were heading to Russia at the height of its freewheeling post-Soviet days when rich guys could apparently buy space missiles on the open market. [24:32]Musk wheeled around and flashed a spreadsheet he’d created. “Hey guys, I think we can build this rocket ourselves.” [27:53]Some of these people had spent years on the island going through one of the most surreal engineering exercises in human history. They had been separated from their families, assaulted by the heat, and exiled on their tiny launchpad outpost— sometimes without much food — for days on end as they waited for the launch windows to open and dealt with the aborts that followed. So much of that pain and suffering and fear would be forgotten if this launch went successfully. [32:17]It took six years-about four and half more than Musk had once planned — and five hundred people to make this miracle of modern science and business happen. [34:38]Well that was freaking awesome. There are a lot of people who thought we couldn’t do it. There are only a handful of countries on Earth that have done this. It’s normally a country thing, not a company thing. My mind is kind of frazzled, so it’s hard for me to say anything, but this is definitely one of the greatest days in my life. [35:19]To avoid bankruptcy Musk made a last-ditch effort to raise all the personal funds he could and put them into the company. “It was like the fucking Matrix,” Musk said, describing his financial maneuvers. [42:53]The 2008 period told him everything he would ever need to know about Musk’s character. He saw a man who arrived in the United States with nothing, who had lost a child, who was on the verge of having his life’s work destroyed. “He has the ability to work harder and endure more stress than anyone I’ve ever met. What he went through in 2008 would have broken anyone else. He didn’t just survive. He kept working and stayed focused.” [48:37]A list of all the books featured on Founders Podcast.
https://www.founderspodcast.com/