Founders

What I learned from rereading Instant: The Story of Polaroid [https://amzn.to/3Cslm35] by Christopher Bonanos.  ---- Ramp [https://ramp.com/] gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more [https://ramp.com/].  ---- Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here [https://www.foundersnotes.com/].  ---- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book [https://world.hey.com/davidsenra/buffett-and-munger-a-study-in-simplicity-and-uncommon-common-sense-6ae80a40] ---- Episode Outline:  — The most obvious parallel is to Apple Computer. Both companies specialized in relentless, obsessive refinement of their technologies. Both were established close to great research universities to attract talent. Both fetishized superior, elegant, covetable product design. And both companies exploded in size and wealth under an in-house visionary-godhead-inventor-genius. At Apple, that man was Steve Jobs. At Polaroid, the genius was Edwin Land. Just as Apple stories almost all lead back to Jobs, Polaroid lore always seems to focus on Land. — Both men were college dropouts; both became as rich as anyone could ever wish to be; and both insisted that their inventions would change the fundamental nature of human interaction. — Jobs expressed his deep admiration for Edwin Land. He called him a national treasure. — Books on Edwin Land: Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It [https://amzn.to/3w7EC1N] by Peter C. Wensberg (Founders #263) A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War [https://amzn.to/3BT7yKW] by Ronald Fierstein (Founders #134) Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It [https://amzn.to/3w7EC1N] by Peter C. Wensberg (Founders #133) The Instant Image: Edwin Land and the Polaroid Experience [https://amzn.to/3xI5sgK] by Mark Olshaker (Founders #132) Insisting On The Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land [https://amzn.to/2QeLB1i] and Instant: The Story of Polaroid [https://amzn.to/2FPrpkE](Founders #40) — Biography about Steve Jobs: Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader [https://amzn.to/3pC0vCK] by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli — Edwin Land of Polaroid talked about the intersection of the humanities and science. I like that intersection. There's something magical about that place. There are a lot of people innovating, and that's not the main distinction of my career. The reason Apple resonates with people is that there's a deep current of humanity in our innovation. I think great artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have a  desire to express themselves. In fact some of the best people working on the original Mac were poets and musicians on the side. In the seventies computers became a way for people to express their creativity. Great artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were also great at science. Michelangelo knew a lot about how to quarry stone, not just how to be a sculptor. —  Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography [https://amzn.to/3mHZRmB] by Walter Isaacson (Founders #214) — Book on Henry Ford: I Invented the Modern Age: The Rise of Henry Ford [https://amzn.to/3R2VRt4] by Richard Snow (Founders #9) The Autobiography of Henry Ford [https://amzn.to/3wqoWHb] by Henry Ford (Founders #26)  Today and Tomorrow [https://amzn.to/3pC0KxE] Henry Ford (Founders #80)  My Forty Years With Ford [https://amzn.to/3QKg3A5] by Charles Sorensen  (Founders #118) The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison's Ten Year Road Trip [https://amzn.to/3Aid5fk] by Jeff Guinn (Founders #190)  — Another parallel to Jobs: Land's control over his company was nearly absolute, and he exercised it to a degree that was compelling and sometimes exhausting. — When you read a biography of Edwin land you see an incredibly smart, gifted, driven, focused person endure decade after decade of struggle. And more importantly —finally work his way through. — Another parallel to Jobs: You may be noticing that none of this has anything to do with instant photography. Polarizers rather than pictures would define the first two decades of lands intellectual life and would establish his company. Instant photos were an idea that came later on, a secondary business around which his company was completely recreated. — “Missionaries make better products.” —Jeff Bezos — His letter to shareholders gradually became a particularly dramatic showcase for his language and his thinking. These letters-really more like personal mission statements-are thoughtful and compact, and just eccentric enough to be completely engaging. Instead of discussing earnings and growth they laid out Land's World inviting everyone to join. — Land gave him a four-word job description: "Keeper of the language.” — No argument in the world can ever compare with one dramatic demonstration. — My Life in Advertising [https://amzn.to/3qrvG1m] by Claude Hopkins (Founders #170) — The leap to Polaroid was like replacing a messenger on horseback with your first telephone. — Hire a paid critic: Norio Ohga, who had been a vocal arts student at the Tokyo University of Arts when he saw our first audio tape recorder back in 1950. I had had my eye on him for all those years because of his bold criticism of our first machine. He was a great champion of the tape recorder, but he was severe with us because he didn't think our early machine was good enough. It had too much wow and flutter, he said. He was right, of course; our first machine was rather primitive. We invited him to be a paid critic even while he was still in school. His ideas were very challenging. He said then, "A ballet dancer needs a mirror to perfect her style, her technique. — Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony [https://amzn.to/35oxYVv] by Akio Morita. — Another parallel to Jobs: Don't kid yourself. Polaroid is a one man company. — He argued there was no reason that well-designed, wellmade computers couldn't command the same market share and margins as a luxury automobile. A BMW might get you to where you are going in the same way as a Chevy that costs half the price, but there will always be those who will pay for the better ride in the sexier car. Rather than competing with commodity PC makers like Dell, Compaq and Gateway, why not make only first-class products with high margins so that Apple could continue to develop even better first-class products? The company could make much bigger profits from selling a $3,000 machine rather than a $500 machine, even if they sold fewer of them. Why not, then, just concentrate on making the best $3,000 machines around? — Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products [https://amzn.to/3aYRyMV] by Leander Kahney. — How To Turn Down A Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story [https://amzn.to/3chZWuO] by Billy Gallagher  — Books on Enzo Ferrari Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans [https://amzn.to/3cgUNTH] by A.J. Baime. (Founders #97)  Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and The Making of an Automotive Empire [https://amzn.to/3ciWQqm] by Luca Dal Monte (Founders #98)  Enzo Ferrari: The Man and The Machine [https://amzn.to/3dKPagN] by Brock Yates (Founders #220)  — Soul in the game. Listen to how Edwin Land describes his product: We would not have known and have only just learned that a new kind of relationship between people in groups is brought into being by SX-70 when the members of a group are photographing and being photographed and sharing the photographs: it turns out that buried within us— there is latent interest in each other; there is tenderness, curiosity, excitement, affection, companionability and humor; it turns out, in this cold world where man grows distant from man, and even lovers can reach each other only briefly, that we have a yen for and a primordial competence for a quiet good-humored delight in each other: we have a prehistoric tribal competence for a non-physical, non-emotional, non-sexual satisfaction in being partners in the lonely exploration of a once empty planet. —  “Over the very long term, history shows that the chances of any business surviving in a manner agreeable to a company’s owners are slim at best.” —Charlie Munger ---- “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. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast [https://www.amazon.com/shop/founderspodcast]

What I learned from rereading Random Reminiscences of Men and Events [https://amzn.to/4h8kkes] by John D. Rockefeller.  ---- Ramp [https://ramp.com/] gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more [https://ramp.com/].  ---- Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here [https://www.foundersnotes.com/].  ---- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book [https://world.hey.com/davidsenra/buffett-and-munger-a-study-in-simplicity-and-uncommon-common-sense-6ae80a40] ---- Follow Founders Podcast on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@founderspodcast4055](Video coming soon!)  ---- Notes and highlights from the episode:  It has not been my custom to press my affairs forward into public gaze. (Bad boys move in silence) My favorite biography on Rockefeller John D: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers [https://amzn.to/39RTyZR] by David Freeman Hawke. (Founders #254) Secrecy covered all of his operations. Taking for granted the growth of his empire, he hired talented people as found, not as needed. — Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller [https://amzn.to/3lQnpnM] by Ron Chernow. (Founders #248)  We had been frank and aboveboard with each other. Without this, business associates cannot get the best out of their work. Rockefeller said Jay Gould was the best businessman he knew. Jay Gould books and episodes: American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune [https://amzn.to/3XiDdjT] by Greg Steinmetz (Founders #285) and Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons [https://amzn.to/3B3GP1t] by Edward J. Renehan Jr. (Founders #258)  "If I have to choose between agreement and conflict, I'll take conflict every time. It always yields a better result." — Jeff Bezos It's a pity to get a man into a place in an argument where he is defending a position instead of considering the evidence. His calm judgment is apt to leave him, and his mind is for the time being closed, and only obstinacy remains I like doing deals with the same people. You get to know each other and build a mutual sense of trust. Today, a lot of what I do originates from associations that go back ten, twenty, thirty, even forty years. — Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel [https://amzn.to/3SoybQV] by Sam Zell. Writing a check separates conviction from conversation. — Warren Buffett We had with us a group of courageous men who recognized the great principle that a business cannot be a great success that does not fully and efficiently accept and take advantage of its opportunities. (Do everything and you will win) Such was Rockefeller's ingenuity, his ceaseless search for even minor improvements. Despite the unceasing vicissitudes of the oil industry, prone to cataclysmic booms and busts, he would never experience a single year of loss. — Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller [https://amzn.to/3lQnpnM] by Ron Chernow. (Founders #248) Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean [https://amzn.to/3llVgF8] by Les Standiford. #247 Henry Flagler (Rockefeller’s Partner) Rockefeller on the impact Henry Flagler had on the beginning of Standard Oil: He always believed that if we went into the oil business at all, we should do the work as well as we knew how; that we should have the very best facilities; that everything should be solid and substantial; and that nothing should be left undone to produce the finest results. And he followed his convictions of building as though the trade was going to last, and his courage in acting up to his beliefs laid strong foundations for later years. (Build a first class business in a first class way) Young people should realize how, above all other possessions, is the value of a friend in every department of life without any exception whatsoever. When you recruit A players you don't tell them here's 5 things I want you to focus on. Here's your top 10 priorities. NO. You've got one priority. Destroy that priority. Do it more than anybody else possibly will. (Henry Flagler’s main priority was controlling the cost of transportation.) Larry Ellison: You don’t want turnover on your core product team. Knowledge compounds. Don’t interrupt the compounding. — Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle [https://amzn.to/3dK1RWS] by Matthew Symonds. (Founders #124)  We were accustomed to prepare for financial emergencies long before we needed the funds. (Keep a fortress of cash) It is impossible to comprehend Rockefeller's breathtaking ascent without realizing that he always moved into battle backed by abundant cash. Whether riding out downturns or coasting on booms, he kept plentiful reserves and won many bidding contests simply because his war chest was deeper. — Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller [https://amzn.to/3lQnpnM] by Ron Chernow. (Founders #248) I learned to have great respect for figures and facts, no matter how small they were. This casual way of conducting affairs did not appeal to me. As our successes began to come, I seldom put my head upon the pillow at night without speaking a few words to myself: "Now a little success, soon you’ll fall down, soon you’ll be overthrown. Because you’ve got a start, you think you’re quite a merchant; look out, or you will lose your head—go steady." These intimate conversations with myself had a great influence on my life. I was afraid I couldn’t stand my prosperity, and tried to teach myself not to get puffed up with any foolish notions. (If you go to sleep on a win you’ll wake up with a loss) I hope they were properly humiliated to see how far we had gone beyond their expectations. (Chips on shoulders put chips in pockets)  98 percent of our attention was devoted to the task at hand. We are believers in Carlyle's Prescription, that the job a man is to do is the job at hand and not see what lies dimly in the distance. — Charlie Munger in Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist [https://amzn.to/3vCjYVa] by Roger Lowenstein. (Founders #182)  Rockefeller on Standard Oil stock: Sell everything you've got, even the shirt on your back, but hold on to the stock. All business proceeds on belief: Trying to run a company without a set of beliefs is like trying to steer a ship without a rudder. — Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy [https://amzn.to/3sxzIIL] by Isadore Sharp (Founders #184)   Rockefeller on his “unintelligent competition”: We had the type of man who really never knew all the facts about his own affairs. Many kept their books in such a way that they did not actually know when they were making money or when they were losing money. A few weeks later, the newspapers announce his new partnership—revealing who had backed his bid—and the news that Rockefeller is, at twenty-five, an owner of one of the largest refineries in the world. On that day his partners “woke up and saw for the first time that my mind had not been idle while they were talking so big and loud,” he would say later. They were shocked. They’d seen their empire dismantled and taken from them by the young man they had dismissed. Rockefeller had wanted it more.  — Conspiracy [https://amzn.to/3U7bvYk] by Ryan Holiday  At best it was a speculative trade, and I wonder that we managed to pull through so often; but we were gradually learning how to conduct a most difficult business. A blueprint for success in any endeavor: Low prices to the customer. Root out any inefficiency. Pay for talent. Control expenses. Invest in technology. We devoted ourselves exclusively to the oil business and its products. The company never went into outside ventures, but kept to the enormous task of perfecting its own organization The fastest way to move a dial is narrow the focus. People naturally resist focus because they can’t decide what is important. Therein lies a problem: people can typically tell you after some deliberation what their top three priorities are, but they struggle to decide on just one. What is too much and what is too little focus? Do you ever even discuss this? Most teams are not focused enough. I rarely encountered a team that employed too narrow an aperture. It goes against our human grain. People like to boil oceans. Just knowing that can be to your advantage. When you narrow focus, you are increasing the resourcing on the remaining priority. —  Amp It Up [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/amp-up-frank-slootman/] by Frank Slootman  Two people can run the same business and have vastly different results: Perhaps it is worth while to emphasize again the fact that it is not merely capital and "plants" and the strictly material things which make up a business, but the character of the men behind these things, their personalities, and their abilities; these are the essentials to be reckoned with.  When it comes to competition, being one of the best is not good enough. Do you really want to plan for a future in which you might have to fight with somebody who is just as good as you are? I wouldn't. — Jeff Bezos in Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos [https://amzn.to/3nIrbys] Don't even think of temporary or sharp advantages. Don't waste your effort on a thing which ends in a petty triumph unless you are satisfied with a life of petty success. Study diligently your capital requirements, and fortify yourself fully to cover possible set-backs, because you can absolutely count on meeting setbacks. Do not to lose your head over a little success, or grow impatient or discouraged by a little failure. Know your numbers. You need to know your business down to the ground. Money comes naturally as a result of service (Henry Ford) Don’t do anything that someone else can do (Edwin Land) The man will be most successful who confers the greatest service on the world. Commercial enterprises that are needed by the public will pay. Commercial enterprises that are not needed fail, and ought to fail. Dedicate your life to building something that contributes to the progress and happiness of mankind. ---- “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. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast [https://www.amazon.com/shop/founderspodcast]

What I learned from reading Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks: Inside the Contrarian Mind of Billionaire Mogul Sam Zell [https://amzn.to/3BBxqR6] by Ben Johnson. ---- Ramp [https://ramp.com/] gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more [https://ramp.com/].  ---- Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here [https://www.foundersnotes.com/].  ---- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book [https://world.hey.com/davidsenra/buffett-and-munger-a-study-in-simplicity-and-uncommon-common-sense-6ae80a40] ---- Follow Founders Podcast on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@founderspodcast4055](Video coming soon!)  ---- “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. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast [https://www.amazon.com/shop/founderspodcast]

What I learned from reading How To Succeed in Mr. Beast Production [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YaG9xpu-WQKBPUi8yQ4HaDYQLUSa7Y3J/view] and how ideas from Sam Zell, Charlie Munger, Nick Sleep, Warren Buffett, Sam Zemurray, Bob Kierlin, Steve Jobs, Li Lu, Edwin Land, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, James Cameron, Anna Wintour, Walt Disney, Bernard Arnault, and Brad Jacobs immediately came to mind.  ---- Ramp [https://ramp.com/] gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more [https://ramp.com/].  ---- Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here [https://www.foundersnotes.com/].  ---- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book [https://world.hey.com/davidsenra/buffett-and-munger-a-study-in-simplicity-and-uncommon-common-sense-6ae80a40] ---- Follow Founders Podcast on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@founderspodcast4055](Video coming soon!)  ---- “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. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast [https://www.amazon.com/shop/founderspodcast]

The best investors are not investors at all. They're entrepreneurs who have never sold. — Nick Sleep Nick Sleep’s letters are a masterclass on the importance of understanding the underlying reality of a business — what he calls the engine of its success. I read all 110,000 words of Nick’s letters (twice!) to make this episode and what I found most important is Nick’s ability to develop a deep understanding of “honestly run compounding machines” (like Costco and Amazon) years before everyone else. Nick explains clearly how Jim Sinegal and Jeff Bezos set up their companies for long term success —from the very beginning — and gives us a few hints along the way on how we can do the same in our business. And the absolute entrepreneurial history nerd in me loved the references to Henry Ford, Sam Walton, Rockefeller and other greats from the past that are sprinkled throughout Nick’s letters. No surprise that someone who was able to make $2 billion for his clients has a deep understanding of the great work that came before him. If you want to read all of Nick Sleep’s partnership letters you can do so here for free [https://igyfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Full_Collection_Nomad_Letters_.pdf] You can also read William Green’s book Richer, Wiser, Happier: How The World's Greatest Investors Win In Markets and Life [https://amzn.to/3AWwOoJ] —which both Nick and I recommend. It has an excellent chapter on How Nick and Zak built their firm.  ---- Ramp [https://ramp.com/] gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more [https://ramp.com/].  ---- Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here [https://www.foundersnotes.com/].  ---- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book [https://world.hey.com/davidsenra/buffett-and-munger-a-study-in-simplicity-and-uncommon-common-sense-6ae80a40] ---- Follow Founders Podcast on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@founderspodcast4055](Video coming soon!)  ---- “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. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast [https://www.amazon.com/shop/founderspodcast]