Founders

What I learned from reading The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood by Tom King.  ---- He told me he had recently read Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, Buffett was Geffen's hero. Geffen—with searing focus, unyielding drive, and outlandish nerve—had devised and implemented strategies to propel himself to the top of the heap of Hollywood powerbrokers. I use...

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 man...

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] Ea...

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 wor...

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 thi...

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. H...

What I learned from reading Les Schwab Pride In Performance: Keep It Going! by Les Schwab.  ---- 16 ideas from the book:  Intensity is the price of excellence —Warren Buffett I am 68 years old now. And I've run it in overdrive my whole life. I've always wanted to be the best tire dealer, not necessarily the largest tire dealer. The people serving your customers are the most important people in you...

What I learned from reading Leading By Design: The Ikea Story by Ingvar Kamprad and Bertil Torekull. ---- [0:01]  He aims to give his company eternal life  [3:45] Early life and entrepreneurship   [8:00] The beginning of IKEA  [11:40] Learning entrepreneurship by imitating  [16:30] IKEA almost dies in infancy / how Ingvar worked his way through it  [26:00] Ingvar’s greatest regret in life: Neglect...

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 gett...

What I learned from reading Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony by Akio Morita.   --- [0:01] Forty years ago, a small group gathered in a burned-out department store building in war-devastated downtown Tokyo. Their purpose was to found a new company, their optimistic goal was to develop the technologies that would help rebuild Japan's economy. [5:00] I was born the first son and fifteenth-generati...

What I learned from reading The Tao of Warren Buffett by David Clark and Mary Buffett.  --- [0:01]The more I heard Warren speak, the more I learned. Not only about investing, but about business and life.  [4:02] The great personal fortunes in this country weren’t built on a portfolio of fifty companies. They were built by someone who identified one wonderful business.  [5:45] It is impossible to u...

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 fam...

What I learned from reading Carroll Shelby: The Authorized Biography by Rinsey Mills.  --- [3:27] I love everything about this person. I like the way he thought. I like the way he lived his life. [3:38] It is almost unbelievable all the different events that could happen in one human lifetime. [3:52] He lived to 89 years old and he used every single year that he was alive. [5:22] He could talk his...

What I learned from reading Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automobile Empire by Luca Dal Monte. --- [0:01] Ferrari was animated by an extraordinary passion that led him to build a product with no equal [3:52] Lee Iacocca on why Enzo Ferrari will go as the greatest car manufacturer in history: "Ferrari spent every dollar chasing perfection."  [8:50] Business lessons from his fa...

What I learned from reading Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans by A. J. Baime. ---- [0:01] Racing was the most magnificent marketing tool the industry had ever known. [2:42] Founders vs Managers  [3:43] Founders Podcasts on Henry Ford: #9, #26, and #80.  [4:29] The passion Enzo Ferrari had for his products  [5:50] The same broad features keep recurring ove...

What I learned from reading James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone. ---- James J. Hill demonstrates the impact one willful individual can have on the course of history [1:00] 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. Y...

What I learned from reading A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman  ---- [0:25] Claude Shannon trained a powerful intellect on topics of deep interest, and continued to do so beyond the point of short term practicality [5:50] Insulated from opinion of all kinds [9:09] A simple way to describe the impact of information theory [10:39] Resourcefu...

What I learned from reading The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William Thorndike. ---- [0:30] The failure of business schools to study men like Henry Singleton is a crime— Warren Buffett [2:40]Buffett and Singleton: Separated at birth? [8:35]The Singular Henry Singleton [14:40] Supremely indifferent to criticism [19:50] Teledyne breaks up...

What I learned from reading A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Edward Thorp.  ---- [0:01] Ed Thorp’s memoir reads like a thriller—mixing wearable computers that would have made James Bond proud, shady characters, great scientists, and poisoning attempts. The book reveals a thorough, rigorous, methodical person in search of life, knowledge,...

What I learned from reading Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street by William Poundstone. ---- Claude Shannon was as close to a sure thing as existed [2:53] The beginning of information theory [7:11] Project X [9:09] introduction to Ed Thorpe [15:05] using math and physics to beat Las Vegas [18:03] Ed Thorp and Claude Shannon meet...

What I learned from reading First A Dream by Jim Clayton.   ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here.  ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I...

What I learned from reading Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. ---- Cicero, learned man that he was, believed in self-improvement so long as breath lasts. In business we often find that the winning system goes almost ridiculously far in maximizing and/or minimizing one or a few variables-like the discount warehouses of Costco."Invert, always invert." It is in the nat...

What I learned by reading Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy.     ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here.  ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out....

What I learned from reading Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders by Warren Buffett.   ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here.  ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that...

What I learned from reading The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson Sr. and The Making of IBM by Kevin Maney. ---- ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here.  ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look for...