What I learned from reading Working by Robert Caro. This episode is brought to you by Meter: Meter is the easiest way for your business to get fast, secure, and reliable internet and WiFi in any commercial space. Go to meter.com/founders----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 by emailing [email protected] to one of my favorite podcasts: Invest Like the Best: Sam Hinkie: Find Your People ----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----[3:40] You can't get very deep into Johnson's life without realizing that the central fact of his life was his relationship with his father.[8:00] It was the hill country and his father's failures that taught him how terrible could be the consequences of a single mistake.[8:45] Lyndon Johnson wouldn't understand. He would refuse to understand. He would threaten you, would cajole you, bribe you or charm you. He would do whatever he had to do, but he would get that vote.[9:00] What mattered to him was winning because he knew what losing could be. What its consequences could be.[9:50] Robert Caro books I've read: The Power Broker The Path to PowerMeans of Ascent Master of The Senate (currently reading) [11:00] about what I wanted to do with my life and my books (which are my life)[11:40] I am a reflection of what I do. — Steve Jobs[23:20] There are certain moments in your life when you suddenly understand something about yourself. I loved going through those files, making them yield up their secrets to me.[24:10] Turn every page. Never assume anything. Turn every goddamn page.[27:50] Robert Caro snaps: No, that's not why highways get built where they get built. They get built there because Robert Moses wants them there.[28:15] Robert Moses had power that no one understood. Power that nobody else was even thinking about.[29:50] There are sentences that are said to you in your life that are chiseled into your memory.[34:00] Three of the editors took me to some fancy restaurant and told me they could make me a star. Bob Gottlieb said, Well, I don't go out for lunch but we can have a sandwich at my desk and talk about your book. So of course I picked him.[37:15] Robert Moses was a ruthless genius with savage energy.[38:30] Ambitious people are rare, so if everyone is mixed together randomly, as they tend to be early in people's lives, then the ambitious ones won't have many ambitious peers. When you take people like this and put them together with other ambitious people, they bloom like dying plants given water. Probably most ambitious people are starved for the sort of encouragement they'd get from ambitious peers, whatever their age.— Paul Graham’s essays. (Founders #275-277)[42:30] in a couple of sentences these two men —idols of mine — had wiped away five years of doubt.[42:50] There is not a more mysterious craft than entrepreneurship.[48:15] I now had a picture of Lyndon Johnson's youth, that terrible youth, that character hardening youth.[54:00] I wasn't fully understanding what these people were telling me about the depth of Lyndon Johnson's determination, about the frantic urgency, the desperation, to get ahead, and to get ahead fast.As if the passions, the ambitions that he brought to Washington, strong though they were, were somehow intensified by the fact that he was finally there, in the place where he had always wanted to be.I wanted to show the contrast between what he was coming from the poverty, the insecurity —and what he was trying for.[55:15] I wanted to make the reader see the contrast between what he was coming from and what he was trying for. Something on the way to work had excited him and thrilled him so much that he'd break into a run every morning.[56:15] And as Lyndon Johnson came up Capitol Hill in the morning, he would be running.Well, of course he was running—from the land of poverty to this. Everything he had ever wanted, everything he had ever hoped for, was there.---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 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 Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary by Robert Price. ----This episode is brought to you by EightSleep: Get the best sleep of your life and unlock more energy with the Pod 3. Go to eightsleep.com/founders/----This episode is brought to you by Meter: Meter is the easiest way for your business to get fast, secure, and reliable internet and WiFi in any commercial space. Go to meter.com/founders----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 by emailing [email protected] to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----[6:50] He believed in developing strong operating efficiencies, and he continually emphasized passing on savings to customers.[8:48] It's pretty incredible to think about that Sol's ideas have created trillions of dollars of value.[11:18] 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)[14:00] Stephen King on the belief and support he received from his wife: “Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference”— Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craftby Stephen King. (Founders #210)[16:00] True education is gained through the discipline of life. —Henry Ford[19:45] Sol kept a small sign in his office: “Do it now.”[24:00] Sol finds an idea future generations of entrepreneurs will use: A membership retail store targeted to a specific niche.[24:45] When you have people driving far distances to save money that is a very good sign. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)[26:45] Daniel Ek interview on the Acquired podcast. [39:10] If you’re not spending 90% of your time teaching, you’re not doing your job. —Jim Sinegal.[39:45] You train an animal, you teach a person.[40:00] He was not a fan of training manuals because he believed that manuals were a substitute for thinking.[43:00] What does limited selection have to do with efficiency? Because payroll and benefits represent 80% of a retailer’s cost of operations, pricing advantage follows labor productivity. Fewer items result in reduced labor hours throughout all of the product supply channels. Put simply, the cost to deal with 4,500 items is a lot less than the cost to deal with 50,000 items.[50:21] The operating efficiencies of the warehouse concept and the direct delivery of products from the suppliers to Price Club made it possible to sell merchandise for less.[55:00] Costco and Sam's were expanding aggressively while Price Club remained tentative.[1:03:30] Sol was a poster child for the American dream. His immigrant parents were born in a small Russian village. Sol was the first in his family to graduate college. He earned a law degree. He became an exceptionally successful businessman and philanthropist, celebrated 70 years of marriage, was a good father who instilled high values in his sons, and he never walked away from responsibility. It doesn’t get much better than that.---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 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 Women of Berkshire Hathaway: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Female CEOs and Directors by Karen Linder. ----This episode is brought to you by Meter: Meter is the easiest way for your business to get fast, secure, and reliable internet and WiFi in any commercial space. Go to meter.com/founders----I have these bronze busts of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger in my home. If you want them in your house or office go to https://www.berkshirenerds.store. A fun side project by my friends at Tiny. ----Follow one of my favorite podcasts: Invest Like the Best and listen to episode 326 Alexis Rivas—A New Blueprint for Homebuilding ----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes and ask me questions directly, and all future bonus episodes. ----Join my email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----[6:55] Mr. Buffett, we're going to put our competitors through a meat grinder. — Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein. (Founders #182)[9:06] There are several "Going Out of Business" advertisements from competitors' stores framed and hanging on the wall.[13:26] As a general rule, bet on the quality of the business, not on the quality of the management-unless, of course, you've got a Mrs. B. in your hand. If that is the case, go all in. She was a business genius. —  The Tao of Charlie Munger (Founders #295)[20:46] Retirement is fatal. — David Ogilvy (Founders #189)[21:17] Business like raising a child, you want a good one. A child needs a mother and a business needs a boss.[21:44] What is your favorite thing to do on a nice evening? Drive around to check the competition and plan my next attack.[22:48] He was 52 and famous. I was 33 and a junior account executive. Early on, he wrote a letter to one of my clients. After listing eight reasons why some ads prepared by the company’s design department would not be effective, he delivered his ultimate argument: The only thing that can be said in favor of the layouts is that they are “different.” You could make a cow look different by removing the udder. But that cow would not produce results. So began my “David” file. Almost everyone who worked at the agency kept one.— The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising by Kenneth Roman. (Founders #169)[27:21] Buffet said: If she ran a popcorn stand I’d wanna be in business with her. She's just plain smart. She's a fierce competitor and she's a tireless worker.[27:37] Buffett “on how Mrs. B ran her business:One question I always ask myself in appraising a business is how I would like, assuming I had ample capital and skilled personnel, to compete with it. I'd rather wrestle grizzlies than compete with Mrs. B.They buy brilliantly, they operate at expense ratios on to t competitors don't even dream about, and they then pass on to their customers much of the savings.It's the ideal business—one built upon exceptional value to the customer that in turn translates into exceptional economics for its owners."[30:32] She hired a chauffeur who drove her around Omaha each day. The driver took her to other stores. She looked in the windows and checked to see how many cars were in their parking lots. It didn't take long for her to plan her revenge.[31:41] There was no looking back. She just swung.[33:12] I had lunch with Sam Zell (Founders #298)[34:07] Aspiring business managers should look hard at the plain, but rare, attributes that produced Mrs. B’s incredible success. Students from 40 universities visit me every year, and I have them start the day with a visit to NFM. If they absorb Mrs. B’s lessons, they need none from me.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes and ask me questions directly, and all future bonus episodes. ----Join my 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 Mind of Napoleon: A Selection of His Written and Spoken Words edited by J. Christopher Herold. ----This episode is brought to you by EightSleep: Get the best sleep of your life and unlock more energy with the Pod 3. Go to eightsleep.com/founders/----This episode is brought to you by Meter: Meter is the easiest way for your business to get fast, secure, and reliable internet and WiFi in any commercial space. Go to meter.com/founders----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 by emailing [email protected] one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 326 Alexis Rivas----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----[3:45] A man who combined energy of thought and energy of action to an exceptional degree.[4:45] He knows that men have always been the same, that nothing can change their nature. It is from the past that he will draw his lessons in order to shape the present.[5:15] Destiny must be fulfilled. That is my chief doctrine.[6:05] Napoleon: A Concise Biography by David Bell (Founders #294)[9:25] To aim at world empire seemed to Napoleon a most natural thing.[10:00] To have lived without glory, without leaving a trace of one's existence, is not to have lived at all.[10:55] The greatest improvisation of the human mind is that which gives existence to the nonexistent.[11:45] The best way to understand a person is to listen to that person directly. —  Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words (Founders #299)[12:55] The great majority of men attend to what is necessary only when they feel a need for it—the precise time when it is too late.[16:10] The worst way to live according to Napoleon:When on rising from sleep a man does not know what to do with himself and drags his tedious existence from place to place; when, scanning his future, he sees nothing but dreadful monotony, one day resembling the next; when he asks himself, "Why do I exist?”—then, in my opinion, he is the most wretched of all.[17:45] Instead his (Steve Jobs) ego needs and personal drives led him to seek fulfillment by creating a legacy that would awe people. A dual legacy, actually: building innovative products and building a lasting company. He wanted to be in the pantheon with, indeed a notch above, people like Edwin Land, Bill Hewlett, and David Packard. — Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson. (Founders #214)[19:15] He must know himself. Until then, all endeavors are in vain, all schemes collapse.[20:15] Napoleon on George Washington: Britain refused to acknowledge either him or the independence of his country; but his success obliged them to change their minds and acknowledge both. It is success which makes the great man.[21:15] Washington saw the conflict as a struggle for power in which the colonists, if victorious, destroyed British pretentions of superiority and won control over half of a continent. — Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnershipby Edward Larson. (Founders #251)[23:15] If you do everything you will win: All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some added opportunity; the less clever man, by neglecting one thing, sometimes misses everything.[23:45] Warren Buffett: We are individually opportunity driven. — 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)[24:15] Imagination rules the world.[25:00] Ambition is a violent and unthinking fever that ceases only when life ceases.[34:52] The corpse of an enemy always smells sweet.[35:30] Roots of Strategy: Book 1[38:45] Robert Caro profiled two men who seeds were not high (in a tournament) they were without many advantages. And to get all the way to the top you probably had to sacrifice everything to the effort. The meta lesson is if you are not willing to pay that price presume someone else will.If you want something like the presidency (or being a billionaire) you should presume there is someone out there who will devote all their time, money, relationships, sense of ethics, everything in sacrifice of that one goal. Of course that person would win that race.  — Invest Like The Best Sam Hinkie Find Your People [40:45] I do not want be roadkill on the modern-day Napoleon's path to glory.[43:15] The ancients had a great advantage over us in that their armies were not trailed by a second army of pen pushers.[44:05] A wasted life should be your greatest fear.[46:30] Make use of every possible opportunity of increasing your chances of victory.[48:55] Paul Graham on Be Hard to Kill:The way to make a startup recession-proof is to do exactly what you should do anyway: run it as cheaply as possible.For years I've been telling founders that the surest route to success is to be the cockroaches of the corporate world. The immediate cause of death in a startup is always running out of money. So the cheaper your company is to operate, the harder it is to kill. —  Paul Graham’s essays (Founders #275)[51:30] Winning is the main thing. Keep the main thing, the main thing.----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 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 Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian.----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.  ----This episode is brought to you by Meter: Meter is the easiest way for your business to get fast, secure, and reliable internet and WiFi in any commercial space. Go to meter.com/founders----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 326 Alexis Rivas----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----[3:00] He was someone no one had ever seen or will ever see again.[5:20] 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)[7:15] His output was enormous, much greater than that of nine tenths of other composers. He was a mature artist in most forms at the age of twelve. There was never a month, often scarcely a week, when he did not produce a substantial score. — Mozart: A Life by Paul Johnson. (Founders #240)[7:50] Tiger's opponents were never people; it was always history.[14:05] I've always been a practice player. I believe in it. — Michael Jordan: The Lifeby Roland Lazenby. (Founders #212)[17:00] Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc. (Founders #293)[18:30] Tiger was filling his mind with words that were intended to make him great. He wrote some of the messages from the self-help cassettes on a sheet of paper that he taped to his bedroom wall:I believe in meI will own my own destinyI smile at obstaclesI am first in my resolveI fulfill my resolutions powerfullyMy strength is greatI stick to it, easily, naturally My will moves mountainsI focus and give it my allMy decisions are strongI do it with all my heartTiger listened to those tapes so often that he wore them out.[31:50] People would ask him how did you get so good Tiger? And he would answer, practice, practice, practice.[32:10] 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.[36:45] The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh. (Founders #106)[40:15] That’s all training is. Stress. Recover. Improve. You’d think any damn fool could do it. But you don’t. You work too hard and rest too little and get hurt. — Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder by Kenny Moore. (Founders #153)[46:15] Money didn't motivate him. Nor did fame. He played for the hardware. He played for the win.[53:45] Robert Caro’s Books----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