Founders

What I learned from reading Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World by Lynn Downey --- [0:01] Levi was one of the men who set that firm foundation [17:35] I do not have at this time a specific occupation...I will share the fate that has been assigned to me [22:29] Enduring hardship for the ultimate goal [29:24] A hole in the market [42:00] Levi starts his business cold [54:18] The dangers of shipping by sea [1:04:42] Inventing Jeans by accident [1:10:00] Overnight success 20 years in the making [1:17:40] How Levi was able to serve customers who were illiterate or spoke another language ---- 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 would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book becau

What I learned from reading Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark.  --- Crazy Jack (0:01) The internet is filling the void created by state planning (6:59) Jack has made a career out of being underestimated: “I am a very simple guy. I am not smart. I might have a smart face but I’ve got very stupid brains.” (20:35) Jack’s early life / Discipline and Curiosity (24:43) Jack Magic: “ Nobody saw the opportunity in this business. We didn’t make much money at first, but Jack persevered…I respect him tremendously for he has a a great ability to motivate people and he can invest things that seem hopeless with exciting possibility. He can make those around him get excited about life.” (40:00) Jack’s first time on the Internet (47:06) Another lucky break: Meeting Yahoo Founder Jerry Yang (55:45) Making money from shrimp (57:02) The worst deal he ever made (1:00:43) Masayoshi Son: Founder of Softbank (1:04:45) Be the last man standing (1:10:16) Ebay vs Alibaba: A case study in what not to do (1:13:32) Ya

What I learned from reading Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue and Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future --- Culture Eats Strategy [1:45] Conspiracy as a metaphor for a company [3:56] It is a story of poetic justice on a grand scale plotted silently for nearly a decade [6:02] Something in these pages planted itself deep into Thiel's mind when he first read it long ago [15:25] It was ruthless efficiency and hyper-competence. [21:40] You were driven to entrepreneurship because it was a safe space from consensus and from convention. [34:36] What if I do something about this? What might happen? What might happen if I do nothing? Which is riskier, to act or to ignore? [38:52] Sometimes these books teach us what not to do. [59:06] Unknown unknowns > known knowns [1:11:10] How you do one thing is how you do all things. [1:25:47] He had always been aggressive. He wouldn't have gotten where he was in life if he wasn't. [1:30:35] Companies routinely focus on si

What I learned from reading Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance.  --- I don't want to be the person who ever has to compete with Elon (0:47) Musk expects you to keep up (2:45) 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 (4:41) Revisit old ideas (5:22) It was not unusual for him to read ten hours a day (7:49) His approach to dating mirrors his approach to work (9:32) Humans are deeply mimetic (10:59) Thinking from first principles (14:37) What it is like to work with Elon Musk (17:40) He would place this urgency that he expected the revenue in ten years to be ten million dollars a day and that every day we were slower to achieve our goals was a day of missing out on that money (19:28) What he went through in 2008 would have broken anyone else. He didn't just survive. He kept working and stayed focused (23:29)  A tenet of Elon's companies:

What I learned from reading The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company by David Packard. --- [0:01] How Steve Jobs was inspired by David Packard [1:00] Books are the original hyperlinks [4:30] Profit is the measure of how well we work together [9:00] HP's first product [11:00] Podcasts before podcasts [14:00] Many of the things I learned in this process were invaluable, and not available in business schools [15:00] More businesses die from indigestion than starvation [16:30] The importance of maintaining a narrow focus [20:00] Growth from profit [21:00] Lessons from the Great Depression = No long term debt [26:30] A Maverick's persistence [29:00] How to avoid layoffs in a recession [30:20] Employees should outgrow you [31:00] The perils of centralization [35:00] Closing with optimism ---- 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 her

What I learned from reading The Wright Brothers by David McCullough --- Unyielding determination (2:30)  Jocko's concept of GOOD (4:00) The ability to focus on an idea for a long time is the antidote to short bursts of dopamine we get from checking social feeds all day. (6:30) The beginning of their side business (13:00) The importance of heroes (16:00) Rereading / revisiting old ideas (18:30) Books transformed idle curiosity into the active zeal of workers (22:00) Wilbur Wright on risk: “The man who wishes to keep at the problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.” (24:30) Jeff Bezos on stress (25:00) Discover things for yourself (28:00) "Success it most certainly was." (31:00) Profitability of flying machines (33:30) The distribution channel of flying machines (35:00)  Wilbur Wright on the idea of flight: "In the enthusiasm being shown around me, I see not merely an outburs

What I learned from reading A Truck Full of Money: Coding, Mania, Love, Genius: The Life of an American Entrepreneurby Tracy Kidder --- [7:00] Kayak sells for $1.8 billion [12:00] "I'm paying attention. I want meetings of three people, not ten." [15:00] "Someday this boy's going to get hit by a truck full of money, and I'm going to be standing beside him." [22:30] A description of Paul's bipolar disorder [31:00] The economics of games [36:30] Learning how to negotiate from his Dad [43:00] "The Internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven't figured this out yet." [50:00] Leaving a $1,000,000 behind [55:00] Applying the lessons he learned from watching his Dad negotiate [58:30] The entrepreneur of ice [1:01:00] "Consistency doesn't matter. Only invention matters." ---- 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 Note

What I learned from My Life and Work: The Autobiography of Henry Ford. --- A theory of business (0:01) If an old idea works then the weight of the evidence is all in its favor. The Lindy Effect. (7:30) All people are not equal (11:00)  "That is why I never employ an expert in full bloom" (15:00), "I quit my job on August 15th, 1899 and went into the automobile business" (19:30) Henry Ford's philosophy on constant change (25:00) Henry Ford's 3 conclusions about business (26:00) Traits of a prosperous business (29:45) I cannot discover that anyone knows enough about anything on this earth definitely to say what is and what is not possible. .We get some of our best results from letting fools rush in where angels fear to tread. (34:00) Fix the problem. Do not think money will be the solution. (40:00) Overcome fear. Be free. (44:00) Fuck your feelings (52:30) Henry Ford's 4 principles of business (56:00) ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepre

What I learned from reading Against the Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson --- I am a creator of products, a builder of things. [0:01] This book is the story of 15 years of struggle to finally invent, own, and sell his own product. [1:35] This is the exposition of a business philosophy which is very different from anything you might have encountered before. [2:11] The first 75% to 80% of the book is just struggle after struggle. [2:47] Dyson had a bunch of people that he looked up to that motivated him as a young man. Thomas Edison is one of those people. [4:51] Such reverence has been accorded to the miserable wheel —that perhaps that alone can account for the fact it was never improved. Perhaps millions of people in the last few years had ideas for improving it. All I did was take things a little further than just having an idea. [6:10] The look of the product —the intangible style that sets one thing apart from another—is still closest to my heart. [7:04] After the idea there is plenty of time to learn

What I learnd by reading No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin.  --- When Danny was excited about something, you couldn't help but get excited too (3:00) Steve Jobs had one speed: GO! (6:00) Danny joins Israel's special forces (10:00) "Life is too short to be bored. Only boring people are bored." (19:00) The idea for Akamai (22:00) "If he didn't know something, he'd go learn it." (28:00) Building a company the right way (31:00) Finding a business model (35:00) Passion is worth $500,000 (38:30) The first product (42:00) "My goal was to express it in layman's terms so that your grandmother could understand it." (44:00) Finding the right price/model (45:00) The best salesperson (48:10) "Hi, this is Steve Jobs, and I want to buy your company." (54:00) "I have this company of one hundred ten people, headed by one of the biggest businessmen around with lots of money in the bank, and I'm just a graduate student." (57:00) "In less tha

What I learned from reading The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story by Michael Lewis --- He grew up poor, dropped out of high school, and made himself 3 or 4 billion dollars (0:01), New Growth Theory (8:00), "Growth is just another word for change." (11:15), "The notion of what constituted useful work had broadened." (15:00), "If everyone was patient there'd be no new companies." (18:00), Turning his life around at 38 (21:00), Jim's idea to avoid the Innovator's Dilemma (30:00), The beginning of Netscape (33:00), The fast eat the slow (38:00), The people you don't want (40:00), The difference between a pig and a chicken /"They had wanted to be chickens; Clark forced them to be pigs" (43:00), All chips on 00 / Diversification is for idiots (48:00), Moving the goalposts / "Mama, I'm going to show Plainview." (56:00) ---- 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 acces

What I learned from reading How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story by Billy Gallagher.  --- I'm not going to work for someone else (0:01) Early design decisions of Snapchat (7:45) Evan idolized Steve Jobs and Edwin Land (10:00) How Snapchat convinced people to download the app (13:00) How Facebook created the environment for Snapchat to grow (16:00) The problem of standard (21:00) Evan on conforming (23:00) Mark Zuckerberg's first move on Snapchat (27:00) A great quote from Jeff Bezos (34:30) Digital Dualism (36:30) Snapchat Stories (39:00) Evan's framework for Snapchat and the Internet Everywhere (44:45) Learning from messaging apps in Asia (50:00) Brands are not social. People are. (55:00) Evan's philosophy on the distinction between privacy and secrecy (59:00) ---- 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 hav

What I learned from reading Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner. --- [0:35] For a new generation, Carmack and Romero personified an American dream: they were self-made individuals who had transformed their personal passions into a big business, a new art form, and a cultural phenomenon. [1:19] His (John Carmack) game and life aspired to the elegant discipline of computer code. [1:40] Romero wants an empire. I just want to create good programs. [3:07] No matter what Romero suffered he could always escape back into games. [4:55] Romero’s stepdad smashed Romero’s face into the machine as punishment for playing video games. [5:24] He beat Romero until the boy had a fat lip and a black eye. Romero was grounded for two weeks. The next day he snuck back to the arcade. [7:40] One afternoon his father left to pick up groceries. Romero wouldn't see him again for two years. [8:53] Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark. (Founders #32) [10:20] Arcade

What I learned from reading Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer.  This is not a typical business book (0:30) Why don't you just do what you've been thinking about doing your whole life? (4:00) How Danny learned from other founders on what to do and what to avoid (8:00) The smartest business decision I ever made (18:00) Optionality as a non-negotiable (20:00) Inadequate focus on core product (23:30) The founding of Shake Shack is an example of this great quote from Jeff Bezos: "We know from our past experiences that big things start small. The biggest oak starts from an acorn. If you want to do anything new you’ve got to be willing to let that acorn grow into a little sapling and finally into a small tree and maybe one day it will be a big business on its own." (27:00) Advice from Stanley Marcus (Neiman Marcus): "The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled." (38:00) ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of hi

What I learned from reading Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli. --- Learning from great company-builders (0:30) Steve Jobs verbal mastery (5:00) The failed negotiations between NeXT and IBM (10:00)  "But how can he be a turnaround expert when he eats his lunch alone in his office, with food served to him on china that looks like it came from Versailles?" (18:00) "You can't go to the library and find a book titled The Business Model for Animation. The reason you can't is because there's only one company [Disney] that's ever done it well, and they were not interested in telling the world how lucrative it was." (22:00)  Bill Gates on Steve's simplicity (29:00) Steve Jobs on being an artist (33:00) Apple pays half billion dollars to rehire Steve Jobs (34:00) "The company is one of the most amazing inventions of humans, this abstract construct that is incredibly powerful." (38:00) Unlocking secrets (42:00) Who gives a fuck about the

What I learned from reading Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard. --- I had always avoided thinking of myself as a businessman. I was a climber, a surfer, a kayaker, a skier, and a blacksmith. We simply enjoyed making good tools and functional clothes. [0:01]  One day it dawned on me that I was a businessman and would probably be one for a long time. I knew that I would never be happy playing by the normal rules of business; I wanted to distance myself as far as possible from this pasty-faced corpses in suits I saw in airline magazine ads. If I had to be a businessman, I was going to do it on my own terms. [0:32]  One of my favorite sayings about entrepreneurship is: 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. [1:00] Work had to be enjoyable on a daily basis. [1:18] I’ve always thought of myself as an 80 percent. I like to throw myself passionatel

What I learned from reading The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone.    ---- 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 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

What I learned from reading Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow.  [0:01] Rockefeller was a unique hybrid in American business, both the instinctive first-generation entrepreneur who founded the company and the analytical second-generation manager who extends and develops it.  [0:30] Having created an empire of unfathomable complexity, he was smart enough to see that he had to submerge his identity in the organization.  [0:43] Don’t say that I out to do this or that. We ought to do it. Never forget that we are partners. Whatever is done for the general good is done for the good of us all. —John D. Rockefeller.  [0:55] He preferred outspoken colleagues to weak-kneed sycophants.  [1:14] That he created one of the first multinational corporations, selling kerosene around the world and setting a business pattern for the next century, was arguable his greatest feat.  [2:48] The spot chosen for the new refinery tells much about Rockefeller’s approach to business. . . Able to ship by water or over l

What I learned from reading Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson.  ---- 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 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

What I learned from reading The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich.  Microsoft had offered Mark between $1 million and $2 million to go work for them. Amazingly, Mark had turned them down (1:25) Maybe he knew he was about to cross a line. But he had never been very good at staying in the lines. From Mark's history, it was obvious that he didn't like the sandbox. He seemed the type of kid that wanted to kick out all the sand. (8:01) He didn't care what time it was. To guys like Mark time was another weapon of the establishment. The great engineers and hackers didn't function under the same time constraints as everyone else. (11:23) Mark wondered: If people want to go online and check out their friends couldn't they build a website that did just that? (14:36)  Mark. Founder. Master and Commander. Enemy of the State. (21:19) Instead of attacking Baylor head on they made a list of schools within 100 miles of it and dropped Facebook in those