Founders #323 Jimmy Buffett
Grandfather's Influence
- Jimmy Buffett's adventurous spirit can be traced to his sea captain grandfather.
- His grandfather instilled in him the belief that the world was his for the taking.
Father's Reconciliation
- Jimmy's father initially disapproved of his unconventional career path.
- He later reconciled with Jimmy, acknowledging his success and the importance of pursuing one's passions.
Early Charisma & Drive
- Even in his early days as a struggling musician, Jimmy Buffett possessed a unique charisma and stage presence.
- Like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he rejected a conventional life, viewing it as "kryptonite."
What I learned from reading Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way by Ryan White and A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett.
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(8:00) Q: What are you going to do with your life? A: Live a pretty interesting one.
(10:00) A lesson that his grandfather taught him: The only thing standing between Jimmy and the world would be a lack of imagination an an over abundance of caution. All he had to do was leap and the world would be his.
(13:00) There is a lot of Mark Twain in Jimmy Buffett. Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain by Roy Morris Jr. (Founders #312)
(13:30) There was nothing normal about me. My drive was not normal. My vision of where I wanted to go in life was not normal. The whole idea of a conventional existence was like Kryptonite to me. — Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #141)
(15:00) Jimmy Buffett and Warren Buffett: Their lives are illustrations of the power of compounding.
(16:30) A hit song was nice. But owning the publishing on a hit song was even better.
(17:30) Decoded by Jay Z. (Founders #238)
(19:30) You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something. — Steve Jobs
(24:00) If you want to create and capture lasting value, don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business. — Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Futureby Peter Thiel (Founders #278)
(28:00) It is ironic that I was never categorizable and now I’m a category. — Jimmy Buffett
(28:00) Billy asked me who I saw myself like in today's music scene. I told him, nobody. I really didn't see myself like anybody. What really set me apart in these days was my repertoire. It was more formidable than the rest of the players. There were a lot of better musicians around but there wasn't anybody close in nature to what I was doing. — Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan. (Founders #259)
(29:00) No one is ever eager to fix a cash machine that isn't broken.
(29:00) You can’t sell a bagless vacuum cleaner to people that make $500 million a year selling vacuum bags. — Against the Odds: An Autobiography by James Dyson(Founders #300)
(31:00) Something that grows exponentially can become so valuable that it's worth making an extraordinary effort to get it started. — Paul Graham How to Do Great Work (Founders #314)
(36:00) My description of Jimmy Buffett:
-Blue collar work ethic
-Learning machine
-Loves it
-Won’t quit
(37:00) The Business of Phish
(42:00) What Jimmy Buffett and Kanye West have in common
Some say he arrogant. Can y'all blame him?
It was straight embarrassing how y'all played him
Last year shoppin' my demo, I was tryna shine
Every motherfucker told me that I couldn't rhyme
Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams
(46:00) Jimmy kept the main thing the main thing: “I don't give a shit what happens 22 and a half hours of the day. The only thing that matters is the 90 minutes that we're on stage.”
(1:04:00) That's what's wrong with the world these days. Nobody wants to put in the time it takes to be legendary. Mythology is not fast food.
(1:05:00) Margaritaville Holdings intuitively adopted the asset-light model, where it licenses its intellectual property to owners and operators via franchise agreements
(1:09:00) There is nobody who understands who Jimmy Buffett is and what Jimmy Buffett does better than Jimmy Buffett.
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“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