#289 Brunello Cucinelli

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Feb 7, 2023

Brunello Cucinelli, founder of his luxurious fashion brand, discusses his 45-year journey dedicated to his mission of humanistic capitalism. He reflects on how personal histories shape aspirations and the importance of community over material wealth. Cucinelli emphasizes the risks modern technology poses to human connection, urging deeper workplace interactions. He also shares wisdom drawn from café conversations and his father's struggles, advocating for ethical practices and the empowerment of future artisans.

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ANECDOTE

Rare Book

Brunello Cucinelli's autobiography, "The Dream of Solomeo," is rare and expensive.
David Senra gifted a copy to the podcast host after a discussion about Cucinelli.

INSIGHT

Solitude and Purpose

Cucinelli deeply values solitude and reflection.
He believes finding one's purpose is crucial, a sentiment echoed by his interaction with Bellucci.

ANECDOTE

Humble Beginnings

Cucinelli grew up poor, without basic amenities like electricity or running water.
This upbringing fostered an appreciation for silence, listening, and observation.

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What I learned from reading The Dream of Solomeo: My Life and the Idea of Humanistic Capitalism by Brunello Cucinelli.

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Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 293 David Senra Passion and Pain !

[4:00] I am reminded of Machiavelli: during his exile, he too spent his afternoons playing board games and drinking wine, while at night, in the austere silence of his studio, he engaged in solitary, literary conversations with the ancient scholars.

[6:00] The true meaning of my life seems to be a spontaneous drive and energy.

[7:00] I am driven by an immense desire: that my life, when it reaches its end, will not have been useless.

[7:00] Brunello Cucinelli by Om Malik

[8:00] God assigns to all of us a mission to fulfill. Our task is first to discover the nature of our summons, then to follow it.

[11:00] We schedule time to think. Most people schedule themselves like a dentist. It's so easy to get so busy that you no longer have time to think- and you pay a huge price for that. —— 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)

[14:00] Try to be your son's teacher until he's ten years old; his father, until he's twenty; and his friend, for the rest of his life.

[14:00] The problem is not getting rich, it's staying sane. —Charlie Munger

[18:00] What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. —Carl Sagan

[23:00] Postponing the reward increases the appreciation, a fact that has been forgotten in the current culture of impatience.

[29:00] I could see the humiliation in my father's eyes. His teary eyes were the source of inspiration for my life.

[33:00] I have always been firmly convinced that in order to successfully stand out you need to focus on one single project representing the dream of your life.

[36:00] A young man with no money and tons of enthusiasm.

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