What I learned from reading A Success Story by Estee Lauder.----Come see a live show with me and Patrick O'Shaughnessy from Invest Like The Best on October 19th in New York City. Get your tickets here! ----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes and every bonus episode. ---You can probably reach out with comparative ease and touch a life of serenity and peace. You can wait for things to happen and not get too sad when they don’t. That’s fine for some but not for me. Serenity is pleasant, but it lacks the ecstasy of achievement. [0:10]I’ve always believed that if you stick to a thought and carefully avoid distraction along the way, you can fulfill a dream. I kept my eye on the target. I never allowed my eye to leave the target. I always believed that success comes from not letting your eyes stray from that target.  [1:10]Beauty is an ancient industry: Women have always enhanced their looks. It has always been so. It will always be so. [4:18] Lessons from here mother: The secret is to imagine yourself as the most important person in the room. Imagine it vividly enough and you will become that person. [6:01] You could make a thing wonderful by enhancing its outward appearance. Little did I know I’d be doing the same thing, multiplied by a billionfold. [8:45]Everything has to be sold aggressively. [9:05]I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and sell it hard. [9:39] My drive and persistence were always there, and those are the qualities for building a successful business. [10:38] The moment she realizes she could make beauty her life’s work: This is the story of bewitchment. Uncle John [a skin specialist] had worlds to teach me. Do you know what it means for a young girl to suddenly have someone take her dreams seriously? Teach her secrets? I could think of nothing else. [12:09]The humble beginning of the Estee Lauder empire: This was my first chance at a real business. I would have a small counter in a beauty salon. Whatever I sold would be mine to keep. No partners. I would risk the rent, but if it worked, I would start the business I always dreamed about. Risk taking is the cornerstone of empires. No one ever became a success without taking chances. [15:30]Sales technique of the century: Now the big secret. I would give the woman a sample of whatever she did not buy as a gift. I just knew, even though I had not yet named the technique, that gift with a purchase was very appealing. The idea was to convince a woman to try a product. She would be faithful forever.  [16:30]I didn’t need bread to eat but I worked as though I did, for the pure love of the venture. For me, teaching about beauty was an emotional experience. [18:52]I was single-minded in the pursuit of my dream. [21:01] Despite all the nay sayers, there was never a single moment when I considered giving up. That was simply not a viable alternative. [22:12]Word of mouth was what built the foundation of her business: Women were telling women. They were selling my cream before they even go to the salon. Tell-a-Woman was the word-of-mouth campaign that launched Estee Lauder Cosmetics. [22:41]Great packaging does not copy or study. It invents. [24:50]Sak’s Fifth Avenue placed an $800 order. This was her response: Breaking that first barrier was perhaps the single most exciting moment I have ever known. [26:16] “Missionaries make better products.” — Jeff Bezos:  I was a woman on a mission. I had to show as many women as I could reach how to stay beautiful. [28:07] The free sample sales technique she pioneered in the beauty industry: The gift to the customer —the free something that would sell everything else. You give people a product to try. If they like the quality, they buy it. They haven’t been lured in by an advertisement but convinced by the product itself. [29:10]We took the money we planned to use on advertising and invested it instead in enough material to give away large quantities of our products. [30:00] A great story about how Estee Lauder convinced more women to buy perfume. [32:59] A great story about how Estee Lauder expanded into Europe. [36:31] Be determined and sell!: It’s not enough to have the most wonderful product in the world. You must be able to sell it. One woman with definite ideas, pride in her product, and a hands-on approach could lay the foundation for a strong business. [40:57] Our unique style has come from years of trial and error. Truths have emerged that have worked for us. Let me share them with you. [41:24] Keep an eye on the competition. This doesn’t mean copying them, as I’ve made clear. Being interested in other people’s ideas for the purpose of saying, “We can do it better,” is not copying. Innovation doesn’t mean inventing the wheel each time; innovation can mean a whole new way of looking at old things. [42:10] —“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. It's good for you. It's good for Founders. A list of all the books featured on Founders Podcast.

Joseph Pulitzer, the midwife to the birth of modern mass media, transformed American journalism. Teddy Roosevelt tried to have him jailed. Fascinating insights into Pulitzer's personal life, struggles, and escape to America. From poverty to financial success, Pulitzer's ambition and astute business decisions are captivating. His relentless work ethic led to blindness, but his impact on the media industry remains undeniable.

Discover the incredible life of Edwin Land, a genius inventor with 535 patents, including his role in the Polaroid vs Kodak battle. Learn about Land's can-do attitude, problem-solving strategies, and his visionary approach to innovation in photography and national security. Explore the intense legal showdown between Polaroid and Kodak, ending with a historic victory for Polaroid

What I learned from reading Land’s Polaroid: A Company and The Man Who Invented It by Peter C. Wensberg.----Come see a live show with me and Patrick O'Shaughnessy from Invest Like The Best on October 19th in New York City. Get your tickets here! ----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes and every bonus episode. ---[1:14] He was revered to an extraordinary extent by most of the people who worked for him.  [1:36] Land did not earn a college degree, yet he has received more medals and scientific honors than most living Americans.  [3:36]  Land's life seemed to be primarily a life of the mind. His great dramas were largely self created, played on the stage of Polaroid, which he constructed for himself. [4:14] All of the people that you and I are studying on this podcast created their own world within the world.  [5:55] The end this book made me think of this quote by Steve Jobs: Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. [7:38] Peter [the author] worked with Edwin Land for 20 years. As a result this book —more than any other— has a lot of direct quotes from Land.  [7:50] “Nature doesn’t care.” By that he meant nothing in nature would help or hinder their progress to a solution except their own ingenuity. Nature offered no bar to the elegant solution over the awkward compromise if they had the imagination to seek it and the wit to discover it. Nature had no concern for the affairs of men. [9:42] At 37 years old he had achieved everything to which he aspired except success.  [10:55]  This product, this innovation, this creation— of one of the most important products ever made— came at a time when the company was almost out of business. [12:42] Land said running his company felt like he was a physics professor leading his students on a grand experiment.  [12:53] I really do believe that Edwin Land is one of the most important entrepreneurs that ever existed. The way his mind works is extremely unique.  [17:08] Land on his motivations in life: I find an urge to make a significant intellectual contribution that can be tangibly embodied in a product or process. [19:45] Edwin Land at 18: A secretive young man who was well-dressed but usually disheveled, often highly agitated, prone to long periods of intense activity, rarely volunteering any explanation of what he was trying to accomplish, eating haphazardly, his sleeves rolled up, his shock of dark hair falling in his face as he worked.  [20:31] Edwin Land on how to work: If you dream of something worth doing and then simply go to work on it and don't think anything of personalities, or emotional conflicts, or of money, or of family distractions; it is amazing how quickly you get through those 5,000 steps.  [24:52] An example of Land’s obsessiveness: They start at 8:30 and they work until 4:30. Then everything shuts down and they all go home. They don't work on Saturdays or Sundays.They keep telling me I should work for them. How could I get anything done?  [29:15]At this point we are 14 years into the story: Nothing told land that he had built a business that could survive, let alone grow.[30:47] A Landian question took nothing for granted, accepted no common knowledge, tested the cliche, and treated conventional wisdom as an oxymoron.  [35:56] Why is Polaroid a nutty place? To start with, it’s run by a man who has more brains than anyone has a right to. He doesn’t believe anything until he’s discovered it and proved it for himself. Because of that, he never looks at things the way you and I do. He has no small talk. He has no preconceived notions. He starts from the beginning with everything. That’s why we have a camera that takes pictures and develops them right away.  [39:15] Land hated to stop working. Once begun on a course of action, he wanted to experiment until the hypothesis was proved. He worked liked a predator, stalking a solution, with perpetual patience and energy. His intuitive leaps had landed him on the neck of his prey too often for him not to believe that he could do it the next time and the time after that.  [50:50] Land ran his company longer than any of America's great business leaders, longer than Thomas Edison, longer than Henry Ford, longer than George Eastman. Giving it up had been the hardest thing he had done in his life.  —“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. It's good for you. It's good for Founders. A list of all the books featured on Founders Podcast.

Discover the visionary mindset of Edwin Land, the founder of Polaroid, as he prioritized opportunity over problems and trusted his instincts over experts. Learn about his unique ability to create new markets for innovative products, his belief in individual creativity, and his grand aspirations to merge artistry with scientific innovation.

Robert Friedland, a mining expert and former drug dealer, is the guest. The podcast discusses Friedland's accidental discovery of the largest nickel deposit, his friendship with Steve Jobs, and his success in the mining industry. It also explores his unconventional tactics in business negotiations and his ability to turn undervalued assets into profitable ventures.

This podcast discusses the life of Walter Chrysler, including his challenging childhood, the power of books to connect with readers, valuable lessons from Old Man Hickey, his rise in the locomotive industry, and his decision to help the troubled Maxwell Motors company and build a great car. It also explores how the company found success outside the auto show, Chrysler Corporation's success in the 1920s, and the lessons Walter Chrysler wants to teach his son.

Learn how Felix Dennis started his first business with no money and his philosophical insights on getting rich. Discover the key qualities needed for success, including confidence, determination, and tunnel vision. Explore the importance of self-belief and the balance between wealth and personal fulfillment.

What I learned from reading Master of Precision: Henry Leland by Ottilie Leland and Minnie Dubbs Millbrook.----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----[0:17] Henry Leland laid the foundation for the future of American industry. He had established manufacturing procedures never previously so effectively employed and took a position of leadership. In the next decades would be comparable in statute with, although quite different from, William Durant, Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan. [0:40] It should be pointed out that Leland's contribution to the development of the motor car was the establishment of high standards of manufacturing. [2:33] Henry Leland always got deep satisfaction out of anything which was made right. He had—in high degree—the pride of craftsmanship that had marked the master workman down the centuries. [3:07] He developed the Cadillac, the self-starter, The Lincoln car, held up high standards of performance for the industry, and established the first notable school of automotive mechanics. [4:05] A lesson Henry Leland learned from his Father: He bequeathed a singularly trustful disposition to his son, who could never believe that other men were not inherently as good and honorable as he himself. He was several times to pay a stiff penalty for this faith in human nature. [4:56] A lesson Henry Leland learned from his Mother: “There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. Hunt for the right way and then go ahead.” This simple admonition was to become a creed that would govern all of his actions as he rose in industry. [6:10] He lives through the beginning of two industries in his life: Manufacturing in general and the automobile industry in specific. [7:24] Henry Leland was not sure he wanted to become an apprentice machinist. The hours were long—10 hour days, 6 days a week—and most factories did not pay high wages. Moreover, farming was still the traditional American operation, which offered a possibility of independence and did not shut a man indoors with noisy machinery. [9:06] Henry was already discovering the education that could be mined from books. At first, the fond of reading, he had been attracted by cheap adventure novels, which he borrowed from the local library. One night a stranger there, seeing what he was taking out exclaimed, “Surely don't read that trash!” Henry replied, “What better use can I make of my time than to read?” The stranger answered, “It makes a lot of difference what you read,” and then suggested some better books. The episode was a revelation to young Leland and he was soon reading volumes that acquainted him with American genius in literature, government and invention. [9:55] Abraham Lincoln was his idol. Lincoln Motor Company—which Henry founds when he is in his 70s— is named after Abraham Lincoln. If we want to continue the conversation that Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison were having [about who is history’s greatest person] in The Billionaire and The Mechanic—Jobs said Gandhi. Ellison said Napoleon. Leland’s answer would be Abraham Lincoln. [12:05] Even if he experienced a financial penalty, Henry Leland wanted to do the honorable thing. [12:44] Henry wanted to work where he could render the greatest service to his country [during The Civil War]. He had learned that the U.S. Armory needed expert mechanics, and he had determined to help with war production. The particular lesson he learned in the Armory was the value of order and neatness in a work shop. Everything was clean and systematic, a state of affairs not common in early factories. [14:37] Precision was his god. His personal work was outstanding. [14:56] The discipline and subordination of factory life ran counter to American individualism. [16:31] A nervous breakdown drove him from the shop to the far for rest. [16:48] His mind, independent and teaming with ideas, made it difficult for him to work with others. He longed for a business in which he might put his theories to work but he had no money, a family to support, and his father and mother were in need of aid. [20:00] The manufacture of the hair clippers [which he invented and brought to market against the opposition of his bosses] was spirited and rose to an output as much as 300 daily. For this I received a ‘Thank you’ and 50 cents a day more in my pay envelope. That was on of the times I thought I ought to quit making other men rich and go to work for myself. [20:41] Henry Leland was good at sales by not trying to be good at sales. He wanted to educate people. He was gifted at selling because he gave the customer useful advice. [22:26] As usual there was little money left over for saving. And yet Henry Leland was more hopeful of going into business for himself than ever before. He had brought his skill and experience to the service of the ambitious industrialists of the west and they had shown him in return the financial method that had put them in business. Each had organized a company by selling stock. “Eureka,” said Henry Leland to himself, “I have found it,” for he had great experience and he was sure he could raise a little money. His dream of an independent business might come true after all. [23:40] Henry Leland had a lifetime of experience before he starts his first company. He was 47 years old. He had been working in factories since he was a teenager. [25:03] Leland was a missionary for precision. He held people to high standards. [26:07] Horace Dodge trained directly under Leland for two years before starting a machine shop of his own. [27:45] The building up of a business, which expands rapidly and must be financed primarily from its own earnings, is often a discouraging process. [27:56] How Henry Leland advertised the services of his foundry: We appeal for business only to those who want the best. We do not attempt to compete with the average foundry on price. We believe no other foundry can successfully compete with us on quality. [29:57] “There always was and there always will be conflict between Good and Good Enough. In opening up a new business one can count on meeting resistance to a high standard of workmanship. It is easy to get cooperation for mediocre work, but one must sweat blood for a chance to produce a superior product.” —Henry Leland [35:10] Henry Leland founds Cadillac when he is almost 60 years old: Henry Leland now embarked on the great adventure of his life; he would play an important role in the organization of Detroit’s first successful automobile company. [35:27] Cadillac was making $2 million per year in profit when Billy Durant buys Cadillac for $4.5 million. [37:21] Other men had built cars for many reasons—for the fascination of creation, for the profits in it—but Henry Leland agreed to build a car because he did not want to see a pet engine unappreciated and unused. [38:53] Henry Leland was an expert in a field where experts were still uncommon. [41:13] We buy the best parts we can find. I have always contended price should be considered last by a manufacturer in selecting materials for his product. [45:10] His theory was that the one essential ingredient of success was mastery of one’s self as well as one’s job. [47:57] A story: If you do the right thing people will remember. [52:10] Henry Leland is 77 years old when he starts Lincoln Motor Company [54:21] Henry Leland did not believe in quitting: It was manifestly impossible for the Lelands, men of tender heart and unswerving integrity, to take a cold, dispassionate view of the financial straits of the Lincoln Company. Many automobile companies had had money troubles; some had undergone a variety of reorganizations, combinations and other stratagems to keep alive and their directors and management had not been considered dishonest or insensible of their trust even though investors may have lost a portion or all of their equity. But such a course was unthinkable for the Lelands; as long as there was breath in their bodies they would oppose it. They had invested everything they owned in the company. [1:01:05] Henry Ford and Henry Leland were like oil and water: We see a difference in management culture. Leland led from the front. Ford beat you down from above. [1:02:27] How Ford management described the Lincoln organization: The whole organization is unusually harmonious and uniformly competent. [1:05:40] A letter from Henry Leland to Henry Ford: I cannot but feel certain that you intended to keep those pledges when you made them to me personally and, while I cannot understand the long delay on your part, I still hope and trust that you will not shake my life long faith in humanity. ----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----“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. It's good for you. It's good for Founders. A list of all the books featured on Founders Podcast.

What I learned from reading The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison by Mike Wilson----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----[1:06]  You want to know what I think about Larry Ellison? Well, I suppose he had some private sort of greatness but he kept it to himself. He never gave himself away. He never gave anything away. He just left you a tip. He had a generous mind. I don’t suppose anybody ever had so many opinions, but he never believed in anything except Larry Ellison. [1:45] That was the way Ellison’s mind worked. He was like a search engine gone haywire. [3:01] I asked Ellison how he had seen his adult life when he was a kid. What he thought was going to happen to him. “You mean did I anticipate becoming the fifth wealthiest person in the United States? No. This is all kind of surreal. I don’t even believe it. When I look around I say this must be something out of a dream.” [3:57] Ellison is the Charles Foster Kane of the technological age. He is bright, brash, optimistic, and immensely appealing, yet somehow incomplete. [4:31] He worked in the computer industry for several years but never had a job that suited what he saw as his superior intellectual gifts. [6:08] The stockholder who benefited the most from Oracle’s performance was Larry Ellison, exactly what he intended. Ellison started the company because he wanted to be his own boss. And he stayed in control throughout his tenure at Oracle always holding onto enough stock that his power and authority could never be seriously challenged. [7:57] To him there was now power greater than the human mind. [8:23] What Larry reminds me of is a truth that Benjamin Franklin hit on 250 years ago. He says his mind was much improved by all the reading he did. There were very tangible results in Benjamin Franklin’s life when people found his conversations more enjoyable because he was a more interesting person to talk to—that led him being able to raise money for his business. It helped him close sales. Larry Ellison is very much the same way. [8:53] When hiring, Ellison valued intelligence more than experience. He often looked for unruly geniuses instead of solid, steady workers. [10:52] If he hadn’t made me rich, I’d probably hate him because he is obnoxious. He is not nice to people. [12:39] He was capable of chilling selfishness and inspiring generosity. He could dazzle people with his insights and madden them with his lies. He was a fundamentally shy man who could delight audiences with his colorful speeches. He was known for his healthy ego and often seemed deeply insecure. Many people learned to accept Ellison’s contradictory nature. [14:01] In 1970 sales of packaged computer programs amounted to only $70 million for the entire year. [15:55] There is a book called The HP Way. I did a podcast on it (Founders #29) [16:20] The Oracle Way was simply to win. How that goal was achieved was secondary. [17:18] Ellison’s early life left a lot to be desired. He was never very happy with the humdrum facts of his life so he changed them. Beginning when he was a child, and continuing into his days in the Forbes 400, Ellison lived partly in a world of his own invention. [18:15] He wasn’t going to be smothered by the dreary circumstances of his life. He was going to leap over them. [20:13] Larry reads a lot of biographies. One person he admired the most was Winston Churchill. He had a lot in common with Churchill. Both were mediocre students. Both desperately sought the approval of their fathers to no avail. And both were witty, insatiably curious, and charming when it suited them. Reading about Churchill reassured him that even ‘gods have moments of insecurity.’ [22:30] A description of Larry in his mid twenties: Ellison was extremely hard on himself. He had a mental image of where he should be and what he should be and he was not able to attain it. [25:19] He has incredible intelligence and he applies it with incredible intensity. [26:44] The subject he liked best was himself. He was forever telling people how wonderful he was, how smart he was, and how rich he was going to be. [29:50] For Ellison Oracle was a holy mission. [30:33] There was a problem. A sheet rock wall stood between the offices and the computer room. Scott said, “Larry, we need to hook up these terminals. How are we going to hook them up?” “I'll show you how.” Ellison replied. He grabbed a hammer and smashed a hole through the wall. Bruce Scott came to believe that Ellison's entire business philosophy could be summed up in that single act. Find a way or make one. Just do it. [32:41] Ellison could not have dreamed up a more amiable and helpful competitor than IBM. Think of the marketing of relational technology as a race, with Ellison and IBM as two of the main entrants. IBM taught Ellison to walk, bought him a pair of track shoes, trained him as a sprinter, and then gave him a big head start. How could he lose? [35:14] He was practicing. He was working. He knew there was a problem and he fixed it. [35:47] The idea that somebody else might take away Oracle's business was poison to Ellison. He understood the importance of locking up a large share of the market early. “How much does it cost Pepsi to get one half of a percent of the market from Coke once the market has been established?” he once asked rhetorically. “It's very expensive. This market is being established. If we don't run as hard as we can, as fast as we can, and then do it again twice as fast, it’ll be cost prohibitive for us to increase market share.” [36:14] Larry put marketing first and everything else second. Average technology and good marketing beat good technology and average marketing every day. [39:17] My view is that there are only a handful of things that are really important and you should devote all of your time to those things and forget everything else. [40:46] I was not terribly forgiving of mediocrity. I was completely intolerant of a lack of effort. And I was fairly brutal in the way I expressed myself. [41:16] Kobe Bryant: I had issues or problems with the people who don’t demand excellence from themselves. I won’t tolerate that. [42:30] The guy that was in charge of Oracle’s advertising in the early days of the company: My ads attack like a pack of speed crazed wolverines and have the same general effect on your competition that a full moon does on a werewolf. [44:00] Larry fundamentally believed that his company was going to be more important than IBM. You can’t imagine how far fetched those ideas sounded. He would say he was here to become the largest software company in the world. People were taken aback. [45:32] Larry goes against consensus. Every single on of his advisors told him sell equity, sell equity, sell equity. And Larry just had a fundamental belief that that would be a mistake because the equity is going to be worth a lot more in the future. [46:21] There are only two kinds of people in the world to Larry. Those who are on his team and those who are his enemies. There is no middle ground. [48:03] Even when he was feeling his worst Ellison remained an optimist. A man who couldn’t help looking forward. He lived in the future. [49:34] He was terrified he would fail, confirming his father’s dark predictions about him. There was a note in his voice that you didn’t usually hear with him—just scared, worried. [56:30] I am very competitive, and sometimes, when somebody does something really great, I get upset because I just feel like that isn’t me. And my reaction to Steve [Jobs] wasn’t competitive at all. I felt what he had done was so wonderful, and I was so proud of him, and I love him so much, it was almost as if I had done it. I didn’t feel the least bit competitive. The wonderful thing about loving somebody else is that it can expand your ego in the best sense. If they do something great, you feel terrific about it. [57:38] The only things that are important in our lives are love and work. Not necessarily in that order. We work because work is an act of creation. We identify with it. Both love and work conspire to deliver some kind of happiness. If we can get reasonably good at both of them, we are in really great shape. [58:21] He’s got the same problem the rest of us have. He has to engage in an enlightened pursuit of happiness. To figure out what makes him happy. Human beings are builders. He is going to have to find something he really wants to build. He is going to have to have some idea and create something out of that idea. ----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----“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. It's good for you. It's good for Founders. A list of all the books featured on Founders Podcast.