#352 J. Paul Getty: The Richest Private Citizen in America
Founders
The Importance of Concentration in Success
Success in life is strongly tied to the ability to concentrate on the task at hand without distractions. Individuals like J. Paul Getty, Edwin Land, and John D. Rockefeller Sr. emphasized the significance of concentration in achieving great things. Having a long attention span is highlighted as a critical factor for success by figures like Getty and Charlie Munger. Concentrating the mind on the task to be done at the right time and excluding everything else is seen as a key skill for success.
What I learned from reading As I See it: The Autobiography of J. Paul Getty by J. Paul Getty.
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(2:00) Vice President Nelson Rockefeller did me the honor of saying that my entrepreneurial success in the oil business put me on a par with his grandfather, John D. Rockefeller Sr. My comment was that comparing me to John D. Sr. was like comparing a sparrow to an eagle. My words were not inspired by modesty, but by facts.
(8:00) On his dad sending him to military school: The strict, regimented environment was good for me.
(20:00) Entrepreneurs are people whose mind and energies are constantly being used at peak capacity.
(28:00) Advice for fellow entrepreneurs: Don’t be like William Randolph Hearst. Reinvest in your business. Keep a fortress of cash. Use debt sparingly.
(30:00) The great entrepreneurs I know have these traits:
-Devoted their minds and energy to building productive enterprises (over the long term)
-They concentrated on expanding
-They concentrated on making their companies more efficient
-They reinvest heavily in to their business (which can help efficiency and expansion )
-Always personally involved in their business
-They know their business down to the ground
-They have an innate capacity to think on a large scale
(34:00) Five wives can't all be wrong. As one of them told me after our divorce: "You're a great friend, Paul—but as a husband, you're impossible.”
(36:00) My business interests created problems [in my marriages]. I was drilling several wells and it was by no means uncommon for me to stay on the sites overnight or even for two days or more.
(38:00) A hatred of failure has always been part of my nature and one of the more pronounced motivating forces in my life. Once I have committed myself to any undertaking, a powerful inner drive cuts in and I become intent on seeing it through to a satisfactory conclusion.
(38:00) My own nature is such that I am able to concentrate on whatever is before me and am not easily distracted from it.
(42:00) There are times when certain cards sit unclaimed in the common pile, when certain properties become available that will never be available again. A good businessman feels these moments like a fall in the barometric pressure. A great businessman is dumb enough to act on them even when he cannot afford to. — The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King by Rich Cohen. (Founders #255)
(47:00) [On transforming his company for the Saudi Arabia deal] The list of things to be done was awesome, but those things were done.
(53:00) Churchill to his son: Your idle and lazy life is very offensive to me. You appear to be leading a perfectly useless existence.
(54:00) My father's influence and example where the principle forces that formed my nature and character.
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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
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