logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
52m 14s

#293: Ray Kroc (The Making of McDonald's...

David Senra
About this episode

What I learned from rereading Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc.

----

Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes

----

Follow Founders Podcast on YouTube 

----

Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best !

[2:00] I have always believed that each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems.

[4:00] I was fascinated by the simplicity and effectiveness of the system they described that night.Each step in producing the limited menu was stripped down to its essence and accomplished with a minimum of effort.

[5:00] When I flew back to Chicago that fateful day in 1954, I had a freshly signed contract with the McDonald brothers in my briefcase. I was a battle-scarred veteran of the business wars, but I was still eager to go into action. I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and incipient arthritis. I had lost my gall bladder and most of my thyroid gland in earlier campaigns. But I was convinced that the best was ahead of me.

[6:00] It’s not what you do it’s how you do it:

Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind the Mystique by Jeffrey Trachtenberg. (Founders #288)

Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson. (Founders #290)

The Invisible Billionaire: Daniel Ludwig by Jerry Shields. (Founders #292)

[8:00] I never considered my dreams wasted energy. They were invariably linked to some form of action.

[10:00] For me, work was play.

[13:00] I vowed that this was going to be my only job. I was going to make my living at it and to hell with moonlighting of any kind. I intended to devote every ounce of my energy to selling, and that's exactly what I did.

[14:00] Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life by Michael Schumacher. (Founders #242)

[20:00] This was the first phase of grinding it out—building my personal monument to capitalism. I paid tribute, in the feudal sense, for many years before I was able to rise with McDonald's on the foundation I had laid.

[21:00] Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.

[26:00] I was putting every cent I had and all I could borrow into this project.

[28:00] Perfection is very difficult to achieve and perfection was what I wanted in McDonald's. Everything else was secondary.

[29:00] If my competitor was drowning, I'd put a hose in his mouth.

[44:00] Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow. (Founders #248)

John D: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers by David Freeman Hawke. (Founders #254)

[47:00] The advertising campaign we put together was a smash hit. It turned Californians into our parking lots as though blindfolds had been removed from their eyes.

[48:00] Authority should go with the job.

----

Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes

----

Follow Founders Podcast on YouTube 

----

Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book

----

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

Up next
Jul 3
#393 The Marketing Genius of the Michelin Brothers
Your family asks you to take over a failing factory in a remote part of France. This “family business” comes with a stack of unpaid bills, a small team of workers who haven’t been paid in months, and a banker refusing to extend any more credit. You cut every unprofitable product ... Show More
55m 7s
Jun 23
#392 Michele Ferrero and His $40 Billion Privately Owned Chocolate Empire
You take over the family pastry shop and transform it into one of the most valuable privately held businesses in the world. Your father dies young. Your uncle does too. Everyone is relying on you and this keeps you up at night. You insist on differentiation and refuse to make me ... Show More
55m 10s
Jun 13
#391 Jimmy Iovine
You grow up in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn. You drop out of college. Your dad is your best friend but you don’t want to work the docks like him. You’re determined to “do something special.” You get a job sweeping the floor at recording studio. You get fired—twice. You’ll do ... Show More
57m 20s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2024
25 Years Of Founder WISDOM In 55 Minutes (ft. Jason Fried)
Episode 592:  Sam Parr ( https://twitter.com/theSamParr ) and Jason Fried ( https://x.com/jasonfried ) open up about personal finances, raising kids around wealth and dealing with risk.  —Show Notes:(0:00) Sam and Jason play Would You Rather...(5:15) Loosening the grip on the sti ... Show More
59m 43s
Jul 2024
#752: Terry Crews and Richard Koch
This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more ... Show More
3h 8m
Jan 2024
106: Building Blocks of Civilization: How the World Really Works
“Modern economies will always be tied to massive material flows, whether those of ammonia-based fertilizers to feed the still-growing global population; plastics, steel, and cement needed for new tools, machines, structures, and infrastructures; or new inputs required to produce ... Show More
1h 18m
May 2020
100. 100 Episodes - 1 Big Insight
It is amazing to realize that we have been together now for 100 episodes and that by the time this comes out there will be more than 180,000 downloads in over 150 countries. It is a significant understatement to say that the podcast has far exceeded my expectations for what it co ... Show More
31m 15s
Jun 2024
RWH046: A New Golden Age w/ Bob Robotti
In this episode, William Green chats with Bob Robotti, a great investor who’s crushed the S&P 500 over the last 40 years. Bob, the President & Chief Investment Officer of Robotti & Co, explains why he believes we’re in a “new golden age” for active, value-oriented investors (not ... Show More
2h 2m
May 2024
#742: Tony Robbins and Jerry Colonna
This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more ... Show More
2h 10m
Jun 2024
#294 - MakeMyMask : 3,5M€ du jour au lendemain... mais après 4 années de galères
Laurent Kretz rencontre Julie Pernet, la fondatrice de MakeMyMask, un laboratoire dermopilaire qui développe des masques pour les cheveux. Julie nous partage son parcours de solopreneure et les défis qu’elle a dû relever pour faire décoller sa marque. 4 ans après sa création, des ... Show More
1h 9m
Mar 2024
Scott Adams: How To Accomplish Impossible Things By Reframing Your Brain
There are people who say that Scott Adams has the ability to swing elections and bring awareness to causes he supports because of his highly influential livestream and powerful persuasion techniques.   Scott Adams is the best-selling author of the books Win Bigly, Loserthink, and ... Show More
56m 23s
Sep 2023
How Anyone Can Become a Great Public Speaker w/ Keith Ferrazzi | EP #65
In this episode, Peter and Keith discuss the art and business of public speaking. Keith Ferrazzi, a renowned executive coach and speaker, shares his insights on building a successful speaking career.  15:33 | Transforming Lives Through Speaking 31:11 | Get Good at Speaking Quickl ... Show More
1h 25m
May 2024
The Controversial Birth of Corn Flakes
Rerun. John Harvey Kellogg believed his corn flakes had a future as a sexual suppressant when he filed a patent for "Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same" on 31st May, 1895. What the Seventh Day Adventist and eugenicist hadn’t counted on was his brother Will - who combine ... Show More
12m 31s