Podcasts about Sol Price

Can AI startups keep their promise to benefit humanity? Eric Ries explains why business success often leads to corporate "corruption" of the founder's mission.Eric Ries, creator of the Lean Startup Method, breaks down the inherent tensions between scaling a business and maintaining its core purpose. We examine why so many organizations lose sight of their initial mission as they grow, and what it takes for leadership to stay grounded.This discussion focuses specifically on how AI company ethics are being tested in the current market. Ries shares his perspective on advising Anthropic, offering a rare look at how a major firm attempts to protect its mission while navigating rapid growth. If you are interested in the intersection of philosophy and corporate strategy, this breakdown offers a practical look at the challenges modern founders face.Subscribe for weekly business strategy breakdowns, and let me know in the comments: what do you think is the biggest threat to a company's original mission?YOU'LL DISCOVER✅ Why corruption means making money without creating value, not breaking the law✅ The Sol Price story: how FedMart was liquidated, and Costco grew from the same idea✅ Why shareholder primacy is only about 40 years old, not a law of capitalism✅ The three-part formula for an incorruptible company: purpose, coherence, integrity✅ How alternative ownership structures (foundations like Novo Nordisk and Hershey, purpose trusts like Patagonia) make firms far more durable✅ Eric's idea of financial gravity and why your buying, working, and investing choices matter✅ The job interview question that can push a company to put its mission in its legal charter✅ Why Anthropic's public benefit corporation and long-term benefit trust protect its mission⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:00 Why success corrupts good companies3:14 What corruption really means5:41 Shareholder primacy is a recent invention8:22 Sol Price, FedMart, and the founding of Costco13:08 Who decides which values matter18:22 Missionaries versus mercenaries19:44 How Google lost its way21:38 Governance structures that protect a mission28:01 Financial gravity and your power35:25 Red flags when vetting a company43:00 Why I am optimistic50:53 Advice for AI founders and AnthropicSubscribe to CXOTalk for weekly conversations with the business and technology leaders shaping the enterprise.Get the CXOTalk newsletter: https://newsletter.cxotalk.comShow notes, transcript, and summary: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/can-you-build-an-incorruptible-ai-company-a-conversation-with-eric-riesEpisode 923 | Recorded June 26, 2026#CXOTalk #EricRies #Incorruptible #LeanStartup #CorporateGovernance #ShareholderPrimacy #MissionDriven #Leadership #Anthropic #BusinessEthics

A third-grade teacher once warned that he'd grow up to be either a gangster or someone who did a lot of good. He chose to build better systems. In this episode of DarrenDaily On-Demand, Darren Hardy tells the story of Sol Price, the visionary behind Price Club and the warehouse model that inspired Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, and even a young Jeff Bezos. Price ran on radical honesty and paid his people double what others did. Everyone said he'd go broke; instead, he earned loyalty that money couldn't buy. Darren pulls three lessons from his story for your own business and legacy. Get more personal mentoring from Darren each day. Go to DarrenDaily at http://darrendaily.com/join to learn more.

What if the way most companies are run today—chasing short-term profits, cutting corners, exploiting customers, and ignoring employee well-being—is actually the opposite of what creates lasting organizational success? Eric Ries, author of the bestselling The Lean Startup and in his new book, Incorruptible, has spent decades studying how organizations can thrive over the long term while genuinely improving the lives of employees, customers, and communities. In Incorruptible, he argues that the most enduring, high-performing companies are guided by a mission that advances human flourishing and a principled ethos that shapes every decision and action. These organizations resist shortcuts, prioritize employee well-being, and refuse to squeeze customers—proving that ethics and excellence are inseparable. Eric brings these ideas to life with vivid examples. He examines 3M, where a strong corporate ethos fueled groundbreaking innovation like Post-it Notes, and shows what happens when organizations like them abandon their guiding principles. He highlights Sol Price's Price Club, a discount retailer which built extraordinary success by treating employees and customers with care, and how that culture carried forward when Price Club merged with Costco, where Jim Sinegal continued the same principles at an even larger scale. The conversation dives into why so few companies pursue this “road less traveled,” the perils of short-term thinking, and how leaders, boards, and investors can embrace principled, long-term leadership. Eric also shares actionable insights for individual leaders who want to build an incorruptible culture within their own teams—even when systems often reward the opposite. For anyone who cares about creating workplaces where employees thrive, where all people are treated with respect and dignity, and where long-term success doesn't come at the expense of human well-being, this episode is packed with insights and practical lessons. Listen now to discover how incorruptible organizations are built, why they matter, and what it takes to lead with principles, purpose, and care in a world that too often values the opposite. The post Eric Ries: Why Most Companies Are Built to Fail appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

A founder builds something people trust. Customers love it. Employees believe in it. Investors are happy.Then, slowly, something changes.The targets shift. The incentives change. The message stays the same – but the behaviour doesn't.And trust starts to fade.In this episode, I sit down with Eric Ries @theericriesshow – author of Incorruptible and The Lean Startup – and one of the most influential thinkers in modern entrepreneurship. We talked about why so many companies start with strong values and drift over time – even when leaders care about doing the right thing.Eric shares powerful stories – from Cloudflare's “unspoken mission” to Sol Price, the father of modern retail, and the paradox of success that can make great companies vulnerable.One idea keeps coming back:Communication isn't just what you say.It's what people see repeated in decisions, incentives and trade-offs.We explore why mission statements often fail, why jargon weakens clarity, and why trust – not strategy, not growth, not even innovation – shapes long-term success.We also talk about what happens under pressure.Because that's where leadership communication is tested.What You'll Learn:* Why people believe what you reinforce, not just what you say * How to align your message with incentives and decisions* Why inconsistent signals weaken trust inside teams* How to communicate purpose so it holds under pressure* What leaders do differently when they build lasting trustIn This Episode:03:45 – The story behind Incorruptible08:21 – Why business jargon weakens communication09:17 – Cloudflare's unspoken mission17:47 – External pressure and “financial gravity”24:55 – When people stop believing your message25:30 – You can't command an organisation28:46 – Sol Price and the power of ethos34:29 – The paradox of success47:01 – Trust as the most underrated assetIf you lead a team, build a business or communicate ideas for a living, this episode will change how you think about communication.We hope you enjoy it! ———————Eric Ries:* Book website: https://www.incorruptible.co/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/ * X: https://x.com/ericries * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericriesactual/ * Newsletter: https://news.theleanstartup.com/ * Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow ———————IDEAS ON STAGE RESOURCES * Timeless Presenter & Confident Presenter (books) – free copy: https://bit.ly/claimyourbooks   * Business Presentation Revolution (book): https://www.ideasonstage.com/resources/books/business-presentation-revolution-book/ * The Confident Presenter Scorecard: https://ideasonstage.com/score * Free Web Class: https://www.ideasonstage.com/uk/events/   #IdeasOnStagePodcast #LeadershipCommunication #BusinessCommunication #OrganizationalCulture

What if the biggest threat to your company is not competition, but the systems everyone told you to trust?In this episode, Alisa Cohn sits down with Eric Ries, creator of the Lean Startup methodology and bestselling author of The Lean Startup, The Startup Way, and Incorruptible, for a conversation about leadership, corporate governance, innovation, and why so many modern companies lose their way as they grow.Eric unpacks the dangerous side of “best practices,” why shareholder primacy often destroys long-term value, and how financial pressure quietly reshapes company culture from the inside out. He also shares the untold story behind Costco's governance model, why Anthropic's structure matters in the AI race, and what founders misunderstand about speed, alignment, and leadership integrity.You'll learn:Why many “best practices” are actually value destroyingWhat Eric Ries means by “financial gravity”How companies lose their mission after founders lose controlWhy Costco became one of the strongest governance models in businessThe hidden danger of shareholder primacyWhy trustworthiness may be the most underrated asset in businessHow Lean Startup was misunderstood by most foundersThe real purpose behind MVPs and rapid experimentationWhy principles create faster companies, not slower onesHow aligned teams move faster with less management overheadWhat Anthropic is doing differently with AI governanceWhy constraints often create breakthrough innovationThe leadership lesson Eric learned from nearly compromising his own principlesHow founders can build companies their grandchildren will be proud ofWe talk about:00:00 Why Eric Ries says builders are “under siege”02:00 The hidden problem with modern business “best practices”05:00 Why shareholder primacy destroys long-term companies08:00 The untold Costco and Sol Price story12:00 How Costco built a governance fortress16:00 Understanding “financial gravity” inside organizations19:00 Why Costco shareholders defended leadership decisions22:00 The problem with management entrenchment24:00 Why corporations should function more like balanced systems26:00 Anthropic's governance structure and AI leadership30:00 Why checks and balances do not kill innovation32:00 The real philosophy behind Lean Startup35:00 Why principles create speed inside organizations38:00 The overlooked role of trust and alignment40:00 Why great leaders intentionally make things harder42:00 The danger of compromising on core values44:00 Eric's hardest leadership decision46:00 What founders misunderstand about success and power47:00 How to build companies designed to last generationsFollow Eric onLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/Website: https://theleanstartup.com/ Connect with Alisa!Follow Alisa Cohn on Instagram: @alisacohnTwitter: @alisacohnFacebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohnLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/Website: http://www.alisacohn.comDownload her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Why do companies with the best intentions end up betraying their customers, employees, and mission? Eric Ries calls it “financial gravity” — an invisible force that pulls even the most principled companies toward corruption, and understanding it is the first step to resisting it.In this episode, Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible, shares why building a great company isn't just about having a strong vision — it's about building structures that protect that vision from external pressure. Eric revisits the core ideas behind the Lean Startup and MVP, explaining how the purpose of a minimum viable product is not to ship fast but to learn fast. He then introduces the central thesis of his new book: that the corruption we see in companies isn't caused by bad people, but by a financial system that pulls organizations away from their values. Drawing on stories of Sol Price, FedMart, Costco, HEB, Novo Nordisk, and Anthropic, he shows that incorruptible companies are built through a combination of ethos — a deep operational commitment to doing right — and structural governance that resists outside pressure. He also unpacks how false metrics like OKRs can hollow out a company's integrity over time, and how Mary Parker Follett's concept of the “invisible leader” helps culture survive beyond any single founder or CEO.Key topics discussed:What “financial gravity” is and why even good companies fall to itThe true purpose of an MVP (hint: it's not about shipping fast)Why OKRs become dangerous false proxies over timeBlueprint for building a truly incorruptible companyWhy Costco and Novo Nordisk resisted forces that killed FedMartMary Parker Follett's invisible leader explainedWhy Anthropic's structure gives it a lasting competitive edgeHow everyday decisions become acts of systemic changeTimestamps:(00:00) Trailer & Intro(02:31) What Two Mega-Trends Make Lean Startup More Relevant Than Ever?(04:03) What Is the True Purpose of a Minimum Viable Product?(11:04) Has AI Actually Made Building Software Cheaper and Better?(13:41) What Two Stories Inspired the Book Incorruptible?(20:38) What Is Financial Gravity and Why Does It Corrupt Even Good Companies?(26:29) What Is Surrogation and Why Do OKRs Become Dangerous False Proxies?(29:55) What Is the Blueprint for Building an Incorruptible Company?(33:53) What Is the Invisible Leader and How Does It Keep Company Culture Alive?(39:56) What Governance Structures Can Shield a Company's Mission from Financial Gravity?(48:27) Why Does Anthropic's Unique Structure Give It a Competitive Advantage in AI?(51:43) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom_____Eric Ries's BioOver the last two decades, Eric Ries's ideas about continuous innovation, long-term thinking, governance, and market reform have reshaped company building and management practices. He is the creator of the Lean Startup method, and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup; The Leader's Guide; and The Startup Way.As a founder, he has put his own ideas into practice with The Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE); Answer.AI, an AI R&D lab; Virgil, a legal services startup; and IMVU. On The Eric Ries Show, he talks with world-class technologists, thought leaders, and executives building for the long-term. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three children.Follow Eric:LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/eriesX – x.com/ericriesPodcast – www.ericriesshow.comWebsite – incorruptible.coNewsletter – news.theleanstartup.comLike this episode?Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/259.Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.Buy me a coffee or become a patron.

Eric Ries had a 40-page business plan. An Excel model so complicated it would crash Excel. A team of elite students, real investors, and a working product. What he didn't have was a strategy -- and he didn't realize it until after the startup collapsed. Episode page with video, links, and more The moment of clarity came in a Boston job interview. A panel of consultants asked what he'd learned. He gave them practical tips. They told him that wasn't strategy. Sitting there, he realized he didn't actually know what the word meant. That category error -- mistaking a polished plan for a strategy -- is the mistake that eventually became The Lean Startup. In this episode, Eric traces the line from that dorm-room failure to his new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great. He argues that many of the so-called best practices founders are trained to follow aren't pillars of capitalism at all -- they're modern inventions with a poor track record. We get into the Whole Foods unraveling and why John Mackey couldn't simply cut prices, the prehistory of Costco through Sol Price's fiduciary duty to the customer, and what Jim Sinegal built into Costco's governance that has held for four CEOs and forty years. We also look at Novo Nordisk's industrial foundation structure -- a hundred-year-old design that makes companies six times more likely to survive fifty years -- and why most founders have never heard of it. A conversation about strategy, structure, and the quiet ways good companies go bad.

Most founders set out to build something that matters: a company that's aligned with their mission, now and forever. But what if the very systems we use to build ‘real' companies are the thing that corrupts them?In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein is joined by Silicon Valley legend Eric Ries author of the era-defining 'The Lean Startup', founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, and now the author of a provocative new book, 'Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great'.Eric makes the case that corruption is a structural problem, rather than a failing of the people themselves. He walks Yaniv through the ‘financial gravity' that pulls good companies away from their founders' purpose, and the governance ‘fortresses' that a small handful of outlier companies (from Costco to Novo Nordisk to Anthropic) have used to stay great.In this episode, you will:Understand ‘financial gravity' - the force that degrades values, corrupts economic decisions, and reduces long-term outcomesLearn the legend of Sol Price (the father of modern retail behind Costco), and why treating margins as a liability rather than a virtue can be a source of enduring strengthExplore the ‘industrial foundation' model behind century-old giants like Novo Nordisk and Zeiss, and why companies with this structure are roughly 6x more likely to survive to year 50Hear how Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust shaped its trajectory, and why in the age of AI, trustworthiness is the single most valuable corporate assetTimestamps00:00 Coming Up...01:06 On Today's Show: Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible02:41 From 'The Lean Startup' to 'Incorruptible': Why Governance Matters04:13 The Two Mysteries05:45 Case Study: Sol Price and FedMart08:58 The Shareholder Primacy Trap14:04 Costco's Governance Fortress16:50 Founder Control vs VCs19:33 Why Markets Punish Your Mission21:30 Novo Nordisk's Foundation Model26:35 Anthropic and AI Trust29:37 Governance in Action Today31:54 Doing the Right Thing33:27 Goodhart's Law and Customer Service Metrics38:36 Why 'Harder Is Easier'39:02 Costco's Hotdog Promise41:55 Mission Lock Structures43:32 Pitching Investors, Leverage and the Fundraising Decision Tree49:33 HBO's Silicon Valley and 'Minimum Viable Product'53:57 Closing Thoughts & Book PlugResources mentioned in this episode'Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great' by Eric Ries: https://www.incorruptible.co/'The Lean Startup' by Eric Ries: https://theleanstartup.com/bookLong-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE): https://ltse.com/'Skin in the Game' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb: https://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Hidden-Asymmetries-Daily/dp/0425284646Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs: https://costplusdrugs.com/The PactHonor the Startup Podcast Pact! If you have listened to TSP and gotten value from it, please:Follow, rate, and review us in your listening appSecure your official TSP merchandise at https://shop.tsp.show/Follow us here on YouTube for full-video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNjm1MTdjysRRV07fSf0yGgGive us a public shout-out on LinkedIn or anywhere you have a social media followingKey linksThis episode of the Startup Podcast is sponsored by .tech domains. Forget weird prefixes and creative misspellings; the availability for .tech domains is simply way better than .com. For a clean name that highlights your tech credentials, get a .tech domain at your favorite registrar.The Startup Podcast website: https://www.tsp.show/episodes/Learn more about Chris and YanivWork 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/Producer: Justin McArthur https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthurAssistant Producer: Steph Hefferan https://www.linkedin.com/in/steph-heff/Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang https://web-strategist.com/

The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Read my NEW BOOK -- The Price of Becoming -  www.LearningLeader.com/Becoming Eric Ries is the author of The Lean Startup, one of the most influential business books of the past 25 years, and the founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, the first new U.S. exchange to both list and trade multiple stocks since NASDAQ launched 50 years ago. His new book is Incorruptible. Key Learnings The more successful a company becomes, the more valuable it is as a target. Companies are worth stealing and taking over. Most founders are naive about this and don't understand what's coming for them. They've been following the so-called best practices about how companies should be built, structured, and governed. Most of those best practices are value-destroying. Sol Price was a lawyer before he became an entrepreneur. He believed a lawyer had a fiduciary duty to put the client's interests before his own. So when he became a retailer, he asked: "Who's my client?" The customer. He treated the customer as the person he would rather die than betray. When competitors sold a product for less, he'd put up signs in his own store: "Don't buy this from me. You can get it cheaper somewhere else." He capped his margins at 14 percent. He paid above-market wages. It is so much easier to destroy than to create. One day, Sol came into work and couldn't get into his office because the locks had been changed. Investors had pushed him out and forced Fedmart to practice retail best practices. Within seven years, they bankrupted the company. We've built an economy that rewards people for cost-cutting without holding them accountable for the consequences to trustworthiness, brand, or culture. The origin story of Costco: Sol took two weeks off, then leased the office upstairs from Fedmart and started Price Club. One of the young guys who left with him, Jim Sinegal, had worked his way up from stock boy. Jim eventually started his own company using the Sol ethos. A few years later, their companies merged to form what we now call Costco. Wall Street routinely calls Costco the exception to every rule. Wall Street analysts say things like: "At Costco, they take money that rightfully belongs to shareholders and instead invest it in the customer experience." As if that's a criticism. Costco endures because it's protected by a governance fortress. A series of worst practices that resist outside pressure structurally. The $1.50 hot dog has been the same price since 1986. A McDonald's Big Mac was $1.60 in 1986. Today that same Big Mac in California is over $7. Costco sells more hot dogs than every Major League Baseball stadium in America combined. If they raised the combo to $7, it would be a billion dollars of extra net income. They could do it. They choose not to. "If you raise the price of the effing hot dog, I will kill you. So figure it out." Jim Sinegal said it to his COO in 2008 when costs were rising. Figure it out. Costco vertically integrated the hot dog supply chain. They own hot dog production plants in multiple cities. They worked deals with soda vendors. They did all that extra work for the privilege of not making more money on the hot dog. Harder is easier. "When you take the hard road, when you make a principled commitment, you get these almost unbelievable values. Because you're generating the most underrated and most valuable asset in all of business: trustworthiness." "Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life." Jerzy Gregorek, Olympic weightlifter. "Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder. Nobody wanna lift these heavy ass weights." Ronnie Coleman, eight-time Mr. Olympia. Everyone wants the outcome. Nobody wants to do the actual thing. Culture and mission can be cultivated, not commanded. Most leaders get this wrong. They say "I'm in charge of my team." But can you command your team to have integrity? Can you command it to have a particular culture? You have to make consistent, responsible choices, just like cultivating health in your body. Get reps. Eric gave practice talks at a Hobee's restaurant at 7 AM to six people just to get the reps. Caring and trying to do a good job is so unbelievably rare. That alone is a competitive advantage. Feedback tells you something about the person giving it, not about yourself. If someone reads Eric's manuscript and says, "This book sucks," he hasn't learned anything about the book. He's learned this person doesn't like this kind of book. When he stopped arguing with negative customer reviews and started studying who they came from, he noticed patterns. People 16 and younger loved the product. People 16 and older hated it. He learned who his product was for. Separate qualitative from quantitative feedback. Qualitative is for hypothesis generation. Quantitative is for hypothesis validation. When test readers told him a chapter wasn't working, that was qualitative. When the platform data showed nobody was getting past that chapter, that was quantitative. You need both to know what to fix. It is always too early until it's too late. Eric tells the story of a multibillion-dollar founder he warned before his IPO. The founder talked to his bankers, lawyers, and CFO. They told him Eric was a downer. The founder went public anyway with conventional governance. Five months later, his stock dropped 90 percent, and he was ousted. The best time to plant a tree is 40 years ago. The second-best time is today. Eric's checklist for building an incorruptible company: Encode your mission into the corporate charter. Most founders have never read their charter. If your mission statement says one thing but your legal charter says another, you're lying. The easiest fix: file a public benefit corp filing (PBC). Two pages. 44 states. Your lawyer can do it tomorrow. Identify your fiduciary commitments. Who would you rather die than betray? Is it your customers? Your employees? Product quality? You decide. If your answer is nobody, you're a sociopath. The whole book is for the people who actually want to accomplish something. Align your employees to that mission. Make sure everybody on the team is committed to the same fiduciary priority. Create a director's oath. Like the Hippocratic Oath for doctors, but for your board. They must pledge to commit to the company's mission. Board betrayal and investor pressure are leading causes of death of companies in the modern world. Make the directors accountable to somebody. Power without accountability is corrosive to the human spirit. Novo Nordisk is governed by a nonprofit foundation. Patagonia is governed by a perpetual purpose trust. John Lewis Partnership in the UK is governed by an employee ownership trust. IKEA, Vanguard, and REI all have these structures. The data shows these companies are dramatically more stable and higher performing than conventional structures. You are not stuck in traffic. You are traffic. People love to blame the system. But you're not just a passenger. You're part of what creates the system. Where you work. What you buy. What you give your attention to. Every one of those choices is fueling somebody's company, somebody's algorithm, somebody's bonus. The richest people in the world spend billions on PR because they know your individual choices matter. Use that power. Eric's champagne moment a year from now: a grassroots movement around Incorruptible. This book won't get wall-to-wall media coverage. It's antagonistic to people in power. So Eric hopes readers will hand it to their founders, their bosses, their friends. If consumers and employees start demanding, "I want to work in an incorruptible company," that's the toast. Reflection Questions What is your equivalent of Costco's hot dog? The one commitment you'd defend even when it's financially painful, even when the easy move would be to abandon it? Have you ever read your corporate charter, or the foundational document of your team or department? Does what's actually written match what you say you stand for? Where in your work or life would the harder short-term path build something more durable in the long run? Are you willing to lift the heavy weights? More Learning #258: Jesse Itzler: Creating Your Life Resume & Living Outside the Box #529: James Clear: Setting Up Your Future Self & Becoming an Optimist #565: Noah Kahan: The Art of Asking For What You Want Podcast Chapters 00:00 The Price of Becoming - Pre-Order Now!  01:03 Meet Eric Ries  02:55 Is It Possible to Build an Incorruptible Company?  04:04 Why Culture Alone Won't Save You  05:13 Sol Price, Fedmart, and the Locks That Got Changed  07:56 Why Wall Street Calls Costco the Exception  09:11 The $1.50 Hot Dog Story  13:59 Harder Is Easier: The Principle Behind It All  16:48 Why Governance Is Just Soul Craft  19:50 Building the First New Stock Exchange Since Nasdaq  22:33 Eric's Communication Style: Reps, Not Talent  30:52 The Opportunity Hiding in Broken Markets  31:59 How to Know Which Feedback to Listen To  35:39 Qualitative vs. Quantitative: Why You Need Both  37:23 The Whole Foods Cautionary Tale  40:25 The Founder's Checklist for Building Something Durable  43:44 Encode Your Mission Into the Corporate Charter  47:35 You Are Not Stuck in Traffic. You Are the Traffic.  52:37 The Champagne Question: A Grassroots Movement  55:27 James Clear, Author's Equity, and the Future of Publishing 56:43 EOPC

Today, we are breaking down PriceSmart, the membership warehouse club operating across Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. I came away from this episode with a new appreciation for how a single retail concept and a single family have shaped the way much of the world shops. When you learn that Sol Price invented the modern club store, influenced Sam Walton, the founders of Home Depot, and the founders of Target, that his Price Club merged with Costco in 1993, and that his grandson now runs a separate company replicating the model across 12 emerging market countries, you start to see PriceSmart not as a mid cap retailer but as the third generation continuation of one of the most important ideas in modern American retail. I am joined by Markus Hansen, portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management. We start with Sol Price's founding of Fed Mart in the 1950s and the lineage that runs through Price Club, the Costco merger, and the 1993 spinoff that became today's company. We cover how 40% of operating earnings are locked in upfront each year through membership payments, why the company chooses to own its real estate and run its own logistics, and what happened to its stores when hurricanes hit Jamaica last season. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Portrait Analytics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - your centralized resource for AI-powered idea generation, thesis monitoring, and personalized report building. Built by buy-side investors, for investment professionals. We work in the background, helping surface stock ideas and thesis signposts to help you monetize every insight. In short, we help you understand the story behind the stock chart, and get to "go, or no-go" 10x faster than before. Sign-up for a free trial today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠portraitresearch.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ----- Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Business Breakdowns (00:02:34) Intro  (00:04:37) What is PriceSmart?  (00:07:48) The Sol Price Origin Story  (00:13:26) How It Compares to Costco and Sam's Club  (00:18:24) Geographic Expansion  (00:25:38) Logistics and Supply Chain  (00:28:09) Expanding Across Latin America  (00:32:47) Earnings Volatility Across Markets  (00:36:00) Margins and FX Exposure  (00:38:42) Capital Allocation  (00:45:30) Key Risks  (00:49:04) Valuation  (00:53:13) Lessons

What do some of the greatest outliers in business history have in common? For the past year, I've been sharing the stories of history's greatest outliers like James Dyson, Estée Lauder, Sol Price, Henry Singleton, Les Schwab, Rose Blumkin, Jim Clayton, and Andrew Mellon. These are names that deserve to be studied, but rarely are. This episode explores the mindsets, systems and patterns history's most notable outliers used to turn adversity into long-term advantage. ----- Approximate Timestamps: (00:00) - Introduction (01:51) - Part 1: A Taste for Saltwater (09:20) - Part 2: Do it now (17:40) Ad Break (19:37) - Part 3: Systems to Scale (30:51) - Part 4: Understand What Really Matters ----- Upgrade: Get a hand edited transcripts and ad free experiences along with my thoughts and reflections at the end of every conversation. Learn more @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/membership ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it's completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish:X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/shaneparrish⁠ Insta: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/farnamstreet/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/⁠ ------ Thank you to the sponsors for this episode: .tech domains: Nothing says tech like being on .tech⁠⁠⁠ https://get.tech/⁠⁠ reMarkable: Get your paper tablet at ⁠⁠https://www.reMarkable.com⁠⁠ today ----- This episode is for informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucious Lowe never saw his empire, but his son and son-in-law figured out how to give the customer what they needed. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is… Well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients, so here’s one of those. [OG Law Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young, Steve Semple’s here, and we’re going to talk about another empire. Stephen Semple: Another one. Imagine that. Dave Young: And it’s another one of these big boxes. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: So this is brick and mortar big box store. And so there’s two things. One thing I love, one thing I hate about big box stores in this category. I used to love going down to my local hardware store and just tooling around. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And I guess you can still do that, but there’s something about some old guy walking up and chatting with you about what you could maybe buy or not. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And so Lowe’s is our subject today. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: I’m interested to see how they started. And again, I love shopping at Lowe’s, I hate shopping at Lowe’s, for two different reasons, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: The variety. It’s all there. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: The old guy that knows every piece of hardware in the store. Good luck finding that person. I mean, they may be there, they may not. It’s hit and miss. Stephen Semple: Yes. So the first Lowe’s, of course, started as one of those old-timey hardware stores. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: It was a 3000-foot store in 1921 in North Wilkesboro in North Carolina by Lucius Smith Lowe. That’s basically the first Lowe’s was way back in 1921. Dave Young: Lucius Smith Lowe. Okay. Stephen Semple: But the success of Lowe’s actually did not come from Lowe, but rather an in-law named Carl Buchan, who came on the scene in 1943. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So when Lucius died in 1940, the business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth Buchan, who then… Now, I was not able to find the family story on this, because I find this interesting. It was inherited by the daughter, who then sold the company to her brother, and I always thought, “Why’d the brother not inherit the business?” Dave Young: Right? Stephen Semple: Now, I also get why she probably sold it, because as we know, one of the really big problems, especially back in the 1940s, was women couldn’t get credit, and it was very, very, very hard in the forties for a woman to actually run a business. So I also understand why she sold. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah, and weird estate planning goes on that you don’t know why they did what they did. Right? Maybe the son had an insurance policy. Right? Stephen Semple: Who knows? Who knows? Dave Young: I don’t know, but maybe he got… Who knows? Stephen Semple: Now, at the same time, when she sold it to her brother, her husband, Carl, ended up becoming a partner in the business. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So it was this really weird, father dies, it goes to the daughter, the daughter sells it to the brother, and the husband ends up becoming a partner. Dave Young: Who knows about the transactions inside family businesses, right? That’s a… Stephen Semple: Right? All I’m just saying is, if it sounds weird, it was. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s all I’m saying. But moving forward, what’s really incredible is today, Lowe’s is 1700 locations doing 80 billion in sales. So it is- Dave Young: That’s not nothing. Stephen Semple: That’s not nothing. That’s not nothing. But back in the early forties, hardware stores did not have building supplies. They didn’t have plywood, they didn’t have… They didn’t have building supplies. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. You went across to the lumber yard to get that stuff. Stephen Semple: Correct. Correct. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And so one day Carl gets this deal on toilets, and he decides to buy a whole pile of toilets. When I say a whole pile, the whole truckload, which was 400 toilets. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: And James? James Lowe comes in the office one day and he’s like, “Toilets in the office.” And he says, “Carl, why is there toilets in the office?” He goes, “Well, I bought 400 of them and I ran out of space, so they’re sitting in here.” And he’s like, “We don’t sell toilets.” He goes, “Well, we are now, because we got 400 of them.” Dave Young: “Yeah, we sell toilets. Sell them or else.” Stephen Semple: “[inaudible 00:05:20] now!” So, “Yes we are.” And what turns out is that they sell out really quickly. And Carl looks into this a little bit more and he sees this trend. Right? Think about it. It’s 1946. What’s happening in the United States? There’s a building boom. Right? The number of homes being built has grown 10 times over the last three years, because we got the baby boom happening. We got the return of the soldiers, we got the baby boom, we got the sprouting up of the suburbs. That part is growing. So they sell out these toilets in like a week, and so he wants to open a second store. He goes, “Look, here’s what I want to do. I want to open a second store and we’re going to sell everything for building and fixing a home. Everything. We’re going to turn specialty stores into one shop.” So in other words, you don’t have to go to the plumber… you know. Look, this is another variation on the department store and the convenience store. Dave Young: Absolutely. Stephen Semple: So Lowe agrees, and they invest a hundred and sixty thousand dollars in the second store, and it’s a 10,000 square foot, so they’ve gone from 3000 square feet to a 10,000 square foot store in Spartan, North Carolina. Dave Young: And so yeah, we tripled the size. It’s all the space we’ll ever need. 10,000 feet. Stephen Semple: Right. So it’s 1949, and literally customers are coming. Yeah, that’s right. It’s 10,000 square feet. I missed that for a minute. Yeah, yeah. Hold that thought. Dave Young: “Hang on.” Stephen Semple: Hold that thought. So it’s so popular, they’re actually finding customers are coming from states away from, outside of North Carolina. So Carl wants to open a third store, and Lowe doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to grow this thing. Dave Young: Isn’t it amazing that the whole company’s not called Carl’s instead of Lowe’s? Stephen Semple: Well, here’s what ends up happening. Lowe says, “Look, I don’t want to do this. Why don’t you just buy me out?” Carl buys out Lowe, but says, “Well, let’s keep the name.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: “Let’s keep the name.” Dave Young: Yeah, that’s smart. You got equity there. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So in 1952, Lowe is bought out, but they keep the name. And it expands rapidly. They quickly open 13 more stores. [inaudible 00:07:27] Dave Young: Oh, wow. See, I did not know they were this old. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So it starts growing like crazy, but then they hit a problem. After six years, profits stall. Dave Young: Oh, okay. Stephen Semple: What he notices is, he’s been focusing on opening stores, but not focusing on the buying experience. And if you went into a Lowe’s at that time, it was super disorganized. Stuff was just all over the place. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: And so it was not appealing. So he hires Bob Strickland, marketing guy. Bob points out that people come in to get what they need, but what if we were able to make them to stay and buy other things? Like instead of an oven, how about a whole kitchen? Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: So he says, “Let’s be like a department store.” They looked at how Sears was laid out, right? There was these departments. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And basically this is the model that they created, which is really the template that all these big box home improvement stores are built on. Here’s the appliance section, here’s the flooring section. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: But it didn’t just have flooring. It had, okay, along with the flooring, the caulking and the this and the… Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: All the things that you need with it. Dave Young: So take those toilets out of the power tool section and put them where they belong. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So they create this template that they’re going to roll out, and before they’re ready to roll it out, Buchan passes away. Dave Young: Oh no. Stephen Semple: And so now it’s up to Strickland to open with the new idea. So Strickland takes the ideas. He opens five stores on it. They’re super successful. In two decades they got a hundred and eighty stores, 1978 they’re the largest in the region, 1979 they’re 200 stores, and they just grow and grow and grow and become what they are today. But Lowe’s basically built this idea. The two innovations Lowe’s did was built this idea of, “We should have a store that’s dedicated to home improvement,” because they saw the trend on it. And then they created this whole idea of looking at department stores and saying, “This is how a home improvement store should be organized.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That template? That template, that idea that every one of these big box home improvement stores is built on, was created by Lowe’s. Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories to Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off, and trust me, you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: … that idea that every one of these big box home improvement stores is built on, was created by Lowe’s. Dave Young: Well, and so the reason I didn’t know about them when I was younger is that they started in the east and slowly moved west. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yes. Dave Young: And I don’t know where Home Depot started, but in the Rocky Mountain West and Western Plains, there were Home Depot stores long before there were any Lowe’s stores. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Dave Young: So it’s just a matter of growth at that point then, right? Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: They figured out the formula. Stephen Semple: They figured out the formula, and then it’s just grow, grow, grow. Dave Young: I’m guessing that, yeah, Home Depot probably has a similar story. Either they copied Lowe’s or they figured it out themselves that this is the right way to do a big box home improvement store. We going to do that one sometime? Stephen Semple: Well, I don’t want to say much, because we are going to do… Oh. Dave Young: Okay. All right. I’ll hold that for another day. But- Stephen Semple: Well, what ends up often happening when I’m researching these things, there’s no way to do it without learning about both. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: So often that’s the reason why when we’re doing these, there will be two in a category, because you learn about both of them at the same time, because they have kind of a shared history, right? Dave Young: Well, and those guys absolutely copy each other. Right? Stephen Semple: They did. Dave Young: I think we go back, I don’t know what episode it was, but we talked about Cabela’s, and then we sort of told the story of them being eventually bought by Bass Pro. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: And the [inaudible 00:12:08] Bass Pro, I think… Well, at least according to the people that I knew at Cabela’s, they were the first ones to build this giant experiential store. Right? Stephen Semple: Well, in Sam Walton- Dave Young: And so… But that gets copied. And Sam Walton, same thing, right? Stephen Semple: Well, Sam Walton has openly stated that he stole a lot of his ideas from Sol Price. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: He has come right out and said that. He’s like, “Oh yeah, I always watched what this guy did, and I’d always keeping my eye on him, because he was brilliant.” Right? Dave Young: Yeah, I mean- Stephen Semple: Who was the founder of Costco. Right? So. Dave Young: At the end of the day, these are just sharing good commerce ideas. Right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Nothing new under the sun here. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: There’s a reason that every ancient city has a bazaar, a marketplace where they all gather, right? You make it convenient for consumers by, even though you’re 10,000 little competitors, you’re all in one place. Stephen Semple: Yeah. What I really liked, again, about this story, was Lowe saw a trend going on in the United States, and the trend was, “People are building these homes, and so there’s going to be more demand for home improvement stuff. How do I make it easier?” Again, that theme of, “How do I make it easier for the consumer? Wouldn’t it be so much easier for the consumer if it was this one stop?” Dave Young: Yeah. [inaudible 00:13:29] Stephen Semple: Now, the other thing I thought that was brilliant is that when the profits stalled out, he didn’t flip to, “I need more leads, I need more customers.” He didn’t go there. He went, “Oh, if this has stalled out, there’s something I’m doing wrong inside my four walls.” Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: And he looked at the experience and he said, “Okay, I’ve already got customers. What I need to do is if I make that experience better, the customers will return more often and will spend more.” I remember going to a presentation from the folks from Barnes and Noble, and Barnes and Noble talking about how they… And Ikea’s the same. They would measure how long somebody was in the store. Ikea’s amazing at this. And what they know is, the longer you’re in the store, the more you spend. Period. So what’s their whole objective is “I’m going to keep you in the store. How do I do that? I’m going to put a restaurant in. I’m going to put in a place where you can stick your kids to play. I’m going to make it so that you’ve got to walk the maze.” The point is, the longer you’re there, the more you’re going to buy. And not only that, Ikea’s figured out, “If I display these things this way, people will stop and look at it,” so that they do move through the stores slower. Dave Young: Yeah. You- Stephen Semple: But Lowe’s really caught into- Dave Young: And there’s sort of a logical progression to it. Stephen Semple: Right. Right. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So Lowe’s created that idea of “Let’s do this one stop shop.” And then the next one was, “Okay. Now that we’ve made this idea more convenient, let’s now make this idea more enjoyable and also more convenient, because there’s all these ancillary things that you need when you’re doing that in the moment. Let’s put all that stuff together.” Dave Young: Well, and you bring designers in because if you’re coming in for all these kitchen products- Stephen Semple: Yeah, absolutely. Dave Young: … maybe you don’t know how to put that all together and make it look good. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: Right? So here’s you’re somebody that can help you lay it out. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And then they can sell you all the materials that either you or your contractor need to make it happen. Stephen Semple: Now what we know is, David Young is going to leave this talk with an even more love-hate relationship of Lowe’s. Am I right? Dave Young: I’m not remodeling anything. No, I love walking around a Lowe’s. I find it hard to… If I need some adhesive, I need some Gorilla Glue or something, and I walk into a Lowe’s, two things are going to happen. Unless I’m in just a blazing hurry and I’ve left someone in the car with the car running- Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: … I’m going to just wander around. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And I’m likely to walk out with something else besides the glue. Along with the glue. Stephen Semple: Correct. Yes. Dave Young: Sometimes without the glue, because I forgot why I went in. Stephen Semple: Oh God, yeah. Dave Young: But that’s a whole different psychological thing. We just finished talking about that at my portals class this week. Stephen Semple: Oh yeah, [inaudible 00:16:25] Dave Young: Tell you about that sometimes. That was fun. Stephen Semple: It’s a thing. It’s a thing. Dave Young: We had a blast. Yeah. Wow. Lowe’s. Stephen Semple: Yeah. There you go. Dave Young: Now I’m thinking in my head, what do I need? You know, near Wizard Academy, we’re not really close to a Lowe’s. You’ve got to drive 20 minutes or so to get to a Lowe’s. Stephen Semple: Yep. Dave Young: But about 10 minutes, 15 minutes away is independently owned Ace Hardware store. Stephen Semple: Yep. Dave Young: And I love that one too. Right? Because if you’re really just looking for a tool or some little hardware bits and bobs, you’ll always find it there. Right? [inaudible 00:17:02] Stephen Semple: Yeah, well, because Ace is the place with a helpful hardware man, right? Dave Young: Yeah. And they’re helpful because they’re locally owned. So there’s always somebody in there that can, “This is not the glue you really want. You want this.” Stephen Semple: Right. Right. Dave Young: “Oh, I thought I just wanted Gorilla Glue.” But this guy knows. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: So it’s two different experiences, and a lot of your choice in it is based on experience. Stephen Semple: Yeah, yep. Yes. Dave Young: I mean, shoot. When we lived in western Nebraska, they eventually got a Lowe’s, but they had a Home Depot first in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We were a hundred miles from there. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: And there was a lumber yard in Sydney, and there was a hardware store in Sydney, and we would drive to Home Depot a hundred miles away. Stephen Semple: Yes. Yes. Dave Young: Because one, we could find any of it there. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And two, Cheyenne also had a Starbucks and a Baskin-Robbins and a… right? Stephen Semple: That’s the other thing that starts to end up happening, is you get one of these, and then the other things sprout up around that. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah, you rarely see one off by itself somewhere. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, that’s the reason why you would see a movie theater, and then the restaurants go. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: These things happen. But yeah. But you know, I was pretty impressed when I heard the history of Lowe, and also thought it was really interesting looking at this department store and bringing it across. And again, it’s that idea. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: “Who outside of my world is doing this really well?” Dave Young: I kind of wasn’t surprised that their origin goes back as far as it did, because I think you always are going to assume that that started as a little hardware store somewhere, or a lumber yard. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: But I was surprised that they started that growth curve as soon as they did. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: So they were really the pioneers in that. So. Stephen Semple: Yep, and the key is you didn’t need more than 10,000 square feet, as you pointed out. Dave Young: Yeah. Well, you do today. Stephen Semple: Some of them are like, “Holy crap.” Yeah. Dave Young: You need 10,000 square feet in the kitchen part. Stephen Semple: No kidding. No kidding. Dave Young: All right, well, thank you for bringing that story, Stephen. I like that. Stephen Semple: All right. All right, thanks David. Dave Young: And congrats, Lowe’s, on decades and decades of money making as an empire. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Thanks, man. Dave Young: Thanks. Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a big fat juicy five star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute empire building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

David Senra is the host of the Founders podcast. For the past nine years, David has intensely studied the life and work of hundreds of history's greatest entrepreneurs. His new podcast, David Senra, showcases conversations with the best-of-the-best living founders and extreme winners.This episode is brought to you by:Cresset family office services for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneursOur Place's Titanium Always Pan® Pro using nonstick technology that's coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals”AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplementTimestamps:[00:00:00] Who is David Senra?[00:01:11] Brad Jacobs: Roll-up king and positive-driven billionaire founder.[00:02:26] Rare positive archetypes: Ed Thorp, Sol Price, Brunello Cucinelli.[00:06:04] Michael Dell as another exception; fear of failure and motivation.[00:06:47] Negative self-talk, excellence, and its ripple effects.[00:08:26] Jensen Huang story: “Why do you suck so much?”[00:08:54] Inspiration from Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.[00:10:00] Derek Sivers: unconventional, philosophical entrepreneur.[00:11:04] Learning equals behavior change, not memorization.[00:11:48] Jeremy Giffon insight: biographies as substitute mentors.[00:12:37] Reading biographies as one-sided conversations.[00:13:16] The chain of influence.[00:14:09] Podcasting as “relationships at scale.”[00:14:28] Coping with trauma and breaking cycles.[00:20:18] Note-taking process: books, Post-its, ruler, Readwise.[00:29:27] OCD tendencies and love of doing things the hard way.[00:31:04] Comparing our reading/re-reading workflows.[00:35:04] A family falling out and the randomness of student housing.[00:38:58] David's introduction to my work during his MySpace-era college years.[00:40:07] Podcasting influences: Jocko Willink, Kevin Rose's Elon Musk interview.[00:44:14] Five-and-a-half years of obscurity before breakthrough.[00:46:50] Graphtreon and experiments with subscription models.[00:49:25] Patrick O'Shaughnessy's endorsement sparks growth.[00:51:23] Sam Hinkie and Patrick connections fuel momentum.[00:52:19] Transition to ads and joining Patrick's network.[00:55:17] Edwin Land: patron saint of founders and Steve Jobs' influence.[00:57:02] Lessons from Sam Zell, Jay Pritzker, and William Zeckendorf.[00:58:48] Need a generous, well-connected person? You can't go wrong with Rick Gerson.[01:03:04] Edwin Land's philosophies: Differentiation and doing to excess.[01:04:30] Entrepreneurial archetypes and conflicting advice.[01:06:00] Daniel Ek as an alternative founder archetype and mentor.[01:10:59] Further founder archetypes and contrasts.[01:13:41] What is an anti-business billionaire?[01:19:55] Advice from “shark” Michael Ovitz about the value of truth in one's inner circle.[01:22:30] The hands-on approach of practical founders who live for the love of their business.[01:23:28] Doing one thing relentlessly.[01:23:51] “This can't be my life” as a powerful motivator.[01:26:57] Low introspection as a common trait among founders — and its implications about human nature.[01:30:15] Robert Caro: The only writer David believes should be allowed to write thousand-page biographies.[01:32:40] James Dyson's persistence vs. the risk of blind stubbornness.[01:34:22] Todd Graves (Raising Cane's) as an example of relentless focus on one idea.[01:35:41] Separating fact from fiction in biographies/histories.[01:41:55] Considering trainable vs. non-trainable attributes in potential role models.[01:46:11] Perusing Charlie Munger's library.[01:49:35] Dealmaking lessons on Eddie Lampert's superyacht.[01:55:34] The smartest person David knows.[01:56:55] David's obsessive craftsman approach to podcast creation.[01:58:51] Why David decided to begin a second podcast.[02:01:21] The economics of trust.[02:03:40] The benefits of cultivating a purposeful aloofness about current events.[02:07:11] Using the pulpit of publicity for good, not evil.[02:09:57] New show frequency/dynamic and how David plans to balance the burden of running two shows.[02:13:30] Teamwork with essence of turtle.[02:15:40] Adapting the Rockefeller “secret allies” strategy to podcasting.[02:17:56] Chris Hutchins: The mad scientist of podcasting?[02:18:30] Working with Rob Mohr and Andrew Huberman of SciComm.[02:20:54] Why David focuses on 24-hour cycles over long-term planning.[02:24:54] Does David worry the extra workload will disrupt his lifestyle?[02:30:18] What makes one potential guest more interesting to David than another?[02:34:34] Making an impact vs. happiness.[02:36:32] Playing the status game when your heart's not in it is for suckers.[02:44:23] Travel observations and the rarity of truly unique experiences.[02:46:26] Books as philosophical operating systems.[02:48:39] Parting thoughts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sol Price is the most influential retailer you've never heard of. A man who never sought the spotlight, but whose legacy and lessons cover the entire landscape of modern retail. Have you ever wondered why you can still buy a hot dog and soda for $1.50 today at Costco? We can thank Sol Price for that. To him, keeping promises to customers mattered more than profit margins. Sam Walton said he borrowed more ideas from Sol Price than anyone else. Jim Sinegal of Costco said, “I didn't learn a lot from Sol. I learned everything.” Jeff Bezos studied him. Home Depot echoed him.  He invented the warehouse club, pioneered membership retail and built two multi-billion-dollar companies. The real lessons aren't about what he built, but how he did it.  This is the story of how a lawyer with no retail experience created an industry, mentored his competition, and proved that nice guys don't always finish last. ------ Approximate Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:01) Early Years (08:29) Starting FedMart (28:33) Price Club (36:19) When Students Surpass the Teacher (42:09) The Teacher's Last Lesson (43:46) Reflections And Lessons ------ Upgrade: Get a hand edited transcripts and ad free experiences along with my thoughts and reflections at the end of every conversation. Learn more @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/membership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it's completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish X ⁠⁠@ShaneAParrish⁠⁠ Insta ⁠⁠@farnamstreet⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ ------ This episode is for informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I'm joined by Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress, the open-source platform that now powers 43% of the internet.Recorded on the 20th anniversary of Automattic, our conversation is a deep dive into what it takes to build enduring companies on top of open infrastructure. We explore Matt's open-source philosophy, why WordPress has stayed true to its roots, and how Automattic continues to innovate, from pioneering remote work to rethinking compensation models.In our conversation today, we talk about the following topics: • The early days of WordPress and its open-source fork from b2/cafelog• Why trust is a company's greatest asset—and how open source fuels it• The overlooked power of open standards like RSS• How open source moved from fringe to mainstream, and is even embraced by Microsoft • Why Automattic started remote-first in 2005, long before it was common• How global salaries help Automattic attract and retain top talent• Automattic's alignment offer that reinforced team commitment and focus• What Matt's excited about in AI• And much more!—Brought to you by:• Ahrefs – Get instant website traffic insights, without the noise. ⁠Learn more⁠. —Where to find Matt Mullenweg: • X: https://x.com/photomatt• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattm/• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photomatt/?hl=en• Website: https://ma.tt/—Where to find Eric:• Newsletter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ —In This Episode We Cover:(00:00) Intro(02:05) Reflecting on 20 years of Automattic(03:14) Why Matt turned down an offer to buy WordPress for hundreds of millions of dollars(08:34) The story of WordPress and its open-source origins (15:15) How Matt's love of jazz inspires his collaborative work style(16:12) The ethos of WordPress(18:38) Why WordPress followed web standards rather than create its own (23:30) The Four Freedoms of software and how open source builds trust(28:46) Why open source was once demonized—and what changed(33:35) Eric's open source future prediction and Matt's thoughts(38:03) Sol Price's customer focus and why great businesses give more than they take(40:34) Why Matt started Automattic and chose to operate fully remote (49:34) More unique features of Automattic (54:40) Matt's thoughts on when to go to court (58:15) Alignment offers, and other ways Automattic keeps employees aligned (1:01:52) The state of Automattic currently, and their new product, Beeper (1:04:26) Matt's thoughts on AI (1:06:36) Advice for aspiring open source founders—and Matt's dream projects—You can find episode references at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠—Production and marketing by ⁠Pen Name⁠.Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Mohnish Pabrai's Talk with Shaan Puri at the My First Million podcast on March 27, 2025. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:28) - Why the small investor has an advantage (00:02:51) - Investing $10K to make $1 Million (00:08:16) - Frontline (00:17:13) - Berkshire's 12 great decisions in 58 years (00:18:34) - Buffett's selection process: Moody's Manual (00:23:38) - Value Investor's Club (00:27:33) - The Japan Company Handbook (00:28:46) - Berkshire's investment in Japan (00:36:13) - Thou shall not use Excel (00:40:26) - Leverage: Rick Guerin (00:49:00) - Do not cut the flowers to water the weeds (00:51:21) - Costco (00:56:38) - My interactions with Charlie Munger & Warren Buffett (00:58:23) - Risk vs. Uncertainty (01:00:16) - Coca-Cola Icecek (01:01:42) - Warren's “Too Hard Pile” (01:03:01) - Circle of Competence: John Arrillaga (01:07:03) - Sam Walton: Walmart and Sol Price (01:12:18) - A power nap is good for productivity (01:15:39) - My owner's manual (01:21:52) - The Dakshana Foundation: A mathematical game (01:23:53) - Super 30: Model cloned by Dakshana (01:28:53) - Large inheritances cause more harm than good (01:31:35) - Mohnish's Blackjack System (01:37:46) - Michael Burry (01:41:21) - Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: Titan Industries (01:44:26) - Starting early to lengthen your runway (01:47:02) - Macroeconomic factors (01:47:37) - AI in investing The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.

Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/If you currently own a 12-pack of bath tissue, a 150-count bag of laundry pods, and/or a 48-oz jar of cashews, chances are they all have the same label: Kirkland Signature. Costco debuted this private-label brand—aka ‘store brand'—in 1995 and since then, it's become a sales-driving juggernaut. Kirkland products now account for a quarter of Costco's total sales, from coffee and batteries to their famous rotisserie chickens and $1.50 hot dogs. But don't you dare call Kirkland “generic”, the brand has built up a rep for high-quality products and a cult-like following from all walks of life. (Kirkland Tequila as status symbol? Believe it.) Learn how a retail legend named Sol Price fought off Walmart to make the world's most perfect shoppers' club, why the mere suggestion to raise the hot dog price resulted in a death threat, and why Costco's Kirkland is the best idea yet.Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet for the untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with — and the bold risk takers who made them go viral.Episodes drop every Tuesday, listen here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Founders ✓ Claim Key Takeaways  Greatness does not come from intelligence; it comes from character, which can only be earned from overcoming adversities and developing perseverance Strategy is not words; strategy is action The Mission is the Boss: Nvidia exists to serve a mission and not for the sake of perpetuating its existence Refuse to be outworked and be unapologetically extreme in your dedication; working long hours is a necessary prerequisite for excellence Do what is natural and organic to you so that you enjoy it and can do it for a long period The Speed of Light Framework for project execution: Instead of judging performance based on past performance or against the competition, judge yourself against the theoretical maximum of what can be achieved in the minimum amount of time; the law of physics should be your only constraint Jensen tortures people into greatness: “The work” is the most important thing, not people's feelings Hone the sword by seeking conflict: Opportunity handled well leads to more opportunity Innovation is a necessity, not an optionNvidia has a flat organizational structure that (1) Enables employees to act with more independence and (2) Filters out low-performing employees who are unaccustomed to thinking for themselves Ship the Whole Cow: Nvidia found ways to package and sell hardware that it previously would have discarded; this helped it mitigate low-end market competition and insulate itself from the innovator's dilemma Complacency kills: The enemy is not the competition, but the company falling victim to complacency –  both real and imagined  Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgWhat I learned from reading The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant by Tae Kim.----Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. ----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here. ----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. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast ----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----“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: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

Clay dives into the life and legacy of Sol Price, the pioneering retail entrepreneur who revolutionized the industry with FedMart and Price Club, ultimately leading to the creation of Costco.  The episode explores how Price's business philosophies, including treating employees well and maintaining a relentless focus on providing value to customers, inspired iconic entrepreneurs like Sam Walton and Jeff Bezos. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 01:45 - The story of Sol Price starting Fedmart and Price Club. 19:30 - Sol Price's core business philosophies 50:47 - The key ingredients to the success of Costco's business model. 52:58 - What led to the emergence of Costco and the eventual merger with Price Club. 01:01:40 - An overview of Costco's business model today And so much more! Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Join the exclusive TIP Mastermind Community to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Books mentioned: Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary & Social Innovator, and The Joy of Costco. Jim Sinegal's interview with the Motley Fool. The Science of Hitting Blog. Email Shawn at shawn@theinvestorspodcast.com to attend our free events in Omaha or visit this page. Related Episode: Listen to TIP492: The Best Investor You've Never Heard Of. Related Episode: Listen to TIP634: Value Investing Fundamentals w/ John Huber. Follow Clay on Twitter. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes here. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our Premium Feed. NEW TO THE SHOW? Follow our official social media accounts: X (Twitter) | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok. Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool. Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services. Stay up-to-date on financial markets and investing strategies through our daily newsletter, We Study Markets. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors: Hardblock SimpleMining Unchained The Bitcoin Way Found Fintool Bluehost Vanta Fintool PrizePicks Onramp TurboTax Fundrise HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Spotify! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

What I learned from reading The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant by Tae Kim.----Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. ----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here. ----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. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast ----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----“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: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

The future of cryptocurrency is brighter than ever! In this episode of The Milk Road Show, we get into the most exciting forecasts for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana for 2025, straight from Matt Hougan, the Bitwise CIO himself. Are $200K BTC, $10K ETH, and $1K SOL within reach? Plus, we explore the growth of Bitcoin ETFs, government adoption, and the rise of blockchain gaming. ~~~~~

Sol Price had and idea that he was not going to let go of. No matter how many times others tried to take it away. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders podcast. Dave Young here with Stephen Semple. And Stephen, shoot, just as you hit the button, I was compiling a list because Julie and I, we've got to go pick some stuff up and you reminded me about it. Stephen Semple: Glad I can help. Dave Young: Right? We have a Google Keep list. I don't know if you use Google Keep. It's just sort of a list software that you can share with other people. And so that's where we keep our Costco list. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: And it's actually a Costco/Sam's list, but we hardly ever pick up anything from Sam's. Sam's has some things that Costco doesn't and vice versa. Anyway, we're going to talk about Costco, to try to make a short story long. Stephen Semple: I hope we still have some listeners at this point. Dave Young: Right? Come on, we're only a minute in, so I think we're okay. Stephen Semple: Here's the thing I find it's really interesting about Costco. Today, they have basically almost 900 locations. They do like 243 billion in revenue. They have over 130 million members, and they have over 300,000 employees. They have a reputation of paying and treating employees very, very well, especially for a discount outlet. But to put in perspective, they do a little bit more than half the revenue of Walmart. But Walmart has like 10,000 locations. Costco is like 900. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Think about that volume that they do. Dave Young: Do. The product turn has to be amazing. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Unbelievable. It's just mind-boggling. It's just mind-boggling. And it's really interesting to stand outside of Costco and just look at carts full of stuff. Nobody goes to Costco and buys two things, right? It's just incredible. There's some legal things that we need to talk about to really understand the history of Costco, because back in 1936, there was this Robinson-Patman Act that was passed and it prevented the discounting of goods below the manufactured list price. So when we see manufacturers list price, it used to mean something. And what it used to mean is you could not go below that price. And this was to protect manufacturers and small retailers, and you could not do large purchases at discounts. It didn't matter how much you were buying, couldn't go below that price. And in the 1960s, these laws started to change, but large retailers still resisted this idea of lowering prices, because they'd sort of gotten very used to that. Along comes Sol Price, and it's the early 1950s and he's working as a lawyer in San Diego, and he has a client in a jewelry business that's selling watches to non-profit member owned retail operation in LA called Fedco. And Fedco was a non-profit, like basically it was founded by 800 postal workers in LA, and they were leveraging the buying power to negotiate with distributors and eliminate store markups. And there was a membership fee. It was $5 for a lifetime membership for federal employees. And Sol visited Fedco and he noticed that the property was really similar to one that his mother-in-law had inherited in San Diego that sat empty. So he suggested the location to the client of his and his mother-in-law, and they agreed, and they opened under a different name instead of Fedco.

What's up everybody! It's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly. Hope you made it through the week and didn't lose any coins or your mind. Sol Price: $147.18 Down from 181.84, and a 19% decrease overall. Now this sure doesn't feel like it because we actually bottomed at 110 and almost 40% down from last week alone. SOLETH: .06189 - ATH Baby!! SOLBTC: .00264 - down a small amount. Bitcoin doing it's thing and not moving down as much on a sell off, but still managed to drop 20% and dipped under 50k for the first time since February of this year.SOLD - 3.58, down a few percent.Why we sold off:Bad jobs data.Bad Japan economy.Jump selling all their crypto.Rise of Kamala and anti crypto admin.War in Israel/Iran.New Solana meme dropped: the CIA created Solana.What will it take for our NFT's to go up? Ore is back in play with its V2 product. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody! It's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly. We've got a lot of excitement this week with the FOMC numbers coming out today and we are on the verge of a shift in monetary policy flipping from restrictive to cutting rates. Sol Price: 181.84, up two dollars from last week, but we spiked above 190 and the strength that it's showing versus the market cannot be ignored. SOLETH: .05486 - up a small amount from last week.SOLBTC: .00273 up a bit, and if you look at the yearly we are testing highs on this pair. Insane when you think about it with all the momentum behind Bitcoin.SOLD - 3.61 up from 3.5Overall, Solana is looking strong from all the metrics that track as far as price goes and we are at usage levels that are just about all time high as well. Feels like Solana Summer to me.Biggest price narratives:Overall in the market it's still ETF's, elections, fed cutting rates, Solana usage and memecoins. With that said, I actually still think that Solana benefits from an Eth breakout. Whether that's just more liquidity willing to go to risk assets, people watching the SolEth chart, or even the bet on Solana getting an ETF next.Drip Haus feedback:So much love, I would like to thank each an every one of you. will try to take things from first principles more often, thanks again Reeny.Biggest news: Binance lawsuit the sec no longer calls Solana and other tokens securities.Looks like the rates have been unchanged for the Month of July with September rate cuts being priced in at 90%.Protocol wise, it doesn't seem like there have been any major releases other than the ability to short memecoins being released on Solend and Marginfi.Our NFT's remain down, hold steady and harvest some tax losses if you can. I fight the urge to buy more quekz and a MadLad daily. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

Donald Trump's vow to transform the US into a Bitcoin superpower dominates crypto headlines, promising to fire SEC Chair Gensler and appoint a Presidential crypto advisor if re-elected. Meanwhile, Cardano and Solana capture market attention with significant price increases. Pudgy Penguins makes waves with an $11 million raise for a new layer-2 blockchain, as major banks brace for potential economic turbulence. The Federal Reserve closes the Silvergate case, while Bitcoin showcases higher investment efficiency compared to Ethereum. HOW CAN SUPPORT? SUBSCRIBE: ⁠RARE BITS PODCAST⁠    WATCH: ⁠RAREBITS LIVE YOUTUBE⁠   READ: RARE BITS SUBSTACK⁠  Follow on X: BEATBROKER RARE BITS LIVE GET SOME MERCH RARE BITS GEAR:⁠RARE BITS MERCH⁠

What's up everybody! It's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly. Welcome to the party, welcome to the bull market, welcome to Solana summer! I hope that you are listening in through Drip.haus because this podcast is now officially hosted there. Sol Price: 179.77 and on a tearSOLETH: .05201- Up from .0428SOLBTC: .0026790 - up from .00239SOLD - 3.5 up from the low 3's.Bitcoin has been getting violently dumped by the Germans in the billions, but they have unloaded the whole stack the BTC ETF buyers are buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth a day.Quick check in on the year, we started out with Solana at ~100 and are up over 55% on the year.If you want to do a little historical check, Jan 1 2023 we were at $10. So yea we've been eating the last 1.5 years.Helium - crushing the depin narrative with over 100k subscribers to it's cell phone service plan. Solana Economic Zone Airdrop News: Pump.fun revenue passing eth. Baxus and BlinksJup releasing their active staking rewards - 60 million worth and going strong.We had a small NFT pump, potential or an anomaly?Blockchains and marketing.Thank you all for joining in, hit me up with suggestions or any inquiries, dm's open on thomasbahamasfi.Let's grab the bull by the horns and get that bag. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

Founders ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Support David Senra and get access to the world's most valuable notebook for foundersRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgWhat I learned from reading Sam Walton: The Inside Story of America's Richest Man by Vance Trimble. ----Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----Build relationships with other founders, investors, and executives at a Founders Event----(2:30) Sam Walton built his business on a very simple idea: Buy cheap. Sell low. Every day. With a smile.(2:30) People confuse a simple idea with an ordinary person. Sam Walton was no ordinary person.(4:30) Traits Sam Walton had his entire life: A sense of duty. Extreme discipline. Unbelievable levels of endurance.(5:30) His dad taught him the secret to life was work, work, work.(5:30) Sam felt the world was something he could conquer.(6:30) The Great Depression was a big leveler of people. Sam chose to rise above it. He was determined to be a success.(11:30) You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)(15:30) He was crazy about satisfying customers.(17:30) The lawyer saw Sam clenching and unclenching his fists, staring at his hands. Sam straightened up. “No,” he said. “I'm not whipped. I found Newport, and I found the store. I can find another good town and another store. Just wait and see!”(21:30) Sometimes hardship can enlighten and inspire. This was the case for Sam Walton as he put in hours and hours of driving Ozark mountain roads in the winter of 1950. But that same boredom and frustration triggered ideas that eventually brought him billions of dollars. (This is when he learns to fly small planes. Walmart never happens otherwise)(33:30) At the start we were so amateurish and so far behind K Mart just ignored us. They let us stay out here, while we developed and learned our business. They gave us a 10 year period to grow.(37:30) And so how dedicated was Sam to keeping costs low? Walmart is called that in part because fewer letters means cheaper signs on the outside of a store.(42:30) Sam Walton is tough, loves a good fight, and protects his territory.(43:30) His tactics later prompted them to describe Sam as a modern-day combination of Vince Lombardi (insisting on solid execution of the basics) and General George S. Patton. (A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.)(43:30) Hardly a day has passed without Sam reminding an employee: "Remember Wal-Mart's Golden Rule: Number one, the customer Is always right; number two, if the customer isn't right, refer to rule number one.”(46:30) The early days of Wal-Mart were like the early days of Disneyland: "You asked the question, What was your process like?' I kind of laugh because process is an organized way of doing things. I have to remind you, during the 'Walt Period' of designing Disneyland, we didn't have processes. We just did the work. Processes came later. All of these things had never been done before. Walt had gathered up all these people who had never designed a theme park, a Disneyland.So we're in the same boat at one time, and we figure out what to do and how to do it on the fly as we go along with it and not even discuss plans, timing, or anything.We just worked and Walt just walked around and had suggestions. — Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow. (Founders #347)(1:04:30) Sam Walton said he took more ideas from Sol Price than any other person. —Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary by Robert Price. (Founders #304)(1:07:30) Nothing in the world is cheaper than a good idea without any action behind it.(1:07:30)  Sam Walton: Made In America  (Founders #234)----“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: All the books featured on Founders Podcast 

Founders ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Support David Senra and get access to the world's most valuable notebook for foundersRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgWhat I learned from reading Sam Walton: The Inside Story of America's Richest Man by Vance Trimble. ----Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----Build relationships with other founders, investors, and executives at a Founders Event----(2:30) Sam Walton built his business on a very simple idea: Buy cheap. Sell low. Every day. With a smile.(2:30) People confuse a simple idea with an ordinary person. Sam Walton was no ordinary person.(4:30) Traits Sam Walton had his entire life: A sense of duty. Extreme discipline. Unbelievable levels of endurance.(5:30) His dad taught him the secret to life was work, work, work.(5:30) Sam felt the world was something he could conquer.(6:30) The Great Depression was a big leveler of people. Sam chose to rise above it. He was determined to be a success.(11:30) You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)(15:30) He was crazy about satisfying customers.(17:30) The lawyer saw Sam clenching and unclenching his fists, staring at his hands. Sam straightened up. “No,” he said. “I'm not whipped. I found Newport, and I found the store. I can find another good town and another store. Just wait and see!”(21:30) Sometimes hardship can enlighten and inspire. This was the case for Sam Walton as he put in hours and hours of driving Ozark mountain roads in the winter of 1950. But that same boredom and frustration triggered ideas that eventually brought him billions of dollars. (This is when he learns to fly small planes. Walmart never happens otherwise)(33:30) At the start we were so amateurish and so far behind K Mart just ignored us. They let us stay out here, while we developed and learned our business. They gave us a 10 year period to grow.(37:30) And so how dedicated was Sam to keeping costs low? Walmart is called that in part because fewer letters means cheaper signs on the outside of a store.(42:30) Sam Walton is tough, loves a good fight, and protects his territory.(43:30) His tactics later prompted them to describe Sam as a modern-day combination of Vince Lombardi (insisting on solid execution of the basics) and General George S. Patton. (A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.)(43:30) Hardly a day has passed without Sam reminding an employee: "Remember Wal-Mart's Golden Rule: Number one, the customer Is always right; number two, if the customer isn't right, refer to rule number one.”(46:30) The early days of Wal-Mart were like the early days of Disneyland: "You asked the question, What was your process like?' I kind of laugh because process is an organized way of doing things. I have to remind you, during the 'Walt Period' of designing Disneyland, we didn't have processes. We just did the work. Processes came later. All of these things had never been done before. Walt had gathered up all these people who had never designed a theme park, a Disneyland.So we're in the same boat at one time, and we figure out what to do and how to do it on the fly as we go along with it and not even discuss plans, timing, or anything.We just worked and Walt just walked around and had suggestions. — Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow. (Founders #347)(1:04:30) Sam Walton said he took more ideas from Sol Price than any other person. —Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary by Robert Price. (Founders #304)(1:07:30) Nothing in the world is cheaper than a good idea without any action behind it.(1:07:30)  Sam Walton: Made In America  (Founders #234)----“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: All the books featured on Founders Podcast 

What I learned from reading Sam Walton: The Inside Story of America's Richest Man by Vance Trimble. ----Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----Build relationships with other founders, investors, and executives at a Founders Event----(2:30) Sam Walton built his business on a very simple idea: Buy cheap. Sell low. Every day. With a smile.(2:30) People confuse a simple idea with an ordinary person. Sam Walton was no ordinary person.(4:30) Traits Sam Walton had his entire life: A sense of duty. Extreme discipline. Unbelievable levels of endurance.(5:30) His dad taught him the secret to life was work, work, work.(5:30) Sam felt the world was something he could conquer.(6:30) The Great Depression was a big leveler of people. Sam chose to rise above it. He was determined to be a success.(11:30) You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)(15:30) He was crazy about satisfying customers.(17:30) The lawyer saw Sam clenching and unclenching his fists, staring at his hands. Sam straightened up. “No,” he said. “I'm not whipped. I found Newport, and I found the store. I can find another good town and another store. Just wait and see!”(21:30) Sometimes hardship can enlighten and inspire. This was the case for Sam Walton as he put in hours and hours of driving Ozark mountain roads in the winter of 1950. But that same boredom and frustration triggered ideas that eventually brought him billions of dollars. (This is when he learns to fly small planes. Walmart never happens otherwise)(33:30) At the start we were so amateurish and so far behind K Mart just ignored us. They let us stay out here, while we developed and learned our business. They gave us a 10 year period to grow.(37:30) And so how dedicated was Sam to keeping costs low? Walmart is called that in part because fewer letters means cheaper signs on the outside of a store.(42:30) Sam Walton is tough, loves a good fight, and protects his territory.(43:30) His tactics later prompted them to describe Sam as a modern-day combination of Vince Lombardi (insisting on solid execution of the basics) and General George S. Patton. (A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.)(43:30) Hardly a day has passed without Sam reminding an employee: "Remember Wal-Mart's Golden Rule: Number one, the customer Is always right; number two, if the customer isn't right, refer to rule number one.”(46:30) The early days of Wal-Mart were like the early days of Disneyland: "You asked the question, What was your process like?' I kind of laugh because process is an organized way of doing things. I have to remind you, during the 'Walt Period' of designing Disneyland, we didn't have processes. We just did the work. Processes came later. All of these things had never been done before. Walt had gathered up all these people who had never designed a theme park, a Disneyland.So we're in the same boat at one time, and we figure out what to do and how to do it on the fly as we go along with it and not even discuss plans, timing, or anything.We just worked and Walt just walked around and had suggestions. — Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow. (Founders #347)(1:04:30) Sam Walton said he took more ideas from Sol Price than any other person. —Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary by Robert Price. (Founders #304)(1:07:30) Nothing in the world is cheaper than a good idea without any action behind it.(1:07:30)  Sam Walton: Made In America  (Founders #234)----“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: All the books featured on Founders Podcast 

What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for episode number 75 of Solana Weekly. Big number because this is the amount of Dev's falsely rumored to be working on Solana. In reality there are many multiples of that and we are in the midst of shipping season with tons of new major milestones being deployed, with the cherry on the top being our boys at VanEck dropping an ETF application. This is huge.Sol Price: $133.79 - $147.50 - up up and away! Sitting on a 10% increase and will we go higher?SOLETH: .03802 - .04283 up a casual 23.65%SOLBTC: .0208 - .0023992 up 15.35%Vaneck coming with the etf application. Compression - zk compression directly on Solana.Blinks - like frames on farcaster, but for f-ing everywhere.Colosseum - Raised a 60 million dollar fund to invest in early Solana projects. Jup - to burn $3 billion tokens.Airdrops - is the meta dead?NFT's - still dead. I've been dca'ing Sol and bought a few more Quekz for the bag, seem undervalued and if I'm buying anything I'm buying Quekz.Drip.haus - July 2nd we go live!!!! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

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What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly!Sol Price: 143.21 - down $16 from last week, but not bad considering we tapped below $120. Sol Eth: .0468 - down a little bit from last week, but still strong.Sol BTC: .00231 - down a bit from last week. Bonk Market Cap: 1.8 billion and on the rise!Overall take on market: Recovery mode still, feels euphoric. Seemed like everyone was very ready for everything to nuke and overestimated it.Memes on top - we saw a bunch of 3x's in meme coins and it's beautiful to see. They just aren't going away.Wif vs Bonk and the influence of influencers. Defi: Kamino dropped it's token.Drift airdrop coming out soon, looks very promising.Friendtech/eigenlayer dropped their token and it seems like it didn't go too well.Sanctum - awesome and fun.Degods back to Solana.NFT's still remain dead. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly! Sol Price - 159 - down 8 from two weeks ago, but it feels like we went to 0 and back.SolEth - .0492 - Up a tiny bit.SolBTC - .00238 - dipped.Bitcoin talk.Madness of the mediaAirdrop talk.Monad - seems bullish.Multichain future talk.Sanctum and LST's are picking up steam.NFT's still seem to be dead but that's how it always seems at the bottom.Thank you for joining in, I'll catch you next week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everyone, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly! Sol Price - 167.88 SolEth - .04850 SolBTC - .002412 - dipping here, BTC dominance growing.Tensor drop - Let's go, tons of liquidity released on the market. Trading at 1.30, was as high as 1.80.Airdrops soon:KaminoParclSharky just released their token to Madlads and even included gen 2 Monkes! Let's go, token trading at $2 and we got 370 worth. I'll take it.Marginfi drama.SMB's getting life, 0% royalties look good on them I guess.Sanctum continued, they tease wonderland and LST's in general are blowing up.Jup is releasing their own and is distributing all rewards with 0 take, so I'm looking into this more. Also helius is doing the same thing but native stake.Uniswap lawsuit - crazy. Wells notice This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly.Sol Price: 175.98Sol Eth: .05223 Sol BTC: .0025 Overall take on market: Volatility is here. Ups and downs - 205 down to 170's is a pretty big range, we're sitting at the bottom of that range and I'm buying. To the market:W Token - We got the Wormhole airdrop. Hot dog token taking over. Sanctum - INF lst token, potential airdrop. Holding a good amount in this because the yield is over 10% without any leverage.Zeus airdrop today, nim airdrop coming soon, kmno releasing the amount of tokens you get with a pre release price of $.15/ token. I found out that I have something like $500 at this rate and demand a recount.Ores - proof of work mining and crushing the network.Count down to halvening - under 20 days, historically we've seen over 10x's after this event, how do we play it?1.18 features being released.NFT nyc - send wif to 0, no one went to their party and the dancing was amazing.Degraded performance - we hate it, it's coming back.Sbf sentenced to 25 years. Crazy, but you think about all the damage he did to people and yea. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly.Sol Price: 188.79Sol Eth: .0522 Sol BTC: .0026578As always, thanks for showing up and let's have a great week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly where we discuss what has been going down on Solana in the last week and try to figure out the long term implications. Sol Price: 189.92 - up from 163 last week, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Sol Eth: .05379 - The eth maxis in disbelief as this chart mooned.Sol BTC: .002824 - this is on an uptrend and we love to see it. Bonk Market Cap: 1.5 billion.Solana Price at ATH while the network struggling is also at ATH is something that's happened before. To the market:Meme coins have taken center stage on Solana and have gotten out of hand. FDouble standards of reporting - Solana reports are terrible saying how congested it is, where on Base fees are bullish for demand, it's insane. Defi: Kamino points to an end soon, Parcl points ending soon, I think it's about time we get some more tokens dropped and it seems like that's the case.BonkRewards are coming in thick.NFT's: Dead, bloodbath for NFT's on Solana right now, if you believe in Sol NFT's, here's your dip.Bitcoin NFT's are popping off, thats right it's ordinal season.Protocol of the week: Flexlend - if you have stables, throw them in there and watch the 10-20% yields flow. Token of the week: I could say a memecoin, but I think I'm going to stick with Solana itself, we saw a 160-212 candle, I didn't expect that level of volatility, but this is what we see in a bull market and I'm here for it.As always, thanks for tuning in, like, subscribe, and leave a review if you found this useful. We've got a crazy few months coming up and let's make sure that we get the most out of it. Looking forward to next week, make sure you all get your taxes in and your stables out.Airdrop checker:https://solana-airdrop-checker.solworks.dev/Solanaweekly.io This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

Not sponsored by Bonk, but brought to you by Bonk.What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly.Sol Price: 130.38Sol Eth: .038Sol BTC: .00209- BTC is crushing hitting 64k.Bonk Market Cap: 1.3 Billion! and Bonk is just not stopping!!!Overall take on market: HOT. Can't stop, won't stop. Positioning for the bull market and what to do now? If you're in the right bags, it's time to sit back and enjoy.Airdrop farms: Basket fi drop is live. Still got my eye on Kamino, Drift, Magic Eden, Tensor, Marginfi, Wormhole, Meteora.Ordinals are Heating up, bought a wizard, sold a wizard. Don't understand it.Protocol of the week: Moonwalk Token of the week: BONKDog wars of Solana!? Security chat- no links, hardware wallet, multisig, be safe out there folks.If you're going to sell your coins what are you going to buy? Tradfi always looks so toppy.Starting to see more desperation irl.Banks aren't leaving, spent some time in them and as long as boomers can go in and hassle zoomers for checks they will be there. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly.Sol Price: 104.14 Sol Eth: .0357 Sol BTC: .0020 Sol Per BTC: 490.Bonk/BTC: 4.4 billion.Backpack exchange: welcome to the party USA! That's right, we got access to backpack and I'll be taking my centralized exchange business to backpack. Lad's doing amazing over 200 Sol floor and talks of a second collection and it seems like there are some being inscribed as ordinals on BTC?They are also rumored to be getting a fat drop from Wormhole, I saw that today is a Wormhole Wednesday, so maybe we see some airdrops soon?Depin: Helium has released Multi Factor Authentication - doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but adds an authenticator to your account which could be massive in stopping hackers from getting into your accounts.Defi: Use airdrops to combine with other airdrops to receive more airdrops. NFT's: NFT market broken with farmers. I couldn't take it anymore and bought my SMB Gen 2 back. Crypto Undeads seem to also be looking into this and I scooped one for the culture.Wallets: Potential issue found on Phantom? No confirmation.Protocol of the week: Moonwalk! That's right we're walking on the moon b*tches. Forculus released a beta of his new health app that's taking the world by storm. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody, it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly where I will be breaking down the last week in Solana and the long term implications. Sol Price: 118.10 - pumping and up over $20 from last week. Sol Eth: .04261 - fairly flat, Eth has actually been moving and it's healthy.Sol BTC: .00226 Flat as well, we love to see this. Sol Per BTC: 441Bonk Market Cap: 1.28 billion and growing. Bonk/BTC: 3.8 BillionOverall take on market: Looking great. Woke up this morning to green candles everywhere and couldn't be happier. BTC leading the charge, but ETH and SOL also following along and SOL still outperforming.Depin: HNT up over 9.30 and they just released a big partnership with Google where they are giving yearly plans away with the purchase of a new phone, or discounted plans and hotspots. Defi: Great opportunities are still out there. NFT's: Nothing crazy, thinking about live event season.Protocol of the week: Bonkrewards.com - locked up over a billion Bonk here with most being at a 6 month lock up for 2x the rewards.Token of the week: Bonk - I'm so bullish on bonk. Other news: Taxes coming up, our man Crypto Tax Sucks is running out of time to get things done in time, reach out sooner than later.Closing thoughts: The importance of figuring out what type of market participant you are. Everyone thinks they are a trader or nft flipper, but take a look back and look where you made the most money, or where you spent the most time. That does it for this week, I'm hoping to see Sol over 140 and Jup over $1 next week, thanks for joining, this is Thomas Bahamas. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody, this is Thomas Bahamas and we're back with another episode of Solana Weekly. Not the week I expected, with talks of the beginning of the bull last week, ETF released, and the market reacts by viciously dumping. We'll dig into why that happened and what else we have going on in these times of acceleration on Solana.Sol Price: 86.12 - with a crash down to $78SolEth: .03891 with a crash down to .035SolBTC: .002167 with a crash below .00205.Overall market sentiment: you look at this last week and we went from over $100 Solana down over 20% and think that this must be a bad trend. My friends, we must simply zoom out. The etf was in fact a sell the news event. Presidential campaign: Biden has to pump the bags in order to get re-elected or put some sort of positive spin on his political party.To the happenings of the Solana market:Paypal releasing their stablecoin on Solana. I see huge potential here, almost like a way to back into using crypto through traditional rails. Think pay with paypal, but you use their stablecoin. Use those couple hundred dollars you have sitting on Venmo to send direct to your crypto wallet. You can do that with Eth now, but I'm suspecting that you can do this with Solana soon and this could be the start of something big.Drift releasing token/ pointsJupuary madness keeps going - mock jupTensor- nft perps or something like it. Sujiko warriors also launched from the same guy that launched the solana airdrop checker.NFTs - both misunderstood and undervalued per the man himself - loomdart:Helium just launched in Mexico with a huge partnership. Is this getting to mass scale?  I think so.Meme coin's aren't going anywhere, I tried to fade most but i actually just think they are going to crush now.  Some of my fav are the Stanley cup, bib, Wif - the dog has a hat.Bsktfi is something I'm kind of obsessed with right now as well, Solana, Eth, BTC and the latest meme tokens of Solana all backed in one token with insane farming incentives. Seems like a lot of chads are in it, still need to do more research, but I'm in.Wallet talk - Backpack has been putting in some work and it's performance is excellent. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody it's Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly. It's the bull market and we are in full swing with the Crypto Undeads hyping up the NFT market and selling out a 10k pfp instantly, sol is looking great, and yes Jupiter's airdrop is on it's way at the end of the month. We've got a lot to cover and it seems like Franklin Templeton with Trillions under management have hired an intern and have taken to pumping our bags on Twitter. I'm loving it and we'll dig into all of these and see what we need to do to prep for this bull run. Sol Price - $101.78 up a small amount from last week, but not quite out of this consolidation. $140 is the short term target with not much in the way after that to $200. SOLETH - .04022 - kind of chopping here which is good, we'll see this go up more. SOLBTC .00238 - not bad, not bad at all. The BTC ETF has been massive, tons of flows, some of it out of GBTC to other ETF's but it's something like 4.5 billion dollars worth of flows and all of this will be positive for our space in general. I'm hoping this leads to my ETHE pumping more and would love to unwind that position. Crypto undead NFT drop - 20 sol, down to 11, then we go to the absolute moon? Got me all excited, can't tell if it's a rug or a moon, the drop of tombstones wasn't cool, but I'm ready and my bags are packed. Either way I think this is getting some hype to NFT's on Solana and would love to see this go to the moon. New Solana phone! I aped the 2nd Solana phone, slightly cheaper, and maybe it will be slightly easier to use. Either way seeing how the first phone went I think it financially made sense and I want to keep supporting them. Even if it flops and we don't get 10k airdropped right away, it will be a great hardware wallet. Helium- added a new line, can't get over how good this is. Mockjup dropped and Jupuary is getting me all jacked up.Bull market prep-Sleep is still necessary. Health is still incredibly important, both physical and mental.Shiny objects go up and down.You don't need to hit them all.Keep your high conviction and most your portfolio in those and keep them untouched. Set targets - whether that's sell limit orders or alerts on trading view, have a plan and execute Cobies triangle.People always buy too quick on the way up and sell too slow on the way down. Take some profits. Couple % here and there. Life changing money - take it out, most people start acting very irrationally with access to too much $ so quickly. Chart your largest holdings vs Bitcoin not usdc. Curate good news inflow and actually do research if you're going to put a good chunk into anything. Motives of people are to make money, bag shilling will be everywhere and will be tempting. Don't click links - scams will get better. Froth at the top will feel like you can't miss. You will never catch the exact pico top or bottom. Just get near it and you're doing better than most. Understand your strengths and what got you here. It likely wasn't high leveraged positions or wild meme coins, holding strong coins for a while usually does it, the rest is just distraction.All That is advice I've accumulated over the years and am hoping to take with me into battle. We have a massive opportunity on our hands and are still early. My plan is to stake and hold Sol, target is $400. Hold bonk until 10 billion mcap, probably won't make this the whole way. Increase sol holdings through other sol tokens listed on Coinbase. Hold jito, hold jup. I'm probably going to not get too deep into NFTs, or at least try not to. Maybe some presales and I'm really looking at the Kanpai Pandas as a long term play. But I hold the Quekz, Famous Foxes, and few others I have. At the end of last year my tax guru said rather than tax lost harvest, just get rid of any NFTs you don't want to hold. If you can't sell them, burn them. This kind of changed my mind about the nft game and makes me just want to hold quality and not care about flipping as much. Please do reach out to the man Cryptotaxsux on Twitter if you also are confused with the state of reporting taxes. He saved me a ton of stress and does amazing work. Other than that looks like SMB Gen 2's are downbad, hit 70 sol and sitting around 75 right now with gen 3 at 7. I had a hilarious thought that gen 3 would flip gen 2. Not going to happen, but I bet the ratio goes up from 1-10 to something like 1-5. Think about it, you get all the perks of the gen 2's and none of the downside. You don't have to vote or see the gen 2 chat, it's 1/10th the cost, the team got fired, art is better, supply got reduced from 15k -10k, and you don't have a massive investment in the hands of a group of people that are working against themselves. Let's have a good run here and get that bread. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody! This is Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly. Barry said it's going to be a big week and is finally right, we are getting legitimized.Let's take a look at how a BTC ETF will impact our bags, the btc price, the whole crypto ecosystem, and how we set ourselves up to benefit off of it.Sol Price - 97.13 and looking like it's ready to pop up.SolEth - .04 - slight dip here, Eth and Eth beta plays are catching a bid.SolBTC - .00209 - this is an interesting one because Sol was mimicking BTC's price action on these wild swings.What were the wild swings you ask? Well the freaking SEC's twitter account was hacked yesterday and they released that the BTC ETF was officially approved.Bonk of course is pumping - at .00001503 and I will simply smooth brain hold this longer thanSaga Phone continues to crush.Helium - again, this is seeming more and more like a no brainer to switch over to.Focus on the majors, as tempting as it is, I think this is the time to sit in spot and sit in majors. Coinbase convoSMB can't catch a break.Quekz floor is down, but the vibes haven't left, the whales simply hold, 250k treasury for parties, centered around fun. So I will keep holding.Airdrop Update:Jupiter will be the biggest of the year as far as wide distribution and total value.Margin is being overlooked, once they convert points to tokens we could see massive wealth effects. I've added significantly to my lending after thinking about this.Drift - contender for coming out with something massive. Kamino is dropping their points system soon, this could be big .Samo did an airdrop to Saga holders and made a tool to airdrop holders of the Genesis NFT token.My guess is after the Jup drop we see NFT's catch a raging pump and we unfortunately see a ton more memecoins go to the moon. I hope the usedcar and urmom coin go to the moon and we all make it. There's going to be so much opportunity and so much fun out there I can't wait. Let's get onchain and have some fun out there. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

What's up everybody! This is Thomas Bahamas and we are back for another episode of Solana weekly! We are crushing it and it's a good time to be a Solana enjoyer. Sol Price: 62.60 itching up, looks like 69 is just a small pump away. $142 wen?SolEth: .02774 and the eth narrative is just struggling with their whole narrative lacking.SolBTC: .001425 - staying strong while Bitcoin shines.Bonk: .000007873Sol, Bonk, and Quekz - the perfect portfolio.The Charlie Munger legacy. Rip. Been max listening to interviews and lessons from him and god damn it was he the goat. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

Firedancer aims to overhaul each component of Solana's existing architecture. If Firedancer is successfully implemented, it could offer several benefits. These include advancing the DeFi sector by reducing latency and enabling high-throughput Web2 applications to function on-chain. Meanwhile, Solana also announced integrations with Amazon AWS and Google Cloud services.00:00 intro00:17 Firedancer Launches Testnet01:57 Solana Speed Improvements03:15 Firedancer Speed Test04:28 Release Timeline05:44 Decentralization07:08 Carbon Footprint09:14 ESG Funds 10:15 Compressed NFTs11:43 Amazon & Google13:27 Tokenized Assets15:33 Visa x Solana17:06 Solana Paybands17:55 Visa Doomed?20:07 $SOL Price & Sentiment20:50 outro#Crypto #breakpoint2023 #solana ~SSolana Firedancer Launches!

What's up everybody! This is Thomas Bahamas and you are here for another episode of Solana Weekly. I'm here to uncover the alpha, break down what's going on, and try to figure out where Solana is taking us. We got wars, we got taxes, and we got Breakpoint coming up. To the market:Sol Price 22.19 - fairly flat, down about a dollar. Sol Eth - .014, still fairly flat. Lot of talk out there about eth not having the narrative these days. Sol BTC - fairly flat as well, but it looking bad. We got breakpoint coming up end of the month and I'm expecting a sol pump and some sick new announcements. War - expectation of coins going down and all risk assets are rocky. NFT's and niche alt coins aren't the safe haven needed, but are still doing pretty well. But this could be the inevitable push to get the fed to start printing and we see  the start of the great bull run of all assets before implosion, and it's a mess. Arthur Hayes on the Impact Theory podcast, insanely good breakdown of macro. Not into the impact theory, but when Arthur's talking, I'm listening. I heard some very similar ideas on Hidden Forces as well, and it goes into just how the bull run for crypto and most assets begins when the money printer gets turned back on. Information inflow management - I have to constantly check myself and realize who I'm taking info from. The whole NFA not financial advice thing is hilarious. Think about who you are listening to and who helps you think more clearly about markets. Don't give your fav nft influencer credit for being a macro genius and a war expert, there are a lot of people who have dedicated their lives to that. I also think it would be hilarious to pick your brain and think about why you bought something and if it was an influencer that you wouldn't take advice about anything on. Socialfi is stupid and it's a circle jerk for crypto people. Two main additions to sol with Friendzy.gg launching chat and hub3 launching. I think Friendzy has more potential for Solana because of the bonding curve not being as aggressive. On hub 3 the pricing increases significantly, like a friend tech. Solana people are cheap. Me included. Avax's friend tech competitor stars arena was hacked twice in a day and drained for 3 mill. We get reminded of the douchey founder emin gun by him saying it's not big. We should also remember he hired a law firm to sue Solana labs. Taxes: I did it, I paid Crypto Tax Made Easy to fix my taxes for the 2022 year. He brought 36k in gains down to 6k. I have the netrunner nft and used their platform but I didn't like it. So I used the website crypto tax calculator and imported my wallets and exchange transactions. It was a mess with 12k transactions and they were all labeled wrong and it scared the f out of me. I knew it was wrong with giving me huge gains on stable coin swaps and no cost basis, but I also didn't know how to fix it. The platforms aren't there. It was like $600 to import all those transactions and two g's for him to do all the work, but the peace of mind knowing that I don't have a 36k tax liability hanging over me and the potential for the irs to come after are more than worth it. I love crypto and want to keep this as a positive impact on my life so I think it was necessary. I also f'd up and sold a bunch of eth and btc on Blockfi and there is no way that those transactions aren't going to the irs. My new rule is to never do sales on exchanges. Exchanges are for stablecoins and on and off ramping only. It's free to on-ramp, the execution and swap costs are better on chain anyways, and the reported gains aren't accurate yet. So there is NO benefit for me. We need large audiences and bringing in new people. So far all it does is make a better circle jerk for us crypto peeps. This does nothing for our space but let us gamble more. Not improving anything.The whole purpose of using social media is to bring in outsiders to crypto. Think 2017 bull run and how insane twitter was. I even had people shilling lite coin on my Facebook feed. Pomp would get on the news and everyone would go crazy. The positive memes resignated and brought people and institutions in.We don't have that anymore. Twitter is filled with crypto scam accounts that Normies hate, engagement and our feeds are trash, I have to go to private chats to see the quek tweets. None of these protocols are optimizing for the right thing which is getting outsiders in. No one is paying 5k just to hear market analysis from someone that larps as a car on Twitter, no one is bridging to Avax to buy your keys because none of that fixes a problem for Normies. We need to clean up the crypto scams collectively and get out of our own little bubbles. Find a way to build on x to make things better. Use the tools they provide like community notes and reporting accounts tagging people. Other fun stuff: breakpoint is coming! I got some Quek merch, it's sick.MadLads coming with some sort of announcements. Huge update on backpack where you can easily lock your nft in your wallet. SMB gen 3 continues to go down. I am tax loss harvesting the ones I bought after mint and buying borderline grails for under 10 sol. Outlook isn't great but I need more losses to offset gains and I don't bet against the monkes. I think defi is continuing and not going anywhere. Had a dream that drift dropped a coin and became the biggest defi protocol ever. Honestly it could happen, it's that good. Yes it's got perps, but it's got Lend, borrow, earn, swaps, and everythingIs so clean. I appreciate you all tuning in and would like you all to think twice before spreading any fud, fudding is easy, finding positivity and spreading it is hard. Hard but positive. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thomasbahamas.substack.com

My guest today is Lee Ainslie, the founder of Maverick Capital. Lee started his investing career at Tiger Management where he worked for Julian Robertson. In 1993, he left to start Maverick and has built the firm into one of the top-performing hedge funds of the last 30 years. Lee doesn't speak in public often so this is a fascinating insight into what it takes to build an enduring investment business - both psychologically and operationally. Throughout the conversation, we flick between his lessons building Maverick, his perspective on the market, and what he's learned about the craft of investing. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Lee Ainslie. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. Tired of running your own expert calls to get up to speed on a company? Tegus lets you ramp faster and find answers to critical questions more efficiently than any alternative method. The gold standard for research, the Tegus platform delivers unmatched access to timely, qualitative insights through the largest and most differentiated expert call transcript database. With over 60,000 transcripts spanning 22,000 public and private companies, investors can accelerate their fundamental research process by discovering highly-differentiated and reliable insights that can't be found anywhere else in the market. As a listener, drive your next investment thesis forward with Tegus for free at tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:00) - (First question) - Lee tells us about his relationship with Steve Mandel (00:04:29) - Why he thinks Steve gave him a hand into the role he excelled at (00:07:22) - The concept behind investment talent (00:13:08) - Steps he takes to hire the right individuals for his team (00:16:14) - Why he stepped out on his own to start Maverick Capital (00:18:77) - The hardest parts about launching the business itself (00:20:48) - What he thinks makes for a great investment or stock purchase (00:25:16) - How Maverick maintains its edge over other comparable firms (00:28:31) - Features of a business that get his attention in a unique way (00:32:03) - What he learned from Sol Price (00:33:50) - He explains portfolio construction and risk (00:38:21) - The difficult aspects of portfolio construction (00:42:04) - How zero interest rates affected the long short style of investing (00:47:22) - Positioning his team for success against other competitors  (00:50:32) - How private market activity can affect public market activity  (00:54:27) - Software companies and their strengths and weaknesses in the investment market (00:59:33) - Things he tells his team to watch for (01:04:10) - What Lee's learned about money (01:07:02) - The most important conversation he's had in Mavericks history  (01:12:38) - Advice for senior executives trying to pass on responsibilities to others (01:17:54) - What the next ten years for Maverick Capital look like  (01:20:42) - Things Lee and Warren Buffett disagree on (01:20:04) - Three active managers he would study  (01:24:11) - The components of a great investment pitch (01:25:08) - The hardest question anyone could ask him (01:28:48) - What he thinks is important having started Maverick Ventures  (01:31:32) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Lee

What I learned from reading Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses by David Landes.Supporters of this episode:EightSleep: Get the best sleep of your life and unlock more energy with the Pod 3. Go to eightsleep.com/founders/Meter: Meter is the easiest way for your business to get fast, secure, and reliable internet and WiFi in any commercial space. Go to meter.com/foundersTiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward cash exits for Founders. Get in touch by emailing hi@tiny.com----Listen to Invest Like the Best #292 David Senra: Passion and Pain. Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----(4:25) Success causes failure. As the family develops power and prestige, the heirs find many interesting and amusing things to do rather than run their business.(6:00) Those on the margins often come to control the center.(9:00) Great industrial leaders are always fanatically committed to their jobs. They are not lazy, or amateurs. — Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy. (Founders #306)(9:50) For many of the great founders “Appetite comes with eating.”(11:00)Rothschild episodes:Founder: A Portrait of the First Rothschild by Amos Elon. (Founders #197)The House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets by Niall Ferguson. (Founders #198)JP Morgan episodes:The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow. (Founders #139)The Hour of Fate: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle to Transform American Capitalism by Susan Berfield. (Founders #142)Rockefeller episodes:Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller. (Founders #148)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)(13:30) Mayer Rothschild thought that long term relationships were more valuable than immediate profit.(15:45) Nathan Rothschild has extreme levels of self belief: When his prospective father-in-law asked for proof of his prospects, Nathan told him that if he was concerned about having his daughters provided for, he might just as well give them all to Nathan, and be done with it.(19:00) The Rothschilds developed the technique of absolute direction to perfection.(21:15) Wal-Mart stock is staying right where it is. We don't need the money. We don't need to buy a yacht. And thank goodness we never thought we had to go out and buy anything like an island. We just don't have those lands of needs or ambitions, which wreck a lot of companies when they get along in years. Some families sell their stock off a little at a time to live high, and then—boom—somebody takes them over, and it all goes down the drain. One of the real reasons I'm writing this book is so my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will read it years from now and know this: If you start any of that foolishness, I'll come back and haunt you. So don't even think about it. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)(26:00) If you want to build a family dynasty you need to have a bunch of kids. This is the number one factor for increasing the chance that your family dynasty outlives you.(29:45) Larry Ellison didn't have the methodical relentlessness that made Bill Gates so formidable and feared. By his own admission, Ellison was not an obsessive grinder like Gates: “I am a sprinter. I rest, I sprint, I rest, I sprint again.” Ellison had a reputation for being easily bored by the process of running a business and often took time off, leaving the shop to senior colleagues. — Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle by Matthew Symonds. (Founders #124)(36:13) A man always has two reasons for the things he does, a good one, and the real one. — J.P. Morgan(38:00) Andrew Carnegie celebrated too quickly. He later admitted to Morgan that he had sold out too cheap, by $100 million. Morgan replied, “Very likely, Andrew.” — The Hour of Fate: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle to Transform American Capitalism by Susan Berfield. (Founders #142)(38:35) Henry Villard had come to Morgan for help in taking over Edison's company. This was a mistake. Morgan was not by nature, a helper. He was a driver. He arranged a counter coup.(41:45) Properly understood, any new and better way of doing things is technology. — Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel. (Founders #278)(43:30) “It is impossible to create an innovative product unless you do it yourself, pay attention to every detail, and then test it exhaustively. Never entrust the creation of a product to others, for that will inevitably lead to failure and cause you deep regret.”—Sakichi Toyada(45:00) You should make an effort to make something that will benefit society.(45:30) Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary by Robert Price. (Founders #304)(48:50) Mailman is a Gmail plugin that allows you to control when and what emails should land in your inbox. https://www.mailmanhq.com(58:30)  Rockefeller believed that he would be rich and he believed that this was because God wanted him to be.(58:45) Rockefeller's competitors and associates were amateurs by comparison, and he saw them for what they were.(1:01:00) Published railway tariffs were for the small man. They were not for major shippers who could play one railroad against another while promising steady cargo. (Rockefeller's initial edge)(1:03:15) His clincher was to offer the victim a look at the books of Standard. A potential seller was dumbfounded to learn that standard was able to sell at less than his own cost of production. They could kill him whenever they pleased.----“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: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary by Robert Price. ----This episode is brought to you by EightSleep: Get the best sleep of your life and unlock more energy with the Pod 3. Go to eightsleep.com/founders/----This episode is brought to you by Meter: Meter is the easiest way for your business to get fast, secure, and reliable internet and WiFi in any commercial space. Go to meter.com/founders----This episode is brought to you by Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders. Get in touch by emailing hi@tiny.com----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----[6:50] He believed in developing strong operating efficiencies, and he continually emphasized passing on savings to customers.[8:48] It's pretty incredible to think about that Sol's ideas have created trillions of dollars of value.[11:18] You can always understand the son by the story of his father. The story of the father is embedded in the son. —Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life by Michael Schumacher. (Founders #242)[14:00] Stephen King on the belief and support he received from his wife: “Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference”— Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craftby Stephen King. (Founders #210)[16:00] True education is gained through the discipline of life. —Henry Ford[19:45] Sol kept a small sign in his office: “Do it now.”[24:00] Sol finds an idea future generations of entrepreneurs will use: A membership retail store targeted to a specific niche.[24:45] When you have people driving far distances to save money that is a very good sign. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)[26:45] Daniel Ek interview on the Acquired podcast. [39:10] If you're not spending 90% of your time teaching, you're not doing your job. —Jim Sinegal.[39:45] You train an animal, you teach a person.[40:00] He was not a fan of training manuals because he believed that manuals were a substitute for thinking.[43:00] What does limited selection have to do with efficiency? Because payroll and benefits represent 80% of a retailer's cost of operations, pricing advantage follows labor productivity. Fewer items result in reduced labor hours throughout all of the product supply channels. Put simply, the cost to deal with 4,500 items is a lot less than the cost to deal with 50,000 items.[50:21] The operating efficiencies of the warehouse concept and the direct delivery of products from the suppliers to Price Club made it possible to sell merchandise for less.[55:00] Costco and Sam's were expanding aggressively while Price Club remained tentative.[1:03:30] Sol was a poster child for the American dream. His immigrant parents were born in a small Russian village. Sol was the first in his family to graduate college. He earned a law degree. He became an exceptionally successful businessman and philanthropist, celebrated 70 years of marriage, was a good father who instilled high values in his sons, and he never walked away from responsibility. It doesn't get much better than that.---Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly and listen to Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes.----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. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

What I learned from reading 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. This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode Mitch Lasky—The Business of GamingFollow the podcast Gamecraft to learn more about the history of the video game industry. ----[2:01] Buffett and Munger have a remarkable ability to eliminate folly, simplify things, boil down issues to their essence, get right to the point, and focus on simple and timeless truths.[3:00] The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Naval Ravikant and Eric Jorgenson.  (Founders #191)[4:00] Warren Buffet or Charlie Munger are the very wise grandfather figure that I never had.[5:00] To try to live your life totally free of mistakes is a life of inaction. —Warren Buffett[5:00] The sign above the players' entrance to the field at Notre Dame reads ´Play Like a Champion Today.' I sometimes joke that the sign at Nebraska reads 'Remember Your Helmet.' Charlie and I are 'Remember Your Helmet' kind of guys.' We like to keep it simple. (You must structure your life and business to be able to survive the inevitable bad decisions you're going to make.)[5:00] Wisdom is prevention. —Charlie Munger[6:00] We make actual decisions very rapidly, but that's because we've spent so much time preparing ourselves by quietly sitting and reading and thinking. —Charlie Munger[7:00] If you get into the mental habit of relating what you're reading to the basic underlying ideas being demonstrated, you gradually accumulate some wisdom. —Charlie Munger[7:00] At Berkshire, we don't have any meetings or committees, and I can think of no better way to become more intelligent than sit down and read. I hate meetings, frankly. I have created something that I enjoy: I happen to enjoy reading a lot, and I happen to enjoy thinking about things. —Warren Buffett[7:00] We both hate to have too many forward commitments in our schedules. We both insist on a lot of time being available to just sit and think. —Charlie Munger[8:00] I need eight hours of sleep. I think better. I have more energy. My mood is better. And think about it: As a senior executive, what do you really get paid to do? You get paid to make a small number of high-quality decisions. — Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson. (Founders #155)[9:00] I think people that multitask pay a huge price. When you multitask so much, you don't have time to think about anything deeply. You're giving the world an advantage you shouldn't do. Practically everybody is drifting into that mistake. I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span. —Charlie Munger[9:00] Jony Ive on Steve Jobs: Steve was the most remarkably focused person I've ever met. (Video)[11:00] It is just that simple. We've had enough good sense when something was working well, keep doing it. The fundamental algorithm of life: repeat what works. —Charlie Munger[13:00] ALL THE BUFFETT AND MUNGER EPISODES:Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders 1965-2018 by Warren Buffett. (Founders #88) The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. (Founders #100)The Tao of Warren Buffett by Mary Buffett & David Clark. (Founders #101) Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein. (Founders #182) A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers From Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett and Peter Bevelin. (Founders #202) The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham. (Founders #227)  Tao of Charlie Munger by David Clark (Founders #78) Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor by Tren Griffin. (Founders #79) Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. (Founders #90) Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger by Janet Lowe. (Founders #221) [14:00] Buffett: It's an inversion process. Start out with failure, and then engineer its removal.[15:00] Munger: I figure out what I don't like instead of figuring out what I like in order to get what I like.[15:00] Repetition is the mother of learning.[17:00] Munger: You can see the results of not learning from others' mistakes by simply looking about you. How little originality there is in the common disasters of mankind. (Business failures through repetition of obvious mistakes made by predecessors and so on.)[18:00] Munger: History allows you to keep things in perspective.[18:00] Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.[19:00] Berkshire was a small business at one time. It just takes time. It is the nature of compound interest. You cannot build it in one day or one week.[20:00] Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, “Make me feel important.”[22:00] Buffett: In almost 60 years of investing we found it practically useless to give advice to anyone.[23:00] Munger: One of my favorite stories is about the little boy in Texas. The teacher asked the class, If there are nine sheep in the pen and one jumps out, how many are left? And everybody got the answer right except this little boy, who said, None of them are left. And the teacher said, You don't understand arithmetic. And he said No, teacher. You don't understand sheep.[25:00] Quite often Henry simply talked about his philosophy of running a corporation and the various financial strategies that he came up with as he sat in his corner office each day, often working at his Apple computer. He was a brilliant business strategist, just as he was a brilliant chess strategist and he came up with many creative ideas, ideas that were sometimes contrary to the currently accepted methods of managing a large corporation that prevailed in those days.“He always tries to work out the best moves," Shannon said, "and maybe he doesn't like to talk too much, because when you are playing a game you don't tell anyone else what your strategy is." — Distant Force: A Memoir of the Teledyne Corporation and the Man Who Created It by Dr. George Roberts. (Founders #110)[28:00] Buffett: The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.[29:00] If you want to know whether you are destined to be a success or a failure in life, you can easily find out. The test is simple and it is infallible: Are you able to save money? If not, drop out. You will lose. You may think not, but you will lose as sure as you live. The seed of success is not in you. — James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone. (Founders #96)[31:00] Buffett: Life tends to snap you at your weakest link.[35:00] Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary & Social Innovator by Robert E. Price (Founders #107)[38:00] Paul Graham's essays (Founders #275-277)[39:00] I'm very suspect of the person who is very good at one business, who starts thinking they should tell the world how to behave on everything. —Warren Buffett[42:00] The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham. (Founders #227)[44:00] This life isn't a greenroom for something else. He went for it. —Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever.[44:00] Buffett: We're here on the earth only one time so you ought to be doing something that you enjoy as you go along and you can be enthusiastic about.[48:00] Personal History by Katherine Graham. (Founders #152)[49:00] The problem is not getting rich, it is staying sane. —Charlie Munger[54:00] Learning is not memorizing information. Learning is changing your behavior. Most people can't learn from the experiences of other people: Charlie and I don't expect to win you over to our way of thinking—we've observed enough human behavior to know the futility of that, but we do want you to be aware of our personal calculus.[57:00] We are individual opportunity driven. Our acquisition technique at Berkshire is simplicity itself: We answer the phone.[1:00:00] A brand is a promise. —Warren Buffett[1:01:00] Obsess over customers. Buffett said this about Amazon in 2012: Amazon could affect a lot of businesses who don't think they will be affected. For Amazon, it is very hard to find unhappy customers. A business that has millions and millions of happy customers can introduce them to new items, it will be a powerhouse and could affect a lot of businesses.[1:03:00] Munger: We should make a list of everything that irritates a customer, and then we should eliminate those defects one by one.[1:04:00] Most companies, when they get rich, get sloppy.[1:05:00] Munger: One of the models in my head is the 'Northern Pike Model. You have a lake full of trout. But if you throw in a few northern pike, pretty soon there aren't many trout left but a lot of northern pike. Wal-Mart in its early days was the northern pike. It figured out how the customer could be better served and just galloped through the world like Genghis Kahn.[1:09:00] Practice! Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby. (Founders #212)[1:10:00] Market forecasters will fill your ear, but they will never fill your wallet.[1:11:00] We don't have any new tricks. We just know the old tricks better.----Subscribe to listen to Founders Premium — Subscribers can ask me questions directly which I will answer in Ask Me Anything (AMA) episodes ----“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: All the books featured on Founders Podcast