Founders

What I learned from reading Leading By Design: The Ikea Story by Ingvar Kamprad and Bertil Torekull and The Testament of a Furniture Dealer by Ingvar Kamprad.

What I learned from rereading Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX by Eric Berger.

What I learned from rereading Instant: The Story of Polaroid by Christopher Bonanos.

What I learned from rereading Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller.

What I learned from reading Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks: Inside the Contrarian Mind of Billionaire Mogul Sam Zell by Ben Johnson.

What I learned from reading How To Succeed in Mr. Beast Production and how ideas from Sam Zell, Charlie Munger, Nick Sleep, Warren Buffett, Sam Zemurray, Bob Kierlin, Steve Jobs, Li Lu, Edwin Land, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, James Cameron, Anna Wintour, Walt Disney, Bernard Arnault, and Brad Jacobs immediately came to mind.

The best investors are not investors at all. They are entrepreneurs who have never sold. — Nick Sleep Nick Sleep’s letters are a masterclass on the importance of understanding the underlying reality of a business — what he calls the engine of its success. I read all 110,000 words of Nick’s letters (twice!) to make this episode and what I found most important is Nick’s ability to develop a deep understanding of “honestly run compounding machines” (like Costco and Amazon) years before everyone else. Nick explains clearly how Jim Sinegal and Jeff Bezos set up their companies for long term success —from the very beginning — and gives us a few hints along the way on how we can do the same in our business. And the absolute entrepreneurial history nerd in me loved the references to Henry Ford, Sam Walton, Rockefeller and other greats from the past that are sprinkled throughout Nick’s letters. No surprise that someone who was able to make $2 billion for his clients has a deep understanding of the great work that came before him.

How Nick Sleep and Qais Zakaria built their radically unconventional investment partnership. From the incredible book Richer, Wiser, Happier: How The World's Greatest Investors Win In Markets and Life by William Green.

I sent a friend this text: I'm working on another Li Lu episode but this one is about his remarkable investing career. Can be summarized by: 1. Studied Buffett and Munger. 2. Did that. Last episode was about how Li Lu survived one of the most horrific childhoods imaginable. This episode covers how he thinks about investing and entrepreneurship, in his own words.

Charlie Munger said that Li Lu was the only outsider he ever trusted with his money. Decades before Li Lu made Munger half a billion dollars, Li survived one of the most horrific childhoods imaginable: Born into poverty, abandoned, hungry, beaten, surrounded by death. Persistent. Smart. Disciplined. Intensely curious. Obsessed with reading and learning. Determined to escape. This is a story you absolutely cannot miss. What I learned from reading Moving the mountain: My life in China from the Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square by Li Lu.

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger said it was a crime that more business schools didn't study Henry Singleton. I think it's a crime that more entrepreneurs don't study Estée Lauder. She is one of the best founders to ever do it. This is the story of how she went from a childhood obsession, to a single counter in a beauty salon, to a multibillion dollar empire. This is my third time reading this book. It gets better every time I read it. This episode is what I learned from rereading Estée: A Success Story by Estée Lauder.

Since its founding in 1967 Fastenal has grown from a small fastener store in Winona, Minnesota, into a multibillion-dollar global organization. How did a small town “nuts and bolts” shop become one of the world's most dynamic growth companies? Whenever asked, company founder Bob Kierlin attributes Fastenal's success to the company's high-quality employees and their commitment to a common goal: Growth Through Customer Service. This episode is what I learned from reading The Power of Fastenal People by Robert Kierlin.

The name of Nobel usually calls to mind Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, and the internationally prestigious prizes that bear his name. But Alfred was only one member of a creative and innovative family who built an industrial empire in prerevolutionary Russia. The saga begins with an emigre from Sweden, Immanuel Nobel, who was an architect, a pioneer producer of steam engines, and a maker of weapons. Immanuel's sons included Alfred; Robert, who directed the family's activities in the Caspian oil fields; and Ludwig, an engineering genius and manufacturing magnate whose boundless energy and fierce determination created the Russian petroleum industry. Ludwig's son Emanuel showed similar mettle, shrewdly bargaining with the Rothschilds for control of the Russian markets and competing head-on with Standard Oil and Royal Dutch Shell for lucrative world markets. Perhaps no family in history has played so decisive a role in building an industrial empire in an underdeveloped but resource-rich nation. Yet the achievements of the Nobel family have been largely forgotten. When the Bolsheviks came to power, Emmanuel had to flee the country disguised as a peasant. The Nobel empire with its 50,000 workers lay in ruins. An empire which had taken eighty years to design and build, was nearly destroyed, bringing a sudden and bitter end to one of the most remarkable industrial odysseys in world history. This episode is what I learned from reading The Russian Rockefellers: The Saga of the Nobel Family and the Russian Oil Industry by Robert Tolf.

What I learned from having dinner with John Mackey and reading his autobiography The Whole Story: Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism.

What I learned from reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami.

What I learned from reading The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce: How the Sun Rose on Silicon Valley by Tom Wolfe.

What I learned from reading The House of Arnault by Brad Stone and Angelina Rascouet.

What I learned from reading Sam Walton: The Inside Story of America's Richest Man by Vance Trimble.

What I learned from reading How To Be Rich by J. Paul Getty.

What I learned from reading As I See it: The Autobiography of J. Paul Getty by J. Paul Getty.

What I learned from reading about Hans Wilsdorf and the founding of Rolex.

What I learned from reading The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo

What I learned from reading Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success by Ken Segall.

What I learned from reading Driven From Within by Michael Jordan and Mark Vancil.

What I learned from reading The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, The Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals by Frank Partnoy.

What I learned from reading Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow.

What I learned from rereading Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler.

What I learned from rereading George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones.

What I learned from reading Steven Spielberg: A Biography by Joseph McBride.

What I learned from reading Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino.

What I learned from reading Eternal Pursuit of Unhappiness Being Very Good Is No Good,You Have to Be Very, Very, Very, Very, Very Good by David Ogilvy and Ogivly & Mather.

What I learned from reading The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant.

What I learned from rereading Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer by Stephen Dando-Collins.

What I learned from reading Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover and Winning: The Unforgiving Race to Greatness by Tim Grover.

What I learned from reading Decoded by Jay Z.

What I learned from reading The Days of Duveen by S.N. Behrman.

What I learned from reading Wildcatters: A Story of Texans, Oil, and Money by Sally Helgesen.

What I learned from reading Roots of Strategy by Thomas R. Phillips and Napoleon and Modern War by Napoleon and Col. Lanza.

What I learned from reading Insull: The Rise and Fall of A Billionaire Utility Tycoon by Forrest McDonald.

What I learned from reading How To Make A Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs.

What I learned from reading the transcripts of Young Oprah on Her Life and Career and Oprah on Career, Life and Leadership.

What I learned from reading The Red Bull Story by Wolfgang Fürweger.

What I learned from reading Jesus: A Biography from a Believer by Paul Johnson.

What I learned from reading Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior and Creators by Paul Johnson.

What I learned from rereading Les Schwab Pride In Performance: Keep It Going! by Les Schwab.

What I learned from reading the NEW Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charlie Munger.

Reflections from my dinner with Charlie Munger.

What I learned from reading The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William Thorndike.

What I learned from reading Ted Turner's Autobiography.

What I learned from reading Anna: The Biography by Amy Odell.

What I learned from reading How Larry Gagosian Reshaped The Art World by Patrick Radden Keefe.

What I learned from reading The 38 Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to His Son by John D. Rockefeller.

What I learned from reading Bloomberg by Michael Bloomberg.

What I learned from reading Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way by Ryan White and A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett.

What I learned from reading Nuts!: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg and Herb’s Heroes by David Sanders.

What I learned from reading Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr.

What I learned from reading Young Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill by Michael Shelden.

What I learned from rereading The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King by Rich Cohen.

What I learned from reading Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard.

What I learned from the first 6 years of making Founders.

What I learned from reading The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific by Alistair Urquhart.

What I learned from rereading Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull.

What I learned from reading The Bugatti Story by L’Ebe Bugatti.

What I learned from reading Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney by Paul Johnson.

What I learned from reading How To Do Great Work by Paul Graham.

What I learned from reading The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan by Tom Shone.

What I learned from reading Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain by Roy Morris Jr.

What I learned from reading The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron by Rebecca Keegan and The Return of James Cameron, Box Office King by Zach Baron.

What I learned from reading Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney by Paul Johnson.

What I learned from reading Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby.

What I learned from reading Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak by Barbara Outland Baker.

What I learned from reading Glock: The Rise of America's Gun by Paul Barrett.

What I learned from reading Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses by David Landes.

What I learned from reading Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy.

What I learned from reading Working by Robert Caro.

What I learned from reading Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary by Robert Price.

What I learned from reading The Women of Berkshire Hathaway: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Female CEOs and Directors by Karen Linder.

What I learned from reading The Mind of Napoleon: A Selection of His Written and Spoken Words edited by J. Christopher Herold.

What I learned from reading Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian.

What I learned from reading Against the Odd: An Autobiography by James Dyson for the 4th time.

What I learned from reading Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words.

What I learned from having lunch with Sam Zell and reading Zeckendorf: The Autobiography of The man Who Played a Real-Life Game of Monopoly and Won the Largest Real Estate Empire in History by William Zeckendorf.

What I learned from rereading Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard.

David Rosenthal and Ben Gilbert — of the Acquired podcast — invited me to San Francisco for a discussion on our mutual obsession: spending every waking hour studying the history of entrepreneurship and sharing those lessons on our podcasts.

What I learned from reading The Taste of Luxury: Bernard Arnault and the Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton Story by Nadege Forestier and Nazanine Ravai.

What I learned from rereading The Tao of Charlie Munger.

What I learned from reading Napoleon: A Concise Biography by David Bell.

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

What I learned from rereading The Invisible Billionaire: Daniel Ludwig by Jerry Shields.

What I learned from reading The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company by David Packard.

What I learned from rereading Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson.

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

What I learned from reading Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind the Mystique by Jeffrey Trachtenberg.

What I learned from rereading Rolls-Royce: The Magic of a Name: The First Forty Years of Britain s Most Prestigious Company by Peter Pugh.

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.

What I learned from reading American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune by Greg Steinmetz.

What I learned from rereading Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America by Les Standiford.

What I learned from rereading The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie.

What I learned from rereading Jeff Bezos' Shareholder Letters (for the 3rd time!)