#217 Estée Lauder

**David Senra** (0:00)
I want to tell you about a one-time only limited event that I don't think you're going to want to miss. I am doing a live show with Patrick O'Shaughnessy from the Invest Like the Best podcast in New York City on October 19th. Patrick has interviewed over 300 of the world's best investors and founders for his podcast. I've read over 300 biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs for my podcast. We'll be talking about what we learned from seven years of podcasting, sharing our favorite ideas and stories, and doing a live Q&A. There will also be special event-only swag. If you live in New York City, I think it's a no-brainer. But if not, I think it's a great excuse to fly in. I've already heard from a bunch of people that bought tickets. They're flying in from other cities. Some people are flying in from other countries. That's setting the bar really high. So I will have at least four shots of espresso or four energy drinks before or during the show so we can make it a night that you'll never forget. If you're interested in attending this unique live event, I will leave a link down below. I highly recommend you get your tickets today. And I hope I get to see you in New York on October 19th.
You never realize that you're making a memory at the moment something's actually happening.
Strangers still, the strongest memories are those you never dreamed would survive and would be inextricably linked to your future.
Momentous happenings can lie buried in the past while tiny, needle sharp, split seconds sometimes stay with you forever.
They happen in a moment and they tug at your memory endlessly.
They live always just below your consciousness.
I remember the woman at the Florence Morris Beauty Salon where I had my first cosmetics concession.
She was thoughtless and cruel and will always remain that way in my mind.
Maybe she was a catalyst for good in the end. Maybe I wouldn't have become Estée Lauder if it hadn't been for her.
At the moment she was cast in my memory, to last there forever, I despised her.
Simply thinking about that incident brings back a twinge of pain.
She was having her hair combed and she was lovely.
I was very young and vulnerable and I loved beauty. I felt I wanted to make contact with her in some small way.
What a beautiful blouse you're wearing, I complimented her. It's so elegant. Do you mind if I ask where you bought it?
She smiled. What difference could it possibly make? She answered, looking straight into my eyes. You could never afford it.
I walked away, heart-pounding, face-burning. Never, never, never will anyone say that to me again, I promise myself. Someday, I will have whatever I want.
That is an excerpt from the book that I just reread, and the one I'm going to talk to you about today, which is The Autobiography of Estée Lauder. It's called Estée, A Success Story written by Estée Lauder.
Okay, so the first time I read this book was about a year and a half ago, and it's originally Founders No. 136
And the reason I decided to reread it right now actually has something to do with one, my favorite talk on YouTube and a lot of people that listen to this podcast. So I'm just going to explain this real quick, and then I'll jump into the book. So I've mentioned this talk over and over again, probably at least 10 times on the podcast throughout the years. It's by an investor called Bill Gurley, and it's called Running Down a Dream, How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love. I will definitely link to the YouTube video. I highly recommend. I probably watched it 10 times. It's had a big influence on how I approach specifically founders. In the talk, Bill tells the story of five people that went to extreme lengths to run down a dream, to actually succeed at getting their dream job. And those people are Danny Meyer. I actually read Danny Meyer's autobiography. This is actually before I saw Bill's talk. It's Founders No. 20 It's a fantastic autobiography. It's recommended to a friend of mine who's a restaurateur. I've mentioned that a couple of times on the podcast as well. It's called Setting the Table. And there's just a ton of lessons that Danny applied to building out his restaurants. And later on, I guess after the book, he had founded Shake Shack. But I think when he published the book, they only had maybe a handful. There might only been one Shake Shack or just a handful. It definitely wasn't public and definitely wasn't the size, nearly the size that it is now. But anyways, it's a fantastic book. And if you want to learn more about that, that's back on Founders 20 So it's Danny Meyer, Bobby Knight, the basketball coach, Bob Dylan, Sam Hincky, and Katrina Lake. And so there's something that Bill said in that talk that I took as a personal challenge and used as a North Star. And he, again, the entire talk is him observing how people have gone to extreme lengths. He talks about, listen, you got one life to live.