#263 Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It

**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.
Why do you want to work in a nutty place like this?
I don't. Yes, you do. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.
Well, why is Polaroid a nutty place?
To start with, it's run by a man who has more brains than anyone has a right to. He doesn't believe anything until he's discovered it and proved it for himself.
Because of that, he never looks at things the way you or I do. He has no room for small talk. He has no preconceived notions.
He starts from the beginning with everything. That's why we have a camera that takes pictures and develops them right away.
Isn't that what a camera is supposed to do? Uh, I don't know. Of course it is. It's obvious, but Land was the first person to think about it that way. I've been a photographer all my life and I'm a smart guy, but I didn't think of it. It never occurred to me, let alone how to do it. That is a whole nother story. That is an excerpt from the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Land's Polaroid, A Company and the Man Who Invented It, written by Peter Wensberg. Peter actually worked at Polaroid directly with Land starting at 30 He was actually describing, that excerpt was describing the job interview, the unconventional job interview that he had, and he wound up working at Polaroid for 24 years.
I originally read this book for the first time all the way back on Founders number 133 So I spent an insane amount of time reading this week. I read this book and I read the almost 500 page biography, reread the almost 500 page biography of Edwin Land called Insisting on the Impossible. And then for the last two days, I've also spent time rereading.
It's this book called Instant, The Story of Polaroid. It is a history of the entire company. And the reason I'm doing all this is I've told you before, one of my main goals is to convince as many entrepreneurs as I can to study Edwin Land. And there's many good reasons to do that, but the two that stick out to me the most, first is that he is Steve Jobs' hero. He influenced the career of Steve Jobs more than anybody else. For Steve's entire life, from the time he was in his 20s when he's giving interviews and I have notes on, to all the five or six different biographies that I've read about Steve, from the time he was in his 20s until he was dying, he talked about the importance of the Edwin Land had on his career. I just want to read something from the Steve Jobs biography from Walter Isaacson, just to cover this real quick. And he says, then I read something that one of my heroes, Edwin Land of Polaroid said about the importance of people who could stand at the intersection of humanities and sciences. And I decided that is what I want to do. Steve got to meet Land. So Steve was in his 20s, Land was in his 70s. He met him three times as he was building Apple, and he described the meetings as visiting a shrine. And so I think the obvious point is, well, if Steve Jobs spent time, his very valuable time studying Edwin Land, why wouldn't you or I? So that leads me to the second reason that I'm rereading this book, and why I read two and a half books on Edwin Land this week. I want to figure out like, what is the easiest way to convince somebody to study Edwin Land by reading one of the biographies about him? And I think the best way to do that is if I could say, hey, if you could only read one book about Land, this is the one I would read. For the longest time, I was telling everybody, hey, read Insisting on the Impossible. It is the most comprehensive biography of Edwin Land by far. It is not the easiest to read. It is almost 500 pages. You have to be really into Land to want to read that. So after reading all these, I realized, hey, the book that I hold in my hand, this is the one. If you've never read a book about Edwin Land and you want to get started, this is the one I would recommend. It's half the size of Insisting on the Impossible. And it gives us more insight into Land as a person because Peter knew him personally. In fact, the book ends after they both have left Polaroid and they're hanging out and talking in Land's house.