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

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

Founders

March 6, 2023

What I learned from rereading Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc. ---- Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes ---- Follow Founders Podcast on YouTube  ---- Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best !
Speakers: David Senra
**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.
The presenting sponsor of this episode is Tiny. Tiny is the easiest way for you to sell your business. They provide straightforward cash exits for founders. They can do deals of all sizes. They've bought businesses in the past for as little as a million dollars, and some businesses for over a hundred million dollars. Tiny has been called the Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet. The founders, Andrew and Chris, have spoken about how the thinking of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger has influenced the way that they are building Tiny. Stick around to the end of this episode. The last six minutes is actually a masterclass on product differentiation from Warren Buffett. I compare the ideas that Warren writes about in his shareholder letters to Tiny's approach to building their business. Selling a business is usually a headache and a hassle. Selling to Tiny is the opposite. The process of selling your business is very straightforward. You get in touch with Tiny by going to tiny.com. You get a response within 48 hours. They'll make an offer within seven days, and they close within a month, and you get a bag full of cash. If you have a business that you want to sell now or in the future, make sure you go to tiny.com.
And one more quick thing. Do me a favor. Whatever podcast player that you're currently listening to this on, search for Invest Like The Best and follow that show. And once you do that, listen to episode 318, Doug Leone Lessons From A Titan. The episode was so good that I listened to it twice. Here's my favorite quote from the episode. You can tell that Doug has founder mentality. He says, We were killers, I want to make sure that you know that. We were killers, not killers to make the most money. Killers to get the job done.
I have always believed that each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems. It is a simple philosophy.
I find that it functions as well for me now that I'm a multimillionaire as it did when I was selling paper cups for $35 a week and playing the piano part time to support my wife and baby daughter.
It follows that a man must take advantage of any opportunity that comes along, and I have always done that too.
After 17 years of selling paper cups, I saw opportunity appear in the form of a milkshake machine called the multi-mixer, and I grabbed it.
It wasn't easy to give up security and a well-paying job to strike out on my own.
My wife was shocked and incredulous, yet I was alert to other opportunities too when I heard about an incredible thing that was happening with my multi-mixer out in California. I kept getting these calls and the message was always the same.
I want one of those mixers of yours like the McDonald brothers have out in California. I got curious. Who were the McDonald brothers, and why were customers picking up on the multi-mixer from them when I had similar machines in lots of other places?
So I did some checking and was astonished to learn that the McDonald's had not one multi-mixer, not two or three, but eight.
The mental picture of eight multi-mixers churning out 40 shakes at one time was just too much to be believed.

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