#55 Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer

**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. Vanderbilt was only interested in two things, making money and winning. Often he temporarily subjugated the need for the former to achieve the latter. Vanderbilt had an unquenchable thirst for conquest. There was nothing he could not do, short of outright murder to conquer. Vanderbilt and Walker were alike in several respects. Both were opportunists, and both were prepared to suffer through short-term adversity to achieve long-term victory. Both Vanderbilt and Walker were loyal to those who were loyal to them, attracting lifelong allegiances from their closest associates. But there the similarities ended. Walker, because of his limited resources, was prepared to give his trust too readily to achieve his ends. Giving that trust to men who turned out to be liars, braggarts, and fools.
The cunning Vanderbilt was a much better judge of character, and here is where the two men differed most. If you crossed Walker, he would banish you from his world. If you crossed Vanderbilt, he would set out to conquer you no matter how long it took. Ultimately, that conquest would be signified by a surrender, and that surrender would usually take the form of a deal. At one time or another, Vanderbilt got into bed with all of his enemies, if they were prepared to submit to him, and most, being businessmen, were. The exception was William Walker. He was not a businessman. He achieved his short-lived successes using war and the law as his tools. And unlike Vanderbilt's other adversaries, Walker was not afraid of the Commodore when he should have been.
Okay, so that is from the epilogue of the book that I'm gonna talk to you about today, which is Tycoon's War, How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer. So as you could probably guess, the America's Most Famous Military Adventurer at the time is this guy named William Walker. And we're gonna learn a lot about him and some of the mistakes he made going up against the ruthless Cornelius Vanderbilt. So two quick things before jumping back into the rest of the book. I've replied to everyone who has emailed me a screenshot of their review or of their recommendation. So if you haven't heard back from me yet, please email me at foundersreviews at gmail.com. And for those of you that are unfamiliar, I have a private podcast feed for people that leave reviews and ratings for the podcast. So if you want access to my reviewer only private podcast feed, all you have to do is leave a reviewer rating wherever you listen to this podcast. And if you screenshot your reviewer rating and then you email me the screenshot at foundersreviews at gmail.com, I'll reply back with the private link. So far I've done two podcasts that you can have immediate access to. I'm gonna be doing another one in the next week or two, and then I'll do one probably every quarter. So if you take the minute or two it takes to review or leave a rating, you'll get constant updates from me in perpetuity.
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