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Speaker 1

00:00

All the way back in 2019, I received a message that changed the direction of this podcast forever. It was from Tristan, who is 1 of the co-founders of ReadWise. He said, hey, I love the podcast. And he told me about the ReadWise product.

Speaker 1

00:12

I responded, thanks, Tristan. Love the idea behind ReadWise. I will definitely check it out. I had no idea that I would become a super user of his product.

Speaker 1

00:20

And so over the years, I've added my highlights and notes for over 300 books. I have over 20,000 highlights and notes for the books that I've read for the podcast. And because I can search every single thing I've ever done, I use Readwise every day. I never close the browser tab.

Speaker 1

00:37

The tab on Readwise is always open because as I'm reading, as I'm thinking, as I'm researching, I'm constantly going in and rereading all my notes and highlights. And you might already know this because every other podcast I go on, I talk about Readwise. I tweet about it, I post about it constantly. I've been saying for years, it is the best app that I pay for.

Speaker 1

00:55

And because I go around shouting about how great it is from the mountaintops, I get a bunch of messages. Nearly every day, people have asked me, hey, is there a possibility that I can actually get access to your Readwise? And this happened so much for so long, and I thought it was like a superpower of mine. So I was like, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 1

01:10

And then I started thinking, well, why does everybody want this? Like, why do they keep asking for this? And I thought about it, it's like, well, if you think about this, it's like, has anybody else in the world read this many biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs, obsessively taken notes on it, obsessively highlighted it? And I was like, oh, they want access because it's the world's most valuable notebook for founders.

Speaker 1

01:29

And I think people understood that instinctively. In fact, there's a line in Poor Charlie's Almanac that said that there's answers worth billions of dollars in a $30 history book. And I think that's the case for my notebook as well. So a few months ago, I went to the founders of Readwise, Tristan and Daniel, and I asked, hey, is there a way we can build a product together that actually mirrors what I see?

Speaker 1

01:47

I want a way for people that want to subscribe to my notes and highlights to see exactly what I see. They can search by book, they can search by keyword, they can get access to the highlights feed, which is essentially what I call smart Twitter feed. It is a feed of short little highlights and notes from all different books on 1 page. And I also wanted people to see all the highlights that I've actually favorited.

Speaker 1

02:06

So, so far I've favorited 839 highlights. And so that's exactly what we built together. You can find it at foundersnotes.com. I will also leave the link down below in the show notes.

Speaker 1

02:17

And because this is brand new, it's actually half the price of what it's eventually going to be. There's not even a landing page. You just go to foundersnotes.com, sign up and subscribe, and then you get immediate access. And it's important to note that I made this for founders already running successful companies.

Speaker 1

02:30

I think that's who's going to get the most value out of it. Those are also usually the most committed people. There is no monthly option. You can only subscribe for a year.

Speaker 1

02:39

It is only made for the already committed. And these kind of founders, and I include myself in there, they just want the best way to reference the thoughts and ideas of history's greatest founders and then they'll figure out how to apply what they're learning directly to their company. So if this is you, I encourage you to test it out for a year. You'll have access to the world's most valuable notebook for founders.

Speaker 1

02:57

And I think the value you'll receive because the value I've gotten out of it has been incredible. And I think that'll be the same case for you. If you wind up subscribing, make sure you keep it, once you're in, make sure you just keep it in your browser. This is how I use it.

Speaker 1

03:08

The tab is always open on my computer. I'm referencing it dozens of times a day. It is a product I can get behind fully because I use it every day. You're literally seeing what I see.

Speaker 1

03:17

So if this sounds interesting to you, and you wanna get access, go to foundersnotes.com. Dear John, I have bad news to tell you. Mr. Benson passed away last night.

Speaker 1

03:32

Mr. Benson is an old rival and 1 of my few admired opponents. I am deeply impressed by his outstanding talent and his tenacious will. To this day I still remember the joke that he made with me after our alliance.

Speaker 1

03:45

He said, Mr. Rockefeller, you are a brilliant predator who is not soft. Losing to those bad guys would have made me very sad because it was like a robbery. But playing against people like you, whether I win or lose, makes me happy.

Speaker 1

04:03

I told him, Mr. Benson, if you can replace the word predator with the word conqueror, I think I will gladly accept your compliment. He smiled. I admire the warriors who are still fighting bravely against their enemy.

Speaker 1

04:19

Mr. Benson is such a person. Before Benson became my enemy, I had just defeated the nation's largest railroad company, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and successfully subdued the nation's fourth and last railroad company, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Just like that, together with my most loyal allies, the Erie Railroad and the New York Central Railroad, the 4 major railway companies in the United States have all become tools for me to tame.

Speaker 1

04:48

I am 27 pages into the book at this point. And when I got to that sentence, the 4 major railway companies in the United States have all become tools for me to tame. I am 27 pages into the book at this point. And when I got to that sentence, the 4 major railway companies in the United States have all become tools for me to tame, I wrote a note to myself.

Speaker 1

05:00

If Napoleon or Alexander the Great had been in business, they would be like this. Back to this letter. At the same time, Standard Oil's pipelines extended bit by bit into the oil field, giving me absolute control over all major pipelines connecting oil wells and railroad track lines. Frankly speaking, at that time, my influence had been extended to all the corners of the oil industry.

Speaker 1

05:27

If I say that I have the power of life and death over oil producers and oil refiners, that is not a lie. I can make them wealthy or I can make them worthless. But some people did ignore my authority, such as Mr. Benson.

Speaker 1

05:44

Mr. Benson was an ambitious businessman who wanted to lay an oil pipeline to save the independent oil producers who were afraid of being crushed by me. The idea of making a fortune dominated him to bravely break into my territory. His oil pipeline was laid forward at an alarming rate from the beginning.

Speaker 1

06:06

This brought me to attention. John, any competition is not an easy game, but a game full of vitality requires close attention and constant decision making. Otherwise you will lose if you're not careful. Mr.

Speaker 1

06:21

Benson is creating trouble and I have to stop him." Now, keep in mind, Rockefeller is writing this letter to his adult son. He did not think that this letter was ever going to be published. And so he's going to describe over the next few pages his attack on Mr. Benson.

Speaker 1

06:35

And when Rockefeller attacks you, it is always, always a multi-pronged attack. So he says, at first I brought a long and narrow land along the Pennsylvania state border from north to south at a high price in an attempt to prevent Benson from moving forward. But Benson took a detour approach and avoided my heavy punch. Then I used the power of my allies and asked the railway companies to never let any oil pipelines cross their railways.

Speaker 1

07:03

Benson did the same and successfully broke through again. Finally, I wanted to use the power of the government to stop Benson, but this was without success. By this time, I know that I have encountered a tough enemy to conquer, but he cannot shake my determination to compete, because the 110-mile pipeline is my biggest threat. If I let the crude oil flow there unimpeded, they will also acquire the supply line to New York.

Speaker 1

07:31

Then Benson will replace me as the owner of the New York oil refining industry. This is something I cannot allow. I can't let Benson come here and destroy the market that I built with my efforts. This is my life's effort.

Speaker 1

07:45

I propose to buy his stock. Unfortunately, he refused. I never thought I would lose. As far as my nature is concerned, I do not meet competition.

Speaker 1

07:57

I destroy competitors. I launched another series of offensives that made it difficult for him to parry. I sent someone to place a large amount of orders to the storage tank producers, asking them to ensure production and delivery on time so that they have no capacity to take other customers including Benson. At the same time I drastically reduced the price of pipeline transportation and I attracted a large amount of oil refiners who relied on Benson to transport crude oil and converted them from his customers to our customers.

Speaker 1

08:40

I then quickly acquired several refineries in New York to prevent them from becoming a customer of Benson's. An excellent commander will try his best to destroy the bunker that is strong enough to destroy the city. Every round of my attack hit places where Mr. Benson had no fuel, and I became the winner.

Speaker 1

09:02

In less than a year, Mr. Benson surrendered. He was well aware that if he continued to fight against me, he will only lose even more. John, every crucial competition is a battle that determines fate.

Speaker 1

09:16

Retreat means surrender. Retreat will turn you into a slave. The war is inevitable. Let it come.

Speaker 1

09:24

In this world, competition will not stop for a moment, and we have no time to rest. All we can do is bring a steel-like determination to face all kinds of challenges and competitions. To win the competition, it is more important that you stay alert. At this point in time, you need to know that kindness and tenderness may hurt you.

Speaker 1

09:46

You need to have strength. Crutches cannot replace strong and powerful feet. We must stand on our own feet and rely on ourselves. You should work hard to hone, strengthen, and develop your feet and let them exert their power.

Speaker 1

10:02

I think Mr. Benson, who is now in heaven, will agree with me. Love, your father." Okay, so that excerpt was from letter number 5. The book I'm going to talk to you about today is the 38 letters from John D.

Speaker 1

10:15

Rockefeller to his son. Before I jump right into this book, because we have a lot to talk about, I'm going to highly encourage you to buy the book. I've already bought 4 copies of the book. I'll probably buy 15 more.

Speaker 1

10:26

It is so important. This is the first book ever where I read it. It's not even that long. It's like less than 200 pages.

Speaker 1

10:31

I spent an entire week reading it and then decided to take another week rereading it. And the reason I think this book is so important is because I even when you read Rockefeller's autobiography, right, he knew that book was going to be published. He is in this book, he is writing 38 letters to his son over 30 years. He did not, he's not writing this for publication.

Speaker 1

10:49

And so as you see his unfiltered words that he's writing to his adult son, it becomes immediately apparent, oh my God, he knew what he was, a conqueror through and through, 1 that will not rest until he is completely unopposed. And so I wanna go to letter 1. This is the interesting thing about the book. The letters are not actually in order by the year they're written.

Speaker 1

11:11

And so in some cases, Rockefeller is maybe 58 years old and his son is 23. In 1 case, Rockefeller writes a letter when he's 96 years old. And so keep in mind in this letter he's 58 years old, he's writing to his 23 year old son. And he starts the letter, Dear John, you hope that I can sail with you forever, and This sounds great, but I am not your eternal captain.

Speaker 1

11:33

God created feet for us to let us walk on our own. The founding belief of the United States of America is that all human beings are created equal, but this equality is only present in the context of rights and laws. It has nothing to do with economic and cultural advantages. Think of our world as a high mountain.

Speaker 1

11:51

When your parents live on the peak of the mountain, you are destined to not live at the foot of the mountain. Likewise, when your parents live at the foot of the mountain, you are destined to not live on the peak of the mountain. In most cases, the status of parents will determine the starting point of their child's life. So I want to take, there's 2 things to think about in that sentence, right?

Speaker 1

12:15

In most cases, the status of parents will determine the starting point of their child's life. I think that's why you and I are working unbelievably hard, why we're constantly learning, why we're constantly trying to build businesses and add value to other people's lives to make our own children's lives better, right? That is a huge motivator for me. It's probably a huge motivator for you.

Speaker 1

12:32

But this is another kind of crazy thing that he's saying because he's talking about how the world is, right? And yet that last line was not true for his own life. His huge driver, which he'll talk about a lot in these letters, is the fact that he was a poor boy, the fact that his father was a bigamist, he won't ever say that word. The fact that there was a lot of insecurity around, like his dad would drop them off.

Speaker 1

12:53

Is he ever going to come back? Is he going to give us money? And so you have like an 8 and 9 year old Rockefeller running around, right? This guy's got unbelievable self-confidence.

Speaker 1

13:02

And I need to tell you that right up front. If you want to say, hey, what does he repeat the most over these 38 letters? It is for his son to have relentless self-belief, to believe that he can achieve great things. That is the thing that Rockefeller repeats the most.

Speaker 1

13:15

And you see that in his own life. Belief comes before ability. He's a poor 8, nine-year-old boy. I don't know if I'll get to it, but there's a story that he actually gets to go to school and he's in like tattered clothes and they're having a picture taking.

Speaker 1

13:28

And at the time, like that's a very expensive endeavor. And the story sounds almost fake when you hear about it. Maybe he's making it up to provide motivation for himself. But he talks about the fact that he was asked, because he was in tattered clothes and mostly the kids were dressed well, he was asked by the photographer to get out of the picture, as to not ruin it to other people, and saying, hey, that motivated me.

Speaker 1

13:50

But this idea is running around 8, 9 years old, saying I'm gonna be the richest man in the world 1 day. And that part, he's definitely not making up, because there's a bunch of people that are interviewed in other biographies that grew up with Rockefeller that report him saying that to them over and over again. So let's go back to this. Most cases, the status of parents will determine the starting point of their child's life.

Speaker 1

14:06

I think for most people, I think they understand that it's true, that's why we're again pushing and we're trying to create a better life for our kids. The only truth is that as long as you work hard enough, you will succeed. I, this is a great line. He's got a lot of great lines in the book.

Speaker 1

14:20

I firmly believe that our destiny is determined by our actions and not by our origins. So it's almost like he's contradicting himself too. Right there. The paragraph above, he says, hey, in most cases, the status of parents will determine the starting point of their child's life.

Speaker 1

14:34

The end of the next paragraph is, well, our destiny is actually determined by our actions, not by our origins. And so throughout this entire book he's going to—this is what makes it so fascinating, because he's already on the other side of, you know, he's the richest person in the world. He's on the other side of achievement. Yet his letters are constantly peppered with stories of his young life, whether he was a little boy or the first job he gets, his first business, the first time he starts working in the oil industry.

Speaker 1

15:01

This really is a remarkable, remarkable book. So he says, as you know, when I was young, my family was very poor. I remember that the books I read when I was in high school were brought to us by our kind neighbors. In the beginning of my career as a bookkeeper, I was only earning a weekly salary of $5, but it was through unremitting efforts, unremitting efforts that have enabled me to establish an enviable oil kingdom, okay?

Speaker 1

15:24

Conqueror, kingdom, everybody's under my control. Again, he knows what he is. He is a Napoleonic figure. He is an Alexander the Great figure.

Speaker 1

15:33

He just happened to be... He wasn't in war. He was in commerce, but is undoubtedly the same personality type. And he's going to mention these people over and over again.

Speaker 1

15:42

This is my reward for my perseverance and hard work from the gods of destiny. Another thing to point out too, he uses present tense. So you might've noticed that in the Mr. Benson letter.

Speaker 1

15:53

The guy's dead. The events, the war that happened a long time ago happened a long time ago. And he's talking about it in present tense. I don't know if it's just because he's not good at grammar, I don't know if there's something going on there, but I will make a point to you, though, that it was fascinating.

Speaker 1

16:08

I remember reading back on episode 232, I read this biography of Alexander the Great, and something that Rockefeller had in common with Alexander the Great is they would, when they would come across a formidable enemy, right, even after they defeated the enemy, if they thought that enemy was formidable and had talents, they would utilize them inside their organization. And so there is, there's a story that happens in Alexander the Great's biography that's fantastic. And there's this guy named Porus, and he was an Indian, an ancient Indian king. He was alive around like 320 BC, something like that, right?

Speaker 1

16:42

And so after he loses, Alexander goes into a battle. Alexander's already world famous at this point, and they go into war, but Porus survives. And so Alexander is actually talking to Porus. And I remember thinking when I was...

Speaker 1

16:55

I'm gonna read you this interaction with them from Alexander the Great's biography. And I remember thinking, like, this is remarkable. Like, look how Alexander treats and respects genuine excellence, even in a defeated enemy. And this is something that Rockefeller has in common.

Speaker 1

17:10

So Alexander asked Porus, he's like, what folly forced you, knowing as you did the fame of my achievements, meaning that I'm conquering everybody around you. How dare you go against me? Why would you even attempt to do so? And this is what Porus said, and this goes back to, I think, the relentless self-belief that a lot of entrepreneurs, or really anybody that does something great, has.

Speaker 1

17:31

And he says, since you asked, I shall answer you with the frankness, I did not think there was anyone stronger than I. Though I knew my own strength, I had not yet tested yours. And now the outcome of this war has shown you to be the stronger. And so then Alexander is continuing this conversation, he asks him, like, what should I do with you?

Speaker 1

17:49

Now that, like, I am the victor, you are the defeated person, what would you do if you were in my shoes? And his response was fascinating. He says, what this day tells you to do? The day on which you have discovered how transitory good fortune is, meaning before this battle I stood in a very similar position that you were in.

Speaker 1

18:06

And yet in a day that is all gone, my good fortune is gone. And what Alexander noticed, it says his greatness of spirit was not cowed or broken even in adversity, and he felt obliged to treat him not only with mercy, but with respect. And so Alexander not only did not kill him, but he actually put him to work. He reinstated him and granted him dominion over the lands that they just fought over as just subordinate to Alexander.

Speaker 1

18:27

That's exactly what, Rockefeller does that over and over. If you really think about Senator Oyl, like he built a company of founders. He would defeat you, and then if he thought you were talented, he'd make you a partner. Okay, so back to letter number 1.

Speaker 1

18:39

You see, like we're in big trouble today. Like I'm gonna lose my voice before I wanna stop talking about this book. I'm in big, big trouble. So it has nothing to do with the letter that we're in right now, but it's just fascinating.

Speaker 1

18:49

I just love how all this stuff connects together. Okay, so he says, John, opportunities will always be unequal, but the results prove otherwise. In history, whether it's in politics or business, and especially in business, there have been many examples of successful people who started from scratch. He's talking about himself.

Speaker 1

19:05

In fact, most of the other titans that he talks about in this book, because Cornelius Vanderbilt is in this book, J.P. Morgan is in this book, Henry Clay Frick is in this book, Cyrus McCormick is in this book, Andrew Carnegie is in this book. They all know each other. They all interact with each other.

Speaker 1

19:18

But what's fascinating is in most of the examples of the people that come to dominate, the other robber barons that are coming to dominate the most important parts of the American economy at this time are people that have a background similar to Rockefeller. I think the only 1, the exclusion to, I can think of that is actually JP Morgan. So let's go back to this. There's a lot of examples of successful people who started from scratch.

Speaker 1

19:40

They have had only a few opportunities because of poverty, but they eventually achieved fame because of their past struggles. This is so important. He didn't say in spite of their past troubles. He said because the rare set of skills and struggles that he had to go through, right, and that he was able to survive, left him on the other side of that with a very rare set of skills that people did not have to go through all the stuff he had to do, lack.

Speaker 1

20:05

And so therefore, when he winds up meeting maybe somebody that's equal in intelligence or equal in resources at the time, he has a unique set of struggle or a unique set of skills because of their past struggles. However, history has also been filled with examples of rich children who were privileged and have failed in life. That is what he's trying to help his son avoid. His son is a rich child.

Speaker 1

20:26

He knows his son is a rich child at this point. John Jr. Is 23 years old. And so what he's trying to avoid, this is really another remarkable thing is because, you know, people say all kinds of things, but I really do pay attention, 1, to their actions, but also to what they say and the advice that they give their children.

Speaker 1

20:43

You know if you have children, you love the... I was trying to explain this to somebody who doesn't have children yet, and they want a big family. In fact, somebody talked to me yesterday. They want 5 kids or 7 kids or something like that.

Speaker 1

20:55

And I was like, 1, I think when I get to the end of my life, that's going to be the biggest regret of my life, that I didn't have more children. But what I try to explain is, I know you, because he has a deep love for his, he just really thinks his parents did an excellent job. Like his mom and dad, he just loves them a lot. I'm like, man, I know you think you love your mom and your dad, and you think you love your wife.

Speaker 1

21:15

You don't even know what that word is, what that word means until you have children. It is intense. So think about, I assume that Rockefeller felt about his kids the same way I feel about mine, same way a lot of humans feel. So like the idea that this is what he thinks is the most important knowledge to pass down, so much that he sits down and writes this out longhand.

Speaker 1

21:33

It's just really incredible. So now check this out. This is a powerful, powerful sentence. Ready?

Speaker 1

21:38

The glory and success of the family cannot guarantee the future of its children and grandchildren. I'm going to say that again. The glory and success of the family cannot guarantee the future of its children and grandchildren. He is describing the exact situation they're in at the time he's writing this letter.

Speaker 1

21:54

Really what he's talking about—let me back up, though, because there's another note I skipped over about why this is a powerful sentence. What he's about to say here, right, that, you know, my success does not guarantee your future success. It helps you, certainly, but it cannot. You can screw this up, right?

Speaker 1

22:08

He wouldn't use that word, but that's basically what's going on in this part of the letter. Now, What he's about to describe is there's an aspect of human nature, because it repeats over and over again, that produces, it says, shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in 3 generations. This is the idea where you have a PSD, a poor, smart, determined person. They build wealth.

Speaker 1

22:29

Then within 3 generations, the family's back poor. That happens over and over and over again. So he's going to talk about that now. I feel that once rich children begin taking advantage of their family's success, they will have little opportunity to learn and develop the skills needed for survival.

Speaker 1

22:42

Those are the skills he's telling his son that the ones that he possesses. Rockefeller Sr. Possessed those skills, right? People of poorer backgrounds will actively develop their creativity, abilities, while also cherishing and seizing various opportunities because they urgently need to rescue themselves.

Speaker 1

23:01

Jesus, can you believe the language that he's using here? Let's go back to the previous page. This all makes sense if you stack 1 sentence on another. So he goes back, hey, I firmly believe that our destiny is determined by our actions, not by our origins.

Speaker 1

23:15

Then he talks about, hey, even when I was a poor kid and I got my first job, it is through unremitting efforts that helped enable me to establish an oil kingdom. Then he continues, because they've had few opportunities because of poverty, they eventually achieve fame and wealth because of their past struggles. He continues that a few paragraphs later with this. People of poor backgrounds develop these skills because they urgently need to rescue themselves.

Speaker 1

23:44

He's telling John Jr. You don't need to rescue yourselves. So you are at a disadvantage. And he's known about this for a long time.

Speaker 1

23:51

He talks about this, even when you were younger, John Jr. Therefore, when you and your sisters were very young, I deliberately concealed the fact that I was well off. I instilled many values such as frugality and personal struggle in you. And so now he has to give advice to his son on what you have to do.

Speaker 1

24:06

And really it comes down to, I think you and I know this over and over again, you shouldn't be proud of what you consume. You didn't do anything for that. People, you should be proud of what you build. And so his whole thing, and this is why you see these, you know, these unbelievably successful businessmen, you see it over and over again in the books, I hear it in conversations.

Speaker 1

24:23

It's like, they have this drive for achievement, they build a company and they sell it, and they're like, I don't know what's going on here. Like I sold my company and I'm depressed. And it's because it wasn't the money that brought them contentment. It was building something that they could be proud of.

Speaker 1

24:38

And so he says a truly happy person is 1 who is able to enjoy his creation. Those of whom, meaning those people who are like sponges that only take without giving, lose happiness. And so then he starts building his son up and he talks about this over and over again. John, every move of yours will be a concern to me.

Speaker 1

24:57

However, as compared to being concerned, I am more confident in you and I believe in your excellent character. But you need to strengthen the belief that even though the starting point will affect the outcome, it does not determine it. Factors such as ability, attitude, character, ambition, method, experience, and luck play an extremely important role in life and in the business world. Your life has just begun.

Speaker 1

25:20

Your life is in front of you. I can deeply feel that you want to be the winner of this war, but you must know that everyone has the will to pursue victory, and only those who are determined and ready will win. My son, the privileged but powerless people are a waste, while the educated but unaffected people are a pile of worthless garbage. Find your own way and God will help you.

Speaker 1

25:48

Love, your father. Okay, so let's go to letter 2. This is where, once I got to letter 2, and this is, you're talking, you know, each letter is probably, you know, 5 pages, something like that. I immediately started ordering multiple copies of the book.

Speaker 1

26:02

I knew from the get-go I was going to give out this book. I knew I was going to like it. This is just incredible. Okay, starts off a couple years after the other letter and he says some people are destined to be kings, are great men because of their extraordinary talents.

Speaker 1

26:15

For example, Mr. McCormick. So he's talking about Cyrus McCormick, who is the inventor of the harvesting machines. They're called Reapers, they harvest wheat.

Speaker 1

26:25

But he's talking about his admiration for Mr. McCormick, and it says, who has a head of luck and knows how to turn a harvester into a sickle for harvesting banknotes. So he made something that made somebody else's life better, built a company around it, and then he has printed money. He's talking about this.

Speaker 1

26:39

He used harvesting machines to liberate American farmers, so he made their life better, and he also rose to the ranks to become 1 of the richest people in the United States. This business genius who was once just an ordinary farmhand once had an esoteric saying which went, luck is the remnant of design. Luck is the remnant of design. That is Cyrus McCormick on luck.

Speaker 1

26:59

It's going to sound a lot like Napoleon. If you have listened to episode 302, The Mind of Napoleon, Napoleon shares his view on luck a lot. So he says, in other words, we create our own luck and no action can eliminate it. So that is Rockefeller's interpretation of McCormick's quote, luck is the remnant of design.

Speaker 1

27:17

Rockefeller says, in other words, we create our own luck and no action can eliminate it. This is very important for what he's about to explain to his son. He is about to describe to his son what is known in history as the Cleveland Massacre, where I think at 25 years old, how Rockefeller became the largest oil refiner in the United States at 25. And he's going to lay out this plan.

Speaker 1

27:35

And this is where, right away, the note I left myself on the next page, which we're not there yet, it says, this paragraph is incredible. He knew what he was, a conqueror. It is 1 thing to read in between the lines of a biography written by somebody else. It is completely different for him to explain exactly who he is to his son in writing.

Speaker 1

27:53

This is what makes this book so powerful. Okay, so in this world of ours it is difficult to find people who are good at planning luck like Mr. McCormick And it is difficult to find people who do not believe in yet Understand luck in the eyes of ordinary people luck is always innate as long as they find someone They find that someone has attained success They will casually say with contempt that man's luck is so good it is luck that helped him this is where Rockefeller channels Napoleon such a person that says this stuff right clearly disagrees with it such a person can never have a peek into the truth that makes 1 successful everyone is a designer and architect of his own destiny that's what I believe in myself Everyone is a designer and architect of his own destiny. That's what I believe in myself.

Speaker 1

28:38

Everyone is a designer and architect of his own destiny. Of course there's luck, meaning chaos. There's randomness in life, of course. But What I really think about when he says that, he says, luck is the remnant of design.

Speaker 1

28:49

We create our own luck. No action can eliminate it. Everyone is a designer and architect of his own destiny. I want to go back to Napoleon from The Mind of Napoleon, episode 302.

Speaker 1

28:59

I know That book is very hard to get. I just found somebody found it on a website, and I think it was a Canadian version of Amazon. They got it for like 26 bucks. That's a steal.

Speaker 1

29:08

I think in America, the last time I looked, it was like 800 bucks. I've seen it for sale for $1,000. If you can, get a copy of it, because it's 300 pages of Napoleon speaking directly to you. And so this is what my interpretation of Napoleon is, if you do everything, you will win.

Speaker 1

29:21

And so this is what he says. All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some added opportunity. The less clever man, by neglecting 1 thing, sometimes misses everything.

Speaker 1

29:37

That is the end of Napoleon. Back to Rockefeller. If you want to make a difference, you cannot wait for luck to patronize. My credo is I do not live by God-given luck, but I do so by planning luck.

Speaker 1

29:48

I believe that a good plan will successfully affect luck. My plan to turn competition into cooperation in the oil industry justified this. This is, you can think about what he was just telling us, me and you, and his son. It was a preface to the Cleveland massacre.

Speaker 1

30:05

So he's like, well, that's fine. But this is how I affected my own luck. Before my plan began, the oil refiners fought for their own interests, which led to devastating competition between them. This led to falling oil prices, which are a disaster for oil refiners.

Speaker 1

30:20

At that time, the vast majority of refiners were operating at a loss and were successfully sliding into bankruptcy. And so this is when he starts to describe what I would consider like a Napoleon-level ambition from day 1. I am well aware that if we are to be profitable again and make money forever, we must tame this industry and have everyone act rationally. I regard it as a responsibility, but it is very difficult to do.

Speaker 1

30:44

It requires a plan, a plan that places all the oil refining businesses under my control. John, to be a good hunter in a profitable hunting ground, you need to think hard, be careful, and be able to see all possible dangers and opportunities, as well as study all kinds of strategies that could endanger your dominance like a chess player. I thoroughly researched the situation and evaluated my strength. I decided to use the base camp of Cleveland as my first battlefield to launch a war in order to rule the oil industry.

Speaker 1

31:21

After conquering, he uses the word conquering, I don't even know how many times, 50 times in the book, something like that? After conquering more than 20 competitors there, I moved quickly to open up a second battlefield until I conquered all of their opponents and established an oil industry and a new order. Just like a commander on the battlefield, you must first know what kind of firearm to choose in order to be the most effective before choosing your target. In order for me to successfully realize my plan to place the oil industry under my command — how many times does he say something like that?

Speaker 1

31:55

We're like 6 paragraphs into this letter. It's like, I must control everything. It must be under my command. All of them, not just your business, but the entire industry.

Speaker 1

32:03

So he says, a thorough solution is needed, and that is money. I needed a lot of money to buy those refineries that insisted on overproducing. But the amount of money on my hands was not enough to realize my plan. Remember, he's in his early 20s when this is happening, okay?

Speaker 1

32:19

So I decided to form a joint stock company to attract investors from outside the industry. Soon, we registered a standard oil company in Ohio with millions of dollars in assets, and the capital expanded significantly within 3 and a half years. Visionary businessmen are always good at finding opportunities in every disaster, and that is how I did it. That's an excellent line that I double underline.

Speaker 1

32:46

Visionary businessmen are always good at finding opportunities in every disaster and that is how I did it. Before we started our journey of conquest, there's that word again, before we started our journey of conquest, the oil industry was in chaos and there was no hope at all. 90% of the oil refiners in Cleveland had been crushed by the increasingly fierce competition. If they did not sell the factory, they can only watch themselves go extinct.

Speaker 1

33:12

This was the best time to acquire an opponent. Acquire them when they're at their weakness. He's about to tell his son, stop being soft. It really has nothing to do with conscious.

Speaker 1

33:25

An enterprise is like a battlefield, and the purpose of strategic goals is to create the most beneficial state for yourself. For strategic considerations, the first target I chose to conquer, there's that word again, was not a small company. This is also something that's fascinating about Rockefeller's strategy, he uses it over and over again. If he has, let's say he's got, whatever the number is, let's say it's 5 competitors.

Speaker 1

33:48

He doesn't go after the smallest, easiest 1 first. He goes out, he's like, who's the best? Who's the most formidable? I'm going after him, because when the other people that are weaker and smaller, the other 4 competitors, for example, When they see that that guy is now under my control, they fall like dominoes.

Speaker 1

34:04

Does this over and over again. So he says, the first 1 I chose to conquer was not a small company that was vulnerable, but I chose the strongest opponent. This is this company called Clark Payne. This company was well known in Cleveland and they were ambitious and they wanted to acquire my oil refinery.

Speaker 1

34:22

That is obviously unacceptable to Rockefeller. I will have to strike first. See, this is what I mean. He talks in present tense.

Speaker 1

34:28

It's a very, it makes for a very interesting read. I will have to strike first to gain the upper hand. I took the initiative to meet the largest shareholder of Clark Payne. I told him that this chaotic and sluggish era of the oil industry should end in order to protect the industry that countless families depend on for survival.

Speaker 1

34:45

I wanted to build a huge, high-performance oil company and welcomed him to join. My plan impressed him and he agreed to sell the company, his company, for $400,000. Now this is very important about this. I knew, and it actually says I know, so again, present tense, I know that Clark Payne is not worth that amount at all, but I did not reject the offer.

Speaker 1

35:09

Acquiring them meant that I would gain the title of the world's largest oil refinery and would also serve as a strong pioneer in the industry to efficiently bring together the refiners in Cleveland. He is describing the Cleveland massacre. This trick really worked. In less than 2 months, there were 22 other competitors under the leadership of Standard Oil.