cover of episode #304: Sol Price (The Founder Who Taught Jim Sinegal, Sam Walton, Jeff Bezos, Bernie Marcus)

#304: Sol Price (The Founder Who Taught Jim Sinegal, Sam Walton, Jeff Bezos, Bernie Marcus)

2023/5/22
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Robert Price
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Jim Sinegal: Sol Price 对我的职业生涯影响深远，他的理念贯穿我的整个职业生涯，即使在我七十多岁的时候，仍然寻求他的认可。他强调强大的运营效率和将节省下来的成本让利给顾客，他的商业遗产是创造了 Price Club 的概念，并影响了众多零售商，包括 Costco 和 Walmart。 主持人: Sol Price 是最具影响力的零售商之一，他的理念创造了数万亿美元的价值，他的商业理念包括低价策略、会员制、限量选择、高效的仓储和供应链管理以及专注于核心业务等。他早年性格内向，通过成为学业上的佼佼者来弥补不足，这体现了创业者的典型特质：叛逆和追求成就。他的成功离不开他妻子 Helen 的支持，以及他从其他企业家身上学习到的经验。他强调时间管理的重要性，并通过免费提供价值来获取客户。他从 Seven Seas Locker Club 和 Fedco 中学习到专注于特定市场细分领域的重要性，并从 Fedco 中获得灵感，发展了会员制零售商店的概念。他反对"公平贸易价格"的规定，并努力将其废除，他创立自有品牌以应对供应商的限制。他坚持为员工提供高于竞争对手的薪酬，并公平对待所有员工，无论其所在地区。他反种族隔离，并为此采取行动。 Robert Price: Sol Price 对我个人和职业生涯的影响深远，他教会我如何思考、如何质疑、如何避免盲目假设，以及如何保持谦逊、欣赏生活的不可预测性、关心他人以及永远帮助需要帮助的人。我和父亲一起工作了近 45 年，我们的关系非常独特。他是一位坚强的人，他教会我很多东西，有时我甚至没有意识到这是一个教训。当我准备好承担责任时，我已经做好了准备。他是一位美国梦的典范，他是一位成功的商人、慈善家，他与妻子 Helen 结婚 70 年，他是一位好父亲，他为他的儿子灌输了很高的价值观，他从未逃避责任。 Jim Sinegal: Sol Price 的商业理念对零售业产生了深远的影响，他的低价策略、会员制以及对员工的重视，都成为了许多零售商的学习对象。

Deep Dive

Chapters
This chapter explores Sol Price's early life, highlighting his challenging childhood, his unwavering drive to overcome obstacles, and the crucial role of his supportive wife in his success. It emphasizes the importance of having someone who believes in you, especially in the lonely world of entrepreneurship.
  • Sol Price's physical deformity fueled his overachieving nature.
  • The importance of a supportive spouse in an entrepreneur's journey.
  • Early life experiences shaped Sol's relentless drive for achievement.

Shownotes Transcript

What I learned from reading Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary) by Robert Price. 

[6:50] He believed in developing strong operating efficiencies, and he continually emphasized passing on savings to customers.

[8:48] It's pretty incredible to think about that Sol's ideas have created trillions of dollars of value.

[11:18] You can always understand the son by the story of his father. The story of the father is embedded in the son. —Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life) by Michael Schumacher. (Founders #242)

[14:00] Stephen King on the belief and support he received from his wife: “Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference”— Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft)by Stephen King. (Founders #210)

[16:00] True education is gained through the discipline of life. —Henry Ford

[19:45] Sol kept a small sign in his office: “Do it now.”

[24:00] Sol finds an idea future generations of entrepreneurs will use: A membership retail store targeted to a specific niche.

[24:45] When you have people driving far distances to save money that is a very good sign. — Sam Walton: Made In America) by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)

[26:45] Daniel Ek interview on the Acquired podcast). 

[39:10] If you’re not spending 90% of your time teaching, you’re not doing your job. —Jim Sinegal.

[39:45] You train an animal, you teach a person.

[40:00] He was not a fan of training manuals because he believed that manuals were a substitute for thinking.

[43:00] What does limited selection have to do with efficiency? Because payroll and benefits represent 80% of a retailer’s cost of operations, pricing advantage follows labor productivity. Fewer items result in reduced labor hours throughout all of the product supply channels. Put simply, the cost to deal with 4,500 items is a lot less than the cost to deal with 50,000 items.

[50:21] The operating efficiencies of the warehouse concept and the direct delivery of products from the suppliers to Price Club made it possible to sell merchandise for less.

[55:00] Costco and Sam's were expanding aggressively while Price Club remained tentative.

[1:03:30] Sol was a poster child for the American dream. His immigrant parents were born in a small Russian village. Sol was the first in his family to graduate college. He earned a law degree. He became an exceptionally successful businessman and philanthropist, celebrated 70 years of marriage, was a good father who instilled high values in his sons, and he never walked away from responsibility. It doesn’t get much better than that.

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