#297 Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia)

What I learned from rereading Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard. ---- 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 ! ---- [3:45] One of my favorite sayings about entrepreneurship is: If you want to understand the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent. The delinquent is saying with his actions, “This sucks. I’m going to do my own thing.” [4:32] The original intent for writing Let My People Go Surfing was for it to be a philosophical manual for the employees of Patagonia. We have always considered Patagonia an experiment in doing business in unconventional ways. [7:48] MeatEater Podcast #188 Yvon Chouinard on Belonging to Nature [7:55] The first part of our mission statement, “Make the best product,” is the cornerstone of our business philosophy. “Make the best” is a difficult goal. It doesn’t mean “among the best” or the “best at a particular price point.” It means “make the best,” period. [9:58] When I die and go to hell, the devil is going to make me the marketing director for a cola company. I’ll be in charge of trying to sell a product that no one needs, is identical to its competition, and can’t be sold on its merits. I’d be competing head-on in the cola wars, on price, distribution, advertising, and promotion, which would indeed be hell for me. I’d much rather design and sell products so good and unique that they have no competition. [14:32] We were like a wild species living on the edge of an ecosystem: adaptable, resilient, and tough. [14:49] I believe the way towards mastery of any endeavor is to work towards simplicity. The more you know, the less you need. [15:49] The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry [17:59] Complexity is often a sure sign that the functional needs have not been solved. Take the difference between the Ferrari and the Cadillac of the 1960s.