1) You read about an entrepreneur:
- What surprised you the most?
- It really surprised me that Mcdonalds was originally a simple buzzing family owned business until a cheap salesman seen e money mine out of those beautiful golden arches.
- What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
- I do have to say even after everything I read about Ray, he may have been a thief but he was a smart and very hardworking man. I wish he had used his astounding work ethic in a much better way though.
- What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
- At first I really liked Ray Kroc he seemed like a hard working intelligent entrepreneur with a huge future ahead of him. Then I realized he stole the business and that made me lose all respect for this man.
- Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
- He did start up a hole in the wall music store with his friends that did not do so well. They had to sell their goods and split the money three ways. He played the organ for the Harvard Congressional Church but after playing a song that wasn't approved he didn't play for the church anymore. After he came back from the Red Cross he tried to go back to school but that only lasted one semester
2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
He was definitely a hard worker. He sold paper cups for 17 years while climbing the corporate ladder. He seen a great opportunity to sell Multimixer and he became an entrepreneur. He liked to debate and be the center of attention ever since high school.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
The book was not clear about when it went back in time. First he was 54 and being incredibly inspired by the McDonald brothers then he is 18 in the Red Cross. Could of had a better transition.
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
My first question would be why in the world did you make John Clark give his shares back. It was an unreasonable number but it still put Ray in 100,000 in debt which was so much money in the 1940's. My second question is how could you steal the company from the McDonald brothers. They were doing just fine working right next to their home till you came along and took their livelihood for your own financial gain.
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
He loved hard work. He even said " I have always believed that each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems... As long as you're green you're growing, as soon as you're ripe you start to rot." I do in fact share his opinion and I am blown away by how amazing that metaphor is!
Hello Myles,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job answering all of the required questions. I too read about Ray Kroc and his life accomplishments but I formed a much different opinion of him. I don’t agree that he stole the business from the brothers but rather made them quite wealthy from all of his hard work. You have to remember they were not very interested in expanding and lacked the vision that Ray had. Without Ray I do not believe McDonalds would have become a billion-dollar company. I do think though he was quite cut throat when it came to any aspect in life which could give someone a negative perception of him.
Hi Myles,
ReplyDeleteI read the same book you did and had some similar thoughts on the structure of the timeline. His opinion on hard work was certainly inspirational, as well as the disappointment to find out that someone who had worked so hard in life took someone else’s family owned business and made it his own. Overall, we hare very similar points on the life of Ray Kroc, and the structure and depth of your post is admirable.