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Founders: #66 Henry Kaiser: Builder in the Modern American West

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What I learned from reading Henry J. Kaiser: Builder in the Modern American West by Mark Foster. He built giant businesses in roads, bridges, dams, housing, cement, aluminum, chemicals, steel, health care, and tourism. (0:01) starting a joint venture with Howard Hughes (6:40) learning how not to run a business (12:00) how Kaiser was able to start his own business with no money (18:00) I decided to pick one fellow I wanted most to work for and concentrate on him. (23:15) how Henry Kaiser used passion and enthusiasm to start a construction company in Vancouver (30:00) using the leverage that technology provides or how to make big jobs small (44:00) very difficult work + fewer people willing to do it = opportunity (50:40) how Kaiser goes from never building ships to having 200,000 employees building ships (1:00:00), Kaiser promoted himself as an industrialist populist (1:13:00) Kaiser's managerial style (1:15:00) ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look

[00:00:00] In the 1940s, Henry J. Kaiser was a household name, as familiar then as Warren Buffett and Donald Trump are now. Kaiser rose from lower middle class origins to become an enormously wealthy entrepreneur, building roads, bridges, dams, and housing. He established giant businesses in cement, aluminum, chemicals, steel, healthcare, and tourism. During World War II, his companies built cargo planes and liberty ships. After the war, he manufactured the Kaiser-Fraser automobile. [00:00:33] Along the way, he became a major force in the development of the western United States, including…

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