4 Biographies for Entrepreneurs

*Call Me Ted: Ted Turner founded TBS and CNN, and was also owner of the Atlanta Braves. He started out working at his father’s billboard business, and after his death he took the helm and built it into one of the biggest media empires in the world.

He also spent a lot of his free time competing in hardcore sailing competitions, and actually won the America’s Cup, all while running his enterprise and eventually becoming the biggest landowner in the United States.

One thing I found interesting was that when he first transitioned into the TV business, he took over a struggling local station and used his fresh perspective as an outsider to come up with innovative ways to grow the network.

He was always looking out for what the competition was doing, so he could identify whose tastes weren’t being met and provide an alternative. One of those innovations was broadcasting old movies instead of crappy TV shows, a strategy that many stations still implement to this day. 

*Grinding It Out: This is Ray Kroc’s autobiography, former CEO of McDonald’s. I’m 99% sure the movie “The Founder” is based off this book. It reads very similar to the movie and I can see the different scenes playing out as go through the pages. As I’m sure most of you know, Ray was enamored with the hamburger stand started by The McDonald’s brothers, and saw right away that it had the potential to scale into something beyond their wildest dreams.

My favorite thing about Ray is that he didn’t open his first McDonald’s until he was 52. Sometimes I feel like it’s too late for me to start things, but when I read about guys like him it makes me realize that as long as you're alive you still have a shot. 

*The Making of a Blockbuster: Very underrated business book. Wayne Huyzienga owned Blockbuster and the Miami Dolphins, but it all started with one single garbage truck when he was in his mid 20’s. He came from a dutch family who had the garbage industry in their blood. And his grandfather always said that “Working for somebody else never amounted to anything.”

He aggressively expanded his operation, acquiring dozens of competitors eventually creating Waste Management and taking it public on the stock exchange. But regardless of the industry he was working in, the philosophy of “renting things” would be the pillar of all future business ventures. As he then went on to applying this principle to portable toilets, videotapes, and stadium seats. Making an absolute fortune in the process.

*What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO - You’ve seen the commercials. You may have even purchased a pillow or two. But what you probably didn’t know was that Mike Lindell, the founder of MyPillow, had a massive drug and gambling addiction that derailed his life into his forties. 

I know I previously said that 250 page autobiographies can feel like sales pitches, but despite the fact that Mike’s actually came with one (a mini MyPillow catalog), this book is actually incredible. I have been flying through it, honestly tough to put down once you start reading.

We hear about guys like this all the time. And it’s intimidating because most of us aren’t born with that level of IQ or athleticism. So mega successful CEO’s seem like they’re from another planet to guys like me. And that’s why I love Mike and the story that he tells in his book.

While he was always a hustler, owning a bar and even owning a food truck, Mike had some demons that took him to some very dark places. Whether it was gambling away his family’s life savings at the casino, or smoking crack while on a fishing trip with kids, he had dozens of moments in his life where the odds of him bouncing back were hovering right around 0%.

And yet, despite those odds, he bounced back in a very big way. Becoming the CEO of a hundred million dollar pillow empire and serving as an inspiration to anyone who has given up hope for their own lives because of drugs or whatever excuses they’re allowing themselves to buy into. 

If this guy can overcome the obstacles that we went through, so can you. It’s never too late to turn it all around.