Edwin Land (Polaroid Founder)

How to Take Over the World

Benjamin Wilson

Self-improvement, Education, History

5 • 853 Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Polaroid founder Edwin Land is one of the most innovative inventors to have ever lived. Steve Jobs considered him one of his greatest heroes. On this episode we explore the methods and strategies he used to build the beautiful products that he did. 00:00 The Eureka Moment: Birth of the Polaroid Camera 04:30 Early Life: High Agency Behavior 07:00 The Obsession with Polarization 09:30 From Harvard to Independent Research 16:40 Founding Polaroid: The Early Struggles 28:00 Wartime Innovations and Contributions 30:30 Maintaining The Vision 34:10 The Birth of the Instant Camera 37:00 Polaroid's Marketing Genius 38:30 The SX-70: A Revolutionary Camera 42:30 PolaVision: A Catastrophic Flop 45:50 Edwin Land's Legacy and Lessons 46:00 Final Takeaways and Reflections --- HTTOTW Premium - Sign up to get all endnotes and special episodes Gains In Bulk - Use this link and use code Ben for 20% off VanMan - Use code TakeOver10 for 10% off Founders Podcast Speechify.com - Use code Ben for 15% off --- Email me with feedback: [email protected] Need a speaker for your next event or corporate retreat? Email [email protected]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Edwin Land was on his regular family vacation to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
0:12.0	He had just snapped a picture of his daughter when she asked him a question that would change history forever.
0:17.2	Why can't I see it now?
0:20.0	Most parents would have given a flippant answer.
0:22.6	That isn't how cameras work.
0:23.7	That isn't how the world works.
0:25.5	But Edwin Land wasn't most people.
0:27.3	And he fell silent as he repeated the question in his head over and over.
0:31.3	Why can't she see it now?
0:33.2	It was one of those eureka moments.
0:34.9	Immediately, Land knew there was something there.
0:37.9	Go with your mother, he told her.
0:39.2	I need to think.
0:40.5	It was a brisk but beautiful winter day with an inch of snow on the ground.
0:43.9	He started walking around.
0:45.4	His family might have been a million miles away for all he cared.
0:48.2	He was turning the question and the solution over in his mind.
0:51.7	Land was already a successful businessman and inventor, and he had recently been
0:55.4	working on a couple of inventions for the military that involved film and photography. So he had the
1:00.2	technical knowledge to sketch out a plan in his mind. And by the end of the walk, he had the broad
1:04.8	outline. The Polaroid camera was already being born in his brain. I love that story because I think it illustrates something important about Edwin Land and about
1:13.7	invention.
	...

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