How to build your company to last, w/Fiat's John Elkann
Masters of Scale
WaitWhat
4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 12 September 2019
⏱️ 49 minutes
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Summary
Forget being a unicorn. Learn to be a phoenix. Your company can last 100+ years — but you'll need the resilience to rise and fall, and rise again. Fiat’s chair John Elkann shares the principles that helped the "horseless carriage" company founded by his great-grandfather survive the ups and downs of a century of business — including competitor attacks, leader shakeups, financial crises and more. One key: Resilience. Another: Deciding which company traditions to keep, and which to leave in the past. Featuring cameos from Radio Flyer's Robert Pasin, Cue Ball Ventures' Tony Tjan and ABC Home & Kitchen's Paulette Cole.
Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/john-elkann-how-to-build-your-company-to-last/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Real leaders don't back down when the stakes are high. They innovate. They push forward, |
| 0:07.5 | and then they take the stage at the Masters of Scale Summit. |
| 0:11.6 | Join us in San Francisco, October 7th to 9th to hear from the CEO of the New York Times, |
| 0:17.1 | scientists using cutting-edge technology to find cures, the leader of crypto powerhouse Coinbase, a retired four-star general, and many, many more. Apply now at mastersofscale.com slash apply 25. That's masters of scale.com slash apply 25. |
| 0:46.6 | One of the first things he made was a little wagon that he used to haul tools around in the workshop. |
| 0:51.8 | That's Robert Passon, the CEO Radio Flyer. |
| 0:57.7 | He's talking about his grandfather, Antonio Passon, who came from a long line of Italian cabinet makers. |
| 0:58.5 | He started making little red wagons for his workshop in Chicago, mostly just to cart around |
| 1:03.4 | tools. |
| 1:04.1 | But then he noticed those wagons were selling better than any of his other products. |
| 1:08.8 | Like any good entrepreneur, he pivoted. |
| 1:11.9 | Pretty soon he was out of the furniture business |
| 1:14.5 | and in the wagon business. |
| 1:16.5 | Mommy get your wagons. |
| 1:18.4 | America's finest coaster wagon. |
| 1:20.8 | You're every boy and every girl. |
| 1:25.0 | And that was really the birth of the iconic little red wagon. |
| 1:28.3 | From these metal-stamped wagons, Antonia grew a family business that remains a heavyweight in toys a full century later. |
| 1:37.3 | We had a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary. The Capstone event was a big event that we had here in Chicago. |
| 1:47.0 | We brought the World's Largest Wagon down to Michigan Avenue for a birthday celebration. |
| 1:51.6 | The World's Arges Wagon is an exact replica of the original Little Red Wagon, |
| 1:56.4 | but it's nine times the size. |
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