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The James Altucher Show

The Making of a Customer | Home Depot Co-Founder Bernie Marcus

The James Altucher Show

James Altucher

Education, Business

4.62.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Whenever you need anything, why would you look anywhere else? Philanthropist and entrepreneur Bernie Marcus joins James on the show to coincide with the release of his new book, Kick Up Some Dust: Lessons on Thinking Big, Giving Back, and Doing it Yourself. One part chutzpah lesson, one part masterclass in charitable giving, our 93-year-old guest gives straight-ahead answers and personifies the concept of lifelong learning and finding out "how dumb we were yesterday".Additional topics include:Bernie's relationship with Sam Walton (01:50)"We want our customers to know, whenever you need anything, why would you look anywhere else?" (09:18)How do you build up a sense of what risks to take? (15:11)The Marcus Autism Center (17:25)Learning to handle and overcome failure (00:22:53)Philanthropy through The Marcus Foundation (00:34:32)------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe  to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Bernie Marcus, the man, the myth, the legend, founder of Home Depot along with Ken Lengone,

0:13.8

billionaire, multi-billionaire philanthropist.

0:16.5

What this guy has done for philanthropy is way beyond what he did for Home Depot, which

0:21.2

of course is remarkable.

0:23.3

Also author of the great new book, Kick Up Some Dust, Lessons on Thinking Big, Giving

0:28.8

Back and Doing It Yourself, he said some things to me in this interview that literally

0:33.9

will change the way I view my life.

0:36.9

So he's a good guy, he's 93 years old, he's done incredible things, let's listen to

0:41.2

him, Bernie Marcus.

0:45.2

This isn't your average business podcast, and he's not your average host.

0:50.0

This is the James Altiger show.

1:02.0

Bernie Marcus, co-founder of a little store, Home Depot, whenever I go into a Home Depot,

1:08.2

I feel like I'm entering the Death Star.

1:10.3

Like it is so huge, and everywhere you go, I'm not even interested at all in home repair,

1:16.6

but I'm fascinated by all the things in every aisle.

1:20.0

There's 6,000 paint colors I've never heard of, for instance.

1:23.5

When you started the store, obviously you were thinking big, you had a lot of experience

1:27.8

in retail that I want to hear about.

1:29.7

But the one thing that strikes me is, it feels like Home Depot is to hardware and home

1:35.9

repair.

1:36.9

What Walmart was to groceries just a few years, like a decade earlier.

1:41.3

Like did you see Walmart as a big influence?

...

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