On January 11, 2016 at 15:30, Mac Burks (39) said...
I consider all viewpoints and immediately dismiss those that don't make sense.
The Waltons started with one guy and one store.
Teraforming Mars is an example of something that is difficult. Hiring someone is not. It happens every day all over the world.
Terraforming Mars is something that is currently not hard, but impossible. It's mere mention as a point of reference is beyond hyperbole.
The Waltons reference is a perfect response. It shows you how 1 guy and 1 store can turn into a billion dollar business where thousands of people were hired to do things that the one man with one store could not do.
Do you think as CEO that he was placing orders when he was 65? I bet he hired someone to do that for him and i bet it allowed him to focus on other things like Family.
Sam Walton bought his first store in 1947 which he ran himself (a Ben Franklin). Tripled his sales in a 3 year period. His landlord coveted the business so refused to renew his lease. In 1950 he opened his own store, a Walton five and dime. He had 15 stores by 1960 and the first Wal-Mart in 1962. By 1969 he had 18 Wal-Marts all leveraged out the ass. Not until 1970 when he did a public stock offering did he actually accumulate enough money to knock his debts off.
Even then, all the way until his 70's the guy knocked off 70-80 hour weeks. He had a well documented and renowned work ethic.
Did he hire people and pass off responsibility? Yes, as has every single business that has a non-owner employee. Did he pass it all off and cut back to a normal work week.... never. Could he have? Absolutely, but he didn't so it's not relevant to support your point.
You guys are saying EXACTLY that it is impossible and your basing that assumption on the fact that it's "hard". I gave you an example of something that is hard. Teraforming a planet. Hiring someone is easy. Place an ad online and answer the phone. Done. I didn't pull that process out of my ass. It's how people get hired every day.
No, you INFERRED "us guys" are saying it's impossible because it's "hard". The fact is, only WVL knows his numbers well enough to know the financial impact of offloading responsibility so saying because Sam Walton did it (which, if anything, he took on more and more responsibility) means any business can do it is more irrelevant hyperbole.
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Now your chicken and egg post above I can totally agree with. But, letting some hats go may not be financially feasible within the constraints of a given business.
Last edited by Fiasco on January 11, 2016 17:06.
