Bob Williams

Everything Bob Williams said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.

HOW I BUILT THIS Insight

Bob Williams: Furniture businesses rely on rare super-winners to fund operations

“And out of those winners, you get one or two that become a super winner, and that's really how you build your business. That'll help fund everything else.”

Bob Williams Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 44:21 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Insight

Bob Williams: Chairs are 360-degree functional sculptures floating in rooms

“And one of the things I realized early on was that a chair actually, you know, will float in the middle of the room. So people see it not only from the front and the side, but also from the back. It actually is a sculpture that people sit on.”

Bob Williams Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 43:55 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Disclosure

Bob Williams: Nervous breakdown over identity prompted pivot to design school

“I remember after graduating high school and going off to college, basically having a nervous breakdown. And Being hospitalized for a week because of the stress of all this, and that was tough, but that was also a time when I looked at my life and it's like, al…”

Bob Williams Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 10:16 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Bob Williams: Fully Upholstered Chairs Were Exclusively High-End in 1989

“Well, and these were also fully upholstered chairs. Which were more of a designer look. So you would see them at a higher price point, but they weren't necessarily for the mass consumer. And if you did, they were still expensive.”

Bob Williams Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 31:10 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Williams: Co-founders ended romantic relationship on New Year's Day post-9/11

“We broke up on New Year's Day after nine 11.”

Bob Williams Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 50:00 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Disclosure

Bob Williams chose an ad agency in Hickory because they had computers

“It's so funny, because this was right before computers became popular, and the reason why I picked this agency over the other agency was they had computers.”

Bob Williams Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 20:05 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

The other half of the tape: Bob Williams's own voice is left out of every number here. 4 statements on the record name them. every mention, with the transcript →

Statements about Bob Williams, by other people (4)

HOW I BUILT THIS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Gold: Lane Furniture forced him to hide his sexual orientation

“They had moved me down to North Carolina, and it became very obvious to me that I couldn't be out. I couldn't bring Bob with me to functions of the company functions when they had spouses, and their whole way of operating was just not honest, is the best way I…”

Mitchell Gold Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 22:51 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Gold: Cutting retail accounts from 72 to 48 grew business 48%

“Bob and I sat down, and we went through the 72 customers that we had, and we dropped it to 48, and we said, these 48 we're going to be able now to give better service to. I swear this number is true. In that year, our business increased 48%.”

Mitchell Gold Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 48:41 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Disclosure

Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams bought out their factory for $850k

“So we came up with buying them out for 850,000 dollars to be paid over five years at eight percent.”

Mitchell Gold Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 41:52 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

HOW I BUILT THIS Insight

Gold: Presenting Products Without a Sales Agenda Is Uniquely Effective

“There's something special about having somebody talk about the product who doesn't have this agenda as a salesperson.”

Mitchell Gold Mar 28, 2022 ▶ 47:27 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings: Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Bob's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.

Show	Role there	Eps	Statements	Record
HOW I BUILT THISLEDGER	Co-Founder & President of Design, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams	1	6	—	full record on How I Built This →