Ray Kroc

“They refused to send registered letters authorizing changes, which meant Technically, every store he built was in violation of their original contract. Their attorney could shut them down at any moment.”

“He could not deviate from their specifications unless changes were approved in writing, signed by both brothers, and sent by registered mail.”

“A higher price would signal that it was worth paying attention to. A dime said ordinary. 12 cents said special.”

“The best product innovations that McDonald's ever had came from operators solving local problems. The company just gave them a system in scale. They gave the company its future.”

“When World War I began, Ray was 15. He lied about his age to join the Red Cross as an ambulance driver. In his company was another young man who had also lied about his age to get in. While everyone else chased girls on leave, this kid stayed in camp drawing p…”

“If we have to resort to bringing in the government to beat our competition, then we deserve to go broke. If we can't do it by offering a better, fifteen-cent hamburger, by being better merchandisers, by providing faster service and a cleaner place, then I woul…”

“In 1965, McDonald's went public at 22 50 a share. By the end of the first day, it was trading at 30 dollars. By the end of the first month, it was trading at 50.”

“He refused to put any pay telephones, jukeboxes, or vending machines of any kind in any McDonald's. Many operators were tempted by this side income, but Ray stood firm.”

“More than once, at two in the morning, Ray Kroc sorted through a competitor's trash to count out how many boxes of meat they'd used the day before.”

“The system was valuable precisely because it was theirs, because it had a name, an identity, a track record. Customers who'd eaten at McDonald's in one location would recognize it in another location. A copy wouldn't have that. Copy was just another hamburger …”

“Kroc would take 1.9% of gross sales from franchisees. He proposed two percent, but the brothers talked him down. Tell a franchisee two percent, they said, and he'll block. Say one and nine 10th, and it sounds like less. Out of that 1.9%, the brothers would rec…”

“What Kroc invented was a way to replicate the system and cross an entire country, a structure that aligned the interests of the company, the franchisee, the supplier, and the customer. A machine for turning one restaurant's success into 10,000.”

“In fact, Ray would go on to open a McDonald's across the street from them and run them out of business.”