The Ledger
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Bragg: True entrepreneurs must work 70 hours a week, not 50
“That's the hours entrepreneurs have to work every week. Not 50, but 70, and entrepreneurs do work 70.”
Bragg Defends Using EBITDA Against Warren Buffett's Skepticism
“Warner said in the past he's not a believer in EBITDA, but we are. We think it's the cash that the business generates that, and so we're always saying, well, what's the multiple on EBITDA, and so we know what cash is coming, because You can usually cut back on…”
Replicating competitor products identically is easier than making better ones
“Our objective wasn't to make good onion rings. It was to make onion rings exactly the same as the competition, because then it's an easy sell. You don't have to have something unique, and that was not as easy as you would think, and we could make better tastin…”
John Bragg: Entrepreneurs must work 70 hours a week, not 50
“That's the hours entrepreneurs have to work every week. Not 50, but 70. And entrepreneurs do work 70.”
Bragg prefers high base pay over performance bonuses
“If I had my druthers, I'd rather Pay you a million dollars and just expect you to work hard than to pay you 500 with a 500 bonus. Incentives seem to be a way of life, but a lot of people will perform without, without incentives.”
Bragg: Founders often fail by diversifying into unfamiliar industries after initial success
“The mistake many people make is, is they have a business, they make the first million dollars, and now they get into things they know nothing about in too big a way.”
Bragg: Agricultural processors must make supplier farmers efficient to succeed
“We not only have to have our own farm sufficient, we need the farmers sufficient.”
Bragg: Companies fail when early success leads them to over-diversify
“So stick to your knitting, do what you can do, and do more of it, and try and grow it. Don't try and do everything. So many people fail by getting successful in one, and then think they can do everything.”
Bragg: High-Quality Manufacturing Costs Less Due to Lower Shrinkage and Waste
“Top quality doesn't necessarily cost, in fact, quite often, it's cheaper, because you have less product on the floor, and, Less shrinkage, and you're doing it all right, and the end product becomes better.”
Farming profitability requires competitors to suffer crop failures
“But what you need as a farmer is somebody else to be in trouble with their crop, and your crop work out well.”
Bragg: Private firms can absorb premium acquisition prices via longer payback horizons
“If you paid a little too much and you're a private company, You just have to live a little longer to make it work. My brother used to say about buying a woodlot, well, maybe we're paying too much, but if we live long enough, it'll be a good deal. So this is th…”
Bragg: Being Public Slows Companies Down and Attracts Government Scrutiny
“It's costly to be public. And it slows you down, and you're, ah, and you're a target for everybody. Public companies attract government.”
John Bragg: Using your own name is among the best marketing tools
“One of the best marketing tools you can have is use your own name. People catch on. McCain's would be a great example. Everybody knows McCain french fries.”
Bragg: Operating a business and investing in stocks reinforce each other
“Buffett would say that, that if you're a businessman and investing in your business, you're probably a better stock picker, because you use the same principles. But if you're an investor, it will help you in your business, because you're using the same princip…”
Bragg: Food business success depends entirely on cost control over revenue
“So I would say, for instance, in the food business, all about cost, because you don't know what the revenue is going to be, because we don't know whether we're going to have a frost or whether the currency is going to change or whether somebody else got a big …”
Bragg: Capital allocation is the single biggest factor in cable telecommunications
“And I would say in cable, you know, you always have to look at costs, but capital is probably the biggest thing in the cable business, because you can make big mistakes, and, you know, spending, let's say a billion dollars to get into programming, and that jus…”