Transcript
Introduction
"Almost immediately a boisterous crowd appeared, requiring the presence of police to direct traffic and help with crowd control. There were businessmen in suits, women in heels, truckers in jeans, college students in t-shirts, construction workers in heavy boots, and moms with babies on their hips. They all braved the long lines, enduring waits of more than two and three hours. Remarkably, the official kickoff was marked with little fanfare. Two workers carried a simple white sign with the familiar In-N-Out logo and the words, 'We are open.' There weren't any prizes offered, furry mascots, or any other marketing gimmicks. There was no promotional advertising either, just a small sign that stood on the lot for some time, 'Coming soon. In-N-Out Burger.' In fact, there was no grand opening. The carnival atmosphere was created entirely by In-N-Out's rabid fans. The chain didn't need to advertise its opening." "For weeks, its devotees had been broadcasting the news to one another. For two years, ever since word had spread that an In-N-Out was coming to their city, the residents had been waiting anxiously. People began lining up at 2:00 AM the day before, some sleeping in their cars overnight. In-N-Out's Vice President of Planning and Development, Carl Van Fleet assessed the scene with the chain's typical understatement. 'This is not something that happened overnight. It just grew with us."
That is an excerpt from the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter look at the Fast Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules, and it was written by Stacy Perman. This book was recommended to me by a listener, and it came at the absolute perfect time. Some of the best businesses in history could be described as cheerful cults. So I wanted to read this book to better understand a phenomenon that I've noticed over and over again as I study the history of entrepreneurship. In fact, on the very front cover of the book, there's a blurb and it says, "This is an absorbing case study on how a family business came to be at the center of its own cheerful cult."