Founders
Episode 98 #98 Enzo Ferrari (the making of an automobile empire)
Founders

Episode 98: #98 Enzo Ferrari (the making of an automobile empire)

Founders

Episode 98

#98 Enzo Ferrari (the making of an automobile empire)

David Senra is the host of Founders, where he studies history's greatest entrepreneurs. This is what he learned from reading Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automobile Empire by Luca Dal Monte.

What I learned from reading Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automobile Empire by Luca Dal Monte.

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[0:01] Ferrari was animated by an extraordinary passion that led him to build a product with no equal

[3:52] Lee Iacocca on why Enzo Ferrari will go as the greatest car manufacturer in history: "Ferrari spent every dollar chasing perfection." 

[8:50] Business lessons from his father  

[11:47] Enzo Ferrari was not interested in school. He wanted to start working immediately. 

[16:36] The deaths of his father and brother 

[18:20] No job. No money. No connections. A young man desperate to succeed in life. 

[23:06] He learned something that he would never forget for the rest of his life: Not even the best driver had any chance of victory if he was not at the wheel of the best car

[24:20] Starting his first business which ends in bankruptcy.

[28:31] Enzo learned from those who already accomplished what he was trying to do. 

[31:10] He does the best possible job at whatever task he is given. Even if he doesn't want to do it. Enzo focuses on being useful. 

[33:35] A young Enzo Ferrari is plagued with doubts and close to a nervous breakdown. 

[38:28] The large leave gaps for the small: The start of Scuderia Ferrari. 

[49:38] Enzo Ferrari at 33 years old. 

[51:30] For Enzo Ferrari it was always day 1.

[52:33] Alfa Romeo pulls the plug/the end of Scuderia Ferrari, the birth of Ferrari.

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#98 Enzo Ferrari (the making of an automobile empire)

Introduction

Ferrari was a genius of entrepreneurship, a visionary who possessed the ability to realize his dreams. When asked how he wanted to be remembered, he famously replied as someone who dreamt of becoming Ferrari. Ferrari was animated by an extraordinary passion that led him to build a product with no equal. He started in a tiny village in Northern Italy, which, thanks to him, became the epicenter of the most exclusive automotive production in the world. Ferrari had 2 fundamental talents. First, he was, by his own admission, a shaker of ideas in men. Gifted with a charisma that effortlessly captured anyone who crossed this path, Ferrari could stimulate the energy and creativity of his colleagues like no one else. He was very demanding, especially when things were going well. We all had to be careful not to sit on our laurels. He was absolutely dedicated and could be ruthless.

Ferrari's second talent, he was an absolute marketing genius. I remember one visit from a very important and wealthy American client. The factory parking lots were filled with unsold cars, which we tried to hide from public view. The American said, "I would like to buy a Ferrari." Ferrari replied, "Yes, of course. But we have so many requests. I'll do what I can, but we're afraid that you'll have to wait several months before you can buy one." That was because a Ferrari must be desired. It cannot and must not be perceived as something that is immediately available. Otherwise, that dream is gone. In order to maintain the exclusivity of the brand, production has always been lower than the requests of the market. Ferrari, the man, was an intentional prisoner of his own myth. He had habits that he rigorously respected. He never boarded a plane. He left Maranello only on rare occasions.

Those who wanted to meet him had to come to his office no matter where they came from. He wore dark glasses in order to observe and judge everybody without giving them the opportunity to look them in the eye. I have many personal memories of Enzo Ferrari and the years that I spent with him. I like to go back in time to September 7, 1975, the day of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. It was an unforgettable Sunday. We won the race and brought back to Maranello, after 11 years, the world title with one race to go. I can still see the roaring crowds and the flags and feel the embrace of the whole team. But above all, I remember my phone call with Ferrari. From the sound of his voice, I realized that he had been crying. This had never happened before. "Thank you", he said to me. It was a very emotional moment that will forever be in my heart. In this painstakingly researched entirely accurate account, Luca Dal Monte has vividly captured in these pages the Enzo that I knew and loved.

That was written by Luca di Montezemolo. It's from the -- it's an excerpt from the foreword of the book that I read this week and the one I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire. So this is the longest biography that I've read for the podcast, and there's a lot to get to, so I want to get right into it. Before I go right to the book, though, I want to talk about the scene that's in the new Ford v Ferrari movie, and it's Lee Iacocca talking to Henry Ford II and a bunch of other executives about why he thinks they should make an offer for Ferrari. And when he brings up Ferrari, the other Ford executives that are extremely unlikeable in the movie, if you go see it, you'll see why, they're kind of dismissive. They're like, "Why? Like we build more cars in an afternoon than Ferrari does all year."

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