YouSaid · the spoken record

Albert Champion

lines on the record: 30
first: 2020-05-01
most recent: 2020-05-01
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Champion's gonna discover this affair in person. They get into a fight, and this is how Albert dies. This is a fight that ends his life. Champion spotted Edna in the lounge. Albert approached the table. The well-mannered hush of the lounge was suddenly broken when he demanded that his wife accompany him immediately back to the hotel. A confrontation seemed imminent. Champion erupted with jealousy. He and Charlie argued over Edna, their words escalating louder and harsher. Finally, blows were struck Then champions staggered off. A few hours after the fight, Albert dies at the age of 49. Initially Edna and champion are arrested, but then they can't prove it because they think he died of a heart attack, but he can't prove that the punch caused a heart attack.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“From Michigan backed to Paris for the Paris Auto Show. And he says this right before he dies. The Detroit News ran an article on him. It says, work is Albert Champion's main pastime. He says he can't quit now. People say to me, Albert, you have all the money you ever want. Why in the world don't you stop and have a good time? I always laugh. If they only realized it, I'm having the time of my life right now. That makes his death that's coming in a few months from now even more heartbreaking. So right before he leaves the auto show in France, he doesn't have any kids, but he's supporting his brother. His brother works with him. Two of his brothers work with him. And his nephews are going to also work in the factory. So this is what he says right, this is so crazy. This is what he says right before he leaves for the auto show in France. He's going to die in France.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He was not happy about it, but he said he is ready to do the same thing over and over again when it is necessary. All right, so I need to give you the state of his business in life in 1926. This is a year before he dies. This is what makes it so hard to stomach. When he dies at the end of the book, it feels like you're the one that gets punched. By 1926, he had 25 U.S. patents. He was broadening his product lines into air filters and oil filters. GM that year would make 1.2 million cars. Champion's career was soaring. His domestic life, however, had turned violent. Even though Edna was a midwestern, midwesterner, she chafed at having to live in flint. She preferred the bright lights and hustle of New York. So I need to tell you who this person is. Edna is his second wife, okay? He gets caught having an affair with Edna while he was married to his first wife.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of it. So he's doing personal sales. He says he was also capable of talking with experts about the finest of raw materials found in America and imported from France and England. He had a craftsman's knowledge of firing clay into porcelain. He bought materials and conducted extensive experiments assisting the chemists in the company laboratory. He adapted manufacturing techniques without precedent. He designed original machinery to save time and labor while raising the quality of his products. He preferred to say that the people on his payroll did not so much work for Albert Champion as to work with him. He says, I have always felt that the education and training I received as a bicycle racer was a great help in business because it is a game in which you train to fight and win. He emphasized that experimenting and learning leads to progress. I always remember what a friend of mine once told me. He was a well-known chemist and authority in the automobile world. He said that four times during his life he had to scrap his knowledge of chemistry and begin again at the start.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Alright, so that was dumb on Champion's part. This was smart. Champion invested heavily in research and development. Here's why. I spent a fortune on Spark plug experiments at the start. My friends thought I was crazy. I knew it was right. He put prototypes through long and rigorous tests before submitting patent applications. This is why he was doing it. More durable spark plugs would benefit passenger cars. To keep ahead of the race is what brings success, Abert Champion said. It makes the great racer, it makes a successful businessman. No champion ever arrived resting on the oars. This is his philosophy on work and how it relates to his days as an athlete. This is really interesting insights. He climbed aboard trains taking him around the country to personally solicit business from the blunt talking, hard-working, ingenious car makers shaping the industry. So talks about all that he didn't relegate himself to just one aspect of the business. He learned all”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Champion does something dumb. Champion while Louis working at the company he's financing, champion goes to Louis' house to try to sleep with his wife. So it says one day in early 1915, Louis was at work in Detroit when Albert visited Suzanne. That's Louis's wife at home. He went to Suzanne with the intention of having an affair. Remember, he's also married at the time and betraying Louis. Despite his considerable financial support and friendship with Louis, this is scumbag stuff here. Albert risked everything. Suzanne spurned him when Louis came home from work. She told her husband. Louis exploded in rage. The following morning, Louis had fire in his eyes as he barged with bear like strength through the door of his now ex friend's private office, fuming that he had been mortally wronged. Albert stood up behind his desk and they yelled back in French. The confrontation escalated like wildfire. Louis, a head taller and fifty pounds heavier, attacked champions with his fist. If the fight were a boxing match, Ringside reporters would have scored in favor.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Which champion is president. Durant awarded him one quarter of the stock. The champion initiation company was now making spark plugs that powered Buick's old and Cadillacs. This is how he worked while he was running his company in Flint. We see very similar approach as he had back in Boston. And then when he was racing in Europe, Champion launched his 12-hour workdays by seating himself at his desk. Some days he left his desk only for lunch in the cafeteria. Champion had a forceful personality. He was impatient and demanding. He was strict about keeping production on schedule and expected his money's worth of wages. So they're in Flint, Michigan at the time. It's kind of like a backwards town, you know, so you have the automobile industry, not much else. It was transitioning from lumber and other agriculture. And who's also in the area at this time?”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Durant's serene confidence and proven success would have reminded Champion of his former Paris boss and mentor, Adolf Clement, the locksmith who had started a small enterprise and developed it into one of the continent's great automobile companies. Champion had no hesitation about leaving his partners for a fresh start in Michigan, which was becoming the heartland of automobile commerce. So I'm going to fast forward here. to Flint, gets set up. Look how fast the fast progress he made within a year. A year after Champion moved to Flint, Durant was back in his office to pour over the champion ignition company balance sheet. This is now Durant writing. Champion had paid back the initial investment and had over $100,000 in the bank. I told him I had seen a statement and was most pleased with the report. Durant organized champion's company as a partially owned subsidiary of General Motors.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He told an interviewer that one of his constant efforts was to manage his time for more and better work. Remember, this is the same workaholic nature that he had even from a young, very young boy. He explained that he had always sought to improve everything he did. That goes back to his desire and his constant need for self-improvement. I remember this is now a quote from Champion that's really interesting, and I think this It gives you an insight into his mindset. I remember a salesman one time telling me that he knew the game from A to Z. He stated that nobody could tell him anything about selling. That was to me the best proof possible that he knew nothing about selling because those who really understand merchandising, manufacturing, or anything else that is important in life are those who realize how little they really know about it and how much there is to learn every day. I think that's a great mindset to have. Alfred P.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right around this time, we still see his personality champion, quick tempered as usual, grew disgusted with colleagues he saw riding with caution rather than daring. Now, he's also at this time, he's also racing early automobiles. And that decision to race early automobiles changes his life forever. And we see another aspect of his personality. He has a giant ego, obviously. And he has hubris. And right before a car race, so one other driver was racing this car. It's called like the gray wolf. In one day, you'd have different drivers racing the same car. So he's giving the car over to Albert, who's about to race it, and he's warning him. He's like, this thing is dangerous. He says he cautioned. If you take it, Albert, be careful. It has no brakes, and you must not forget how to shut off the engine before making that ugly turn. He answered me. I won't shut off the engine for any turns.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, right around this time, he's having huge success in this new career as a professional racer. There's a war breaking out in France, and you had to do a mandatory stint in the military. And Albert wants to dodge the draft because he doesn't want to interrupt his career. He's got to take care of all these people. And so he gets a letter from this guy named Charles Herman Metz, who's a manufacturer of Orient Cycles. He's based in Boston. This is one of the American bicycle manufacturers. And he offers champion a contract. He's like, come over here for a year. I'll give you a salary of $25 a week to give you an idea of how much money that was. At the time, the average American earned $9 a week. So I'm going to pay you to race for me and any winning, any all you win.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Non intelligent and other, this is the point about how he approaches his craft though and much different from other cyclists. Cycling was a pastime for Briar and multitudes of others, but Champion treated it as a profession. He had to. He was the family breadwinner.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I found this one paragraph really interesting. A champion befriends a journalist, this guy named Briar. And Breyer is writing about and covering all the professional cyclists, right? And he gives us insight into Champion's personality and the way he approaches his craft, which I thought was really interesting. So he said, Briarhead had heard reports about him, meaning champion, pressing money, unsolicited into the hands of neighbors so they could buy food and firewood to get them through the winter. He supported three younger brothers and provided enough that his widow mother retired from working as a washerwoman. Briar assessed champion as a gifted cyclist who was well intended but had a complex personality, that's for sure and I'll get to more of that later how he can be so intelligent in one area of his life and so”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“From Adolf Clement. Well, Clement's also extremely busy. Choppy can give him the undivided attention, almost like he would receive from your dad. So they only spent a few years together before Choppy actually dies. He dies of a heart attack at rather young age. But this is how Champion remembers him speaking about Choppy many years later. He says for the rest of his life, Champion described his manager as crucial to taking him out of Paris and expanding his outlook. So I'm going to go back to another idea that Champion learned from Clement. Clement decides, hey, you know what? The center for bicycle manufacturers is in the United States. I need to go over there and see what I can learn from them. And at the time, he's building everything in his factories. It's like artisans, like handmade. And the Americans have a completely different approach. So he says, Clement visited some of the 300 other U.S. bicycle companies. He came upon the innovation of machines.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Exposing yourself to extremely strenuous training. Okay, so this is champion reflecting on this training regimen that Choppy made him go through. It says, but Choppy was doing something. He was educating me to take punishment. And whenever I began to tire in a race, the grueling training I had would permit me to overcome the fatigue and come out victorious time and time again. And this is now champion applying that lesson to other endeavors. He says, no matter what game a man is in, he is only as big as the amount of punishment he is able to take. So I feel today that Choppy did a lot for me, not only in that respect, but in educating me on the importance of physical training. For as the old saying goes, you cannot be mentally fit unless you are physically fit. Not only that, think about it. He's 18 years old at the time when you meet Shoppy. He needs a father figure. He's getting that somewhat from...”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To do. Then along came Choppy Wallburden, who said he wanted to train me. I asked him what for? I thought I was pretty good just as I was. I remember Walburton smiled and then he said, well, you can never tell what for. Walburton offered two axioms from his experience about competition that impressed Champion. No lead is too great to overcome, and you can't win unless you think you can. So that's also something he applies only to racing, but to when he's building his company as well. Now bringing up Choppy, because Choppy, again, outside of Clement and Durant might be the most important person that influenced Champions thinking. And there's a lot of lessons that he learned from Choppy that he takes with him for the rest of his life. So Choppy was really, really big on...”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This gives you a description of how he raced, but I would also say it's also later in his life how he conducted his business. Champion charged to the front early. He had a fierce drive to take supreme power like Napoleon. More about his personality. Champion's nature was to plunge with formidable energy headlong into life and work without pausing for introspection.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so he goes all in on this. Now, I want to talk to you before we get to Clement builds a successful automobile manufacturing company. But Albert Champion's 18 years old, and Clement is sponsoring him as a racer. And so these are the motivations of an 18-year-old Albert champion. And I think this describes his personality throughout his entire life. And it gives us a good understanding of why he makes the decisions that he makes. He becomes addicted to this public adulation that he has showered in. So it says racing was about making money for the dual compelling needs that invigorated him. He gained financial support for his family, and the ego endorsement enjoyed by the entertainers and politicians. As his ego grew, he needed to impose himself on crowds of strangers and win their love. Each race he won was greeted immediately with audience approval followed by a bouquet of flowers, a victory lap, then a cash.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When you give a boy who's extremely poor, dad's dad, he's 12 years old, he has to take care of, he sees the labor that his mother has to go through. He's hell-bent on rescuing her from that kind of lifestyle. And if you tell that kid, hey, you know, if you draw, all you have to do is ride a bike really fast around a track and you can be wealthy beyond your means. It's natural maybe natural is not the right word, but I completely understood how he arrived at this conclusion and then never deviated from that probably because he had a fear of going back into those circumstances. And again, he admired Clement and he's learning that from him. Now, I want to tell you more about Clement because, again, he just does a lot of the reason I want to read a book about him is because he's a large character in the life story of Albert Champion.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Having lost his mother when he was just seven years old. He assessed the youngster as deserving a chance to develop his talents. In Clement, Champion gained a tutor, albeit a rather driven man who put his work before family. Again, I pulled that out because that's an important lesson that he's learning and something that he copies again, which Champion came to assess as a consequence of constantly pushing his business ahead of the competition. So champion from the time he was a very, very young boy to the time, the day he dies is a complete and utter workaholic. He really doesn't have any other interests. When he was racing, he applies it to racing, when he's in business, he applies it to business. I don't think he ever has kids, gets married and divorced a few times, or actually gets married twice, and largely both wives complain about the same thing that he ignores them. When I was going back through my notes and thinking about all the lessons in the book, it's just not really surprising.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Again, an inflection point in his life. 17 year old champion gave up the job of instructing clients how to ride, he left to present himself to Clement. He entered the factory intent on securing a job oblivious to how it would become his school. That's such an important sentence in the book because he learned so many things. Again, Clement serves as champion's blueprint. Clement Hierism says, okay, you're going to race for me, and then when you're not racing, this is very interesting. I didn't know this either because he also does a similar arrangement with a bicycle manufacturer in America when he emigrates to America. So they'll hire you to race, but when you're not racing, like if the seasons off or in between your training sessions, you have to work in the factory. This is one thing that Champion learns while working for Clement. He has to run basically run errands and fulfill any requests that Clement might have. So he sends him to this print shop and he learns something about”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Such glory Champion could see he could do that too Tarant's feet of going on his by his own means from Paris to breast and back in less than three days, he finished in seventy one hours and twenty two minutes, without any sleep whatsoever, evoked collective fascination. So this idea about the adulation of Parisians seeking glory, collective fascination. These are huge motivators for a young, still poor champion. He wanted the adulation of other people. He wanted, they call it La Glory. He wanted glory. And so he sees this person that came from very similar circumstances as he did. And he's like, he can do it. I can do it too. So at this point, Champion decides, hey, he's teaching other people. He's still working for bicycle shops and bicycle manufacturers. But he decides to go and approach Adolf Clement and try to get a job. And this is something that...”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Because it's up to you if you wanted to, it's whoever can get there and back first. You can take a rest if you want to. So Lavelle slowed down and rested and got some sleep because he thought it was true. But the rumor was a ruse. And so Tarant never stopped. And this is what Champion learned from that. So he says, Champion learned that Tehran had grown up in the cramped congested slums of Central Parish, just like Champion did. Accord struck that with Champion that Tehran came from nothing. He was a nobody, just like Champion. Yet through the force of willpower, keeping his wits under extreme physical demands that made Laval give in and drawing on the strength of his body Tarant turned into a grand winner. Perhaps LaVal had more talent, which he showed as the first to reach Brest. Nevertheless, Tarant had greater tenacity, and that difference made him the victor. Parisians cried out Torant's name with unreserved adulation.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Hands waving to the crowd, he went a hundred and one miles. For the event he earned more than 500 francs. And to give you an idea of how much money that was at the time. So, two things to know about Alper Champion is one, through his association with several bicycle manufacturers, he realizes that his greatest financial opportunity is becoming a professional bicycle racer. And the second thing is he's really good at it and he starts winning races right away. And this turns him into an extremely young celebrity. He's kind of like a child star. So it says, what little is known of Champions' childhood can be gleaned from a lifetime of journal articles in an outpouring of hundreds of French and English obituaries with recollections from friends, fellow athletes, and auto executives on both sides of the Atlantic. So I want you to pick up on that word obituaries there. His life has a tragic ending, unfortunately. He grew up in public as a celebrity, like today's young rock stars. A bicycle racer competing on the Pro Circuit, he enjoyed immense popularity and money by the fistful. The press flocked around him keen to capture quotas.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, something to know about Unicycle, and almost any scale mastering a unicycle takes hours and hours and hours of practice. He puts in that time and effort, and he's so good that other businesses start hiring him to perform in front of their stores as well. And so this is the summary of the lesson that he's learning from this experience. He says, Champion had discovered the value of self improvement. He would apply that principle again and again. This is a really resourceful idea that he had. So he says, self-reliant and a natural showman, he created an ambitious publicity stunt. Henry publicized the event in charge of admission. Champion would pedal his unicycle for ten hours around a running track and cover one hundred miles. The audacity of the self propelled one wheel venture filled the stands. He pedaled round and round the track from seven o'clock in the morning to five o'clock in the evening, crank arms spinning.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“his boss's bike shop. He learned how to draw on lookers and hold their attention. They encouraged his flair for showmanship. He experimented and added more stunts to his repertoire, removing a foot from the pedal to push the top of the tire to propel him was always a crowd pleaser.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Wanted to learn how to ride a unicycle. So he gets taught how to ride a unicycle. And this leads to an early job, which in turn leads to bicycle racing. So it says fortune smiled upon young champion. He caught the eye of Henry, a civil engineer in his late 30s, who owned a bike shop. He was struck by Champion's agility and vigor. He offered champion employment to perform acrobatics outside his bike shop, hoping to lure in customers. Champion could not afford to buy a unicycle, but Henry sensing a business opportunity offered to provide one. Champion quickly accepted. There's a lot of things to know about the personality of Champion. He's a showman, and he's also addicted to self-improvement and willing to put in the work for self-improvement. So let me read this to you. It says, champion practice every day. He became adept performing on the sidewalk and the streets in front of”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Work, forever escaping into the task at hand, keeping busy, always planning new projects. In time, he built up a business with factories in three countries and offices of his own. And so he has a quote in the book from Albert describing this time period of his life. He says, I was earning my own living and part of my mother's and brothers when I was 12 years old. He actually, in a few years from this point, he's able to make enough money as a professional racer that he actually retires permanently retires his mother. Okay, so a little bit more about what it was like to have to become the breadwinner of an extremely poor family at such an early age. So he says he was 12 when he ended formal schooling, common among kids from impoverished families. What did these kids do when they weren't in school anymore? So the author states, city boys flock to factories. Rural youths toiled on farms or in”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This one sentence gives you an idea of how poor they were. His family indulged in the fare of the Paris poor, horse meat. Of the earliest turning points in Albert's life is the early death of his father, and it says his father lived to see the Eiffel Tower completed, but he died of pneumonia three days after Christmas. He was only 47. And this is the effect that his father's premature death had on not only Albert but his entire family. Albert's the oldest one. He has become the breadwinner of the family at 12 years old. So it says, the father Albert had was no longer going to offer guidance. He struggled with the gloom of the uncompromising reality of death, unaware that he had lost his childhood innocence. His extended family provided whatever emotional support they could, but they were also poor, so says whether they were hard pressed to do much for Alexander's widow and sons. The experience formed Albert's character, and this is probably one of the most important sentences in the book and something that is really important to understand who Albert was to his core. For the rest of his life, he threw himself into”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Champion had been born in Paris in eighteen seventy eight, but age twelve he was an errand in office boy for a Paris bicycle manufacturer. He became interested in bicycle racing, won the Middle Distance Championship in France, and went to the United States in eighteen ninety nine for a series of races. He won the American and World Championships, returned to France to study automobile manufacturing, and returned to the United States in 1900. He tried auto racing, almost lost a leg in a racing accident, and then organized a champion company. His original backers kept the name and moved the company to Toledo at about the same time champion joined Billy Durant. In Flint, Champion became known as one of the most colorful and flamboyant figures in a town full of them. He lived to see both his new company, later named AC Spark Plug Division, and the company he had left, the Champion Spark Plug Company.”
2020-05-01 · Founders · #123 Albert Champion (Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source