YouSaid · the spoken record

Sam Bronfman

lines on the record
19
first
2020-03-21
most recent
2020-03-21
sittings or episodes
1
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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

  1. “The trunk is your mother, and I pray also represents you and your wife and the branches of your children and someday please God, your grandchildren. With all my love, Papa. I will leave the story there. If you buy the book using the link in the show notes, you'll be supporting the author and the podcast. And I'll talk to you again soon.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “Sam liked the thought, and towards the end he reflected publicly on his own humble origins from time to time, as he never would have done before when he was on his way up. Sam wrote a dedication for his son Charles, explaining the additional symbolism that he saw in the picture of an oak tree. This is Sam writing. This story of the building of our company is also partly the story of my life With one of the lessons of my dear parents to be steadfast and true and to build my life brick on brick. The symbol to the left is of the tree firmly planted with strong roots in the ground and growing ever upwards. The branches denote our children and grandchildren, also the people of our organization spread around the world.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “and earning of $34 million a year. Sam Barr, this is in 1963 and he's a 34 million years. Sam borrowed $75 million from institutional investors in 25-year promissory notes. He put $50 million of that money as a down payment on the purchase price of $266 million and undertook to pay the balance at a future revenues. So he borrowed $75, put $25 million in the bank, put $50 million down as a down payment, and he's got the balance on a $266 million purchase price, okay? Now, that is in 1963. 12 years later, by 1975, Texas Pacific had paid off its debt. While in the process, its oil and gas reserves expanded phenomenally.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “All right, so this is how to deal with a person like Sam. Robert showed him a new series of ads one day aimed at blue-collar workers. I don't like them, Sam said curtly. Robert replied, they weren't designed to be liked by multimillionaires. At that point, Robert saw Sam's face flush with anger. You think you're pretty goddamn smart, don't you? he growled. Mr Sam, Robert replied, if I wasn't smart, I wouldn't be working for you. Sam looked at his employee, smiled, and said Ok, run them.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “He says he told shareholders that Seagram became an essential war industry. So as you can imagine, as they're making stuff for the war, they can't make their product. That's why it was so important for him to have these huge massive reserves. Canadian distilling, this is Sam talking. Canadian distilling had taken his place shoulder to shoulder with major industries like steel, automobile, radio, transportation, communications, and other in the ranks of those who were doing their war tasks quickly, quietly, and efficiently.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Listen to how Sam spoke about his own products. Quality in Sam's mind was intertwined with prestige. This is a direct quote from him. The selling power of prestige has always been and continues to be the basic idea behind all of your company's advertising, he told shareholders. This ties into how he repositioned the entire whiskey industry, right? So he continues. Every Seagrim advertisement is designed primarily to accomplish one thing, to sell Seagrams and not just whiskey. to sell the fundamental principles of the house of Seagram, the craftsmanship, the traditions, the experiences, the quality and the prestige that have made Seagram Whiskeys famous since eighteen fifty seven.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “So I've told you over and over again, he focused on quality of products, but he's also extremely focused on distribution and making sure his sales, volume is as good as it possibly can be. So this is a Seagram's company philosophy that is as interpreted to his salespeople. And it really could be an insight into Sam's personality. There was a highly aggressive spirit that Sam helped inspire, meaning within the company. When you attack, attack vigorously and never give up until you win. Go all out. Do not keep your foot on first base ready to retreat in case you fail. Is how Sam communicated his desire for high standards. The best whiskey has not yet been made, Sam liked to repeat to his production people, urging them to constantly to improve, to upgrade their operations, and to set higher standards for themselves.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “Sam moved boldly, as he often did when a unique opportunity came his way. Eager to acquire Brown's stock of scotch whiskey, Sam managed to buy the company in 1935. Brown was the guy doing the negotiation for Calvary Distillery. That tells you why. He's like, listen, just name the price because I want your whiskey. Whatever you think that price is, it's more value. It's going to be way more valuable in the future. So I'm buying that. And so he says, with this company as our base, this is now Sam talking, we began immediately to lay down stocks of select scotch whiskeys for maturing. A strategy that served him well years later when despite a worldwide shortage of scotch, he was able to draw upon long-aged quality whiskeys. Okay, so there's two things going on in that paragraph you have to know. One, he had massive buffers, financial buffers, inventory buffers. He understood that the world was complex and that there's things that are going to happen that are beyond your prediction and you have no control over. And it goes again.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “He just was. So unfortunately, he had a deep love of family. You'll see that soon, obviously. But he had a set of high standards and he insisted everybody around him meet those standards. So you could imagine when you don't meet those standards how he would express himself. Okay, after prohibition is lifted, Sam goes on a buying spree. And I found this was very interesting. Kind of reminds me of...”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Brains like you I can hire anywhere. Business is when you want something to be alive because you had a dream about it. We were a AAA credit rating before you pissers were able to button your own pants So Sam was hard on everybody around him. And he from the very beginning, he designed the company so his two sons would take over, which they indeed did. I cannot imagine. How hard he was on them But in my mind's eye, when I'm reading this book, I imagine that excerpt from the novels, it probably happened in real life to a very frequent degree. Let's just put it that way. He was extremely hard, iron-willed person.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Of finely made beautiful products. But I like the idea of spend almost, you know, be frugal, spend as little money as possible on things that don't matter, but things that do matter spend the most, spend as much as you have. I like that barbell strategy idea. I do not know if it's been explicitly expressed in any other book that I've read so far for the podcast. I think it's a really, really interesting and good idea. And especially the application Sam's application of that, that, you know, I'm going to hire the best advertising agents. I'm going to have the best materials needed for the creation of my product, everything. I'm going to hire the best people. I just think that's really, really smart. And then, you know, at the same time, don't be wasteful, which is why you see like.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “So he says essentially my interpretation of his opinion is spend no money. But if you do, you better spend it on the best. So he has this idea of go first class. I'm going to tie it into what I just told you. Remember, you're not getting a dollar out of me. But when you do, I better be spending money at the very best. Son, if you got to spend money, Sam told one of his advertising men, go first class. Sam's admonition. How do I say that word? I don't know. You know what I mean? Sam's admonition was hardly restricted to advertising. And indeed extended to every nook and cranny of his business. First class in Sam's mind meant quality and a concern for quality was meant to govern every phase of his operation, from distilling to blending, aging, packaging, advertising, and sales. So I'm going to pause there, go back into this in a minute. There is no Kindle version of this book, but if there was...”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “He took little interest in luxury goods and had no time for interior decoration, cars, resort vacations, and the like. But on the other hand, he wanted to surround himself with quality. Sam would have agreed with film producer Adolf Zukar when he said, I have always believed if a man surrounds himself with good things, he sets a standard in his own lives as well as those of others. Uninterested in money for what it could buy, Sam never carried any cash. It was almost impossible to get him to spend money, his son said. But money was nonetheless important. You were somebody if you had money, his son Edgar explained Sam's view. And if you had a lot of money, you were more of a somebody. Parsimonious about small things likely the imprint of his family struggle with poverty. Sam was famous for turning off the lights in his office and complaining about minor extravagances. Sam's nightmare was being poor, as his daughter recalls, in his early life.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “I build brick by brick, Sam liked to say. Ten years after the first foundations were laid in Montreal, Sam could look with pride at the edifice that he had constructed. Sam and his British partners, that's DCL or DLC, I forgot what it was, Sam and his British partners had conquered some forty percent of the Canadian whiskey market. Eventually, going to do the same in the United States. We'll get there in a minute. Now, this was very, very fascinating. It's another, I'm going to tell you about Sam's view on money. And it's very unique. And I think very smart.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Imagine smuggling in liquor on bicycles. Like, what is going on here? This is even crazier, though. Enterprising Rumrunners packed whiskey into hollowed out logs and hauled them by sled across the international frontier. Hundreds of thousands of bottles went by this means alone by the mid-1920s. Cash from these sales began to pour into the Brothman family coffers. This is where we started to make our real money, Sam said. We had relied mostly on the mail order business in Canada and was insignificant by comparison. At this point, we joined the major leagues. Canadians knew that there was no law against the export of alcoholic beverages from Canada, and they believed it was up to America to enforce their own laws. Moving ahead, Sam would tell you to build your life and your business brick by brick.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Sam made his case. He was seeking capital for expansion offering a half interest in his family firm for a million dollars, but he also wanted whiskey that he could import from Scotland and blend with his own neutral spirit in order to produce a Scotch type whiskey in Canada. Now he's going to appeal to interest here, which is super important when you're trying to get people to help you. We have an opportunity here to make Scotch the predominant drink in North America, Samstead. I don't think you want to pass that up any more than I do. Prohibition cannot last forever, and when it is repealed, you will be established in the market, whereas it might take years for the Bourbon people to get back into the business again. So what he's talking about there is the thesis in which he builds his entire business, his entire large business at the time in the future. Matures, and that is, mature stocks of whiskey were in shorts.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “Now we get to the meeting. Sam would tell you to think big and to appeal to interest. Sam was obviously thinking big. The meeting finally took place in DCLs. That's the company that he felt was the best in the world at the time. In DCL's oak paneled boardroom, Sam made his pitch to the men who controlled over half of the globe's Scotch whiskey trade. That's crazy. From Sam's point of view, his meeting with the barons of the whiskey trade was like an encounter between David and Goliath. This is why he would tell you to think big. He had to. He also had a giant ego, which really helped too. On the one side sat the haughty, confident masters of the ancient craft whose family associations with whiskey stretched back to antiquity. On the other side, Sam Bromfman, a”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “It was probably the best thing for me that I didn't know anything about distilling Sam Lehar recalled. I lived at the distillery for two years. Sam studied whiskey making down to the minute details. And there's a lot of paragraphs in this book that remind me of the hands-on nature that Steve Jobs had that I've talked about on the sixth podcast that I've made about him. You'll just see even from how the products are made to being involved in all the decisions to the marketing to everything. So we see the example of that. This is Sam talking about his level of dedication to details. I paid personal attention to every aspect of the production process, to grains, to water and yeast, to milling, to cooking procedures and temperatures to fermenters, to stills and distilling techniques, to barrels used to manufacturing whiskey, to packaging and bottling.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “I'll get there in a minute. Sam would also tell you that you should be learning from the best. And it says, this is also goes back to that part where I said he bet on himself. Sam, what in the hell do you know about making whiskey his friend Shin asked him? Shin, I don't know the first goddamn thing about how to make whiskey, but I'll be goddamn if I'm not going to learn. So there we see his super aggressive nature, his love of profanity, and his constant, he was a learning machine. Sam's characteristic solution was to go to the top for his lessons, kind of what we're doing here, right? In this case, to one of the first families of the Kentucky distillers, his teacher was a master distiller.”

    2020-03-21 · Founders · #116 Sam Bronfman (Seagram's and the Bronfman family dynasty) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source