New York Times Bestseller Iconoclastic entrepreneur and New York legend Ken Langone tells the compelling story of how a poor boy from Long Island became one of America's most successful businessmen. Ken Langone has seen it all on his way to a net worth beyond his wildest dreams.
Q: Who recommended this book? Why?
Michael: "Adam – I think he identified Ken’s love of “the deal”. Ken is involved in so many different deals and he has this unique ability to find different ways to get deals done, and Adam shares that same ability so I think he was inspired by it."
Q: What lesson(s) did you learn from the book & how will you apply it to your business?
Michael: "Every time Ken walks into a Home Depot he is always looking for trash to pick up or a cart to push back into the store. He wants to make sure that every team member knows that no task is too small for him. This leading by example is exactly what I need to do in my business, and I always try to remember to do the little things. Pick up trash when we are walking a property together, be the last one out of the office in the evening, take out the garbage when the can is full…I never want to come across as too good for any part of our business."
Q: What is your number one takeaway from this book?
Michael: "I loved this quote from Ken… “I can’t think of a deal I’ve ever done where I couldn’t have gotten more out of it than I did. As I’ve made clear, I like making money. But it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you look beyond sheer profit to getting buy-in by other people. I’d rather own 10 percent of a billion-dollar company than 100 percent of a $100 million company. The numbers are exactly the same, but by owning a piece of the billion-dollar company I get the benefit of everybody else pulling with me, and that’s a huge benefit.” We have always believed that we are better off with having buy in from our employees, and having partners with us in the industry, this just solidified that we are doing the right things!"