Men and Rubber: The Story of Business (Farnam Street Timeless Classics) by Harvey S Firestone

Men and Rubber: The Story of Business (Farnam Street Timeless Classics) Reviews

• 
  Anu

  Firestone Tires was founded in 1900 by Harvey Firestone. This book is written by the founder about the first 25 years of the company. I was shocked at how many pertinent lessons on running a business there were, more than 100 years since the book was written! It is somewhat ironic that after Firestone died, the company fell prey to many of the dangers he cautioned against, but the first half of the company’s life is fascinating to read about.
  If you want to read the book, be warned - it’s dated and cringey in some parts reflecting racist and sexist attitudes that were deemed acceptable a century ago. And Firestone himself isn’t exactly a wholly virtuous character with the Liberian plantation controversy breaking out a decade after the book was written. But you gotta love the man’s commitment and dedication to the eternal quest of keeping the business alive. Lots of great lessons
• 
  Titiaan

  I picked up this book because a friend posted a passage to LinkedIn (thank you, Sam!) This is the autobiography of Harvey S. Firestone, founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (founded in 1900, acquired by Bridgestone in 1988). Firestone published the book in 1926. Farnam Street bought the rights and did a reprint.
  
  The story of Firestone is amazing in many ways. What started as a company producing solid tires for horsecarts became a comany selling inflated tires for cars, as Firestone saw the tremendous growth of the automobile. While the story is set a century ago, many of the same lessons that can be drawn from it apply to business today. A few examples:
  
  As a founder, you must look ahead at big new markets that haven’t yet formed.
  Around 1900, most people saw automobiles as a fad, but Firestone (inspired by Ford) saw them as a big market. By starting to make pneumatic (i.e. inflated) tires for this market, he was positioned very well. There are parallels to for instance the people who bet big on electric vehicle charging seeing the growth of electric vehicles.
  
  To get deals done, meet people in person.
  Firestone recounts how he learned of Ford's announcement that he would produce 2,000 vehicles of one of the earliest models. Firestone traveled from Ohio to Detroit to pitch Ford on the benefits of inflated tires over solid tires. Ford was convinced and they struck a deal, which led Firestone to become the default tire provider to Ford.
  
  To get deals done, move fast.
  I loved how Firestone recounted that he was trying to hire his first chemist. The candidate asked for a higher salary and some time to think it over. Firestone granted him the higher salary if he would agree on the spot, calling it a bargain. This story reminds me of a story about how Elon Musk asked a candidate for a role at PayPal to fly to Palo Alto that same week for in-person interviews, then spent the whole night interviewing him, not taking "sometime in the future" for an answer.
  
  Business is a never-ending game of precarious situations.
  Firestone built a company over three decades. He recalls a never-ending series of near-death experiences for the company, in which the company's destiny could have gone either way. It is good to appreciate that luck and faith play an important role in business, and that part of the thrill of being a founder or CEO is to play the Infinite Game of keeping the business alive.
  
  Beyond these lessons, it was fun to read about the camping trips that Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison would take together. It was a good reminder that friendships are a core part of a life well lived, and that breaks with people who invigorate you matter a lot—so much so that they form a large chunk of Firestone's memoir.
• 
  Daniel Ottenwalder

  Men and Rubber
  The purpose is essential. What need or want are you addressing for people? It would help if you had time and space to think continuously. You are not in business unless entirely in your business (most of your net worth). When the rubber business struggled, they almost went out, but instead, they thought thoroughly of the ends and potential consequences, sought counsel, and then took action. They survived and thrived in a down period for the industry due to careful thought. Constantly rethink question assumptions. Think about the people in your business. Are they thinkers or executors? Make sure you think wisely.
  
  Swapping horses and ideas
  A good businessman always balances his affairs to survive poor periods, and having a surplus helps. They can control circumstances and not be influenced by financial circumstances. His father taught him how to take care of his affairs. A man has to get a perspective of different businesses to look outside of himself and his business, or else he might not think and become a creature of habit.
  
  Keep your tongue short and listen more. Continuously develop new skills. He became a traveling salesman and, as part of this, learned that it pays to talk to a big business versus a small business, as a prominent business always wants to make more money. In contrast, a small business might be so caught up in its affairs they don't see the immense opportunity. Find opportunity in what you believe in, then capitalize on it. Understand banking and accounting, or you won't get the resources to grow. No banker cares about prospects. They want the facts and figures.
  
  While competing against more prominent rubber manufacturers, they focused on quality and specialization of carriage tires to beat competitors even though they could not compete on price. One specialization was roll tires to reduce the amount of inventory and different SKUs. He saw that gas cars were rapidly coming online and had to move into pneumatic tires. This industry was already sown up in patents. He knew that you have to innovate and provide for the future. The first patent was in 1848, and tubes were put on bikes. He couldn’t build a clincher because the association did not grant him access to the patent, so he had to find a better way. This led to the development of the side wall tire, which is still used today, but he had to convince the market to buy something that only Firestone could make at the time, which was less standard clincher. So he went to partner with Ford, given how much production they would have. They were both outsiders, and they trusted each other.
  
  Managing an organization is not about delegation. Question common sense as must time here is a more straightforward way. Always seek improvement in the process.
  
  Human relations, pay the best, and educate your workforce to make them better overall. Help your men help themselves and improve the community so people want to stay.
  
  A few lessons on selling go back to the first principles: let the product do the selling, dont focus on schemes. There is no free lunch.
  
  Organizations can reduce efficiency. Don't forget the actual goal simplifies the org to keep the right people accountable.
  
  There is nothing impersonal about a business. You have to expand on profits or profits + stock. Ensure employees own stock, too, so they are invested in the enterprise. You want them to care more about the dividend than their salary.
  
  Firestone went camping with some interesting titans of industry at the time. He outlines his experience with Edison and Ford. These two men cared little about what money could do for them but more about what they could do for society. I see further why Musk is compared to these characters of history. Edison was well-read and always knew about any topic, including rubber, which Firestone thought he was more knowledgeable than himself and his chemist. They went camping with their wives, President Harding and the first wife.
  
  The greatest lesson Firestone got from his time with Edison and Ford is to go it alone. It doesn't matter if someone else has tried you should try it yourself.
• 
  Federico Lucifredi

  Every business problem we face today, described 100 years ago by Harvey Firestone in the story of his company. Absolutely an amazing read, the man pulls no punches and just serves straight up what he is thinking.
  
  This is, quite literally, "the story of business". Absolutely worth the time, best business read of the year so far!