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The Empire Builders Podcast

The Empire Builders Podcast

By: Stephen Semple and David Young
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 Reverse engineering the success of established business empires.The Empire Builders Podcast Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • #205: Specialized Bikes – Staying Ahead of the Trends

    #205: Specialized Bikes – Staying Ahead of the Trends
    May 14 2025
    Mike Sinyard dropped out of school at 16, toured Europe on a bike and became the Specialist no one knew they needed. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [ECO Office Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast. I'm Dave Young, and that's Stephen Semple. We're talking about empires and business building and all of the things. And the subject that you whispered in my ear just as we started was Specialized mountain bikes. Mountain bikes is not my area of expertise. Specialized is a brand name or are we just talking about mountain bikes in general? Stephen Semple: No, Specialized is a brand name, but they do more than mountain bikes, but where they're really known is mountain bikes. Dave Young: I kind of thought that they were a- Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Yeah, which is first of all, Specialized is a strange name for a brand. Stephen Semple: It is. Dave Young: Like calling yourself exclusive, okay. But I'm anxious to hear more. Like when you and I were kids, mountain bikes didn't exist. It just wasn't even a thing. Stephen Semple: They did not. No, they did not exist. Dave Young: There were bikes and there were road bikes, racing bikes, or you had a bike with just the usual kind of fat tires. Stephen Semple: Yes. And even before the mountain bike came along, you had a period of time there was the BMX bike actually predates the mountain bike. Dave Young: But more for kids and early teens. Stephen Semple: Yeah, exactly. So it was founded by Mike Sinyard in mid 1974 is when he started this business. So- Dave Young: It does go back a ways. Stephen Semple: Yes. And he didn't start right away building mountain bikes. That does give you an idea where the mountain bike trend happens. And today they have like 1,300 employees, they do half a billion in sales. And he started selling parts for bicycles. And it really wasn't until the mid 1980s that they became a big force in the mountain biking space. And the interesting thing that we're going to be talking about is they made some decisions along the way that almost put them out of business. Dave Young: Okay, love that kind of thing. Stephen Semple: That's the thing that really jumped out at me on their whole story. So Mike grew up in San Diego. His dad was a machinist in the Navy. His mom cleaned houses. They didn't have a lot of money. They didn't go out to eat, they didn't do all those sort of things. They were just a very basic household. He did poorly in school. He was in school in the '60s and had ADHD and really, again, not much known about that back in those days. And so he moved out of the house, dropped out of school at age of 16, and what he would start doing is he would go to flea markets and he would buy things, then resell them. And what he figured out was live cheap. So he had lived in a house with lots of roommates, was doing this living cheap thing, going to flea markets, buying stuff, reselling it, and eventually he decides to go back to school and give school another go. And he attended San Jose State University. And one of the things that happened is remedial programs started coming out and that's what allowed him to go back to school. And he basically did remedial everything. Like every class, every class was a remedial class, gets out of school, gets a job at an airport refueling planes, and he decides to become a pilot and started in an aviation program, got his pilot's license. Which,
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    23 mins
  • #204: Levis – Did NOT Invent Denim

    #204: Levis – Did NOT Invent Denim
    May 7 2025
    Levi help Jacob patent the famous rivet on the Levis jeans that make the pockets so durable. That is how Levis starts to build the empire. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [OG Law Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, Dave Young, here alongside Stephen Semple. We're talking about empires, we're talking about things that people built, businesses, and you know what I mean, empires. Stephen Semple: That sort of thing. Dave Young: What don't you get about empires? Come on. Boy, the one you just whispered in my ear as the countdown started, I know a little bit about it just because it's like a classic business lesson. Right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: If you're going to follow the gold rush, man, don't dig for gold, sell to miners. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Big time. Dave Young: You said it's going to be Levi's, so I assume Levi Strauss and Company. Stephen Semple: Yep. Dave Young: This is the guy that started the little store to sell to the miners out in California. Stephen Semple: Yeah. We're going way back because Levi Strauss was founded May 1, 1853. So we're going way back. Today, it's trades on the stock exchange under L-E-V-I, Levi. They've got 3,400 company operated stores. They do like 6 billion in sales and almost 19,000 employees. It is the best selling five pocket gene out there. Dave Young: I don't even think about them as having stores for some reason. That must be outlet mall kind of things. Stephen Semple: Yeah, I think that's primarily what they are because, again, I was the same. I looked, I went 3,400 stores, boy. It's one of those ones you just don't think about it. Dave Young: Yeah. In high school, man, if you weren't wearing Levi, button-up five-pocket jeans, you weren't cool at all unless you had the Jordache back in the day designer jeans. Stephen Semple: There you go. Dave Young: You either go standard Levi's or full designer. God help if your mom bought you Lee. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Or some off-brand from Sears. Stephen Semple: Yep. Oh yeah. Then it was going to be a rough week at school. Dave Young: Well, take us back to 1853. Stephen Semple: The other thing that's interesting is they hold the original patent for the rivet in the jeans. They actually hold the original patent for that. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: You know the little rivet that you see in the jeans? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That's their original patent. Dave Young: Well, that's cool. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Now, jeans were not invented by Levi, so that's often a misconception. The company was started by Levi Strauss, and Levi was a Bavarian immigrant. He actually first had a business doing dry goods in New York City. He built that business basically selling these dry goods door-to-door. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: As you were talking about, Dave, he hears about this thing called the Gold Rush in California. The boom is amazing. I knew it was a boom, but I didn't realize this. In the two years from 1849 to 1850, the population in San Francisco grew from 1,000 people to 25,000 people in two years. Dave Young: I know the Oregon Trail, but man. Stephen Semple: That is just mind blowing. Dave Young: I think a fair number of them actually sailed around South America. Stephen Semple: When people talk about it being a boom and a rush,
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    21 mins
  • #203: Parker Brothers – Their Monopoly Story

    #203: Parker Brothers – Their Monopoly Story
    Apr 30 2025
    Making games better and getting them into the world seems like the thing to do when your dad passes and you need money. Sounds like Monopoly. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Tapper's Jewelry Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to The Empire Builders Podcast. I'm Dave Young, and I'm here with Stephen Semple, who's been researching yet another empire for us to dissect and discuss. And today it's Parker Brothers, the game mogul. Were these guys on Game Row? Didn't we talk about it in another episode, the inventor of a game that was like he was over there in the part of town where all the games come from? I'm assuming. Stephen Semple: No, this kind of predates that. This sort of predates that. We're going way back. Dave Young: I mean, Parker Brothers, I know the name and I'm trying to even think of a game that's Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers. Who are these guys? Stephen Semple: We're going way back. The business was started by George Parker when he was 16 years old back in 1883. Dave Young: See, I was thinking you were going to go back farther than that. Stephen Semple: Really? Dave Young: These guys invented the stick. But 1883, that's okay. 1883 or 18... Stephen Semple: 1883. Dave Young: 1883. Okay. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so we're going back a little bit here, going back here a little bit. And one of the things that was happening around that time, because we're talking about the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, and one of the things that was being created was the eight-hour workday, which actually started to build leisure time for people. Dave Young: Because before that, the work day was waking hours. Wasn't it? It was just like... Stephen Semple: Basically. Pretty much. Yeah, pretty much. And so board games had started to come out, but most board games at that time were developed with an agenda. They were dealing with the moral decline of America is what a lot of them were. And they weren't really all that interesting or fun. And basically, George Parker was the youngest of two older brothers, and his father was a successful merchant, but had passed away and he had to find a way to make money. And what he noticed was at this time, capitalism was really changing. It was becoming actually acceptable. So for example, in 1840, there were 60 millionaires in the United States. By 1880, there were 1,000. Dave Young: Wow! Stephen Semple: Wealth was exploding, and people were actually able to imagine being wealthy. It was not just the aristocracy. There were actually regular people breaking through. And the first game he creates is a game called Banking. Dave Young: Banking. I'm pretty sure he didn't invent banking. Stephen Semple: But he invented a game game called Banking. And it's rejected by several publishers, but he spends his life savings, prints 500 copies, takes a month off school to go and sell it. He does sell all the sets for a profit of 80 bucks, but it was a lot of work, but gives him kind of a taste of success. And this is in the era of tycoons, and they were being admired. And Parker wanted to create an idea that taps into this. Dave Young: The Vanderbilts and all the... Stephen Semple: Yeah, the Carnegies and all of that stuff. And he didn't like business, so he convinced his brother Charles to join, and they formed Parker Brothers. So basically, Charles is going to manage the business, and George is going to create the games.
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    16 mins
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