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The Empire Builders Podcast

The Empire Builders Podcast

Auteur(s): Stephen Semple and David Young
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 Reverse engineering the success of established business empires.The Empire Builders Podcast Développement commercial et entrepreneuriat Entrepreneurship Gestion et leadership Marketing Marketing et ventes Réussite personnelle Économie
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  • #236: Porsche – From Inexpensive To Luxury

    #236: Porsche – From Inexpensive To Luxury
    Dec 17 2025
    Ferdinand wanted to make cars for the people, but the Porsche brand we know is an empire of performance. 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. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast. It’s the podcast where we talk about empires that were built, businesses, business empires. You know what we… If you’ve listened before, you know… Stephen Semple: Something like that. I get it. Businesses that have done pretty well over the years. Dave Young: They started small. Stephen Semple: They started small. Dave Young: They started small and then they got big. They got so big to the point that you could call them an empire. Stephen Semple: That’s it. That’s the idea. Dave Young: It’s a pretty simple premise. Stephen Semple: That’s it. Dave Young: So as we counted down, Steve told me the topic today and it’s Porsche. Stephen Semple: Yes, sir. Dave Young: Porsche. I’m assuming this is the car. Stephen Semple: The car, yes, the car. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: The car. Dave Young: And I’m trying to… I know some Porsche jokes, but I probably shouldn’t tell those on this show. I’m trying to think if I’ve ever actually been in a Porsche. Stephen Semple: Oh, well then you’ve got to come up and see me, Dave. Dave Young: You own one. I know you own one. Stephen Semple: Well, I have one. Bernier’s got two. I don’t know how many Steve has. Dave Young: I see how it is. I see how it is. Maybe I will tell my Porsche joke. So you guys that own them, do you call it Porscha? Because some of us just say Porsche. Stephen Semple: Well, if you actually take a look back, that’s the proper German pronunciation as Porsche. Dave Young: Porsche, okay. Stephen Semple: And it’s supposed to not be… It’s not Italian Porsche, right? So it’s Porsche. Dave Young: Porsche, Porsche. Okay, I’ll accept that. I’ll accept that. I’m guessing we’re- Stephen Semple: Well, look, you got to always call a dealership to double check. They’ll tell you. Dave Young: Now, if I had to guess where we’re headed to start this off sometime around the 40s, maybe earlier. Stephen Semple: A little earlier than that, actually. It was founded by Ferdinand Porsche in 1931 in Stuttgart, Germany. You’re not far off. But the interesting thing is where the growth really happened, even though that’s when it was founded, when things really started to happen, was actually post-World War II. Dave Young: That makes sense. Stephen Semple: You’re correct on that. Dave Young: So, it started in 31 and by the time you hit the late 30s and 40s, you’re part of the war machine. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So it was founded in 1931, Stuttgart, Germany by Ferdinand. And when we take a look at the history of the business for a very long time, they were a part of the VW group, although they were recently spun off into their own separate business. And there’s a lot of shared history between VW and Porsche. A lot of people make fun of the fact that it’s basically a VW. There’s so much connection. Now here’s the other thing is, there’s a lot of connection in Nazi Germany here as well. And I mean- Dave Young: That’s what I was intimating but trying not to say, but yes, there was definitely. Stephen Semple: And not one of these ones of, “Oh, I’m a business and I got sucked up into the machine.” I mean, very early on. Very early on. Ferdinand was a member of the SS following the war, both he and his son were charged. Dave Young: No kidding. Stephen Semple: He served two years in jail. His son six months. So we’re not talking loose connections here. He was a buddy of Adolf. Let’s just put it out there. And if you remember, going back to episode 21, VW was founded by Nazi Germany. So episode 21 about The Beetle, and Ferdinand was the guy who designed the Beetle. Dave Young: Right, right. I remember you saying that, Ferdinand Porsche. Stephen Semple: And look, Porsche has not always had the success it has today. It’s become pretty big. They do 40 billion EU in sales. They have 40,000 employees. They make 300,000 cars. There was a time that they’re making cars in the hundreds and thousands. It wasn’t that long ago. But let’s go back to Germany to the early 1900s. And if we think about Germany at that time, pre-World War II, pre-World War I, ...
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    24 min
  • #235: The Home Depot – Inspired by Wal-Mart

    #235: The Home Depot – Inspired by Wal-Mart
    Dec 10 2025
    When two employees of Handy Dan hardware store gave this idea to management, they got fired! So, they started Home Depot. Someone’s kicking themselves now! 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. [No Bull RV Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young. That’s Steve Semple whispering in your other ear. And on today’s episode of the Empire Builders- Stephen Semple: [inaudible 00:01:44] your live stereo. Dave Young: We knew that it would only be a matter of time having so recently discussed the Lowe’s Empire that we would be discussing Home Depot, and today is that day. Stephen Semple: Today is that day because really, there’s a pretty shared DNA there. Dave Young: Sure. And again, I always think, “Well, okay, start as a little hardware store and then somebody grew into a big hardware store and then they made a bunch more.” Stephen Semple: It’s a little bit like that. Dave Young: A little bit? Stephen Semple: Except this is a little different. It’s a little bit different. Dave Young: Okay. I always like a good twist. Stephen Semple: There’s a little bit of a twist in this. So it was founded in February 6th, 1978, Marietta, Georgia by Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, Pat Farrah, and Ken Langone. So these guys basically got it started. Dave Young: So it doesn’t go near as far back as Lowe’s. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Lowe’s is a little bit earlier, but not much. And today they have over 2,300 locations. They do 160 billion in revenue with over 450,000 employees. So it’s a big deal. And we all know who the Home Depot is, right? We’ve all pretty much heard of it. Now, a couple of the guys got basically fired from a hardware store in the West Coast called Handy Dan. Dave Young: Handy Dan. Okay. Stephen Semple: And it wasn’t really all that big and it was one-stop. But here’s why they got fired. They kept pestering management saying, “You need to go larger, then you need to go national.” And basically, management got tired of listening to that and fired them. So I told you there was a little twist. So when they left, they called one of Handy Dan’s investors, Ken Langone, and said, “Here’s what we want to do. We want to make 100,000 square foot hardware store, stock everything, make it cheaper, and make it more like a wholesaler. That’s what we want to do.” And they drew their inspiration from Walmart. They’re looking at what Walmart was doing. They said, “We want to do the Walmart thing for hardware and building.” And Ken was like, “Great, let’s do it.” And they drew up a plan that basically said they needed $25 million to get going, and they had to settle on raising three and a half million. So this is important to keep in mind because it shapes a couple of things that they do. And so the first thing that they needed to do… And they had a guy, Pat Farrah join them for merchandising. The first thing that they needed to do was create a name for the company. Now, I don’t know if you remember Crazy Eddie’s, the guy in New York City? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: New York City. And he was selling electronics and all this other stuff. Dave Young: But he’s no Handy Dan. Stephen Semple: He’s no Handy Dan, but they were inspired by Crazy Eddie’s. And what I found interesting is in Toronto around the same time, there was a furniture company that started that also was inspired from it because it was Bad Boys. They would dress in the black and white retro, “I’m a prisoner” uniforms. And they’d be like, “Bad Boys. Does anybody have a better price? Nobody.” That was their slogan. But what these guys decided was they were going to call it Bad Bernie’s Buildall. Dave Young: Bad Bernie’s Buildall? Stephen Semple: Bad Bernie’s Buildall. Yes. The investors didn’t like it. That name did not go forth. Dave Young: Of course they didn’t like it. Stephen Semple: Well, because it didn’t have the name Home and all those other things. So they said, “Okay. Well, let’s call it the Home Depot.” Dave Young: Look, Lowe’s doesn’t have the name Home in it either, but it’s not Bad Bernie’s. What was it? Builders? Stephen Semple: Buildall. Dave Young: Buildall? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: It doesn’t roll off the tongue. It blurts out of your mouth in a not great way. Yeah. I have to side with the investors on this one. Stephen Semple: I have to say, I think even on this one, the investors, they’re often not right, but I think on this one...
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    20 min
  • #234: Ebay – Not That Kind of Auction

    #234: Ebay – Not That Kind of Auction
    Dec 3 2025
    From negotiating on the phone for some art to generating 10 Billion dollars a year, Pierre Omidyar built an empire out of other peoples stuff. 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 brand. 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. [Travis Crawford Ad] Dave Young: [inaudible 00:01:32] and sold. eBay is the topic today. Oh, by the way, welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young, that’s Steve Semple in your other ear. Is that how this works, are we each in one ear? Stephen Semple: I’m not sure. Dave Young: I don’t think that’s how this works. Stephen Semple: I don’t pay enough attention to things like that. Dave Young: As the countdown timer went down, Stephen told me we’re going to talk about eBay and I went immediately to the sound of the auctioneers of my youth back in my hometown. Stephen Semple: Oh, God. Dave Young: There’s cattle sales and estate sales. On any Saturday morning walking around in a small town, off in the distance you hear somebody with one of those cheap portable PA systems, “Give me five, give me five, give me five, give me five, five, five.” Aren’t you glad that eBay doesn’t have sound effects? Stephen Semple: Maybe it should. It might make it more entertaining. Dave Young: There’s some AI auctioneer going 24/7 for two weeks. Stephen Semple: Oh, my God, Dave, the fact you’ve now said it, you know what meme is going to happen. Oh, no, you put it out there. So when you come across this as a meme- Dave Young: There’s that little mute thing on the screen where if you turn it on, there’s some AI, “We’ve got $12.50. Since Tuesday, we have $12.50. Anyone, anyone?” Stephen Semple: So when this meme is driving us nuts on social media, you can blame Dave Young. Dave Young: I don’t see it happening. Oh, yeah, back. Oh, we’re going to talk about eBay. Stephen Semple: But talking about auctions for a second, here’s what I always find fascinating. Somebody will have something and they’ll go, “Okay, do I have an opening bid of $500?” Nothing. “Okay, do I have an opening bid at $200? Now do I have an opening bid of $100?” Somebody bids for 100 and then the damn thing ends up selling for 750. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And I’m like, “Wait a minute. It sold for 750 and no one was willing to open at 500. What the heck?” I don’t get it. Dave Young: I know. There’s a … Man, I’m not a big auction person. It stresses me to be in the bidding war. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: I don’t know why. Even on eBay. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: But there’s a psychology of auctions- Stephen Semple: Clearly. Dave Young: … that certain people … I don’t know for sure, I’m not a psychologist, Stephen, but I play one on a podcast. I think there’s a compulsion that’s similar to gambling and I think it’s just there’s a dopamine hit involved when you’re active in an auction. Stephen Semple: There probably is. Dave Young: And I think there’s a bit of a compulsion to it maybe. Stephen Semple: Maybe. Dave Young: Because it also, as long as you have the money to do it, it’s probably a little safer than gambling because if you lose, you don’t lose then. Stephen Semple: Right, right. Dave Young: If you win, hopefully you’ve won and purchased something that’s worth more than you paid. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: That’s the upside. The downside is that you didn’t get the thing that you wanted. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: But you didn’t lose any money. Stephen Semple: Cool. Well, let’s talk about eBay. Dave Young: Let’s do. Wasn’t Musk involved in it, and Thiel and those guys? Stephen Semple: No. Dave Young: Or am I thinking wrong? Stephen Semple: You’re thinking wrong. Dave Young: I get all my American oligarchs confused. Stephen Semple: They were over in the PayPal world. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: But the thing that’s interesting about eBay is it’s still a really important player in online retail. We can kind of forget about it because the growth has been stalled a little bit in the last bunch of years, but they still do $10 billion- Dave Young: That’s amazing. Stephen Semple: … in sales, which- Dave Young: I remember back when, probably in the first five or six years of eBay, you could use eBay, like if you had something you wanted to sell. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Not a garage sale, but just list somewhere to sell. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: You could actually scour eBay and see what it was probably going to get you, what would be a good way to ...
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    23 min
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