
The Story of How McDonald’s First Got Its Start - samclemens
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-how-mcdonalds-first-got-its-start-180960931/?no-ist
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dharmon
Despite the tone of the article, Kroc did not just swoop in and capitalize off
of the Brothers' genius. If anything, they were an albatross around the
company's neck, as their contract specified that Kroc basically wasn't allowed
to change anything. Fortunately they got "creative" to get around these
restrictions.

If you are interested how McDonald's became a company that is recognized
around the globe, I would highly recommend the book _Behind the Arches_. A
very interesting corporate study.

One of my favorite anecdotes: 80-year old Kroc's favorite pastimes was flying
around in a prop plane with a highway map scouting out potential McD
locations.

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mattnumbe
According to the Wikipedia article on Kroc, soon enough you won't have to read
his story because Michael Keaton will be playing him in the movie The Founder
coming out in December. Really interesting guy though. I had no idea about all
the positive things he did while he was in control of McDonald's

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ajeet_dhaliwal
The brothers seemed like the typical startup style hustlers of today.

What struck me most however was this quote:

"Soon, they believed, the work week would shrink to under four days, leaving
Americans with abundant leisure time in which to tool around in their cars—and
stop to eat."

I didn't realize this idea was so old and we're not really any closer.

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zeroer
You can fit your work into a fraction of a typical workweek and still maintain
a 1950s-esque lifestyle. But the job market frowns on people working less than
40 hours per week, so if you want to go this route, the thing to do is work
full time, save, live frugally and retire early. It's not the easiest thing to
do, but it is possible. I know because I did it, retiring at 34.

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flukus
How many of us do you think could work 32 hours a week on a single income to
support a family, a home loan, a car, etc?

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kw71
This is why I made my money before having a family. The downside to this is
I'm going to be in my 60's when my first kid graduates highschool. But in the
meantime I have plenty of time to spend with the most important people in my
life.

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tekklloneer
My parents did this. They will be around less of my life but were around more
of my life. I'm glad for it.

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dsajames
My children will have parents and grandparents for a very long time. On top of
that, we couldn't really have spent more time with them, what with a stay at
home wife and all. I'm sure they're glad for that.

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M_Grey
This is more like the corporate legend of McDonald's. It actually has very
little to do with what McDonald's became when Ray Kroc got his hands on it,
and that's literally only introduced in the last line of the article.

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hudibras
I'm pretty sure the author is aware of this, since this is an excerpt from her
upcoming book about Ray and Joan Kroc.

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slantaclaus
'Grinding It Out' by Ray Kroc is without a doubt the best business founder
autobiography I have ever read.

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eliaspro
Mark Knopfler wrote a great song about this story - Boom, Like That.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvj4svKcjl0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvj4svKcjl0)

