Rob Reid

speaker

1,484 appearances 4 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 23 Aug

Rob Reid’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 2.

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Founders · #425 The Merchant Bankers · 19 Jul 2026 podcast

There is a widespread aversion to putting anything in writing.

Everybody is constantly aware of the uncomfortable commitment of the written word.

Don't write a memo that might someday become a source of conflict.

And it goes back to having a fundamental understanding of humans and try to keep things simple.

So Ivar Kruger, so you might know this name.

I actually just looked this up.

So on episode 348, actually, when I looked this up, the summary of the episode is actually pretty good.

So on episode 348, I covered the biography, which is called The Match King, Ivar Kruger, the financial genius behind a century of Wall Street scandals.

He was a Swedish engineer who built a global match monopoly, mastered corporate charisma, and then secretly masterminded one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history.

So he comes to Lehman Brothers, and he wants money.

And the actual patriarch of the bank is the one sitting on the meeting.

And they said he had a sixth sense for people.

So it says, one day, Ivar Kruger came in and asked Lehman to be his banker.

Kruger talked and talked and talked while Lehman made a few notes on a piece of paper.

When Kruger had finished, he sat back and looked at the banker.

Philip Lehman shook his head and said the answer was no.

I have a rule, Mr. Kruger.

If I cannot understand something by reading my notes on the subject, I won't buy it.

You're too complex for me.

Mr. Kruger left and a few months later, shot himself.

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