Shane Parrish

You bet the bundle every year, year after year, he said.

If you're wrong once, you're out.

We kept pushing the business as hard as we could, borrowing all we could, building and borrowing and building.

We were risking it all.

on deal after deal.

Most people talk about business as if it's something they endure to get a result.

Harrison talked about it like he was in love.

When asked what drove him, he said, the game is action.

What's going on?

There's something new all the time, buying companies, building factories, hiring guys, motivating people, seeing advertising programs, taking positions on commodities, borrowing money, settling lawsuits.

I mean, if you're competing against a guy who thinks that settling lawsuits is part of the fun, you're at a serious disadvantage.

But before they could conquer the world, they had to win in the kitchen.

Their real biggest competition wasn't another company, it was a fresh potato.

Restaurant owners took pride in serving fresh produce.

They were certain that their customers wouldn't accept a frozen substitute.

And at least on the surface, the price comparison looked brutal.

Raw potatoes cost about a penny and a half per kilogram.

McCain's frozen fries cost nine cents.

But Harrison had learned from Casey Irving to compare apples with apples.

So the McCains developed a pitch and they honed it through relentless repetition.