Shane Parrish

He studied their buying practices carefully.

McDonald's purchasing agents pitted one supplier against another on quality and price.

They insisted on special equipment and specifications far beyond what any ordinary client would demand.

They were, by a wide margin, the most exacting buyer in the world.

But Harrison discovered something that made the prize worth chasing.

Once McDonald's took you on, they tended to stay loyal.

Their relationship was yours to lose.

Getting in, however, almost didn't happen.

And it was Harrison's own fault.

Both brothers visited a senior McDonald's buyer.

McDonald's was interested enough to ask for a tour of the Florenceville plant.

Harrison's response had a bit too much chutzpah.

He told the man, tell us what you want and we will produce it.

We know how to make French fries and we don't need you guys to tour our plant.

That was the end of the conversation.

and it would take years to recover.

It was a rare mistake born of pride.

The same boldness that had won him a pharmaceutical job at 22 that had talked bankers and politicians into funding a cow pasture factory had slammed shut the most important door in the industry.

Harrison had walked in as if McDonald's were another regional grocery chain, and they weren't, and they didn't forget it.

It took years of patient diplomatic work by other executives to rebuild that relationship.