About growth ...
Growth is the most common miracle in nature, just like a seed can grow into a forest.
Growth is also the simplest process of human beings, just like children can grow up.
Growth, of course, there is another profound annotation, just as thinkers can grow into philosophers-they must wake up in spiritual purgatory; Just like a soldier can grow into a general-he must be born in the baptism of war.
Growth, for the rich, is destined to have a more stormy nirvana throughout. From poverty to wealth, from working people to monopoly tycoons, this growth process seems like a fantasy to others ... But in the growth records of these rich people, it is not difficult to find the same characteristics that can be used for reference-persistence in faith, grasp of opportunities, decisiveness in choice, and passion for creation. ...
In this growth record, there are qualities that can be inherited, ingenuity that can be used for reference, and methods that can be followed-as long as you want to be rich.
About wealth ...
"In the face of gold, even the king has to take off his hat to pay tribute." This is what the British often say, which directly shows the dignity of money in this world.
American Walter's point of view is also very frank: "For some people, money is a ticket to enter society and a symbol of education."
Their views are inevitably biased, but wealth is not just a number, but also a kind of confidence and strength. At the moment of wealth, isn't it the time to have a sense of security, success and joy?
However, we prefer to sublimate the meaning of wealth to another realm, and we should regard money as only a part of wealth. The good and beautiful character in human nature, innovative wisdom, courage to burn one's bridges, far-sighted mind and so on, these unquantifiable wealth are the cornerstones of the success of these rich people.
When you copy and develop this role, money will go hand in hand. ...
About role models ...
Facing the mountains, we will admire their strength; Facing the sea, we will learn from it. Only an example has this magical power, which purifies our soul and gives us a new life.
There is no doubt that these 88 rich people, like Napoleon and Newton, are worthy of the title of hero role model. They have enriched modern culture and life, led modern technology and development in manufacturing and sales, management and operation, and explored and promoted social progress. They are the backbone of social practice today.
The road to growth of role models is also a road to success. As long as we are willing to learn and inherit, we will grow up like role models-growth and success.
About this book ...
88 rich people have a successful life, but they have taken 88 different paths to success, followed 88 different methods of success, and accumulated 88 different secrets of success ... He has dug up the first bucket of gold in life at the age of 5, and only started to enter the road of entrepreneurship at the age of 70; He accumulated wealth slowly and steadily, but he won and became a billionaire overnight. ...
With reverence, this book selects 88 of the greatest world-class rich people in the contemporary era and tells their growth process with vivid stories. In these 88 wonderful growth records, we can not only deeply feel the hardships of the rich, but also truly realize that there are so many shortcuts to find, so many tricks to learn and so many experiences to learn from.
We look through the growth records of 88 rich people and trace their growth trajectory. The crown of "rich people" is just ahead ...
Part I Section 1: Inventor of Jeans (1)
Levi Strauss, inventor of jeans.
Wealth archives
The first person who invented jeans founded the famous brand Levi's. 1979, Levi's company's total sales in the United States reached133.9 billion dollars, and its foreign sales profit exceeded 2 billion dollars, ranking among the top enterprises in the world 10.
In the industry, he became the richest jeans king.
Type of enterprise
Clothing manufacturing industry.
On June 65438+1 October1day, 2002, the Shanghai Gymnasium was bustling, but all eyes were attracted by one thing, a pair of jeans with a length of 28.9 meters, a waist circumference of 19 meters and a weight of 247 kilograms. People talked about it one after another. Are these jeans that we wear in our daily life? It can be so huge, but it is really a pair of pants. Although it is so huge, it is no different from ordinary jeans, but it is magnified by 10 times ... This is the work of Levi's, a world-famous jeans manufacturer, and this pair of jeans has been recognized as "the world's number one" by Guinness Headquarters in the UK. Of course, there is also the first one created by Levi Strauss, because he is the first person to invent jeans in the world.
A restless gold digger
1829, Levi Strauss was born in a small staff family in Germany. As a German Jew, Li Wei was very clever from an early age. Just like his parents, he became a clerk.
1850, an amazing news brought people endless hopes and fantasies: a large number of gold mines were discovered in the western United States, and everyone was dreaming of gold mining. As a result, countless people who want to get rich overnight flocked to the once inaccessible, desolate and depressed western barren land.
Levi Strauss was in his twenties, and the adventure factor in his heart was ready to move. The natural restlessness of the Jews made him uneasy about being a stable employee. Li Wei was eager to take risks and wanted to gamble through his own labor and luck, so he gave up this boring job and joined the vast army of gold diggers.
After a long journey, Li Wei came to San Francisco, and he discovered his recklessness. He is not the first person to go for gold. Now the once desolate west is full of people looking for gold and tents everywhere. So many people live in tents, can they realize their dream of getting rich? Can you go home satisfied? Will you give up your job and come here and wait in despair? He was lost in thought.
So many gold prospectors stay in one place and live in tents. It is inconvenient to buy things because it is far from the city center. By chance, Li Wei saw that the gold diggers had to run a long way to buy some daily necessities, and he also had a deep understanding. So he decided not to dream about the distant gold, but to settle down and open a daily necessities store instead of panning for gold from the soil.
As Li Wei expected, the business of this small shop is very good, and people come to visit it in an endless stream. Soon, Li Wei earned back the cost and made a lot of profits.
One day, he went out by boat and bought a lot of daily necessities and a lot of canvas for tents and carriages. Due to the large number of passengers on board, those daily necessities were snapped up before disembarking, but the canvas was left unattended. After unloading the goods at the dock, he began to shout loudly to sell canvas. Now that the gold digger has set up a tent and saw that the canvas was going to lose money, no one bothered to build a second one.
Li Wei thought tents were people's necessities, but nobody cared. He was very depressed. Suddenly, he saw a gold digger coming face to face and staring at the canvas. I quickly and happily stepped forward and asked enthusiastically, "Do you want to buy some canvas to build a tent?" The worker shook his head: "I don't need to build another tent." What I need are pants as hard and wear-resistant as tents. Do you? " "Pants? Why? " Levi Strauss asked in surprise. The worker told him that the work of panning for gold was very hard. Clothes and trousers often rubbed against stones and sand. The trousers made of cotton cloth were not durable and were worn out in a few days. "Using these thick canvas to make pants is strong and wear-resistant. Maybe it will be very popular!" The words of the gold digger reminded Levi Strauss. He thought, these canvases can't be sold anyway, so why not try to make pants? So, he had a brainwave, copied a pair of brown work pants specially made by a shepherd in the western United States with his thick canvas, which was novel in style and particularly durable, and sold it to miners.
1853, the first pair of canvas overalls, which will be called "jeans" in the future, was born in the hands of Levi Strauss. At that time, it was called "Levi's overalls" by the workers.
The first part of the second quarter: the inventor of jeans (2)
Maturity after reform
Jeans were loved by cowboys and gold diggers in the west at that time because of their firmness, durability and suitability. A large number of orders poured in. Levi Strauss no longer runs his own grocery store. From 65438 to 0853, Li Wei formally established his own jeans company, and started the long road of this famous brand.
After the company opened, the products sold well, but Levi Strauss was not satisfied with the trousers made of canvas. Because canvas is strong and wear-resistant, but thick and hard, it is not only uncomfortable to wear, but also unable to design various beautiful and fit styles like soft cloth, so it can only be made into large pants with monotonous styles.
He began to look for new fabrics and paid attention to collecting information on the market. Finally, one day, he found a kind of cloth that sold well in the European market. It was invented by the Frenchman Niemann. It is a blue and white denim with the advantages of firmness and softness.
Levi Strauss saw the sample fabric, and he decided to import this kind of fabric called "Nim indigo Twill Cotton Serge" from France, which was specially used to make overalls. As a result, the trousers made of this new fabric are firm and soft, beautiful in style and comfortable to wear, and are once again welcomed by gold miners.
It is of great significance to switch to new fabrics this time in the history of jeans development. Since then, this kind of overalls made of indigo twill cotton serge has been widely circulated among gold miners, agricultural workers and cowboys in the western United States, and indigo has also become the standard color of Levi's overalls. Because indigo is closely related to the primitive times and religious beliefs in Europe, it has potential help for jeans to become popular in Europe later.
Although initial results have been achieved, Li Wei is not satisfied with this. He is still looking for opportunities to improve jeans. At that time, gold miners often put heavy ore samples into their trouser pockets when they were working, and heavy ore often caused the lines of trouser pockets to break and crack. Jakob davies, a local tailor, often mended these broken trouser pockets for gold diggers. He nailed brass rivets to the two corners above the trouser pocket, so that the trouser pocket could be fixed. At the same time, he also wrapped a leather edge around his trouser pocket, which is both beautiful and practical. Some workers' trousers are not worn out, so they should be trimmed for the sake of beauty. Jacob made a suggestion to Li Wei. Li Wei not only accepted the suggestion, but also applied for a patent for all the overalls that have not yet been made, and thus the traditional jeans were finalized.
1872, Levi's applied for a patent to produce jeans on the basis of basic stereotypes.
The Secret of Old-fashioned Promotion
As an excellent businessman, Levi Strauss not only pays attention to improving the fabrics and styles of work clothes, but also pays great attention to promoting products with advertisements.
He registered a graphic trademark for the company's work clothes. On the trademark, there is a horse tied to each side of the waistband, with the horse's head facing in the opposite direction, and a person is urging each horse. At the top of the picture is written: "The only work clothes with patent for rivet reinforcement"; It says: "If you can't tear it off, you can't tear it off", which means that two horses can't tear off their strong work clothes even if they pull hard.
1890, Levi introduced the most classic Levi 50 1 series, which is still Levi's fist product. How many times, Levi's company has come back to life on it. For today's new people, when others wear "Lee" or "Apple", they must wear "Levi's"; If everyone else wears Levi's, he must wear "50 1".
Li Wei used a very special way to express the characteristics of 50 1. To this day, this advertisement is still excellent. There is no unnecessary introduction. There is only a huge sandbag hanging in the air to practice boxing. At first glance, you really don't know what connection it will have with jeans. It goes without saying that boxing sandbag is an object to be beaten, and it must stand the test of many hardships before it can stand proudly. But this sandbag is special. There is a red label on its right. This label was originally embedded in the pocket of Levi's jeans as its brand logo. The last powerful slogan unveiled the mystery: "Levi 50 1, which is naturally wear-resistant."
This advertisement fully shows the quality of Levi's jeans, just like this boxing sandbag. You can torture and beat them, they are strong and wear-resistant, and the quality is as good as ever.
At first, for the convenience of gold diggers, Levi's work clothes were shorts. Later, in order to prevent mosquito bites, Levi Strauss changed his shorts into pants and designed them in the style of Spanish shepherd boy's short stovepipe pants. When sewing, he used plain stitches and rivets to enhance the fastness of trousers and highlight the decorative effect. The gold digger looks particularly bold and proud when he wears these sturdy and wear-resistant trousers. When they go to town for a holiday, this kind of clothing will attract the envious eyes of many people, so Levi's work clothes are becoming popular among more professional people.
Despite such great achievements, Levi Strauss is still diligent and always takes the pursuit of career success as the highest goal. He went deep into the mining area many times, carefully observed the labor characteristics of gold miners, and constantly improved the fabric and color of jeans according to the first-hand information he personally observed, hoping that it would be loved by more people.
Since then, Levi's overalls are no longer special clothes for gold miners because of their durability, convenience and unique style, but have become a popular fashion dress in American society. However, because it was developed from the clothes of gold miners and worn by the "lower class", although it was welcomed by ordinary people, it was resisted and despised by some people in the upper class, saying that it was a "vulgar and obscene" dress.
Part III: Inventor of Jeans (3)
For a long time, Levi's overalls were just an informal dress that was difficult to be elegant. Levi Strauss devoted his life to expanding the influence of products, and also devoted himself to continuous improvement and innovation. When he died on 1902, the most regrettable thing was that jeans were not popular and not accepted by everyone.
However, his next generation inherited his dedication and innovative spirit, and continued to launch Levi's 5 17, 4 12 and 527 models, using excellent advertisements, and finally promoted Levi's work clothes to the world through Hollywood movie stars and cowboy films.
In 1960s, the fashion shows of YSL and Pierre Cardin featured jeans.
1976 On the occasion of the 200th National Day of the United States, Americans sent jeans to the Miami National Museum, which was recorded in American history as an American contribution to human clothing culture.
Today, jeans have become a "fashion" that can not only show the sexiness of all ages, but also be worn at any time without feeling out of date. Among all jeans brands in the world, Levi's is the oldest evergreen tree.
Although Levi Strauss is not on the list of world-famous fashion designers, no fashion designer's works can spread all over the world like jeans and last forever. With the development of 140 years, Levi's has developed into an international company with nearly 40 production and operation institutions in more than countries and regions around the world, with an annual output of more than 1 100 million pairs of jeans. Today, although there are many brands of jeans in the world, Levi's jeans still sell first in more than 70 countries around the world.
Secret of success
Pursue the dream of gold rush all my life.
Uneasy about a leisurely life, enjoying happiness in adventure.
Diligence+decisiveness+marketing tactics = career success.