"Tough Things First" Interview with The Longest Standing CEO In Silicon Valley History Ray Zinn. Ray Zinn is the longest standing CEO of a publicly traded company in the History of Silicon Valley! Ray led His Company through 8 Recessions over 38 years and was profitable each and every year but one.

 

Ray recently published a book "Though Things First: Leadership lessons from Silicon Valley's Longest-serving CEO" which is an MUST read for all Entrepreneurs!

1:00 - Introduction

4:00 - His boss telling him “to go do his own thing, that the corporate world wasn’t for him”

8:00 - “I was forced to quit and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

11:00 - “I invested heavy in real estate”

12:50 - Advice for people aspiring

16:40 - How do you go from 1970 to what you’ve done now?

22:00 - “I was able to forecast the downturns (economic) and plan for it”
29:30 - “an entrepreneur has to be an optimist and a little bit paranoid”

33:30 - How do you identify what is essential in your business and how do you make sure you stay focused on that?

39:30 - How did you go about building such an amazing culture inside your business?
45:20 - Did you always have this drive and discipline in you?

49:20 - What led to you getting inspired to write your book?

57:10 - Do you think that the fundamentals of economy are timeless, or should you always stay up to date on new techniques and technologies?
1:03:10 - What advice would you have for a father to prep their children for the future workforce?

1:10:10 - Do you feel that customer service has gotten worse over the years?

1:17:10 - “If you have to work 16 hours a day, there’s something wrong with your work-ethic”

1:24:40 - Did you surround yourself with like-minded people?

1:28:40 - “Learn to love the things you hate”

1:35:00 - “I wash my own car to keep myself humble”

1:39:20 - Ray’s wife chimes in about Ray’s career

1:45:00 - Are there any things you did to succeed in keeping long relationships with your customers?

1:48:30 - Last pieces of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

 

"Though Things First: Leadership lessons from Silicon Valley's Longest-serving CEO" Book:http://toughthingsfirst.com/book/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayzinn/

Website: http://toughthingsfirst.com/

Twitter:https://twitter.com/Ray_Zinn_?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

 

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