Successful Companies are Externalizations of the Identities of their Owners

Harlan Sanders was a chef whose company (Kentucky Fried Chicken) makes food. Bill Gates was a computer scientist whose company (Microsoft) makes computer-software. Henry Ford was an automaker whose company (Ford Motors) makes cars. A company is successful when it externalizes the identity of its owner. A company is successful when it is its owner’s identity—when, in other words, it is its owner’s identity externalized. Business-success therefore isn’t about coming up with a clever idea: it is about knowing how to be oneself and get paid for it.