September 14, 2025
TIP753: The Relentless Vision That Made McDonald’s a Global Giant w/ Kyle Grieve
We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast NetworkAbout this episode
On today’s episode, Kyle Grieve discusses the rise of McDonald’s under Ray Kroc and the vision, systems, and persistence that transformed a small burger joint into a global empire. He explores Kroc’s leadership style, business model innovations, and the timeless lessons investors and entrepreneurs can learn from McDonald’s journey. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:34 - The grit, adaptability, and salesmanship that made Ray Kroc unstoppable 14:42 - How a hot dog stand inspired the first McDonald’s restaurant 19:04 - Why protecting brand image was so vital to McDonald’s growth story 20:06 - How McDonald’s pivot to real estate fueled expansion 25:21 - Why standardization and systems powered McDonald’s rapid growth 28:49 - Why Kroc’s struggles with the McDonald brothers show alignment is critical 30:22 - What Jobs, Schultz, and Musk shared with Kroc as visionaries 33:54 - How McDonald’s thrived for decades despite fierce competition 40:51 - How Hamburger University aligned franchisees with Kroc’s vision 42:42 - The story behind McDonald’s product innovation successes and failures Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Join Clay and a select group of passionate value investors for a retreat in Big Sky, Montana. Learn more here . Join the exclusive TIP Mastermind Community to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Buy a copy of Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc here. Follow Kyle on Twitter and LinkedIn. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes here . Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our Premium Feed . NEW TO THE SHOW? Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, The Intrinsic Value Newsletter . Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs . Follow our official social media accounts: X (Twitter) | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok . Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here . Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool . Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services . Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts . SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors : SimpleMining HardBlock AnchorWatch Human Rights Foundation Linkedin Talent Solutions Vanta Unchained Onramp Netsuite Shopify HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Spotify ! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm