Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, wanted to meet his hero -- Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s. In The 13 Secrets of Power Performance (Prentice Hall), Roger Dawson tells what happened when Monaghan finally met Kroc:
For years he would call Kroc’s office every month to get an appointment, but was never successful. Then he heard that Kroc, who was by then 78 years old, was in failing health. So Monaghan flew to
His persistence paid off and Kroc’s assistants finally granted him a 15-minute audience that turned into a 2 1/2-hour mutual appreciation meeting.
Kroc peppered him with questions about his operation and impressed Monaghan with how quickly he caught on.
“In no time at all he understood Domino’s as well as anyone except me,” Tom said.
Suddenly Ray Kroc leaned forward in his chair and said, “I’m going to give you some advice. You have it made now. You can do anything you want; make all the money you can possibly spend. So what I think you should do now is slow down. Take it easy. Open a few stores every year, but be careful. Don’t make any new deals that could get you into trouble. Play it safe.”
This astounded Monaghan because conservatism was the last thing he expected to hear from his hero.
He finally blurted out, “But that wouldn’t be any fun!”
Kroc paused and looked hurt. Finally he broke into a huge grin and started pumping Tom’s hand.
“That’s just what I hoped you’d say!”
