BUILD BEACHHEADS

“He noticed that the province was seeking job creation projects. He also noticed it was an election year. So he walked away with a $470,000 bond guarantee. Then he went to the local county council and secured a near total tax exemption for the first two years, telling them the federal and provincial governments were already backing him. Five different sources of capital, and he didn't give up any equity.”

“Then came a question that tested Harrison's instincts on branding. Should McCain sell under its own name in Germany or create a German sounding brand? The debate amongst his team lasted into the night. The majority wanted a local name. Harrison sat back and said almost nothing while everyone else argued. Finally, around 08:00 in the evening, he ended it. Boys, that was a great conversation. Great. Lots of input. Now here's what we're going to do. We're gonna call it McCain. We're gonna call it McCain. Now let's go and eat.”

“Harrison later described Casey's management style as management by suggestion. Irving would say something like, if we had such and such account, that would fit just exactly. And what that meant was get your ass out there and get the account. There was no directive. It was a suggestion that carried the full weight of an order, but left you room to figure out how. And if you couldn't figure out how, you didn't last long.”

“The first requirement to be successful, in my opinion, is a single mindedness of purpose. And I don't think the professors that teach kids who wanna be a great success in their field pointed out to them with enough figure and say, do you understand? You have to sacrifice. You have to make difficult choices and say, goddamn it. I said I was going to do it. I'm going to do it, and I'm going to do it if it kills me, and you'll win. You'll beat up the other guy who doesn't have that single mindedness of purpose.”

“Harrison decided from the very first day to reinvest everything. We invested every nickel we made, he said, and every nickel we could borrow. There were no dividends, no money off the table, and all of it was plowed back in every year.”

“Harrison's instinct started to sniff opportunity in the lack of competition. There was not a single serious frozen fry producer in the entire country. Instead of fighting for shelf space against five other brands, the fight would be creating the shelf itself. To learn more, he showed up at frozen food plants across The US and talked his way in, walking production lines, asking questions, and studying machinery.”

“No. No. No. You're making a terrible mistake. I'm just exactly the man you want. I'll borrow money from my old man to buy a car, and I'll work for no pay. You only have to pay my expenses. No pay for a solid year. At the end of the year, you pay me my wages for the full year or shake hands. Your choice, not mine. The sales manager said no. But two days later, he called him back and he said, I can't even sleep at night thinking about your offer. I'm giving you the job.”

“Harrison later explained the playbook in his own words. We always established a beachhead in a foreign country by shipping product in from an existing operation. Even if it doesn't make any money, we're going to establish that beachhead and build volume until we have sufficient load to justify a factory. The logic was elegant because every step funded the next and limited downside export first, which was low cost and low commitment, hire local salespeople. If the market proved out then and only then build or buy a plan.”

“Both brothers visited a senior McDonald's buyer. McDonald's was interested enough to ask for a tour of the Florenceville plant. Harrison's response had a bit too much chutzpah. He told the man, tell us what you want, and we will produce it. We know how to make French fries, and we don't need you guys to tour our plant. That was the end of the conversation, and it would take years to recover. It was a rare mistake born of pride.”

“A McCain Foods marketing employee heard through the grapevine that Coca Cola was planning to introduce a mixture of five citrus juices that had already succeeded in The US market. So he registered the trademark five alive in Canada before Coca Cola could. Several months later, the president of Coca Cola contacted McCain Foods to purchase it. When the issue was raised with Harrison, his response was immediate. Sell it to them for $1. We are not goddamn crooks. This is not the way for us to do business.”