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The Empire Builders Podcast

The Empire Builders Podcast

By: Stephen Semple and David Young
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Reverse engineering the success of established business empires.The Empire Builders Podcast Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • #258: Xerox – An Empire By Necessity

    #258: Xerox – An Empire By Necessity
    May 27 2026
    Joseph Wilson was loosing the battle to Kodak when he discovered the xerography machine. Then he made it sellable. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [Handyside Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young and that’s Stephen Semple. Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young and there’s Steve Semple. Welcome. Oh wait, I got stuck making copies of copies. See what I did there? Stephen Semple: You’re so clever. Dave Young: You know what I did there, right? Yeah. Stephen Semple: I saw it, yeah. Dave Young: Today we’re talking about Xerox. Stephen Semple: Talking about copies of copies. Dave Young: Copies of copies of copies. Stephen Semple: Oh, and back in the day there were a lot of copies. A lot of copies. Dave Young: Oh man. I have copier stories. Yeah. Stephen Semple: I bet. I think those of us of our genre- Dave Young: Honestly, so Xerox, and we’re going to learn the story of the Xerox corporation and we’re going to… I don’t know their whole story, but I can tell you this, the photocopier or before there was something else before that. There was carbon paper. Stephen Semple: Yes, yes. Dave Young: But nobody owned a printing press. Stephen Semple: Correct, yeah. Dave Young: And so I would make the case that a photocopier was the first social media meme sharing engine. Stephen Semple: Oh, because we could photocopy our butts and share it the office. Dave Young: No, no, no, no, not your butt. I mean, I don’t know what you do in Canada. Here, I remember as a kid going to coffee, but my dad, small town, small town America, and he went to coffee twice a day with his buddies, 10 o’clock and three o’clock. They’d go down to the local cafe and they’d sit around a table and have coffee, eight or 10 of them. And somebody would always have a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a joke. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: A cartoon, a usually off color story and they’d pass it around and then somebody would take it and make another copy of it and share it somewhere else. But you couldn’t do that if you didn’t have a copier. Stephen Semple: Well, that’s true. Dave Young: So thank you, Xerox. Stephen Semple: For making our lives richer. Dave Young: And now we can just electronically copy stuff and shoot it off as a text and a meme. Stephen Semple: One of the things you’re going to love about this story is it involves a fire extinguisher. So I’ve got your attention. Dave Young: Oh, I am all in. Stephen Semple: You’re all in. And Xerox is still pretty big. They do 7 billion in sales, but back in the early ’70s, Xerox was a monster. It’s estimated that over 10 billion copies a year were being done. Dave Young: 10 billion. Stephen Semple: That’s a lot of copies of copies of copies- Dave Young: Yeah. Once people had it, they were like, “I’m a printer.” Stephen Semple: Of copies. Yeah. Dave Young: I’m a publisher now. Stephen Semple: Yeah. In 1973, they did 3 billion in sales, which would equate to about 20 billion today. And they were close to 90% of the copier market with profit margins close to 20%. That’s just huge. It was one of the most valuable companies in the world. Dave Young: Until there started to be some competitors, Xerox became the generic word for a photocopy. Stephen Semple: Correct. Dave Young: “Give me a Xerox of this.” Stephen Semple: Yeah. So our story starts back with Joseph Wilson in Rochester, New York, which as we also know, is the home of Kodak. And Joseph was the new president of a company called Haloid, which was a Rochester based company doing photographic paper that was founded in 1906. And frankly, they were getting killed by Kodak, which at that point was 90% of the industry. And so Joseph’s trying to make headway in the photography paper business and basically is just like get nowhere. No matter what he does,...
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    25 mins
  • #256: Hermes – Being Craftsmen

    #256: Hermes – Being Craftsmen
    May 13 2026
    From the beginning, the Hermes Family knew they were in the craftsmen business. Making products that last for generations. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [Wagmore Garage Doors Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here, along with Stephen Semple. And Stephen, just before he whispered the topic in, this tells you what Stephen thinks about me. He said, “Yeah. I’ll tell you this one, but I don’t think you’re going to know about it because it’s a really high-end fashion.” Yeah. Stephen Semple: It’s not exactly what I said. Dave Young: Not … Well, I’m telling the truth in a more powerful way. And as we call them in Nebraska, Hermès, but it’s Hermès. Say it for me. Stephen Semple: I think it’s Hermès because it’s French. Dave Young: Hermès? Hermès? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Is the H pronounced at the beginning or not? I don’t know. Stephen Semple: I think it would be very soft. Dave Young: Scarves and things like that, that’s all I know. Stephen Semple: Well, the big thing they’re known for is handbags. Dave Young: Things I don’t own is what they’re known for. Stephen Semple: Correct. Dave Young: And I will admit you were absolutely right to think that I probably don’t know a whole lot about these people or this brand. Stephen Semple: The more I looked into this company, the more interested I got on it because I got fascinated by some of the history. Dave Young: I got to share with you just how much I don’t know about them. You see this shirt I’m wearing as we record? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: This is from the fishing department at Walmart. Not the men’s clothing section. Fishing. And I- Stephen Semple: And, Dave- Dave Young: Here’s the other thing. Stephen Semple: Dave, you don’t fish, dude. Dave Young: I don’t fish. No, I don’t. I don’t fish at all. I stumbled across these shirts one time. I’m like, “I love these shirts.” But yeah, anyway, they’re not Hermès. Stephen Semple: So this is a really interesting company. It was founded in 1837 by Thierry Hermès. And he’s a German-born craftsman. And the company started in Paris. Now, what makes it super rare is here we are, close to 190 years later, and it’s still primarily owned by direct descendants of Thierry. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: There you go, Dave. Dave Young: Okay. That’s pretty cool. That’s a family business. Stephen Semple: That’s interesting on its own, isn’t it? Dave Young: Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: So the family owns somewhere between 65 and 70% of the business, and is publicly traded at around a valuation of about $200 billion. Dave Young: That’s a lot of billion. Stephen Semple: That’s a couple of billion, isn’t it? Dave Young: Yeah. Wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: They only have like 70% of that 200 billion, so … Dave Young: Oh. Well, just downgraded their jet. Stephen Semple: Yeah. That’s it. So in 2010, the luxury giant LVMH tried to take the company over, and the family blocked it. There was a time where they tried to take over. And the CEO, Axel Dumas, is a sixth generation member of the Hermès family. So today, they have 300 stores. They do 14 billion EU, which is about 16 billion US in sales, which means they sell $50 million per store. Dave Young: I was going to say that’s not very many stores. Stephen Semple: No. And put in perspective, Gucci does about 25 million. Prada does half of that. Tiffany’s does about 15 million per store. $50 million per store. Dave Young: It’s got to be a front for something else. Stephen Semple: Now, their big product, so we talked about … Is this handbag called the Birkin bag. And the Birkin bag sells for anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 per bag. Dave Young: Get out of town. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And often sells for more- Dave Young: Is it bottomless? Can you crawl into it? Stephen Semple: Seemingly, it’s a pretty ...
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    21 mins
  • #255: Top Golf – Identity Crisis???

    #255: Top Golf – Identity Crisis???
    May 6 2026
    Steve and Dave Jolliffee realized that driving ranges lacked feedback. Golfers need feedback to improve, so they created a way to get feedback. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, but well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [Seaside Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young. I’m sitting here with Stephen Semple. Well, actually, I’m not sitting here with him. I see him. He’s on the screen. Stephen Semple: We’re virtually together. Virtually. Dave Young: This is an international podcast. Stephen Semple: It is, actually. It is actually very good. Dave Young: By the way, I know I think the He-Man episode has dropped. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: The artwork that Matt Burns or whoever did it for that one. Stephen Semple: Yes. Matthew did it. Dave Young: Yeah, that was great. He sent me that. Stephen Semple: Actually, the one that I really like was the one that he did for PT Barnum. I thought that that was fun, where you’re the guy hocking the tickets. Dave Young: I haven’t seen that either. He sent them all to me. For some reason, he sent that one to me. I should probably subscribe to this podcast and listen to it. Anywho, Steve. So, Stephen whispered in my ear the topic that we’re going to cover today, and it’s actually one that I sent him. Stephen Semple: You actually whispered in my ear. Dave Young: Yeah, I did. I kind of did. I was surprised that you were ready to do it. And it’s the story of Rose Blumpkin and Nebraska Furniture Mart. She’s one of my local heroes back in my home state in Nebraska. Stephen Semple: Sorry, that’s not the one we’re going to be talking about. Dave Young: Oh, sure. Stephen Semple: You sent me another idea. That one, I’m going to do, but I don’t have all the research on it. Dave Young: Okay. So we have to start all over. Stephen Semple: No, or we could just keep going with this, Topgolf. Dave Young: Oh, right. Yeah. Stephen Semple: You also sent me… You want to just keep going with this? Dave Young: So now people know that we’re going to talk about Rose Blumkin at some point. Stephen Semple: Yes. Yeah, sure. Dave Young: That’s a cool story. You just want to make me look as scatterbrained as I really am. So, Topgolf. Stephen Semple: Authenticity. We’re just going for authenticity here. Dave Young: Yeah. So, Topgolf. I just thought we were talking about this other thing that I sent you. So yeah, I’d love to talk about Topgolf. So both of these businesses, since we’re not talking about Rose Blumpkins, I’ve been to each of them one time. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: My experience level is X equals one. Sample equals one size. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: But I saw the story about Topgolf or it was a video, wasn’t it? Stephen Semple: It was a video that you sent me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was super interesting and so much so that I ended up, as soon as it was done that night I had some time. I did a bunch of research, wrote it up and said, “We’re going to cover it,” because it’s a very interesting story. Dave Young: To me, if you want the TLDR version of it, the guys that started Topgolf thought they were in the golf business. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: No, they weren’t. Stephen Semple: No, they weren’t. Dave Young: They had no idea what business they were in. Stephen Semple: And this is the reason why I wanted to talk about this. So this is an idea, Dave, that you suggested to me. And when I looked into the history, there’s a couple of twists in this that I thought were super interesting that every business could learn from. And yeah, the story of this is that they didn’t really understand what business they were in. And when they found out what business they were in, they became super successful. And then the company that bought them lost sight of what business they were in and failed. It’s this crazy thing. So ...
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    22 mins
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