Who they are
Henry Ford (1863–1947) founded Ford Motor Company and industrialized the automobile through the moving assembly line, the $5 workday, and a relentless focus on cost-down manufacturing. He didn't invent the car — he made it ordinary, which is a harder and more lucrative problem. For a founder-CEO, Ford is the canonical study in how process innovation can be a more durable moat than product innovation.
Core Ideas
- Vertical integration and process as competitive advantage — precursor to 7 Powers's Process Power
- Pay workers enough to buy what they build — demand creation as strategy
- The Model T: one SKU, ruthlessly optimized
Related
- Hamilton Helmer — Ford is a textbook example of Process Power