The Founder

FILM
ANALYSIS
NAME-ANANT SARASWAT
ROLL NO-31
MOVIE-
THE
FOUNDER
INTRODUCTION
ACTORS
• Michael Keaton ... Ray Kroc

• Nick Offerman ... Dick McDonald
• John Carroll Lynch ... Mac McDonald
• Linda Cardellini ... Joan Smith
• B.J. Nova ... Harry J. Sonneborn
• Laura Dern ... Ethel Kroc
• Justin Randell Brooke ... Fred Turner
• Kate Kneeland ... June Martino
• Patrick Wilson ... Rollie Smith
• Griff Furst ... Jim Zien
• Wilbur Fitzgerald ... Jerry Cullen
• David de Vries ... Jack Horford
• Andrew Benator ... Leonard Rosenblatt
PLOT
• 1954. Having worked as a salesman most of his adult life, Ray Kroc has been a hustler in most senses of the word. That
hustling has made him the target of derision among certain circles for peddling what have ended up being more novelty
or faddish than useful products, but it has also placed more than a comfortable roof in Arlington Heights, Illinois over
his and his wife Ethel's heads. Ethel, however, wishes that he placed as much effort into being at home with her as he
does in selling; his current job of peddling five-spindle milkshake makers for Prince Castle which has him constantly on
the road going from one drive-in restaurant to another. It is because of the beefs he has with the whole drive-in
experience (bad food, bad service) in constantly eating at such establishments while on the road that he becomes
enthralled with the concept of McDonald's Restaurant in San Bernardino, California, owned and operated by brothers
Richard McDonald and Maurice McDonald - Dick and Mac. Unlike most of Ray's customers who will only require one
five-spindle milkshake maker at any given time, the McDonald brothers end up purchasing eight machines for their
single restaurant. Primarily on Dick's initiative, the brothers have redesigned the whole concept of the drive-in restaurant
to focus on quality food through a smaller menu of only the most popular items (hamburgers, fries, sodas), consistency
in product so that customers know what to expect from time to time, change in the target market from lounging
teenagers to families, and perhaps most importantly speed in having any order ready within seconds, many of these
goals achievable through assembly line styled production. They had tried franchising previously, but failed in that they
lost control over many of those aspects which made their San Bernardino restaurant successful. Despite believing Ray a
bit off kilter (in other words, crazy), the McDonald brothers somewhat hesitantly enter into a contract with him to be their
head of franchising. Ray's experience in the job is not without its problems, especially as his franchisees seem to be
making more money than he is, he who is only breaking even. He is not averse to advancing ideas provided to him to get
ahead - original ideas which are not his forte - he seeing the brothers as his biggest problem in they thinking small.
These differences lead to a standoff between Ray and the brothers, the former who has a different goal for "his"
business in profit and stoking his own ego seemingly his main priorities.
CHARACTER SKETCH
RAY KROC-
Ray Kroc grew up and spent most of his early life in Oak Park. During World War I, he lied
about his age and became a Red Cross ambulance driver at the age of 15 years old, alongside
Walt Disney . The war, however, ended shortly after he enlisted. During the Great Depression,
Kroc worked a variety of jobs selling paper cups, as a real estate agent in Florida, and
sometimes playing the piano in bands. After World War II, Kroc found employment as a
milkshake mixer salesman for the foodservice equipment manufacturer Prince Castle. When
Prince Castle Multi-Mixer sales plummeted because of competition from lower-priced
Hamilton Beach products, Kroc was impressed by Richard and Maurice McDonald, who had
purchased eight of his Multi-Mixers for their San Bernardino, California restaurant, and visited
them in 1954. He purchased the fastfood company McDonald's in 1961 and served as its CEO
from 1967 to 1973. Kroc is credited with the global expansion of McDonald's, turning it into the
most successful fastfood corporation in the world. Due to the company's growth under Kroc, he
has also been referred to as the founder of the McDonald's Corporation. After retiring from
McDonald's, he owned the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1974 until
his death in 1984.
Richard and Maurice
McDonald-
The McDonald brothers were born in Manchester, New Hampshire, to Patrick McDonald and Margarete
McDonald, Irish immigrants who came to the United States as children. Maurice was born in late 1902,
and Richard was born in February 1909. In the 1920s, the family moved to California, where Patrick
opened a food stand in Monrovia in 1937. Richard McDonald (February 1909 – July 14, 1998)
and Maurice McDonald (1902 – December 11, 1971), together known as the McDonald Brothers, were
American entrepreneurs who founded the fastfood company McDonald's. They opened the original
McDonald's restaurant in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, where they created the Speedee Service
System to produce their meals, a method that would become the standard for fast food. After hiring
Ray Kroc as their franchise agent in 1954, they continued to run the company until they were bought out
by Kroc in 1961.
LIFE LESSONS FROM MOVIE
Be Curious: Curiosity is an important characteristic to get fresh ideas.Ray Kroc was not able to sell his
milkshake machines at many restaurants, but when he got an order of 6 machines from a far away restaurant, he
got curious to understand why so many milkshake machines were ordered by a single restaurant. Here, he could
have simply delivered the order, could have avoided travelling a long distance to figure out the reason, but he was
curious and decided to visit the restaurant.
Explore New Ways: Just because something is not done in the past, doesn’t mean it can’t be done in the
future. Innovators refuse to accept status quo and inefficiency. They explore new ways by taking inspiration and
ideas from various fields. To improve the efficiency of their business, McDonald brothers Mac and Dick took the
assembly line concept perfected by Henry Ford for cars and applied it to hamburger business . They optimized it
for their business through chalk drawings on a tennis court and orchestration of their team members’ steps. They
made sure that speed should not impact quality standards on everything from cleanliness to the number of pickles
per patty.
Tolerate Frustration: Giving up on tough situations is an easy option, but with the ability to tolerate
frustration, one can create his path for success. McDonald brothers refused or delayed on many ideas of Ray Kroc
such as using powdered milk, tie up with Coca Cola, renegotiation on contract terms, basement in store etc.
Instead of giving up, Ray Kroc tolerated the frustration, for the time being, he had lesser power, found new ways
and rules to make himself more powerful than McDonald brothers and then controlled the business terms and
conditions.
Think Big: Thinking big requires stretching the boundaries of possibilities. It enables acceptance of new
challenges and creation of capabilities to overcome those challenges. McDonald brothers innovated and mastered
the efficient restaurant business model and decided to have one best in a class restaurant instead of multiple
mediocre restaurants. Ray Kroc thought big and with his persistence, he innovated and mastered the art of business
expansion through franchisee model.
Persistence:
Ray Kroc always believed that it was sheer hardwork and unrelenting perseverance that leads to success.
There is a quote in the movie as well as the book that sums it up -
" Nothing in the world can take place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful
men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. “
Persistence also includes your unwavering faith in your moral belief system. Ray Kroc said that his philosophy was
one helping his customers, and if he couldn't sell them by helping them improve their own sales, then he wasn't
doing his job. This philosophy is was carried on by Kroc is what drove the symbiotic relationship between
McDonald's corporate and the franchisees.
Think Big: Thinking big requires stretching the boundaries of possibilities. It enables acceptance of new
challenges and creation of capabilities to overcome those challenges. McDonald brothers innovated and mastered
the efficient restaurant business model and decided to have one best in a class restaurant instead of multiple
mediocre restaurants. Ray Kroc thought big and with his persistence, he innovated and mastered the art of business
expansion through franchisee model.
Age doesn't matter:

A lot of budding entrepreneurs and professionals want instant success and get frustrated when things don't turn out
the way that they had planned. Ray Kroc was not highly educated, but Grinded it out in the field, juggling multiple
jobs as a salesman and a piano player. He grabbed opportunity wherever he could and was happy working hard day
and night. Each and every phase in his life prepared him for what was going to be a once a lifetime opportunity.
Age didn't matter to him. He kept on working even when McDonald's had become a success story and he was
finding it difficult to walk. He went on to buy a baseball team "San Diego Padres" at the age of 72 and became a
philanthropist.
His success story is an example of how opportunity can come knocking at your door any time. All one has to do is
to see it and be ready to take advantage. Life is a roller coaster ride. Success is not an end goal, but an eventuality
of the journey itself.

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FILM

• Michael Keaton ... Ray Kroc

There is a quote in the movie as well as the book that sums it up -

Age doesn't matter:

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