[Founder Notes] Conrad Hilton

3 failures in his 20s: politician, banker, miner/manager. Big break: hotels for big oil workers. Weirdly, the first hotel was bought for about $40k because the owner wanted to go into oil, not support.

His Code

• Find your talent.
• Be big.
• Be honest.
• Live with enthusiasm.
• Look up to people when you can.
• Look down to no one.
• Don't cling to the past.
• Don't worry about your problems.
• Assume your full responsibility to work.
• Pray.

If you can survive the worst, you can survive anything. At his lowest, he downsized to one hotel — the El Paso Hilton. Met oil suppliers, made a deal, got life back on track.

Greatest regret: not having enough fun, maybe even some more romance.

— Jay