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#427 How Raymond Plank Built a $50 Billion Oil Company
Founders
Raymond Plank founded Apache Corporation with just $250,000 in 1954. 50 years later his company was worth $50 billion. This episode examines the life and entrepreneurial philosophy of Raymond Plank through his memoir A Small Difference Rather than presenting a conventional history of Apache, this episode focuses on the lessons, maxims, and beliefs Plank accumulated over seven decades in business. Written when he was nearly 90, the memoir reads like a lifelong diary of how to think about opportunity, courage, cost control, resourcefulness, and adaptation. Lots of wild stories in this one. Made possible by: Ramp: https://ramp.com Applovin: https://www.applovin.com Vanta: https://vanta.com/founders Add your email here and I will send you my top 10 quotes from every episode: https://davidsenra.substack.com
View originalRaymond Plank founded Apache Corporation with just $250,000 in 1954. 50 years later his company was worth $50 billion. This episode examines the life and entrepreneurial philosophy of Raymond Plank through his memoir A Small Difference Rather than presenting a conventional history of Apache, this episode focuses on the lessons, maxims, and beliefs Plank accumulated over seven decades in business. Written when he was nearly 90, the memoir reads like a lifelong diary of how to think about opportunity, courage, cost control, resourcefulness, and adaptation. Lots of wild stories in this one. Made possible by: Ramp: https://ramp.com Applovin: https://www.applovin.com Vanta: https://vanta.com/founders Add your email here and I will send you my top 10 quotes from every episode: https://davidsenra.substack.com
- Published
- August 1, 2026
- Status
- active
- GUID hash
- d525f80dcb50e7ae28c859e09873880523af5f45e570cb60c2dcc1199bd29a5b
- Archive key
- 427-how-raymond-plank-built-a-50-billion-oil-company--entry_e6adc390131776468acdbb711f5f
- Archive id
- entry_e6adc390131776468acdbb711f5f