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How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

thehustle.co

141–150 of 279 posts

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#141
post #40

Two things I haven't seen anyone mention that seem important: 1. For the one person who has "made it" economically, there are countless others that haven't, that still live in one-room houses. What about them? 2. I think it's worthwhile pointing out that the product that he created, while popular and financially successful, is a junk food that has a significant impact on the health of adults and children worldwide. W…

> We should evaluate "success" holistically, not just financially or else we miss the downstream effects of our decisions. This blindness is the same mindset that has caused climate change.

Your comment is guilty of the very sin that it's pointing at.

It may be myopic (or blind as you qualified it) to try to frame success, but unless you have some special kind of sight that allows you to evaluate it yourself across time and space, the alternative you suggest, that hypothetical holistic grand evaluation, is itself a pointless exercise.

No one knows the future. No one knows what's ultimately "good" or "bad". The same people who keep thinking that they do are also the ones who operate under at least one of three illusions: (1) that something is wrong with the world, (2) that it's fixable and (3) that they know how to fix it. As Oppenheimer once said, it is perfectly obvious that the whole world is going to hell. The only possible chance that it might not is that we do not attempt to prevent it from doing so.

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#142
post #125
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[opinion to follow, my own] Even in 2020, while the rich get richer (literally being subsidized by COVID "relief" bills) and the poor are looking to avoid being evicted, the flood of pro-corporate defenders is never ending. It is a true downside to having such a large, albeit fragile middle-class. The fundamental premise of this story is flawed given how most board/c-suite positions are attained and how almost all we…

Most wealth is not inherited, unless you're using some weird definition that you made up.

> Taken together, much of the best available evidence suggests that the median dollar of wealth in the United States has been inherited by someone in the richest 5 percent of families.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/02/06/people-l...

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#143

The way this story is told, makes little sense. So he sprinkled some Mexican seasoning on plain Cheetos and gave a presentation, and they gave him $20 million for that? WTF? There's a lot left untold. Or if this is the entire story, the CEO basically decided to make this guy into a millionaire, but he didn't have to. Or this is a clever PR stunt with maybe a sprinkling of truth.

No, it says he went on to be a VP and amassed $20 million fortune, not that he was given $20 million for that one idea on the spot.

So presumably that's how much he worth now.

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#144

The way this story is told, makes little sense. So he sprinkled some Mexican seasoning on plain Cheetos and gave a presentation, and they gave him $20 million for that? WTF? There's a lot left untold. Or if this is the entire story, the CEO basically decided to make this guy into a millionaire, but he didn't have to. Or this is a clever PR stunt with maybe a sprinkling of truth.

The insight isn’t “add some spices to cheetos”. It’s “you’re ignoring the entire Latin market, and we have different preferences in food than you do, and here’s what those preferences are, and here’s an example product for that.”

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#145
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[opinion to follow, my own] Even in 2020, while the rich get richer (literally being subsidized by COVID "relief" bills) and the poor are looking to avoid being evicted, the flood of pro-corporate defenders is never ending. It is a true downside to having such a large, albeit fragile middle-class. The fundamental premise of this story is flawed given how most board/c-suite positions are attained and how almost all we…

The fundamental premise of this story is flawed given how most board/c-suite positions are attained and how almost all wealth is acquired e.g. inherited. Citation needed. From a simple google search it seems 55.8% of Billionaires are "self-made" [1]. Sure some of them started off with silver spoons (i.e. Gates) but they did not inherit the billions they made from starting companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, etc.…

You're comparing "almost all wealth" (from GP) to the number of people with self-made wealth, which doesn't make sense.

> Taken together, much of the best available evidence suggests that the median dollar of wealth in the United States has been inherited by someone in the richest 5 percent of families.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/02/06/people-l...

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#146
post #16

This is a really nice story, but you know who the other hero is? The CEO who gave him the time and the opportunity. He could've easily told him to fuck off, as many would do. Who was he, what's his name? More often than not, we get nowhere without people in better positions helping us, it would be great if more people would keep an open mind like that. That CEO deserves recognition. And if you manage to climb higher…

The CEO's name was Roger Enrico

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#147

This saccharine rags-to-riches, pro-corporate fairy tale makes me so sad and mad, all the more so for the unreflective adulation it has gotten.

This is why I can barely handle going on LinkedIn anymore. It's embarrassing how many of these stories there are there - they must appeal to some base human instinct.

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#148
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most wealth is not inherited, unless you're using some weird definition that you made up.

> Taken together, much of the best available evidence suggests that the median dollar of wealth in the United States has been inherited by someone in the richest 5 percent of families. https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/02/06/people-l...

And estate taxes just keep getting lower. Nevermind that you don't have to pay capital gains on inherited equity.

Many people aren't aware of just how bad wealth inequality has gotten in the last 25 years.

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taken together, much of the best available evidence suggests that the median dollar of wealth in the United States has been inherited by someone in the richest 5 percent of families. https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/02/06/people-l...

And estate taxes just keep getting lower. Nevermind that you don't have to pay capital gains on inherited equity. Many people aren't aware of just how bad wealth inequality has gotten in the last 25 years.

> Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

Re: How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2017)

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rancho Cucamonga is only subject to the state minimum wage ($13 IIRC, although it probably goes further than $15 would in many of the unincorporated parts of LA county)

It's also 5 miles from LA county, so wages should be halfway competitive.

What's kinda funky is that the LA County minimum wage only applies to Unincorporated areas, so if you're in the city of Pomona or wherever the minimum wage is still $13
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