555 Was He A Fool Or Genius

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Story Behind the Story

Jeffrey Feldberg: Deep Wealth Nation, welcome to another episode of the Deep Wealth Podcast. And Deep Wealth Nation, this is a very special episode that I've put together for you. The other day, I was standing in the checkout line at a store when something caught my eye. Now, I've seen this product countless times before.

You probably have too. It was right there in front of me, sitting quietly, almost hiding in plain sight. A product so familiar that most of us no longer stop to think about it, but this time I did. I looked at it and I asked myself one of my favorite questions,

"What's the story behind the story?" And Deep Wealth Nation, the more that I looked into it, the more fascinated I became.

Because behind this iconic brand is not just a product, there's a founder. And when I looked into it some more, it's a founder who failed more than once, a founder who finally broke through, built a successful business, and back in the day, sold it for $1 million. Now, this is when a million dollars [00:01:00] was real money.

In today's dollars, that's around $40 million. And for most founders, that's where the story ends. Take the money, protect the money, enjoy the money. And by the way, there's nothing wrong with that. This founder earned it. 

A Founder Risks It All

Jeffrey Feldberg: But the founder did something almost no one would do. The founder took that fortune and put it all at risk again, not into a proven product, not into a proven category, not even into a proven market.

Instead, the founder bought some land in a remote rural area for what would become his future world headquarters, and he began building the infrastructure for a future business before the future business was ever fully proven, before it was ever done. And he started creating a community for workers who had not yet arrived.

That's right. He started building housing and a town. So from the outside looking in, it looked possibly foolish, [00:02:00] maybe even reckless. After all, who would risk the equivalent of $40 million after already winning?

Who builds an infrastructure, a town, before a product is not only fully built, But before you even figure it all out?

Who creates a community before the workforce is even there?

And who would bet everything on a future that only one person, in this case the founder, could see?

Was the founder a fool?

Was he a genius?

Deep Wealth Nation, that question stayed with me because the more I studied the story, the more that I saw something uncanny.

This founder more than a century ago, more than 100 years ago, was using many of the same principles that sit at the heart of the Deep Wealth Operating System and the Deep Wealth 9-Step Roadmap.

Different era, different industry, a different language, same best practices.

And that shouldn't have surprised me.

It shouldn't [00:03:00] surprise you. Best practices, after all, are best practices, whether they show up today, 20 years from now, or more than 100 years ago. 

Deep Wealth Lens Setup

Jeffrey Feldberg: And this is where today's episode becomes so special because I've left the theory for the trenches in the classroom. This is founder to founder. This is from the trenches.

And for today, we're going to take the story of an American icon, a founder who not only created a market disruption, but helped change America and in many ways the world as we know it, and we're going to look at the story through the Deep Wealth Operating System and the Deep Wealth 9-Step Roadmap. Now, no spoiler alerts just yet.

I'm not going to reveal the founder's name at the start because if I do, you may think you already know the story, and trust me, you do not, at least not the story behind the story. Because, as I always say, success leaves clues, but only when you know where to look, and [00:04:00] only when you know what to look for. And this is exactly what we're going to do together.

We're going to uncover the clues, the founder decisions, the hidden risks, the hidden advantages, the timing, the execution, the mindset, the moves that, well, perhaps look impossible from the outside, but become possible since the founder always sees what others usually miss.

And Deep Wealth Nation, this is the same kind of thinking that we teach inside the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery System.

The same system that came from me saying no to a 7-figure offer and yes to mastering the art and science of a liquidity event, which later led to a different buyer, a different offer, and a 9-figure exit deal. So whether you want to grow the profits and keep your business forever, or you want to grow the profits and sell your company tomorrow, this episode has clues for you.

Clues about vision, timing, risk, market disruption. [00:05:00] Clues about building a company that customers absolutely trust, employees believe in, and the market cannot ignore. And along the way, there will be many Only In Deep Wealth moments. The kind of moments that you will not find in a textbook, the kind of moments you will not hear from someone who's never built, scaled, and sold a company, and the kind of moments that can and will change how you look at your business, your future, and the opportunity that may already be hiding in plain sight.

Today is not a history lesson. This is a founder-to-founder lesson, and my promise is this, by the end of this episode, you will not look at this familiar brand ever the same way again. And more importantly, you may not look at your own business the same way again either. So buckle up, Deep Wealth Nation, because today we're going to do a deep dive into the story behind the story, and we're going to see how one founder took what the world may have called [00:06:00] impossible and quietly split it into the word I'm possible.

Step 1 Big Picture

Jeffrey Feldberg: So let's start with Step 1, Big Picture, and this is where the story behind the story begins because Step 1, Big Picture, is not a dream. It is not positive thinking. It's not, "Wouldn't this be nice?"

Step 1, Big Picture, is where a founder sees an inflection point before the market even has language for it.

Milton Hershey Revealed

Jeffrey Feldberg: And now no more surprises. I'm going to reveal who this founder is. The founder is, Deep Wealth Nation, drum roll, please.

Are you ready for it?

Here we go.

Milton Hershey.

But before you think this is a story about chocolate, it really isn't. It's a story about a founder who saw the future before the future looked obvious.

Now, to set the record straight, Hershey did not invent chocolate. He did not invent milk chocolate. That's not the story. The story is even better because most founders believe incorrectly that a market disruption or even a [00:07:00] business requires a completely new idea. This is simply not true.

So many market disruptions come from connecting the dots that everyone else is busy to see. These dots are in plain sight. They're hiding in plain sight, and Hershey saw the dots. 

America’s Inflection Point

Jeffrey Feldberg: Let's put this together.

Chocolate existed.

Milk chocolate was only in Europe.

America was changing.

People were leaving the farms and moving into cities.

The workers were now earning wages.

The family had less time to make food for themselves, while the food quality, believe it or not, it was inconsistent.

Trust was fragile.

You never knew what you were getting, and quite openly, you didn't know if the food was going to make you sick, possibly even kill you. It was a very different time.

And milk chocolate, forget about it. Milk chocolate was not affordable. It was not an everyday product for your typical American. And this is where Hershey saw that inflection point, a changing country, a [00:08:00] customer that wanted desperately to be able to trust the food that was being eaten, a product category that was waiting to be born, and a founder close enough to the problem to see and then figure out the opportunity.

But Hershey was not trying to copy Europe. He believed there was a better way, a uniquely American way, fresh milk. Simple to say that today, yeah, fresh milk chocolate. But back in the day, it was brutal to solve. Think about it. Fresh milk, it spoils.

Fresh milk makes manufacturing harder. But if Hershey could solve it, he would not simply have a product, he would have a category. Affordable American milk chocolate made with fresh milk, consistent every time, trusted, scalable, affordable for the masses. And that, Deep Wealth Nation, that is Step 1 Big Picture in action, where we see the full future [00:09:00] category before the market even names it.

We're seeing the customer before the customer even asks for it, and we see the opportunity while everyone else only sees the impossibility. And this is where too many founders get into trouble. They confuse fantasy with the big picture.

Fantasy says, "Oh, wouldn't that be nice?"

The big picture says, "Here's the market shift. This is the problem. This is why the timing matters. Here's why the customer's going to care, and here's why we're positioned to do something about it."

Hershey saw the shift before others did. He saw and figured out that trust absolutely matters. Affordability is critical. Consistency is critical. And freshness, that matters.

And it was the same founder, Milton Hershey, who solved all these things together, and he wouldn't just sell chocolate. Hershey went on to define what chocolate would mean to America and the future generations and quite [00:10:00] frankly, the world.

As founders, when we create a category, we are not chasing trends. We read collisions before the market gives those collisions a name, those inflection points.

So here, this is the only in Deep Wealth founder question for Step 1 Big Picture.

I want you to think, Deep Wealth Nation, what market shift is already happening that your customers can't yet describe, but your company could own this problem and solve this problem before the rest of the market wakes up?

Because for Milton Hershey, it was fresh milk chocolate that was affordable, that was scalable, and was consistent. 

Step 2 X Factors

Jeffrey Feldberg: And once you see that shift, the next question becomes whether your company has those hidden advantages to win it, what we otherwise call Step 2 X-Factors.

Now, Deep Wealth Nation, as we talk about Step 2 X-Factors, this is where the Hershey story gets even better because an X-Factor, [00:11:00] it's not a slogan, it's not a clever line, it's not what you hope makes your company different.

An X-Factor, it's something real inside your business. This is what gives you the edge. And when that edge is rare, strong, and hard for others to copy, it then becomes what we call a hidden Rembrandt in the attic, a work of art hiding inside your company. And here's what's so rare about Hershey.

Most founders find their Step 2 X-Factors after the business is already running. Hershey was building his Step 2 X-Factors before the business ever began, and that tells us something. He wasn't just throwing his money at a dream. Yes, there was risk. Absolutely, there was doubt. Yes, he had to figure out a lot of things along the way, but below the risk was a plan.

His first Step 2 X-Factor was location. To most people, the land [00:12:00] looked too far away. "Hey, it's too far. It's too rural. It's too quiet." But Hershey saw what others missed. If fresh milk was going to be the heart of his product, then the business had to be close to where the fresh milk's located.

Less distance, less waste, more control, more trust. And in those days, this was not a small thing. This was a huge edge. 

Building the Hershey System

Jeffrey Feldberg: And then came the town. At first, building a town, even as I say that right now, building a town, it sounds crazy. It sounds like, well, okay, maybe that's nice to do. A home for the worker. You have streets, a place to live.

Sure, but it's also smart business. Remember, back in Hershey's day, this was before cars, and travel was not easy. It wasn't even a part of daily life. Workers needed to be close, so Hershey built the town around the work. The people could support the factory, the factory could support the work, and the whole place would grow [00:13:00] together, and that was another Step 2 X-Factor.

Hershey built his own trolley system. Think about that. I know today we take that for granted. Yeah, a trolley system, transportation, not a big deal. But think about this. He wasn't waiting for someone else to solve the problem. He knew people had to move, milk had to move, supplies had to move, goods had to move, so he built the movement into the business itself.

Now that, Deep Wealth Nation, that is founder thinking. Now, here's something else that today we all take for granted: electricity. Today, we flip a switch, and we forget what a big deal it was back in the day. In fact, in Hershey's time, it didn't even exist in most rural places, let alone even the cities.

Most places were still dark, and when it came to factories, not where you wanted to be. Dim, dirty, very hard places to work. But Hershey, he built something that, well, it felt new. It was light, clean, modern, a place that felt like the future, [00:14:00] and that mattered because sometimes, Deep Wealth Nation, your Step 2 X-Factors aren't only in the product.

Sometimes it's the place, the people, and the way the work gets done. And now comes the Hershey formula. This was the dangerous part, if we're going to be honest about it, the crazy part. Hershey had the vision. He had the land, and now he had the fresh milk. He had the workers coming, but he still didn't have, believe it or not, he did not have the final answer.

After pouring all this money and time and effort into the town, into the workers, into the transportation, he had no idea how to make the milk chocolate, not even how to do it at scale. If he failed here, the whole dream would fall apart. His money, he could kiss that goodbye. But Hershey kept going. He didn't copy Europe.

He created something different, a different process, a different taste, a different place in the market. That [00:15:00] Hershey taste, and you know it, it's slightly tangy, and it's now what we call today, at least here in America, chocolate, but also for most in the world is also chocolate. I want you to think about that.

When your product becomes the standard in the customer's mind, you're no longer just selling a product. My goodness, you are shaping a memory, those Magic Moments, as I love to call them. But there's one more X-Factor under all of this, the founder himself, Milton Hershey, his thinking, his grit, his belief, his ability to see the entire system as a system before others did.

Think about it. Let's separate it out. Milk, land, people, electricity, travel, taste, trust, scale, all working together. Now that, Deep Wealth Nation, that is one heck of a Step 2 X-Factors. In fact, inside the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery System, this is where founders often [00:16:00] find those hidden edges, those X-Factors that they've either missed, underused, or simply taken for granted.

And many times, those X-Factors, they're already inside the business. There's already some hidden Rembrandts in the attic waiting to be brought into the light. Hershey didn't leave his X-Factors to chance.

He built them into the base of his business before the world knew what he was building. This was not luck. This is design.

And here is the only In Deep Wealth founder question for Step 2 X-Factors.

Deep Wealth Nation, what hidden X-Factor already exists inside your business that others ignore, that your customers would value, that you haven't yet turned into a market-winning strength?

Because once you know what makes you different, the next question becomes whether your future buyer can see it, trust it, and choose it

Step 3 Future Buyer

Jeffrey Feldberg: Now, Deep Wealth Nation, we move into Step 3 Future Buyer, [00:17:00] and Step 3 Future Buyer is where Hershey made the choice easy. For the founder who wants to grow profits and keep the company forever, the future buyer is the customer. For the founder who wants to grow profits today and sell the company in the near future, the future buyer is not only the customer, it's also an investor, a buyer, or a larger company looking in from the outside.

Different paths, the same truth. The business must feel safe to choose, clear to understand, easy to trust, and incredibly hard to replace. And this is exactly what Hershey built. He wasn't selling milk chocolate only for the rich, not to the elite, not as a rare treat for people with deep pockets. He was creating a chocolate bar for everybody, every American that was low cost, easy to buy, easy to trust, and that mattered because trust was not a given back then, [00:18:00] especially when it came to food.

Again, it's hard to imagine today, but back in the day, food was not safe. The quality was usually not the same. What you bought in one town was likely very different in another town, if it even existed. But Hershey gave the customer something powerful, a name that they would know, a taste they would always remember, and a product they could buy again and again, regardless of where they were.

And that is Step 3 Future Buyer. 

Trust and Category Ownership

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Deep Wealth Nation, pay attention to this because most founders miss this next part. The customer doesn't always want to choose the best company. The customer often chooses the company that feels the safest. Now, Hershey knew this. He understood this. Over time, the Hershey name became familiar, and familiar, that's what feels safe.

That wrapper, it became so easy to spot. Look at me standing in that store seeing that [00:19:00] wrapper. It was easy. The name became easy to read. The product became easy to understand. There's no confusion. There's no long story needed, just Hershey. And for so many Americans, in fact, for the world, the first milk chocolate bar they ever tasted was Hershey.

Think about what that means. He wasn't selling just a category. He was shaping the category in the customer's mind. For millions of people, Hershey did not become one kind of milk chocolate. Hershey became what milk chocolate should taste like. And that, Deep Wealth Nation, that is so powerful, and that's exactly what we want to do with Step 3 Future Buyer.

Because there's a second side to this. What made Hershey easy for the customer to choose also made the business stronger for anyone looking at it from the outside. A business that is strong to sell is also the best one to own. And Hershey was building the kind of business, a [00:20:00] trusted brand, a product people would buy again and again and again. A process that was scalable and repeatable, a market that was ripe to grow, and a price the everyday American could afford.

And most of all, the Hershey Company did not depend on just the rich or one city or a lucky break. And this is what a future buyer wants to see, not chaos, not guesswork, not trust me, it works. A future buyer wants proof.

What kind of proof you're asking?

Proof the customer cares, proof that the product is scalable or the service is scalable, proof that the brand matters, and proof that the company can grow without falling apart.

And Hershey was building that proof literally one bar at a time. Inside the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery system, this is what I love about Step 3 Future Buyer, and this is why it matters so much. Because I see the eureka moment when founders now see the [00:21:00] business through the eyes of the people who must choose it, the customers, team members, your stakeholders, your partners, your investors, perhaps your future buyer.

Because when the right people can see the value, and those people trust the value, and they can explain the value, the business becomes easier to grow and harder to ignore. Hershey did not make the customer work to understand him and his company. He made the choice simple, and simple scales. And that, Deep Wealth Nation, is Step 3 Future Buyer.

Make the customer feel safe, make the value easy to see, make the promise clear, and make the business incredibly hard to replace, if not impossible. And here is the only In Deep Wealth founder question for Step 3 Future Buyer.

Where are you making your future buyer work too hard to trust you, choose you, or explain why you matter?

And while you're at it, do you know what's [00:22:00] probably hiding in plain sight right now that's making you work harder, lowering your profits, and keeping you trapped in those golden handcuffs when the right lens could turn it into the very move that catapults both your success and your freedom?

Well, keep listening, Deep Wealth Nation, because that's exactly what I reveal in the next step.

Step 4 Due Diligence

Jeffrey Feldberg: Deep Wealth Nation, we are now looking at Step 4: Due Diligence. And if I'm open with you, as I always am, this is where most founders make an incredibly costly mistake. They think due diligence is only for investors or when they're ready to sell the company, or the buyer, or the day the lawyers show up.

Absolutely not. If you're thinking about it then, forget about it. It's too late because what's the point of finding an investor or a buyer if the skeleton's in the closet? They're hiding in plain sight, but they've already weakened the business. They've lowered your profits. Your growth becomes slower. It adds stress to the team.

You have customer issues. You're burning out. You [00:23:00] have those golden handcuffs. This is why Step 4 Due Diligence, this is why it matters so much. This is not paperwork. It's not a checklist. This is the founder discipline of finding those hidden risks, otherwise known as the skeletons in the closet, before those risks find you.

And Hershey lived this. He was always looking ahead.

What can break this?

What can slow us down?

What can hurt my quality?

What's going to stop the growth?

Fresh milk could have been a skeleton. Supply could have been a skeleton. Transportation could have been a skeleton. Even the rural location could have been a skeleton.

But Hershey didn't ignore those risks. In fact, he did the opposite. He built around them. He turned many of those so-called skeletons into X-Factors, into strengths. 

Sugar Supply Control

Jeffrey Feldberg: And later, during the World War I era, sugar became a serious risk. For a chocolate company, sugar is not optional.

No sugar, no chocolate.

No chocolate, no [00:24:00] business.

Now, most founders would have complained Hershey, he didn't complain. He was on the move. He looked to Cuba, and he went to Cuba. He bought land. He built his own sugar plantation. He built his own sugar operation, and he took control over a supply that could have hurt the company. Wow, talk about Step 4 Due Diligence.

Find that skeleton, remove that skeleton where you can, and that's exactly what Hershey did in this one of many examples. Now, Deep Wealth Nation, there may be times where you can't remove the skeleton right away or possibly not even at all. Hopefully, that's not the case not at all, but certainly not right away.

This is where you want to build a plan until eventually you can remove that skeleton. And this is what I love about the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery System. When, as a founder, you go through it, you get the questions, the tools, the strategies to find those skeletons either before they become costly or they're already [00:25:00] costing you now, you don't even know it, and now you have the strategies to remove them, the ones that have been hiding in plain sight for years.

Because every step, and this is what I love, every step inside the Deep Wealth Operating System works one off the other. We're always finding skeletons, and we're removing those skeletons. And at the same time, we're always looking for those hidden Rembrandts in the attic and bringing them out for public display.

That's how you grow profits. That's how you build strength, And that's how you create a business that passes the test of time.

So here is the only In Deep Wealth founder question for Step 4 Due Diligence.

What quiet risk or skeleton inside your business have you accepted as normal, even though it's likely lowering your profits, slowing down your growth, and keeping you as a founder trapped day-to-day?

And Deep Wealth Nation, I want you to think about that.

And while you're thinking about that, guess what?

Guess what I'm going to reveal next?

You're going to [00:26:00] love this. This is the risk that it may not be your market or your team or your customers. It may not even be the way that you as a founder are thinking about the risk itself, but it's definitely there. And once you know it, you can never not know it.

Are you ready?

Here we go.

Drum roll, please.

Step 5 Winning Mindset

Jeffrey Feldberg: Step 5 Winning Mindset. Now, Deep Wealth Nation, this step too many founders dismiss.

Why?

Because mindset doesn't show up as a line item on a profit and loss statement. You're not going to see a winning mindset beside revenue, expenses, or profit. But make no mistake, your mindset and your team's mindset, that's what drives a decision that creates all of it, and Hershey needed the right mindset.

He'd already failed more than once. Most people would have stopped, but Hershey did not make failure his identity. He made failure his teacher. Then, after he finally won, which was a caramel company, for about a $1 million. He had failed a few times, but he [00:27:00] kept at it. This caramel company became successful, sold it for about a million dollars back in the day, roughly $40 million today.

He could have walked away, and quite openly, no one would have blamed him. But Step 5 Winning mindset, it doesn't only ask, "What can I protect?" It asks, "What is still possible?"

And for Hershey, what was still possible looked impossible to everyone else. No one had figured out how to make milk chocolate at scale using fresh milk.

Because again, think about it, fresh milk, it spoils. Very difficult to control. It makes the process harder, and as far as the world was concerned, it simply couldn't be done. But Hershey didn't have the not yet solved become not possible mindset. That's the difference here. 

Winning Mindset Test

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mindset is not how you feel.

Mindset is how you decide when the answer is not yet clear. And for Hershey, although he didn't have the answer, he had the confidence to believe in himself that he would find it. He [00:28:00] found the people. He worked the problem. He stayed with the vision. He moved before the world ever gave him permission, and that, Deep Wealth Nation, that is Step 5 Winning Mndset.

It's not hype. It's not ego. It is not blind faith. It's a steady belief where your narrative is, "Okay, I may not know every answer today, but I will find the people, solve the problems, and build the systems that get us there." And what's, for me, so exciting about this, one of the ways that I love to pay it forward inside the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery system, this is where founders learn that a winning mindset is not dreaming.

It's not soft. It's actually a profit driver It decides whether you face the skeletons or you hide from them, whether you bring those hidden Rembrandts in the attic into the light or you leave them buried, whether you build for the future or you're protecting the past. Hershey was the rare founder with the [00:29:00] ability to hold vision and doubt at the same time.

He knew the dream wasn't solved yet, but he also knew it was worth solving. So Deep Wealth Nation, this is the only in Deep Wealth founder question for Step 5 Winning Mindset.

Where have you turned uncertainty into a reason to wait when it may actually be the test, the test that decides whether you own the opportunity or lose it?

I want you to think about that. You uncovered what today is a small problem, but ah, yeah, we'll get to it later, or it's too small for us to figure out, or it's too hard. But that could be your next market disruption.

And while you're thinking about that, here's what I also want you to think about, because I'm going to reveal why even the strongest founder can become the bottleneck without the right people around the table

Advisory Team Matters

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Deep Wealth Nation, if you're wondering what I'm talking about, it is Step 6 Advisory Team. And here's the truth. No founder builds [00:30:00] anything great on his or her own. Not Hershey, not me, not you. The question isn't whether you need people around you. The question is whether you have the right people around you

Because the wrong advisor or the wrong team, it costs more than money. It costs time, speed, confidence, your profits, and sometimes even the future of the company.

And Hershey understood this. He knew with certainty he didn't have all the answers. Nobody does. But he also knew with certainty that with the right team, he could figure out, well, what do we need in the town?

How do we build every part of the town the way that it's supposed to be built?

Or we deal with the challenges that come up at the factory, or even how do we create that final milk chocolate formula at scale?

But he knew the vision, And then he found the people who could make the vision real. Deep Wealth Nation, that is Step 6 Advisory Team. It's not fancy names or big titles. It's not letters after someone's name. [00:31:00] It's capability.

Can this person help me remove the obstacles?

Can this person help me solve the problem, otherwise known as the opportunity?

Can this person help move the business closer to the future?

Hershey, if we're open about it, he had limited schooling himself, so he wasn't blinded by credentials. He cared about what worked, and the formula story proves it. The answer didn't come from status or someone with all these letters after his or her name.

It came from practical skill, from people close enough to the work to solve the problem, and that's a lesson that every founder needs to hear. Sometimes the person who helps unlock the next level of your business is not the person with the best resume.

It's the person who sees the obstacle clearly and knows how to remove it. And what excites me when I'm working with other founders inside the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery System, this is why Step 6 Advisory Team, this is why it matters so [00:32:00] much because once you find the skeletons, you ask, "Okay, who helps me remove them?"

Or, "Who helps me grow faster or catapult my profits?

Who can help me increase my enterprise value or help me from being the bottleneck?"

Because sometimes, Deep Wealth Nation, the last question of you being the bottleneck, that's the hardest one to figure out because the biggest limit on the business is no longer the market. Oftentimes, it's the founder trying to do too much on his or her own. And in Step 6 Advisory Team, it's all about surrounding yourself with the right people, not to make you feel important, but to make the business stronger.

So here's your Only in Deep Wealth founder question for Step 6 Advisory Team. I want you to think about this honestly, earnestly.

Who's missing from your table because your ego or your habit or your blind spot has convinced you that you and you alone should still be solving the problem?

And as you're thinking about that, [00:33:00] I'm going to reveal why having the right people still may not be enough unless the timing, the order, and the execution is right.

Timing and Execution

Jeffrey Feldberg: And it's a perfect segue for Step 7 Timing and Execution. And this is where the Hershey story becomes more than a business.

It becomes human

Deep Wealth Nation, I want you to picture this. I want you to picture back in the day, the worker arriving in this rural place that most people would have passed by. There's no big city waiting. There is no easy commute. There is no ready-made world around the factory.

This person was only taking a job. This person was stepping into a future that Hershey was still building in real time. So Hershey had to think beyond chocolate.

Where will the worker sleep and eat?

Where will the worker and his family belong?

Where will the town gather?

How will life work there?

And that's the magic of Hershey's timing.

He was not only building for the product, [00:34:00] he was building for the people who would make the product possible. Most founders start with themselves. Hey, this is my company, my growth, my profits, my future.

Hershey looked much wider. He looked at the whole world around the business and asked, "What must be in place for this to not just work, but work with certainty?"

Think about it.

Homes, meals, services, a bank, a town, a place to belong.

And here is the founder lesson hiding in plain sight.

By taking care of the needs of others, Hershey was taking care of the needs of the business. The worker had a home. The town had a life. The company had a stable team. The product had people behind it, and the dream has roots. That, Deep Wealth Nation, is Step 7 Timing And Execution. It's not just doing the next thing, it's doing the right thing in the right order for the people that the business depends on.[00:35:00]

And inside the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery System, this is where, as a founder, you learn that growth is not only about speed. It's about order.

Who needs support?

When do they need it?

What breaks if they don't have it? And what must be built before pressure arrives?

Because growth, it doesn't only fail from lack of demand.

Growth fails when people or systems or support around the business can't carry the weight of the success. Hershey didn't want to wait for success to become chaos. He thought well ahead of that. He served the people around the business, and because he did, he gave the business a stronger chance to serve the market.

When you look after the ecosystem, the ecosystem looks after the business, or if we use some fancy words, when you look after your stakeholders, your stakeholders will look after the business. And when the business is stronger, more profitable, it scales, and the enterprise value has a solid foundation to grow [00:36:00] from.

That, Deep Wealth Nation, is Step 7 Timing and Execution, and here is your only In Deep Wealth founder question I want you to think about. 

In your business ecosystem, who are you forcing to succeed without the support that they need, and what would change if you built the support before growth puts the pressure on them?

I really want you to think about that. This is a blind spot so many founders, they don't see until it's too late, and then the company is crumbling.

The pressure is immense. Who in your business ecosystem are you forcing to succeed without the support that they need, and what would change?

How could you make it better if you could build the support well before that growth ever put pressure on them?

And as you're thinking about that, in the next section, I'm going to reveal what Hershey did when the market turned against them, and more importantly, what you as a founder can do when the next storm hits your business.

Depression Era Decisions

Jeffrey Feldberg: And this Deep Wealth Nation is Step [00:37:00] 8, Skeletons and Rembrandts. This is where the Hershey story becomes very real because Step 8, Skeletons and Rembrandts, it's not something you do once. It's how you learn to see. Remember, skeletons, those are the hidden costs that can lower your profits, slow your growth, and for you as a founder, it traps you in the business.

Those hidden Rembrandts in the attic, well, those are hidden assets already in the company waiting to see the light of day. And sometimes the skeleton and the hidden Rembrandt in the attic, well, those are sitting in the same place, and that's exactly what happened to Hershey during the Great Depression.

Now, in today's terms, it can be hard for us to imagine, but go back in the day, all of America, in fact, the world was hurting. Families were hurting. And back then, it was a little bit different than today because oftentimes for a family, it was only one income that supported the entire family, and losing a job meant [00:38:00] that you lost everything.

Now, Hershey's trusted general manager, William Murray, this was the fellow that looked at the numbers and saw what was going on in the country and saw that people were spending less, and he came to Hershey and he said, "We need layoffs."

What did Hershey say?

"Absolutely not. Not one person will be laid off."

It would have been the easy thing, but not necessarily the right thing to do. So instead, Hershey got creative. The team, they had reduced hours. They cut the bonuses. They found new ways to keep the business moving. One of those new ways, he came up, Hershey, with a new chocolate bar. He called it Mr. Goodbar.

I want you to think about this. Mr. Goodbar, it was sold not just at a discount. He changed the frame, he changed the narrative because during the Depression, Mr. Goodbar, it was marketed as a, quote-unquote, air quotes here, "a tasty lunch," because it was made primarily from peanuts, and peanuts were relatively inexpensive.

The [00:39:00] average family could afford it, but peanuts is also full of all kinds of nutrients and protein. So at a time when most families couldn't afford an entire meal, a full meal, Hershey was saying, "Hey, this is more than a candy or a candy bar. Mr. Goodbar will help fill you up." And two bars for a nickel back in the day, wow, that mattered.

And what creativity around that. While this was happening, Hershey also put people to work in the town. He was building landmarks like Hotel Hershey or the Hershey Theatre and Hershey Park Arena, which many to this day still exist. Those buildings did more than create jobs. They cemented his name, his town, and his legacy for generations.

So the skeleton was economic collapse, not just the country, but even the Hershey Company. The hidden Rembrandts in the attic. It was the chance to turn fear into work, work into pride, and [00:40:00] pride into a stronger future. And that's the one side of Step 8: Skeletons and Rembrandts.

But let's be honest here, Hershey, he's still human. And as humans, we, well, we miss things. We can make so-called mistakes, and one of the mistakes that Hershey made was Mars. When Frank Mars was building what would later become the Milky Way bar, he needed Hershey's milk chocolate for the coating.

So Mars approached Hershey's team, asking to buy large amounts of milk chocolate on credit. William Murray, this was Hershey's go-to guy, he saw that risk and told Hershey, "Hey, I don't think you should grant him his wish. Maybe buy him out, get rid of a competitor." Instead, Hershey chose a different path. He extended the credit that Mars was asking, and he kept Mars as a customer.

Now, at that time, in the early days, it looked smart. Mars was not the Mars bar or the Mars company as we know it today. It was a much smaller [00:41:00] company. It was a brand-new idea. Now, perhaps Hershey was too busy. Maybe Mars looked simply too small at the time. Maybe the customer profits looked too good to question.

Whatever the reason, the lesson's the same. Even great founders can miss the risk sitting right in front of them, and sometimes we overlook that risk because of the profits. Well, over time, the Mars company grew. It grew, it grew again, and it grew some more. And the very same customer that Milton Hershey himself helped support became one of his biggest and fiercest competitors.

And this, Deep Wealth Nation, this is the other side of Step 8 Skeletons and Rembrandts. Sometimes what looks like an X-Factor today, it can become a skeleton tomorrow. A great customer becomes a dangerous dependency. A smart supply deal can help fund a future competitor. A small market shift can become [00:42:00] a major threat.

Here at Deep Wealth, what I often like to say, both myself and the team, in today's success often contains the seeds of tomorrow's failure.

Let me say that one more time.

Today's success often contains the seeds of tomorrow's failure, and this is why the work never ends. Success is not the time that we stop looking. Success is when we're looking and being mindful even more. And here is your only In Deep Wealth founder question for Step 8: Skeletons and Rembrandts.

What success inside your business today, while it feels safe, but may already be planting the risk that could hurt your profits or your freedom or even your future tomorrow?

And Deep Wealth Nation, as you're thinking about that, in the next and final step, I'm going to reveal how Hershey turned the product itself into the messenger and how the right launch can grow profits [00:43:00] without buying more attention

Launch Without Ads

Jeffrey Feldberg: So yes, Deep Wealth Nation, we are now moving into and talking about the ninth and final step, Step 9 Launch. And this is where the story comes alive because Hershey didn't just launch milk chocolate. He launched a story that the market could carry for him.

I want you to think about this because this part still amazes me. For more than 75 years, almost a century, Hershey did not rely on formal advertising the way most companies did and still do today. Think about that. No big ad machine, no endless media spend, no shouting louder than everyone else. This was not silence.

This was strategy. Hershey knew what his hidden Rembrandts in the attic were, and he put them out for public display. The wrapper, think about that. The store counter, the store window, the train, the trolley, the package itself. At one point, Hershey even placed postcards inside the milk [00:44:00] chocolate bars to promote not only the company, but the town.

Wow, what brilliance. The milk chocolate bar became the media. The customer became the messenger, and the product carried the story.

And the story was simple enough to travel by the customer because it's a trusted name, a taste people remembered, a price people could afford, a town that people would talk about, and a product that people wanted again and again and again. And that Deep Wealth Nation is Step 9 Launch.

It's not one big announcement. It's not one campaign. It's not many campaigns. It's not one day in the calendar. It's a true launch when every part of the business is telling the same story. Deep Wealth Nation, look at the confidence behind that. This is not a founder saying, "I don't know what to say, so I'll say nothing." It's the founder saying, "I know exactly what we've built, and I know how to [00:45:00] let the market see it."

Today, founders spend fortunes trying to get attention, and let's be honest, ads, they cost more. Trust is harder to earn. The market is louder than ever. But Hershey reminds us of something timeless. The best launch doesn't always come from buying attention. Sometimes the best launch comes from turning what customers already trust into the carrier or the medium of your story.

And when you get that right, you're not only saving the money that could have gone into ads, you're growing your profits, you're creating raving fans, and you're letting the customer help grow the business. And that's what I love about the Deep Wealth Mastery System when I'm working with founders because when founders get to Step 9 Launch, they've done the leverage, the hard work.

They found the skeletons. They've brought those hidden Rembrandts into the attic, into the light. They've sharpened their narratives, their story. They've created more than 26 [00:46:00] specific launch plans for their business. And now, when those launch plans work together, this is where the magic happens.

The business no longer has just one way to grow. It's a system, a system that catapults profits. It has the potential to create a market disruption and the potential of preparing the company for its next chapter, whether the founder wants to keep the business forever or sell it tomorrow. That's exactly what Hershey did.

He didn't just put milk chocolate into the world. He put a story into the world that wanted to repeat. And when the market repeats the story for you, Deep Wealth Nation, you're no longer just launching. You're creating momentum, and that is Step 9: Launch. As you're thinking about that, Deep Wealth Nation, here is your Only in Deep Wealth founder question for Step 9 Launch.

What trusted customer touchpoint are you treating as ordinary when it could become the story carrier that grows [00:47:00] profits without buying more attention?

Think about that, Deep Wealth Nation.

What touchpoint in your company could your customer take to the marketplace on your behalf without ads, without having to generate more noise, more money into all the marketing?

The customer is doing it for you, becoming a raving fan. You're catapulting your profits. You're creating a win-win-win.

And now, Deep Wealth Nation, I'm going to bring this home for you. I'm going to reveal how Hershey's journey, how it relates to your business, your profits, your future, and the legacy that you're still building. 

Bring It Home

Jeffrey Feldberg: So Deep Wealth Nation, as we bring this home, I want you to pause for just a moment. You've invested your time today, and as you know, you can always make more money, you cannot make more time.

And my hope is that the time that you've invested today becomes one of the highest return on investments that you make, not because you listened, but because you act on what you heard. Most people hear the Milton Hershey story and [00:48:00] think, "Wow, what an amazing founder." You now know to look deeper. You saw the story behind the story.

Hershey is a founder who failed multiple times, got it right, had an exit, took that exit, put it all at risk into something that others missed. He risked what he already had earned. He built before the world believed, and he turned what looked impossible into I'm possible. Here's the real takeaway.

When I created what we now call the Deep Wealth 9-step Roadmap and the Deep Wealth Operating System, I didn't create it with Milton Hershey in mind. But, and it's a big one, when you place Hershey's story over the system, the match is uncanny. And that shouldn't really surprise us because a true best practice, it's timeless 100 years ago, today, 100 years from now, the tools change, the markets change, the technology changes, but the founder truth does not change. So [00:49:00] not only do we admire the Hershey story, let's use it. Before your next meeting, your next call, your next fire, ask yourself this one question, what's hiding inside my business right now that I'm too close to see?

One honest answer, one next move. That, Deep Wealth Nation, is how change begins. And now here is where I'm going to be direct with you. Had Milton Hershey written down the system behind what he did, maybe founders today would be studying that system. But as far as I know, he did not. He lived it, he built it, he proved it, but he did not leave behind a step-by-step system for founders to apply to their own companies.

Deep Wealth Mastery Offer

Jeffrey Feldberg: And that's why I created the Deep Wealth Operating System. Not because the world needed another program. It doesn't. There are enough people promising magic bullets or shortcuts or hacks or easy answers. That is not what Deep Wealth Mastery is all about. Deep Wealth Mastery is not a magic pill. It's not a done-for-you fantasy.

[00:50:00] Those, for me anyways, don't exist. This is founder to founder from the trenches, a proven, structured, founder-tested system that came from me saying no to a 7-figure offer, mastering business growth, enterprise value, and founder freedom, and later saying yes to a different buyer, a different offer, and a 9-figure exit deal.

And whether you want to keep your business forever or sell it tomorrow, the strategies are nearly the same. Grow profits, reduce risk, increase enterprise value, create more freedom. Build a company worth more tomorrow than it is today. Because a company that's incredible to sell is also incredible to own.

The only difference is what you choose to do with the options from an incredibly strong business.

And so now, Deep Wealth Nation, you are at a fork in the road. You can try and piece this together on your own, and that's going to involve trial and error. Sure, you'll try some free tips or some random advice. Some of it may help, [00:51:00] but even free advice has a cost. It costs time, and time is the one resource we can never replace.

Or you can apply to the 90-Day Deep Wealth Mastery System, our program. Not because you need another thing to do, you don't, but because the right system can help you see what's already inside your business, remove what's holding you back, and build what comes next.

If you're tired of the same old different day and you want to take your results, your life, your business to the next level, email success [at] deepwealth [dot] com. That's S-U-C-C-E-S-S at Deep Wealth, D-E-E-P-W-E-A-L-T-H.com.

Again, success@deepwealth.com. You don't need to put a long story. You don't need to have perfect wording. Just the one problem that you know cannot stay the way that it is.

It's literally the one problem keeping you up at night. And even if you're saying, "Well, Jeffrey, I don't have anything keeping me up at night from the business side," there's something, there's always [00:52:00] something that's causing more friction or getting in the way of you and your goals. What is it? Put it down.

Again, email success [at] deepwealth [dot] com. That's S-U-C-C-E-S-S at D-E-E-P-W-E-A-L-T-H.com, success [at] deepwealth [dot] com.

Your opportunity may not look like milk chocolate. I get it. It may not look like a factory. It may not look like a town, but it may already be hiding inside your business in plain sight, waiting for the right lens, the right system. It's waiting for you. I want you to think about that. Again, Deep Wealth Nation, success [at] deepwealth [dot] com.

S-U-C-C-E-S-S at Deep Wealth, D-E-E-P W-E-A-L-T-H.com. success [at] deepwealth [dot] com. Tell me the one business problem that's keeping you up at nights, or even the one thing that's just irritating you on the business side.

And with that said, Deep Wealth Nation, as always, thank you. Thank you for being part of the Deep Wealth Nation, and I want you to remember that success leaves clues, but it's only the prepared [00:53:00] founder that knows what to do with them.

And what you do, what looks impossible today may become your next I'm possible.

So that said, Deep Wealth Nation, it's official.

Congratulations.

This is a wrap, and as I love to say here, on behalf of the Deep Wealth team, on behalf of all of us, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe.

Thank you so much, and God bless.

Subscribe and Support

Jeffrey Feldberg: So there you have it, Deep Wealth Nation. 

What did you think? 

So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. 

Did you find this episode helpful? 

Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game changer for your journey? 

And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? 

The dramatic pause. I'll just wait a moment. Drumroll, please. Subscribe. Please subscribe to the Deep Wealth podcast on your favorite podcast channel. When you subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast, you're saving [00:54:00] yourself time. Every episode automatically comes to you, and I want you to know that we meticulously craft Every one of our episodes to have impactful strategies, stories, expert insights that are designed to help you grow your profits, increase the value of your business, and yes, even optimize your post exit life and your life right now, whatever you want that to look like.

And every time you subscribe and a fellow entrepreneur subscribe, it's a testament to how together, Yes, we are. We are changing the social fabric of society. One business owner at a time, one liquidity event at a time. So don't let the momentum stop here. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast channel.

You'll never miss an episode. You'll be the first to hear from the top industry leaders, the innovators, the disruptors that are really changing and shaping the business world, and maybe you're commuting, maybe you're at the gym, maybe you're taking a well deserved break that we spoke all about on this episode.

The Deep Wealth Podcast, it's your reliable source for the next big idea that could literally revolutionize your business. So once again, [00:55:00] please hit that subscribe button, stay connected, inspired, and ahead of the curve. And again, your next big breakthrough moment, it might just be one episode away. Maybe it was even this episode.

So all that said. Thank you so much for listening. And remember your wealth isn't just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. 

Thank you so much. 

God bless.