Summary of Jonathan Franklin's A Wild Idea

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Doug Tompkins, the founder of The North Face, was a street salesman in San Francisco who thrived on the weave and bob of the street salesman. He loved to dress up and harangue passersby. His store was just the first of his three mighty brands that he would turn into world-renowned enterprises over the course of his life.

#2 In the 1960s, North Beach was not as counterculture as the Haight-Ashbury district several miles to the west. It was more like the staid 1950s than the revolutionary 1960s. But change was in the air, and in North Beach it took the form of tourists off the beaten path and passing revolutionary poets.

#3 Doug and Yvon were the owners of The North Face, and they loved the buzz of the street level store. They had little cash for inventory or marketing, but they anticipated the rising popularity of outdoor travel and adventure.

#4 The North Face store in Yosemite Valley attracted visitors and climbers alike. It had an aura, and many people studied the product display cases as if they were visiting a museum.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822525320

IRB Media

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Insights on Jonathan Franklin's A Wild Idea

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Doug Tompkins, the founder of The North Face, was a street salesman in San Francisco who thrived on the weave and bob of the street salesman. He loved to dress up and harangue passersby. His store was just the first of his three mighty brands that he would turn into world-renowned enterprises over the course of his life.

#2

In the 1960s, North Beach was not as counterculture as the Haight-Ashbury district several miles to the west. It was more like the staid 1950s than the revolutionary 1960s. But change was in the air, and in North Beach it took the form of tourists off the beaten path and passing revolutionary poets.

#3

Doug and Yvon were the owners of The North Face, and they loved the buzz of the street level store. They had little cash for inventory or marketing, but they anticipated the rising popularity of outdoor travel and adventure.

#4

The North Face store in Yosemite Valley attracted visitors and climbers alike. It had an aura, and many people studied the product display cases as if they were visiting a museum.

#5

Doug, who was christened and bred to be anything but a rock climbing dirtbag, developed an eye for discovering hidden treasures. He and his father, who was a glider pilot during World War II, would travel cross-country to evaluate and purchase museum-quality wooden furniture.

#6

Jack Tompkins, Doug’s father, was a Calvinistic taskmaster. He taught Doug the secrets to evaluating antiques. He made him study a book that illustrated examples of furniture and used photographs to show how every antique could be divided into one of just three categories: the good, the bad, and the exceptional.

#7

Doug Tompkins, after high school, was enrolled at Pomfret, a boarding school in Connecticut that feeds into Ivy League universities. But a rock climbing trip upset his parents’ carefully laid plans. He quit school and took high-paying jobs.

#8

Tompkins spent three summers chopping down huge trees. He strapped on a leather contraption to each lower leg and, using climbing spikes, jabbed his way up the trunk until he was about a hundred feet high. He then sawed away branches and cut off the