You see, Quanah is my wife’s father’s hometown, where he still owns a 700 acre farm that grows cotton and whatever else grows in irrigated red dirt near the Red River. In fact, two of his neighboring land owners at the farm are Koch family members, first cousins of the main Koch family my wife’s dad went to high school with who apparently bought the paper from the grandaddy Koch.

I didn’t know any of this until I asked him about Quanah and the Koch’s, triggered by reading this book you recommended.

Another interesting fact- whereas I had always heard Koch pronounced like “Coke” (Koch Engineering was the sponsor of my university’s- easy to guess if you consider my theme colors on this site- chemical engineering laboratory where I spent many long afternoons), in Quanah people still pronouce it with a soft ending, kind of like “Caw”.

Small world!

Great post. I tend to agree with your insights about the engineering/analytical types of people who struggle with entrepreneurial endeavors.

Perhaps one of the best examples of someone applying engineering/analytical ability to business, and making billions in the process, is Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries (my current employer). He recently wrote a book with some interesting insights about business, The Science of Success (www.amazon.com/Science-Success-Management-Largest-Private/dp/0470139889/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-6079132-1991852?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173306056&sr=8-2). He is a trained engineer with a bachelor and two master’s degrees from MIT. You should read the book — I think you would find it fascinating.

Regards,
Caleb