How McDonald’s Took Over America | Ray Kroc [Outliers]

Farnam Street

by Vicky

January 22, 2026

Ray Kroc turned McDonald’s from a single roadside restaurant into a system built to scale. At 52, after decades of selling paper cups and milkshake machines, he opened the first McDonald’s in 1955 and helped grow it to nearly 8,000 restaurants worldwide. This Outliers episode breaks down how standards, execution, franchising, and real estate created … The post How McDonald’s Took Over America | Ray Kroc [Outliers] appeared first on Farnam Street.

Verticals

businessthinking

Originally published on Farnam Street on 1/22/2026