Lynwood Moore is an attorney at the law firm of Conner and Winters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1970. His focus is securities.
If a researcher wishes to use the information gathered in this interview for uses other than educational or scholarly uses, they may do so without further permission from the interview subject.
Below is a short selection of the interview with Lynwood Moore. You can listen to the full interview by visiting the Chickasaw Nation Law Library at Oklahoma City University School of Law.
Below is an excerpt from Mr. Moore's interview and a link to download the full transcript.
KEK: What interests you so much about companies and that business cycle, what about that motivates you?
LM: Well, I’ve always found it really fascinating when people start a business, and then build it, expand it, develop it. I think that a business is primarily people who are coming together with a common goal and try to develop that business, increase the business, grow the business, and a lot of times then market the business. I’ve seen many who make a career out of starting a small company, building it, selling it to another company, and then beginning again. My grandfather on my mother’s side was a, worked with J.A. Chapman for his whole career who was very accomplished in all of that.
KEK: Why do you think some people tend to do that, just tend to start businesses and then sell them and go on? What do you think drives entrepreneurs?
LM: Well, I think it’s that entrepreneurial spirit, the concept of starting something that’s brand new and building it and then their final exam, if you will, is when they sell it. There are others who like just being in the business itself and will get involved whether it’s a family business or whatever and just build it and build it or just keep it flat forever. But they enjoy the day to day business activities more so than the pure entrepreneurs who really have a broader goal of taking something that’s small and making something big of it and selling it and then starting over and doing it again and again.
KEK: And why do you think certain businesses fail, at least from your experience in this field?
LM: Well, I think that, there’s a myriad of reasons. Sometimes it’s just misfortune, other times it’s not the right vision. I think every new business has a certain element of risk to it that everybody has to face. And, most people don’t know when they start off for sure that whatever idea or concept they have is going to be one that’s going to be completely accepted. I’ve seen some clients who had what I thought and everybody else thought it was a brilliant idea and for one reason or another it just couldn’t quite reach that level of acceptance necessary to keep it going. Other times you see people that start off on a business that you think would be pretty routine or whatever but they’re able to build it, introduce a new concepts, or develop some better concepts. You know, Sam Walton himself of Wal-Mart, he didn’t start the first Wal-Mart until he was 45 years old or so and he had been a merchant if you will for some 20 plus years at five and dimes. And he didn’t develop the discount store, mega-store concept but he saw others and he was always one to see what others were doing and think of ways to improve on it. That was basically what drove his success. He was always so focused on ways to do things better.