37 FramesVisionaries Who Inspire Us | No. 1
Every so often, we look beyond the world of weddings … beyond the champagne toasts and floral timelines … to study the minds that built something enduring.
The people who thought differently. Who made unusual bets. Who saw opportunity where others saw risk.
This new series is about them … Visionaries Who Inspire Us.
Their stories echo the same instincts we rely on every day: timing, vision, grit, patience, and the refusal to follow the crowd.
And our first muse?
A man who started with potatoes… and ended up with semiconductors.
Why potatoes? Well, McDonalds is across the road from Flamp (our 37 Frames studio). And we’re often just staring out the window thinking of the Golden Arches and the stories behind how it all began. We all now know the story of the creation of the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant chain because of Micheal Keaton’s iconic movie, The Founder.
So we thought we’d share a more unknown story connect to MacDonalds. About a potato farmer who became a billionaire.
The Potato Farmer Who Bet on Microchips
J.R. Simplot wasn’t born in Silicon Valley.
He was born on a potato farm in Idaho in 1909 … long before anyone used the word “startup.”
He left home as a teenager, borrowed $80 from his mother, and built a small empire turning waste into opportunity.
During a brutal winter, when animal feed was scarce, he began boiling leftover potato scraps and wild horse meat to feed his hogs. While everyone else’s livestock withered, his thrived. It was his first lesson in creative adaptation … a skill that would define his life.
From there, he invented new ways to sort, dehydrate, and eventually freeze potatoes.
His breakthroughs fed troops in World War II and later supplied half of McDonald’s french fries. By his 50s, he was a billionaire with a license plate that read simply: SPUD.
But this isn’t the story of a farmer who got lucky.
It’s the story of a visionary who never stopped paying attention.
The Pivot Nobody Saw Coming
In the late 1970s, two brothers from Boise approached Simplot with an idea that sounded completely mad: they wanted to build memory chips.
Computers weren’t mainstream yet, and Japan was dominating the market. Every American company was bailing out of the semiconductor game.
But Simplot listened.
He didn’t fully understand transistors or capacitors … but he recognized something familiar.
It felt like potatoes.
Volatile market. High capital cost. Long cycles. Low margins.
He knew exactly what to do when everyone else was panicking: invest.
So, in 1980, he poured $1 million into a tiny start-up called Micron Technology, taking a 40% stake.
That decision made him a billionaire all over again … this time from silicon chips instead of potato ones.
Why This Story Resonates With Us
Simplot’s genius wasn’t about industry knowledge. It was about instinct.
He understood that some skills transcend categories. That mastery in one world can translate into another if you know how to see patterns, not just products.
We feel that deeply.
While we’re not billionaires (although wouldn’t that be nice!) at 37 Frames, we’ve learned to see weddings the same way. They’re not events. They’re systems of timing, emotion, and logistics … all happening at once. The artistry is in reading the moment, balancing chaos and calm, creating something lasting out of something fleeting.
Whether we’re capturing vows beneath bamboo or building a timeline that flows like music, the lesson is the same:
Precision and passion live side by side.
You can’t scale feeling, but you can structure around it.
Simplot didn’t chase trends. He trusted his sense of timing … and that’s everything in our world, too. From cherry-blossom seasons to shrine schedules, Taian lucky days, and typhoon warnings… the magic happens when you align intuition with data.
Lessons from a Billion-Dollar Pivot (That Apply to Weddings, Too)
1. Don’t wait for certainty.
If you wait until you fully understand something, you’ll always be too late. Whether it’s tech or love, the most meaningful ventures start with faith.
2. Bet on character, not credentials.
Simplot never went to college. His partners weren’t famous. But they had vision … and he could sense it. That’s how we build our vendor teams, too: trust and integrity first.
3. Timing is everything.
He invested when everyone else was exiting. In weddings, timing defines the story … the light, the seasons, the rhythm of the day.
4. Perfection is a process.
He didn’t invent chips. He refined them. Just like the best weddings aren’t about creating perfection from scratch … they’re about refining what already exists: people, place, love.
5. Quiet work wins.
Simplot held board meetings at 5:45 a.m. in a pancake house, eating raisin bran and stealing bacon from his executives’ plates. Not glamorous … but effective. The same kind of behind-the-scenes effort makes a seamless wedding day look effortless.
Art Is Business. Business Is Art.
Simplot’s story reminds us that creativity isn’t confined to a canvas or a camera. It’s in how you see the world.
He wasn’t a scientist. He was an observer. He noticed where systems broke, and he built better ones. That’s what all great artists do.
In a way, we’re all trying to do what he did. Take something everyday and elevate it.
A potato. A photograph. A love story. Turn it into something that lasts.
So here’s to the visionaries.
The ones who can find magic in machinery, heart in data, art in the everyday.
Because sometimes the secret to longevity … in love, in business, in life … isn’t in reinventing yourself completely.
It’s in seeing the familiar with new eyes.
What This Means for Creatives and Couples
- For our couples: Don’t be afraid of your own originality. Your wedding doesn’t have to fit the algorithm. It has to feel like you.
- For our fellow planners and storytellers: Genius can start anywhere. From potato fields. From spreadsheets. From burnout. From the quiet moment you decide to try again.
- For everyone: The best pivots come from curiosity, not fear.
From Chips to Chips … and From Then to Now
Simplot’s story spans two centuries, two industries, and one very human truth:
You can’t predict the future, but you can prepare for it.
It’s what we try to do every single day.
One couple at a time. One story at a time.
A little more heart. A little more precision.
Always building something that lasts.
37 Frames
