Here are some of my favorite ideas from the book:

Hack away at the unessential: Coco made hats that were stripped of embellishments, of the frills that she dismissed as weighing a woman down. . . Nothing makes a woman look older than obvious expensiveness, ornateness, complication, she said.

Be default aggressive: Coco began to edge her way to the centre of attention, elbowing past her rivals and competitors.

Make yourself into a formidable individual: Coco is really strong, being fit to rule a man or an Empire. —Winston Churchill, 1927

Pay attention to the little details. Customers will love you for it: She devotes her energies to barely noticeable refinements of detail of her suits and dresses.

Remix ideas from the past: Nor did she invent its associated fashions. But as was often the case in her career as a designer, she was quick to distil its essence, absorbing it into her own style, and selling it to customers eager for her clothes.

It is possible to go from orphan to the richest woman in the world in one lifetime: What Chanel got was a deal that made her unassailably rich: After May 1947, Coco received 2 per cent on the gross royalties of perfume sales throughout the world [$25 million a year. $300 million in today's dollars.] Coco also insisted the company pay all of her living expenses. 

Edit. Edit again. And then edit some more: She still wielded her scissors on a daily basis to shape and remake her creations. What you have to do is cut she said. The younger women watched Chanel at work in her studio working until all those around her were exhausted, taking apart a suit dozens of times, readjusting until she was satisfied that it was perfect.

Make simple products: The appeal of simplicity, whereby her hands sought to form pleasingly unfussy designs.

Start by improving an existing product: The House of Chanel did not start with clothes or perfume. It started with hats. Hats she bought from a department store and customized. 

Find something you love to do and do it for the rest of your life: Chanel worked until the day she died. She was 87.

Take your craft seriously: It is immoral to play at earning one's living.

Learn more by listening to Founders #199.