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1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire: Expanded Edition
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$ 21.02
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$ 26.95 |
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$ 5.93 (22%) |
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| Item Number |
1406975 |
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Item Description...
Product Description
Expanded edition with new chapters on the Great Crash of 2008 and looking ahead.
Self-made billionaire Sam Wyly is a natural storyteller. In this candid, engrossing memoir, he recounts his experiences establishing and expanding companies on the leading edge of advancements in technology, energy, retail, and investments over the last five decades. From the hardships his family faced trying to hold on to their cotton farm during the Depression to the coaching he received on the high school football field, Wyly describes how his early years in Louisiana prepared him for what lay ahead.
Risking $1,000 of his savings, Wyly founded University Computing in 1963 and took it public two years later, becoming a millionaire at age thirty. Throughout this book, he reveals the decisions and strategies behind many business successes, including founding Sterling Software, growing the small chains of Michaels Stores and Bonanza Steakhouses into nationwide brands, and founding Green Mountain Energy, the largest provider of cleaner energy in America today.
In this expanded edition, Wyly discusses the "Great Crash of 2008" in historical perspective, offering insights on the causes of our current financial crisis and the path to recovery---including the importance of green energy for the future.
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Item Specifications...
Pages 304
Dimensions: Length: 8.9" Width: 6.2" Height: 1"
Weight: 0.75 lbs.
Binding Hardcover
Release Date Sep 29, 2009
ISBN 1557048649
EAN 9781557048646
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Availability 0 units.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Entertaining, but objective only partially met Dec 21, 2009 |
This is an excellent book on what a highly successful entrepreneur achieved, using his skill sets and nearly no other advantages.
It's entertainingly written and among the autobiographical books written by highly successful entrepreneurs, I regard this as the best. I've never read the Alfred Sloan's book though, which Bill Gates regard as the best. The author Wyly respects is Peter Drucker, who I also never read fully.
This is not a book on a successful businessman's business thinking processes, a topic which is rarely seen in any business autobiographical book I've read. Such a book would be more valuable--that is, reviewing the many variables he was faced with, and making a decision. The book does cover this in a very limited sense. Perhaps a genius as Wyly can't understand how what is so obvious to him isn't understood by others. These are the topics that are more valuable to teach in a book like this.
Still, the best of its type. Not the sharing of wisdom on entrepreneurship, as indicated was much of his goal in writing this book.
| | |  | Very entertaining and inspirational. Nov 11, 2009 |
| I thought this was a great book (I listened to the audiobook). It was entertaining and it inspired me. Highly recommended! | | | | Helpful insights and business history (last 50 years in US) Oct 31, 2009 |
The author's candor, wit, wisdom and vast experience over the past fifty years were appreciated. I found the book
inspiring reading and have passed it along to several friends/relatives. Wyly's writing style makes for painless and
fast reading. | | | | Good book, fun read! Apr 18, 2009 |
| You have to understand firsthand that this book is not a self-help or a "teach yourself how to be a manager/entrepreneur" book. The people who rated this book poorly seemed to go about reading it in the wrong way. Rather, it is an interesting autobiography about a man who many have never heard of, and yet has made important and lasting impacts on American business. It's not dense like a lot of autobiographies--in fact I thought it was quite a page-turner. There are lots of neat little gems that you can pick up from the things he says, and if you are an astute and careful reader, there are a lot of consistent, underlying themes throughout the book. If you are looking for super-concentrated management guide, this is not the book for you. But if you want a good story about an impressive person with skills you can apply to yourself, this is a good one to read. | | | | a lot of useful recommendations for anybody wishing to follow in his footsteps Mar 13, 2009 |
Sam Wyly is certainly an entrepreneur . . . he took
$1,000 of his savings and founded University Computing
in 1963 . . . he took it public two years later, becoming
a millionaire in the process by the time he was 30.
That would be enough for most folks, but he then
expanded the small chains of Michaels Stores and Bonanza
Steakhouses to over a thousand locations nationwide,
co-founded the Maverick Capital and Ranger Capital hedge
funds, and founded Green Mountain Energy (which has
become the largest provider of cleaner energy in America
today).
In doing so, he became one of the 1,000 wealthiest
people in the word . . . he tells all in 1,000 DOLLARS
& AN IDEA, his engaging autobiography that also
contains a lot of useful recommendations for anybody
wishing to follow in his footsteps.
For example, he notes:
* Reading is one of the keys to success, because if you won't admit
what you don't know, you'll never discover what you need to know. I
read to conceptualize challenges. I read to know what I'm getting into.
I read for ideas. I wanted to know how Sam Walton kept prices so low.
Ray Kroc insisted that every McDonald's keep the restrooms clean
and drove that message home by first inspecting the restrooms each time
he visited a McDonald's. And what led Kmart into bankruptcy? And
how did JC Penney and Sears become dinosaurs? When I was a kid,
Sears & Roebuck had the market position that Wal-Mart has today.
Mamas wanted their girls and boys to grow up to be Sears people. I
wanted to find out what changed. I read thousands of pages on retailing,
like a gold miner panning every inch of his claim, searching for just a
few precious nuggets that would give me real insight into what is vital.
I also liked his advice on how to think like an entrepreneur . . . the
key is to:
* . . . focus on the positive: When you do, you start seeing
opportunities. Sometimes they come knocking on the door. But
you have to open the door and then respond quickly and effectively.
Sometimes they're disguised. Rather than carrying a big sign
on their backs that says, "Here I am," they form a hidden pattern
in a long series of seemingly unrelated events. You have to be able
to connect the dots and discern the pattern.
Wyly also mentions his love for a win-win situation:
* Because if you figure out a way for everybody to win you get the
results with the least amount of struggle. It doesn't always work out.
But it's a great starting place.
What I especially liked about the book was the author's many
examples . . . he not only mentioned an idea or concept, but
he then proceeded to show how it applied to his experiences.
I'm not sure that everybody will become successful
as a result of reading 1,000 DOLLARS . . . and some might
find it a bit too technical in spots (e.g., when Wyly goes
into a lot of detail about how he financed many of his
ventures) . . . yet reading the book will give you a
better appreciation of all that becoming an entrepreneur
entails, and for that reason, I'd recommend it to anybody
interested in that subject.
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