This book provides an insider's view of how today's blockbuster companies arrived at the top and explains how your business can do the same—in good economies or bad.
Some of the most successful companies in the world came from the humblest beginnings. UPS, the largest logistics and shipping company in the world, started as a bicycle messaging service. When Google was created less than 15 years ago, its founders couldn't raise a mere $1 million from Yahoo! or Microsoft; today Google is worth $180 billion.
How—and why—did revolutionary companies like Google, Apple, Cisco, and Southwest Airlines come about? The growth and success of such companies seems extraordinary, if not impossible, yet it has happened repeatedly despite the advance and proliferation of businesses to the point where it would seem that "everything's already been done." It's the specific business plans and mindsets of the people behind these rare "transformative" companies that enable these stunning achievements.
In Built for Change: Essential Traits of Transformative Companies, the author reveals what distinguishes these unique enterprises from the multitudes striving for success in a fiercely competitive world. This book will fascinate and benefit small business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs of large corporations, as well as venture capitalists, institutional fund managers, angel investors, and university professors and business students. Readers will learn how to spot transformative companies as they develop and how they can apply the principles behind businesses such as Starbucks, Dell, and UPS to their own enterprises.
Features
• Identifies eight common characteristics of breakthrough enterprises
• Contains exclusive interviews that reveal how certain companies blew away their competition
• Includes case studies—including Starbucks, Dell, American Idol, and Google—that appeal to any reader
• Provides an index listing companies and executives featured in the text
Highlights
• Consolidates 30 years of corporate excellence into one easy-to-read volume
• Written by an active venture investor, this text presents a unique, multicultural framework for understanding how to build a transformative company
• Presents information that is both valuable and timely because a "transformative company" is the only kind of business capable of recreating the enormous wealth that has been lost in recent years
T.D. Klein is an investor, author, and speaker who has spent his career focusing on transformative companies. He is founder and managing partner of Legend Ventures, LLC, and has invested in over 80 entrepreneurial enterprises in media and technology. His published works include East of Wall Street and is a frequent speaker on capital formation and entrepreneurship. He has been quoted in the Associated Press, Boston Globe, and several other publications. Klein is a member of the Young Presidents Organization and is the founder and chairman of YPO's global Raising Capital seminar, the leading capital formation educational program for YPO worldwide. He holds a BBA from the University of Texas and an MBA from Harvard University.
Endorsements
"Built for Change is an exceptional book about exceptional businesses. Sure, it’s practical and realistic, cogently argued, and clearly written. But there’s more: this book challenges your assumptions, deepens your experience, and extends your cultural understanding. It offers a unique roadmap for navigating a world in which change is the only constant."—Richard Wolffe, Bestselling author and MSNBC analyst
"Outstanding. Built for Change answers the key question every business person asks: How do I build an extraordinary company? Using a cross cultural structure and chock full of real-world lessons and keen insights, Todd Klein delivers a must-read for any entrepreneur seeking to create a transformative business."—Verne Harnish, CEO, Gazelles Inc. and Founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization; author of “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits”
"This book provides great insight on how successful companies get that way, and the traits that keep them successful over time. Todd Klein presents valuable insight not just for those who start or run companies, but for those who invest in them and help them grow."—Michael L. Chasen, President, CEO, and Co-Founder, Blackboard, Inc.
"Change can’t be stopped, but Built for Change shows you how it can be started. Whether you’re managing a venture-backed, technological breakthrough or a hot dog stand, TD Klein’s insights and 'incites' help you attract great people; develop great ideas; and do great things. It is approachable, inspiring and motivational. It’s 4am, but I can’t wait to get to work!"—Fredrick D. Schaufeld, Founder, NEW Corp.
"In Built for Change, Klein explores one of investment and entrepreneurialism’s most challenging—and potentially rewarding—landscapes with the ease and skill of a seasoned navigator. His book is crafted with the same solid structure, broad appeal, and clarity of purpose found in those uncommonly successful companies which he highlights. Anyone looking for a concise read on the always-relevant topic of what takes ideas and companies to the next level would do well to make time for this book."—Paul Hurley, Founder & CEO, ideeli
