American businessman, engineer, former CEO of Intel
“The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton M. Christensen
-Grove’s review
Also recommended by Mark Cuban, Malcolm Gladwell, Evan Williams, Steve Jobs, Guy Kawasaki
Out of Harvard Business School Press has come a ‘must’ on the business book list – Christensen’s explanation of why technology changes can derail established companies. He points out the strengths of the companies who use best management practices (listening, aggressive investment in customer demands) but get side-swiped by the paradigm shifts that inevitably happen when disruptive technologies emerge. The cheaper and simpler technology of disk drives, for example, became increasingly more convenient to customers, who then demanded enough to establish that technology in the marketplace – above its competitors.
“Direct from Dell” by Michael Dell
-Grove’s review
The founder of Dell computers gives hope to early stamp-collectors and school truants – herein can lie the path to fame and fortune. Millennials wanting to avoid the soul-killing professional path can also take heart from Dell’s exploits. His parents wanted him to become a doctor, even making a surprise visit to his University of Texas dorm room to destroy his dream of competing with IBM. Dell’s discount route of selling personal computers directly to customers is no longer a novelty, any more than his advice of eschewing the status quo, but this book can make a good addition to book lists dedicated to bootstraps-to-billionaire stories.
