Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies

by Derek Lidow

Overview

From Startup Leadership author, global CEO, and entrepreneurship expert Derek Lidow comes the new, foundational guide to entrepreneurial success.



“Flat out, the best book on entrepreneurship I have ever read.” —Roger Martin, author of Creating Great Choices



Here’s an astounding fact: Over half the working population will try their hand at being an entrepreneur during their working career.



We all dream about achieving some combination of the fortune, fame, and control over our lives we associate with successful entrepreneurs. Those are admirable aspirations in a society that counts on entrepreneurs to innovate and create new jobs. Our work-driven culture encourages us to take the entrepreneurial bait, but how can you know whether being an entrepreneur will end as a dream come true or a nightmare from which you cannot wake?



Building on Bedrock helps answer that question. Based upon research, but told through the stories of American entrepreneurs Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Estée Lauder, Ray Kroc, and others, Building on Bedrock will help you understand the elements most essential to taking the entrepreneurial leap. Was it luck, talent, passion, charm, a rich uncle, or something else that was the key to this person’s success? Which might be the key to your success?



What you learn may surprise you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635761764
Publisher:	Diversion Books
Publication date:	01/23/2018
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Derek Lidow is one of the few New York Stock Exchange CEOs who left to start new companies from scratch—with unequivocal success. Lidow was CEO of International Rectifier, a $2 billion publicly held semiconductor company, before leaving to found iSuppli, a leading market research firm, which he sold for $100 million in 2010 to the global information leader IHS. Today, Lidow is giving back by teaching at Princeton University where he launched its campus-wide “design thinking” curriculum. He also works with Princeton’s aspiring entrepreneurs and their young companies.





Lidow has long demonstrated a rare ability to operate successfully in corporate, entrepreneurial, and academic environments. His novel contributions to research and analysis have forever improved companies as diverse as Sony, Samsung, Philips, Goldman Sachs and IBM. He has advised many of the world’s governments and largest companies. And he continues to drive innovation in research through ongoing projects with a number of partners.





Lidow is a frequent contributor to publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, and Entrepreneur. He is also a media commentator whose coverage includes The New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes, The Economist, Nikkei, Reuters, and Taipei Times.





Lidow’s degrees come from Princeton and Stanford where he earned a PhD in applied physics as a Hertz Foundation Fellow. He is based in New York City and Princeton, NJ. DerekLidow.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Truth Matters 1

Chapter 2 Who 15

Chapter 3 What 31

Chapter 4 Why 47

Chapter 5 What If 69

Chapter 6 How To 89

Chapter 7 How Good 113

Chapter 8 How Much 137

Chapter 9 Where 163

Chapter 10 When 181

Chapter 11 Whether 201

Chapter 12 So What 211

Notes 223

Acknowledgments 251

Index 255

Editorial Reviews

"I had pretty much given up believing that I would ever read an intelligent and useful book on entrepreneurship – until I read Building on Bedrock. No tiresome Silicon Valley narcissism. No hagiography. Refreshingly, Derek Lidow provides cogent analysis and insightful insights on the bedrock entrepreneurs that make our economy prosper. It is, flat out, the best book on entrepreneurship I have ever read.” - Roger Martin, integrative thinking expert and best-selling author of Playing to Win, The Design of Business, and Getting Beyond Better.





"Enough about the celebrity founder, working magic. This book tells the story and provides the tools for the other 99% of intrepid people launching enterprises." - Larry Gilson, Founder and Chairman of Focusing Philanthropy, and successful serial entrepreneur in energy, transportation, innovation, and finance





"While hot startups get the headlines, it’s the 'bedrock' entrepreneurs like Walton or Disney who build lasting businesses. Lidow charts a path for entrepreneurs to create sustainable value for themselves, their communities, and the families they serve. This is essential understanding for all entrepreneurs and policy makers." - Brian O’Kelley, Founder and CEO of AppNexus and serial entrepreneur





"Derek Lidow is the best chronicler of entrepreneurship of our age. This book is filled with breathtaking insights on what it takes to succeed as any type of entrepreneur, starting with whether you’re bedrock or high-risk. Every entrepreneur, or soon-to-be-founder, must have this book!" - Bruce Hack, Chairman of the Board, Technicolor, former CEO of Vivendi Games (World of Warcraft and Starcraft), and legendary angel investor





"Anyone aspiring to start their own new business will benefit from the lessons Lidow shares regarding fundamental keys to entrepreneurial success...Look into the lives of extraordinary entrepreneurs, with an insiders perspective rarely presented in contemporary writings. Learn from the best" - Stephen D. Christensen, Concordia University’s Dean of the School of Business





"[Building on Bedrock] serves as a 'back-to-basics' guide for the aspiring entrepreneur by debunking the myths around what it takes to build and run a successful company." - Fortune

From the Publisher