100 great businesses and the minds behind them

436 Pages·2006·1.284 MB·English

by  Ross, Emily;Holland, Angus

2/21/08 4:47 PM Page 1
11
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 00 T11HE00INT00ERNAGGTIONRRAL BEEESTAASELTTLER
00

I N S I D E T H E S U C C E S S O F gg
110000 BBUUSSIINNEESSSS GGEENNIIUUSSEESS
RR
EE
AA
TT

BB BBUUSSIINNEESSSSEESS
Risk-loving entrepreneurs. Innovative geniuses. Self-starters and
mavericks. The world’s greatest businesses were built by unique UU
people, each bringing their own style and savvy to the marketplace. SS
II
100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Themis a diverse and inspiring NN
collection of great business stories. Covering a variety of success
EE
paths, brilliant strategies and engaging entrepreneurs, each profile
SS
explores the genius behind the greatest business minds.
SS
EE
• A mother’s inspiration that launched Baby Einstein SS
• Aveda’s journey from hippie to hip
• How Guinness overcame a centuries-old problem to conquer BB aanndd tthhee MMIINNDDSS
aa
new markets EE
nn
• TiVo’s long fight to explain the genius of their product HHdd

• How Oprah went from person to empire IItt BBEEHHIINNDD TTHHEEMM
NNhh
• And many more ee
DD
MM
An engrossing look at what makes entrepreneurs and business

geniuses tick, this book highlights the pivotal moments in the lives TTII
of great businesses, with lasting lessons on the art of making your HHNN PIXAR • BABY EINSTEIN • CALLAWAY • BARBIE • HALLMARK CARDS
business a success. DD RED BULL • SONY WALKMAN • 3M AND THE POST-IT NOTE • LIQUID
EE
PAPER • DYSON • THE KELLOGG COMPANY • NOBU • WOLFGANG
MMSS
Business $16.95 U.S. PUCK • PORSCHE • KATE AND ANDY SPADE • WEIGHT WATCHERS

IISSBBNN-1 13-: 4907282-1--04603212--03631-3 $23.95 CAN CHANEL NO. 5 • CLARENCE BIRDSEYE• THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
ISBN-10: 1-4022-0631-3 51695
STARBUCKS • QUIKSILVER • RE/MAX • AMAZON • AND MANY MORE
C N
UP EA EEMMIILLYY RROOSSSS && AANNGGUUSS HHOOLLLLAANNDD
7 60789 21231 4 9 781402 206313
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page i
100 GREAT
BUSINESSES
and the Minds Behind Them
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page ii
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page iii
100 GREAT
BUSINESSES
and the Minds Behind Them
EMILY ROSS & ANGUS HOLLAND
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page iv
Copyright © 2006 by Emily Ross and Angus Holland
Cover and internal design © 2006 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and
retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher,
Sourcebooks, Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative informa-
tion in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding
that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other
professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the
services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a
Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar
Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, regis-
tered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks,
Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
[phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.sourcebooks.com
Originally published in 2004
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ross, Emily.
100 great businesses and the minds behind them / Emily Ross and Angus
Holland.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-1693-0
ISBN-10: 1-4022-1693-0
1. Success in business—Case studies. 2. Business enterprises—Case studies.
3. Entrepreneurship—Case studies. I. Title: One hundred great businesses
and the minds behind them. II. Holland, Angus. III. Title.
HF5386.R665 2005
650.1—dc22
2005024998
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page v
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
A Note on the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. The Crowd-Pleasers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Pixar •Julie Aigner-Clark and Bill Clark, Baby Einstein •
Callaway •Barbie •Hallmark Cards
2. Thanks for the Idea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Red Bull •Sony Walkman
3. The Long and Winding Road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Liquid Paper •Dyson •The Kellogg Company •
3M and the Post-it Note
4. Do What You Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Weight Watchers •Quiksilver •Kate and Andy Spade •
Nobu •Wolfgang Puck
5. Thanks for Nothing: The Founders
Who Missed out on the Billions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chanel No. 5 •The Coca-Cola Company •Clarence Birdseye
6. Extreme Makeovers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Nokia •Avon •LVMH •Gap •Samsung •Guinness •Adidas
7. The Revolutionaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
IKEA •Re/Max •JD Power •Mark Burnett •
Howard Schultz, Starbucks
8. It Didn’t Happen Overnight, BUT It Did Happen . . . . . . . 135
Amazon •Columbia Sportswear •Nutrimetics
9. That’s What I Wanted, I Just Didn’t Know It. . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Cirque du Soleil •Rollerblade •Websense •Craigslist •
MTV •TiVo •Hooters •Liz Lange Maternity
10. Survival of the Fittest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Microsoft •Mars Inc. •XM Satellite Radio
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page vi
11. Born to Sell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Ray Kroc, McDonald’s •Dell •
Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus, The Home Depot •
Mary Kay Ash, Mary Kay Cosmetics •Simon Fuller
12. Me, Myself, and I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Oprah Winfrey •Sean Combs •Richard Branson •
Taschen •Danni Ashe
13. I Want to Be Alone: the Greta Garbos of Business . . . . . . . 235
Oakley •Revlon •Luxottica
14. Ah, That’s How You Do It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
eBay •Limited Brands •L’Oréal •BlackBerry •Wal-Mart •
Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway •NetJets
15. Image Is Everything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Nike •Tiffany & Co. •Levi’s
16. The Business Daredevils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
FedEx •Esprit •Playboy
17. The Lennon & McCartney Duos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Tupperware •Apple •id Software •Google •Seinfeld
18. Funky, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Juicy Couture •Jamie Oliver •CollegeHumor.com •
MAC Cosmetics (Makeup Artists Cosmetics)
19. From Hippy to Hip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Aveda •Ben & Jerry’s
20. Beware of Cheap Imitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Steinway •Lego •Harley-Davidson •Four Seasons Hotels •
Manolo Blahnik •Porsche •Prada •Alessi
21. No Experience Necessary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
Subway •Mrs. Fields Cookies •Diners Club •Jani-King
22. And Now for Something Completely Different. . . . . . . . . . 401
Play-Doh •Dippin’ Dots •Build-A-Bear Workshop •
Disposable Diapers •Neopets •Super Soaker
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to the many inspiring companies and individuals who
cooperated with us and to the authors and experts around the
world who verified our information. Thank you particularly to Josh
Abramson, Julie Aigner-Clark, Garry Barker, Gert Boyle, Alison
Brennan, Nathan Cochrane, Meredith Curnow, John Demsey,
Jessica Dettmann, Diana Duran, Andrew Dyson, Bill Echols, Kristi
Ernsting, Tony Featherstone, Dana Fries, John Fread, Amanda
Gome, Allen Goldberg, Liz Hulls, David James, Laurie Kahn-
Leavitt, Neville Kenyon, Jenny Shorland, Sharon Krum, Liz Lange,
Dave Liniger, Karyn Lovegrove, Peter Lynch, Amanda Mackevicius,
Nathalie Moar, Gela Nash-Taylor, Neighborhood House, Mark
Pendergrast, Yvonne Pendleton, Richard Rogers, Sally Ross, the
entire Holland and Ross clans, Lucinda Schmidt, Jenny Shorland,
Isadore Sharp, Nury Echeverria-Silva, Amita Tandukar, Andrew
Tobias, Bill Tikos, Doug Tompkins, Toby Hagon, Tony Atherton,
Megan Ryan, Les Winograd, and Lindy Woodhead.
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page viii
A NOTE ON THE TEXT
We have deliberately not jammed the text with numbered endnotes,
which, due to the research needed to write the entries, would have
rendered the book unreadable. Instead, quotations are referenced
at the end of each entry. Any quotations and key sources of research
material not referenced at the end of an entry come from interviews
conducted by the authors. We thank all the companies that partic-
ipated in this book, with particular thanks to the founders who
gave up their time. In the handful of cases where companies were
unable to participate, we made every effort to verify the informa-
tion presented was correct at the time of going to press.
All financial figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.
2/21/08 4:42 PM Page 1
INTRODUCTION
The typical business success story starts like this: Mr X has a bril-
liant idea in the bath one morning. He calls a friend, and together
they build the invention in the garage. Then they go out and sell it
from the back of Mr X’s car, and before they know it, they are both
millionaires.
We like these stories because they make us think we could easi-
ly do the same thing. All we need is that great idea, right?
Miracles do happen. Nike’s Phil Knight did start out selling
running shoes from the back of his car. Pierre Omidyar did just
happen to have an idea for an Internet site—eBay—that made him a
billionaire several times over. James Dyson became one of Britain’s
richest men after inventing a new kind of vacuum cleaner in his
shed.
But these fairy tales tend to skip over the details, the parts of the
story where, for example, Dyson had to build 5,127 vacuum clean-
er prototypes before he actually got the thing to work properly,
where FedEx founder Fred Smith nearly went broke several times
over in the early years, and why Debbi Fields of Mrs. Fields Cookies
fame now has little to do with the company that bears her name.
Having a great idea is the easy part. As the one hundred busi-
nesses in this book all demonstrate, the real talent lies in knowing
what to do next: how to finance and build the product, when and
how to market it, and—most importantly—how to persist with it
and continue to believe in it through the inevitable difficult times.
Like Lonnie Johnson, the rocket scientist who had to spend eight
years knocking on doors before somebody agreed to build his
invention, the Super Soaker water gun.
Our case studies cover a range of companies, from recent start-
ups to firms over one hundred years old, from the origins of Corn
Flakes to the birth of satellite radio; the genius of MTV to the Red