Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big

215 Pages·2007·0.88 MB·English

by  Bo Burlingham

SMALL GIANTS
SMALL GIANTS
Companies That
Choose to Be Great
Instead of Big
BO BURLINGHAM
PORTFOLIO
PORTFOLIO
Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright © Bo Burlingham, 2005
All rights reserved
Publisher’s Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Burlingham, Bo.
Small giants: companies that choose to be great instead of big / Bo
Burlingham.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN: 978-1-1011-9138-5
Small business—United States—Management. 2. Private companies—United
States— Management. 3. Close corporations—United States—Management. 4.
Success in business— United States. I. Title.
HD62.7.B835 2005
658.4'09—dc22 2005051487
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For my grandson,
Owen Dimitri Burlingham,
and any others who, by the grace of God,
will join us in the future
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Movies have credits, and books have acknowledgments, but I feel as though
many of the people involved in the production of this one deserve something
more—say, a standing ovation. Let’s start with the people who came up with the
idea. Credit for that goes to Patrick Nolan, the director of trade paperback sales
for Penguin, who had the original inspiration, and Adrian Zackheim, founder and
publisher of the Portfolio division of Penguin, who contacted me after reading a
cover story I had written in Inc. magazine on Zingerman’s, entitled “The Coolest
Small Company in America.” He said he saw the possibility of a book growing
out of the article. I didn’t get it at first, but I agreed to meet with him. Over
breakfast at Pershing Square Restaurant in Manhattan, he articulated the idea so
clearly and so brilliantly that, by the time I left, my involvement was a foregone
conclusion. After conferring with my wife, Lisa, and my literary-agent-head-
cheerleader-guardian-angel, Jill Kneerim, I got started.
By then, a whole bunch of other people had already had an impact on what
would eventually become Small Giants: former Inc. editor in chief George
Gendron, who had assigned the Zingerman’s article and helped guide me
through the research; Leigh Buchanan, who’d edited the piece; and George’s
successor, John Koten, who’d put it on the cover with a particularly catchy cover
line—not to mention Ari Weinzweig, Paul Saginaw, and their colleagues at
Zingerman’s, including Maggie Bayless, Dave Carson, Frank Carollo, Amy
Emberling, Holly Firmin, Mo Frechette, Stas’ Kazmierski, Ron Maurer, Todd
Wickstrom, and Lynn Yates. Subsequently both Ari and George played crucial
roles in helping me think through the themes of the book and identify companies
I should look at. George, in particular, came through (as he always has) with
those incisive observations at crucial moments that are the mark of a great editor.
In addition, I received much valuable support and advice from Jack Stack, CEO
of SRC Holdings Corp. (formerly Springfield ReManufacturing Corp.), my
mentor and sometime coauthor, as well as numerous other friends, relatives, and
colleagues, including Peter Carpenter, John Case, Susan Donovan, John Ellis the
elder, John R. Ellis the younger, Richard Fried, Gary Heil, Michael Hopkins, Joe
Knight, Joel Kotkin, Sara Noble, John O’Neil, Bill Palmer, and Greg Wittstock.
Norm Brodsky, another mentor and sometime coauthor, contributed on
several different levels. He suggested companies to look at; he helped flesh out
themes; he gave me important feedback at various stages of the process; and his
company, CitiStorage, turned out to be a prime example of a small giant,
something I didn’t realize when I started. Among those who helped me realize it
were his colleagues at CitiStorage, including Brad Clinton, Peter Gunderson,
Mike Harper, Bruce Howard, Manny Jimenez Sam Kaplan, Noelle Keating,
Patty Lightfoot, Patti Kanner Post, Louis Weiner, and last—but far from least—
Elaine Brodsky.
The first person I actually interviewed for the book was Gary Erickson of
Clif Bar Inc., who immediately turned the tables on me, asking me a series of
questions that helped get me on the right track from the start. He was able to do
it because he was in the midst of writing his own book, Raising the Bar, which
addressed many of the same issues I would wind up grappling with. Dean Mayer
and Leslie Henrichsen were of great help as well, serving early on as guides
through the wonderful world of Clif Bar.
As it turned out, the Erickson interview was just the beginning of one of the
most stimulating, uplifting, thoroughly enjoyable reporting episodes of my
career. Never have I had the opportunity to hang out with so many interesting
people at so many fascinating companies, one right after the other. If you’ve
already read the book, you know what I’m talking about, and you can easily
imagine why the experience was exhilarating. Here I would simply like to give
credit to the people who helped make the reporting phase so much fun:
at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco: John Dannerbeck, Fritz
Maytag, and Linda Rowe
at ECCO in Boise, Idaho: Karen Campbell, Rob Corrigan,
Michelle Howard, Todd Mansfield, Bob Ohlson, Mike Pironi,
Mike Scoll, Chris Thompson, Jim Thompson, Richard Vinson,
and Ed Zimmer
at Hammerhead Productions in Studio City, California: Thad
Beier, Dan Chuba, and Jamie Dixon
at New Hope Contracting in Dorchester, Massachusetts: Chris
Howell, Rob Moreno, Chris Painten, Gene Pettiford, Danny
Power, Peter Power, and Steve Quinn
at O. C. Tanner Co. in Salt Lake City: Adrian Gostick, Kent
Murdock, Gary Peterson, and Shauna Raso
at Reell Precision Manufacturing in St. Paul, Minnesota: Bob
Carlson, Jim Grubs, George Moroz, Joy Moroz, Bob Wahlstedt,
and Steve Wikstrom
at Rhythm & Hues Studio in Los Angeles: R. Scot Byrd and
John Hughes
at Righteous Babe Records and LFS Touring in Buffalo: Susan
Alzner, Mary Begley, Ani DiFranco, Ron Ehmke, Scot Fisher,
Sean Giblin, Brian Grunert, Karen Hayes, Phil Karatz, Heidi
Kunkel, Sarah Otto, Jessie Schnell, Steve Schrems, and Susan
Tanner
at Selima Inc. in Miami Beach: Selima Stavola
at The Goltz Group in Chicago: Jay Goltz, Luan Le, and Dale
Zeimen
at TriNet in San Leandro, California: Martin Babinec and
Maureen Kleven
at Union Square Hospitality Group in New York City: Haley
Carroll, Jenny Zinman Dirksen, and Danny Meyer
at W. L. Butler Construction Inc. in Redwood City, California:
Michelle Arani, Bill Butler, and Frank York
They weren’t alone, either. In the course of my research, I had the
opportunity to interview many other great people who graciously shared their
time and wisdom with me, including Jim Ansara of Shawmut Design &
Construction in Boston; Chris Brown of Bull Moose Music in Portland, Maine;
Ed Cardoni of Hallwalls in Buffalo; Robert Catlin of Signature Mortgage in
Canton, Ohio; Gary Cristall of Gary Cristall Artist Management in Vancouver,
British Columbia; Joe DiPasquale of Planet Love in Buffalo; Paul Eichen of
Rokenbok Toy Company in Solana Beach, California; Don Esmond of the
Buffalo News; Jim Fleming of Fleming & Associates in Ann Arbor, Michigan;
Susan Frazier of Goldenrod Music in Lansing, Michigan; Laurie Fuchs of
Ladyslipper Music in Durham, North Carolina; Virginia Giordano of Giordano
Productions in New York City; Danny Goldberg of Artemis Records in New
York City; Neil Golding and Brian Silver of Keystone Auto Glass in Toledo,
Ohio; Bruce Goode of Works Corp. in Boise, Idaho; Tom Gramegna of Bergen
County Camera in Westwood, New Jersey; Darcy Greder of Illinois Wesleyan
University in Bloomington, Illinois; Tracy Mann of MG Limited in New York
City; Nion McEvoy and Susan Coyle of Chronicle Books in San Francisco;
Debbie Mekker of ESP Inc. in Amherst, New York; Robert S. Moore of Solid
Earth Geographics in Huntsville, Alabama; Michael Rosenberg of Koch
Entertainment Distribution in Port Washington, New York; Jack Schuller of
Festival Distribution in Vancouver, British Columbia; Marlin Shelley of Cirris
Systems Corp. in Salt Lake City; Carl Singmaster of Manifest Discs and Tapes
in Columbia, South Carolina; Barry Steinberg of Direct Tire in Watertown,
Massachusetts; and Pat Thompson of Thorner Press in Buffalo.
I also benefited from the work of David Gumpert, who had done a
fascinating interview with Fritz Maytag for the Harvard Business Review, and
who alerted me to the interview that Inc.’s founder, Bernie Goldhirsh, had done
with Family Business Quarterly a year before he died. Bruce Feiler wrote a
terrific article in Gourmet about Union Square Hospitality Group that brought to
life the experience of enlightened hospitality. Liz Conlin’s article in Inc. about
University National Bank & Trust was equally illuminating. Don Macaulay, the
former publisher of Bernie’s first magazine, Sail, helped fill in missing pieces in
the early history of Inc. Jay Burchfield, chairman of Trust Company of the
Ozarks in Springfield, Missouri, answered the questions I had about some of the
more arcane aspects of the banking industry. Michael Ansara, Tom Ehrenfeld,
Brian Feinblum, Steve Marriotti, David Obst, Derek Shearer, and David Laskin
all offered encouragement, support, and good advice.
In addition, I am grateful to all of my colleagues at Inc., who bore with me
during the two years when I was researching and writing Small Giants. I am
particularly indebted to Loren Feldman, who was my editor on articles about
several of the companies in this book; to John Koten, who offered constant
encouragement while making sure I didn’t get lazy in my thinking about the
small giants; to Brian Kennedy and Tara Mitchell, who applied their
considerable talents to helping me get the word out; to Lora Kolodny, who
cheered me on; to Blake Taylor, who gave me consistently excellent advice on
matters of art and design; and to Travis Ruse, who made me look good. Of
course, I will always be indebted to Bernie Goldhirsh, who founded the
magazine, and to George Gendron, who first built it into a pillar of the
entrepreneurial economy.
Once we got to the publishing phase of the book, I discovered how fortunate
I was to be working with the great team at Penguin Portfolio, including Megan
Casey, Elizabeth Hazelton, Stephanie Land, Joseph Perez, Nikil Saval, Will
Weisser, and Abraham Young. I already knew how fortunate I was to be working
with Adrian Zackheim.
Throughout the process, I would have been lost without the steady hand,
sharp mind, and undying enthusiasm of Jill Kneerim. If all literary agents were
like her, no author would ever feel underappreciated again. She was ably
supported by other people at her agency, Kneerim & Williams at Fish &