Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company Paperback – September 21, 1995

I first heard of this book because it was recommended by Reed Hastings (CEO, Netflix) as a must-read for young entrepreneurs. I was not disappointed with the purchase, despite having to track down a used softcover copy.Originally published in 1992, this book is notable for its focus/devotion to a single concept: how business managers/leaders can build the foundation of an everlasting company into the bones/genes of their institution while the company is still small.Part of why the book is so good is that it does not pretend to be scientific in its recommendations: it is a kind of merger of philosophy, business strategy, and management in a single readable volume. Jim Collins' later books (Good to Great, Built to Last) would focus on trying to build a data-oriented foundation for understanding company greatness, whereas this book focused much more on vision formulation, strategic decision-making, and team dynamics. To me, it is therefore a much more important book than his later best-sellers, and, more actionable, to boot. Many of the illustrative company examples also ended up (mostly) withstanding the test of time: HP, IBM, Apple, Patagonia, Nike, Herman Miller, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, among others.I think if you are a young business leader looking for guidance of how to take your company from its first decade to its second/third and beyond, this is the book for you, despite it being over 25 years old. Highly recommended.

The book focuses on start up companies which have had some initial success and seek to establish themselves as enduring enterprises. I have used this book several times with early stage clients and found it clear and helpful, especially to those just starting to deal with business strategy. The middle chapters contain the basic terminology and frame work.Strategies only have value if the are used, and the book provides an example of a short, concise strategy document that is clear enough to assist in decision making and short enough to be actually used by the entire company.There's a lot more to strategic thinking that this book covers, but it is a good, practical place to start.

Very insightful book about the importance company values and vision -- both often overlooked by companies/leadership. A lot of parallels between this book and the Netflix culture deck.What I love about this book is that the authors will give a piece of advice at a high level and then they will back it up with lots of real-world examples, and explain why that advice is important.It's also a relatively quick read without much filler, which I appreciate. Even though it was written over 20 years ago, the lessons here are timeless, and many companies (including startups/unicorns) are struggling with these issues today.

Unless there are videos someplace, reading this book is the closest you can get to sitting in Jim Collins' class on entrepreneurship at Stanford (circa 1990). It's a distillation of what he taught in that class, minus the palpable energy he brought to every session and in particular the final class of each term. Twenty four years later, I still return to this book for inspiration and ideas for leadership, crafting strategy, creating genuine passion in a company, and gaining alignment. I'd also recommend Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive to build and sustain alignment. Both are useful.

I was leery because the book was written in the early 90s. Although all the online hoopla and social media was not in existence the materials presented in the book are relevant. All the building blocks for a solid business foundation were presented in a step by step manner that were easy to follow. The examples helped keep us on track.

A quick glance at this book's cover is enough to drive anyone away. Ignore this impulse because, after reading its contents, you will be much better prepared to take your business to a higher level. I've read dozens of business books and this one sits on top of them all as the best one around. It's chuck full of pointers that can be implemented immediately; there's no fluff to wade through. My copy is heavily marked up and dog-eared. I refer back to it again and again.

Excellent business book. I have read 100's of books on business and this one is at the top of the list. I pride myself on business leadership, strategy development and execution. Collin and Lazier did an excellent job of laying out the requirements of being a performing CEO and the fundamentals to use to build a successful business.I discovered this book after watching a video with Reed Hastings (Netflix) and he mentioned this book being influential in the development of his business skills.