How to Castrate a Bull: Unexpected Lessons on Risk, Growth, and Success in Business

Dave Hitz is one of the cofounders of NetApp, which is a Silicon Valley success story, and has been with the company since 1992. I just finished reading his new book,  How to Castrate a Bull: Unexpected Lessons on Risk, Growth, and Success in Business , and I highly recommend it.In the book, Dave tells the intertwined stories of both his professional history (which included a stint as a working cowboy on an isolated cattle ranch; thus the title of the book) and the history of NetApp, and he shares many of the insightful lessons that he has learned along the way.Dave is a natural story teller, and besides being fun to hear, his stories usually manage to memorably convey some point of wisdom. He's also a very nice guy, which is unfortunately rarer than you might wish in Silicon Valley. I've had the privilege of knowing Dave socially and professionally for a number of years, and I'm always pleased when I run into him at some event, because I know that a fun and interesting conversation will likely ensue.The book is a great peek into what it takes to grow a startup from scratch to 8000 employees and billions of dollars in annual revenue, while also making it one of the most respected Silicon Valley companies and a fixture on every year's Fortune Magazine "Best Companies to Work For" list. He talks about the various stages of the company's growth, from the early product development days ("beat Auspex!"), to the hyper-growth phase (double the company's size and revenue every year for several years in a row), to the dark days following the dot-com crash in 2001 or so, to today's renewed growth in "The Age of Data".Dave especially focuses on how NetApp has built, maintained, and continues to evolve the positive corporate culture that is one of its major strengths; that didn't happen by accident, and Dave discusses how they did it (and why!).Strongly recommended.

Part corporate history of NetApp, part business strategy, and part personal biography. Not an easy mix to pull off, but Dave Hitz hit the mark - easy and educational read with great practical lessons for just about everyone.The book provides the early history of the startup: the failed VC pitches, the hiring and firing woes, missteps and strategy course corrections. In other words, all the stuff you should expect in a healthy startup - fail fast and iterate. Through all this, NetApp grew to a billion+ company throughout the dotcom craze, except unlike most of the rest, NetApp was actually profitable - they were selling shovels, and made their profits, instead of speculating on the gold. From there, the dotcom bust and the ensuing recovery (layoffs, restructuring, and so forth). Finally, back on their feet, NetApp changed their strategy to cater to the enterprise (and did rather well, by all accounts and measures).Dave provides an insider look into each stage of the above evolution, both at the level of the company, as well as his personal evolution as a leader: mistakes made, business lessons learned, and personal revelations along the way. All combined, lots of great and practical advice - if you're an entrepreneur, this is definitely a good investment.

The pros: entertaining (occasionally hilarious) and full of clear, bite-sized insights-some on business, some on human nature, some on giving presentations, some on the qualities of a great CEO (as seen by the guy who helped boot out someone with the wrong toolkit), and many of which I expect to take with me when I start my own (medical) business. I originally spotted this book on a library shelf and checked it out on a whim. This is one of comparatively few books that I then decided I needed to own and reread several times it's that good.The cons: it's not that long. This isn't really a con, as it seems that the book's content has been distilled and all of the boring crap you'd normally expect to see has been removed... but it leaves you hungry for more. Kudos both to Dave Hitz and to Pat Shaw (his ghostwriter). Also, the details on actual bull castration are pretty sparse.

I have worked at NetApp for several years and lived through the beginning of one of the "eras" described in this book. I find it amazing how NetApp came together. If you are at all interested in that, I highly recommend the book.Aside from NetApp, there are several keen insights in this book on business, leadership and management. I would be giving it away by posting a quote. If you're the type interested in leadership or what separates good leaders from mediocre ones, you really need to read this book.I also want to point out that the writing style is clear and overall a fun read. This is a man wide awake. Something that stands out to me are his "Thought Experiments." I adore thought experiments and breaking traditional thinking. Questions have power. They develop insight.I wish there were more books like this. It's a rare one.

Two things stand out about this book: Dave Hitz and his narrative style. There is only a small number of Silicon Valley or any technology start-ups that endure sustainable successes that include IPO, becoming market leader, surviving downturns, and being named one of the best companies to work for. Even rarer are founders of such companies who decide to share their experience through a self-authored book. The last one I can recall was Michael Dell's  Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry (Collins Business Essentials) , published in 1999.This book is much more about NetApp than Dave Hitz himself. Using humble tone of voice and being light on "techie stuffs" would allow Mr. Hitz to connect to all sorts of readers including those who have never heard about his company or who are not even too interested in technology business. Readers might get the feeling that they are listening to a good friend tell good stories at barbeque.

Fresh and plenty of useful advices