New Ideas from Dead CEOs: Lasting Lessons from the Corner Office
In selecting great ideas from dozens of entrepreneurial CEOs, Buchholz insisted that these business pioneers had to be innovators, teachers of lessons, and interesting&#x97;and gone from this earth. All nine CEOs represent household names and, some may argue, overexposed brands. Yet Buchholz, with compelling and fast-reading narratives, drills to the core of each personality&#x97;and his or her business&#x97;ensuring that learnings don't get obfuscated by too much drama or sidebars. A. P. Giannini, founder of the Bank of America, believed in serving customers whom big business ignored&#x97;and launched the brand network now ubiquitous in financial services. Although his empire is undergoing no small turmoil today, Sam Walton literally invented self-service&#x97;and the resulting package of discount prices and a managed supply chain, hosted in small-town stores. Mix talent and a lucky break (and at least one failure) with an obsession for turning a small idea into a revolution. Jacobs, Barbara