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

Hitz, Dave

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470345233 ISBN 13: 9780470345238

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2008

Synopsis

Dave Hitz likes to solve fun problems. He didn't set out to be a Silicon Valley icon, a business visionary, or even a billionaire. But he became all three. It turns out that business is a mosaic of interesting puzzles like managing risk, developing and reversing strategies, and looking into the future by deconstructing the past. As a founder of NetApp, a data storage firm that began as an idea scribbled on a placemat and now takes in $4 billion a year, Hitz has seen his company go through every major cycle in business-from the Jack-of-All-Trades mentality of a start-up, through the tumultuous period of the IPO and the dot-com bust, and finally to a mature enterprise company. NetApp is one of the fastest-growing computer companies ever, and for six years in a row it has been on Fortune magazine's list of Best Companies to Work For. Not bad for a high school dropout who began his business career selling his blood for money and typing the names of diseases onto index cards. With colorful examples and anecdotes, How to Castrate a Bull is a story for everyone interested in understanding business, the reasons why companies succeed and fail, and how powerful lessons often come from strange and unexpected places. Dave Hitz co-founded NetApp in 1992 with James Lau and Michael Malcolm. He served as a programmer, marketing evangelist, technical architect, and vice president of engineering. Presently, he is responsible for future strategy and direction for the company. Before his career in Silicon Valley, Dave worked as a cowboy, where he got valuable management experience by herding, branding, and castrating cattle.

About this title

Review

NetApp Awarded #1 Best Company to Work For 2009 by Fortune

A San Francisco Chronicle Nonfiction Best-Seller, January 30, 2009

"Readers will gain insight into management styles, different ways to make decisions, alternative approaches to managing people, and the value of dissent within a company. They also will learn why it is better to castrate a bull with a dull knife than a sharp knife. And they may get a few chuckles along the way."--ByteandSwitch.com, January 27, 2009

"Hitz spends much of the book discussing what happened after he moved to move Silicon Valley in 1986 and began working at a series of start-ups, and the various business problems he faced and how he approached them. Hitz describes in detail the evolution of NetApp and, of course, does not omit the vendor's sales pitch. But at various points in the 200-page book Hitz takes a break from talking business to focus on some of the humorous passages referenced in Chapter Zero." --NetworkWorld.com, January 21, 2009

From the Back Cover

Praise for How to Castrate a Bull

"Dave Hitz brings a colorful, refractive prism to the views of CEO success. His work is a unique--and delightful--look at how successful CEOs should manage risk, deal with failure, and conceive success."
--Bill McDermott president and CEO, global f ield operations, and executive board member, SAP AG

"This is the real inside story of a one-in-a-billion, against-all-odds success that will prove to be a classic 'how to' book for generations to come. The overt and covert lessons are astounding, and a superb contradiction to today's endless tales of corporate dirtbags. Hitz has proven that good guys can win--without the need to lie, cheat, and steal. If there has ever been a better example of a cohesive management team than NetApp, I don't know what it is."
--Steve Duplessie founder and senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group

"Engaging and insightful. Hitz brings to life the behind-the-scenes dynamics of a high-growth technology company. A must-read for tech company executives."
--Warren Adelman president and COO, GoDaddy.com

"An authentic and witty chronicle of an iconic Silicon Valley company, covering all aspects of starting and growing a successful enterprise. Filled with important and useful information delivered with insight and humor, with clear prose and memorable stories to illustrate key lessons for anyone interested in starting a company or understanding how Silicon Valley really works."
--Chuck Holloway Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers Professor of Management, emeritus, and co-director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0470345233
• ISBN 13: 9780470345238
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 202