Customer Reviews

Business the Bill Gates Way: 10 Secrets of the World's Richest Business Leader

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're looking for an easy to read summary of how Bill Gates went from college drop-out to the $50 billion man, here it is. "Business the Bill Gates Way," is a quick and sanitary overview of what happens when an irresistible combination of passion, luck, determiation, and brains meet an unbelievable opportunity. Bill Gates as nerd, seer, opportunist, organizational genius, and workaholic all tied-up in a nice, little, pink bow. Des Dearlove appears to written this book after only having read a half dozen other books on Bill Gates and Microsoft. You get the sense he never left his office, much less England, to research the subject. This is a formula book, heavy on format and light substance. Ten 16 page chapters, with a summary of the main points at the end of each. The series is obviously successful, and we can expect more of the same, but it reads more like the Cliff Notes than the real book. In fact, you could just read the summaries, memorize the main points, and move on to your algebra homework.

In this book, you won't find something new about Bill Gates and his way of doing business. Wikipedia provides better information about this man. If you really wish to understand in details how Microsoft works as a business, get "Microsoft 2.0" by Mary Jo Foley, and the books by Bill Gates: "The Road Ahead" and "Business @ Speed of Thought".

The main conclusion of the author is that Bill Gates, essentially, is doing "creative imitation", as defined by Peter Drucker in his book "Innovation and Entrepreneurship".

I agree with Des Dearlove about the "creative imitation", although he doesn't use this term. I suggest you to read the Drucker's book to better understand the technique and advantages of creative imitation.

As about "Big Shots: Business the Bill Gates Way", I don't recommend reading it. Just read Wikipedia and the books above mentioned.

Until very recently, Bill Gates was the richest man in the world. In fact, had he not donated a substantial sum to his foundation, he would still be the richest man in the world. For the purposes of this review, I would presume that Bill Gates is still the richest man in the world. Des Dearlove, the author of the book offers 10 reasons why Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. They are: (1). Be in the right place at the right time; (2). Fall in love with technology; (3). Take no prisoners; (4). Hire very smart people; (5). Learn to survive; (6). Don't expect any thanks; (7). Assume the visionary position; (8). Cover all the bases; (9). Build a byte-sized business; and (10). Never, ever, ever take you eye off the ball. Sometime ago, I summarised this book and published it in the premier Australian business magazine ie "Wealth Creator". It condenses the 10 secrets into 5 secrets. They are: (1). Bill Gates makes software very easy to use; (2). Bill Gates hires very smart people; (3). Bill Gates is a worldly intellectual; (4). Bill Gates presumes a prescient position; and (5). Bill Gates builds a byte-size business. The magazine published this summary as their "cover story" in March/April 2006 edition pages 26-31. This can be secured for free from me by contacting me at J.hariman@optusnet.com.au. Digest this book and you will find a few tips to increase your income. Dr Jusuf Hariman.

This is a nice summary of yet another 10 secrets of Bill Gates' success. I did find out something new for myself. However, the book itself is awfully repetitive. It seems like the chapters were written in dissonance as you read the same words over again like a constant deja vu which is somewhat annoying. Overall, not a bad book!

You will never be a better entrepreneur if you don't know about Gates. This book will surely give you some insights.