Entrepreneurial Nation: Why Manufacturing is Still Key to America's Future [Hardcover]

Ro Khanna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2012

A CALL TO ARMS FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN AMERICA'S FUTURE

If you trust what you hear in the news, America is in trouble. We've moved our manufacturing overseas. We've lost our competitive edge to China, Germany, Japan, and Brazil. We've entered our final days as an econonic leader.

Don't believe it! This provocative book from a former deputy assistant secretary of commerce will explode the myths you’ve been fed by the media and reinforce your faith in American ingenuity. Author Ro Khanna takes you inside Washington's economic think tanks and onto the front lines of the most innovative companies in the nation. You'll discover:

• How small and large businesses are spurring innovation and growth
• Why the accepted wisdom about American manufacturing is wrong
• How America can stay ahead of lower-cost factories in China and Brazil
• Why manufacturing is so important to our national security and future
• How to keep the best jobs, companies, and opportunities here in America

Despite everything you've heard about the economy, one fact remains: America continues to be a world leader in manufacturing. Some of the world's best products are still being made here. The world's greatest innovations are still being developed by Apple, Google, and countless others.

This book will prove to you that smart companies are staying ahead of the curve--and you can, too. You'll learn how a fourth-generation business, the Globe Manufacturing Company, customized its firefighting suits to beat foreign competitors. You'll discover how Vitamix worked with clients like Starbucks to produce a superior coffee blender. And you'll hear behind-the-scenes stories from the American steel industry, aerospace companies, the defense technology sector, and other worldclass leaders. You'll also learn why companies like Solyndra fail--and what lessons we can take from them.

This is more than a book. It is a wake-up call that will spark debate, shatter beliefs, and inspire action in every American who wants to succeed in the future. This is Entrepreneurial Nation.

Praise for Entrepreneurial Nation

"I have always believed that America remains the greatest superpower of innovation. Khanna is a leading thinker on how to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive across this country, whether it comes to making high-technology planes, cars, steel bars, fire suits, or even blenders. The unconventional ideas in this book chart the path America can take to lead the world for years to come." -- Elon Musk, CEO and Founder of Tesla and Space X

"This captivating book adds to the growing discourse on the relevance of American ingenuity and our manufacturing heritage . . . It is a collection of captivating stories and real ideas on how to keep America competitive in the 21st Century." -- Ellen Kullman, Chair and CEO, DuPont, one of America's original Manufacturing companies

"Entrepreneurial Nation is an excellent reminder of what makes American manufacturing great . . . It's an important read for anyone interested in impacting our manufacturing future." -- Paul Otellini, President and CEO, Intel Corporation

"Khanna lays out a refreshing vision of innovation-based U.S. manufacturing leadership, not just competitiveness. Entrepreneurial Nation is based on the views and experiences of real manufacturers making real products in America. It prescribes a hefty dose of federal policy changes to empower privatesector innovation in manufacturing. This is a very important addition to a very important debate." -- Charles Vest, President Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and President of the National Academy of Engineering

"Khanna led Commerce's domestic offices that implemented President Obama’s National Export Initiative. He was a key player in the policy debate in Washington, and he was in the trenches listening to the perspective of manufacturers across our country. It shows. His book provides a powerful vision of what American companies need to do to thrive and grow in the world market." -- Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, Obama Administration , 2010–2011

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A CALL TO ARMS FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN AMERICA'S FUTURE

If you trust what you hear in the news, America is in trouble. We've moved our manufacturing overseas. We've lost our competitive edge to China, Germany, Japan, and Brazil. We've entered our final days as an ecomonic leader.

Don't believe it! This provocative book from a former deputy assistant secretary of commerce will explode the myths you’ve been fed by the media and reinforce your faith in American ingenuity. Author Ro Khanna takes you inside Washington's economic think tanks and onto the front lines of the most innovative companies in the nation. You'll discover:

• How small and large businesses are spurring innovation and growth
• Why the accepted wisdom about American manufacturing is wrong
• How America can stay ahead of lower-cost factories in China and Brazil
• Why manufacturing is so important to our national security and future
• How to keep the best jobs, companies, and opportunities here in America

Despite everything you've heard about the economy, one fact remains: America continues to be a world leader in manufacturing. Some of the world's best products are still being made here. The world's greatest innovations are still being developed by Apple, Google, and countless others.

This book will prove to you that smart companies are staying ahead of the curve--and you can, too. You'll learn how a fourth-generation business, the Globe Manufacturing Company, customized its firefighting suits to beat foreign competitors. You'll discover how Vitamix worked with clients like Starbucks to produce a superior coffee blender. And you'll hear behind-the-scenes stories from the American steel industry, aerospace companies, the defense technology sector, and other worldclass leaders. You'll also learn why companies like Solyndra fail--and what lessons we can take from them.

This is more than a book. It is a wake-up call that will spark debate, shatter beliefs, and inspire action in every American who wants to succeed in the future. This is Entrepreneurial Nation.

About the Author

Ro Khanna spent two years as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he worked with the country’s most influential business and labor leaders to rebuild the nation's manufacturing sector and increase American exports. He also served on the White House Business Council. Khanna is now a visiting lecturer in the Department of Economics at Stanford University and a technology attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (July 24, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071802002
• ISBN-13: 978-0071802000
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I fell in love with the stories of American manufacturers as I traveled to over 30 states during my two years in the Obama Administration. I wanted to share these stories of American economic hope and vibrancy with readers. I also wanted to explain why manufacturing matters to our economic future, and what policies can best help our manufacturers compete in today's world.

I am now practicing technology law at Wilson Sonsini, a Silicon Valley law firm, and teaching Economics at Stanford. I'd love to get your feedback on the book, or ideas for what we can do to grow our economy.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great facts about US manufacturing, but flawed analysis September 24, 2012

By Michel Baudin

Format:Hardcover

The title misleads, because the book is not about entrepreneurship but about the state of manufacturing in the US. Fortunately, the subtitle is more descriptive: "Why manufacturing is still key to America's future." Thinking about entrepreneurship in 2012, the first companies that come to mind are Google, Facebook or Amazon, who do no manufacturing, or Apple, which subcontracts it. Several of the executives described are in fact entrepreneurs, but you also encounter regular managers and fifth generation heirs running family businesses. I don't blame the author for this, as I suspect the title was chosen by marketers who thought that entrepreneurship would sell better than manufacturing.

The author's bio on the book jacket describes him as "former deputy assistant secretary of commerce," a title that leaves you wondering what he was actually doing. You have to look up his LinkedIn profile to find out that his primary function was to boost exports of manufactured goods. Until then, he was an intellectual property lawyer. To his credit, he makes no claim to having any particular knowledge of manufacturing before he started. But he clearly fell in love with the subject, and a passion for it shows through in his writings.

The book contains facts, interpretations of these facts, and policy recommendations. Crisscrossing the country for the commerce department enabled the author to visit many companies and meet outstanding leaders in steel making, aeronautics, mining machinery, defense, and other manufacturing industries. I had not heard about many of them and learned from the author's account of these visits.

The author quotes many sources, and his position gave him the opportunity to be tutored by industry icons like Andy Grove. Nonetheless, I find his analysis of the situation lacking in depth and originality. I agree with his fundamental point that the Federal Government of the US should have a policy about Manufacturing, and that it makes no sense to have a cabinet-level Secretary of Agriculture and no Secretary of Manufacturing when Manufacturing is a much larger component of the economy.
His argument that government's involvement in manufacturing is a long American tradition is based on a report by Alexander Hamilton as Treasury Secretary in 1791 arguing in favor of it. Khanna quotes it many times, but makes no reference to the role played by Thomas Jefferson in launching the multi-decade effort to make interchangeable parts, that the embryonic private sector of his day would not have undertaken, but that gave birth to the machine-tool industry and became key to the emergence of mass production in the 20th century. But his key point is valid that the government has a 200-year tradition of pitching in where the private sector can't or won't.

One argument that Bill Clinton makes but Khanna doesn't is that none of the advanced economies in the world have developed on pure laissez-faire. The US hasn't, and neither have Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, or Canada. The visible hand of government plays some role everywhere. The question is what that role should be. Just because the government of another country intervenes in the economy in a particular way doesn't mean we should do it too. Khanna appears to have yet to meet a government program he doesn't like; to him, they are all underfunded and their budgets should be increased, and I have to disagree on some of them.

He asserts, for example, that the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a great program that does not "pick winners and losers." Through this program, the federal government has been subsidizing consulting firms in all 50 states to provide services at reduced rates to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). In so doing , the government may not pick among the recipients but it certainly does among providers. And the MEP program is run by NIST, the agency in charge of standards for weights and measures. It is run by managers who have never worked in factories and you wonder how they can select consultants. It is, however, exactly what NIST does, and, thereby, creates unfair competition to other consultants.

Khanna also makes the common confusion between having a strong manufacturing sector in the economy and having a large proportion of the work force involved in manufacturing. Most manufacturing jobs in the US today are still the kind of repetitive assembly line work that no child dreams of doing as a grown-up. The future is in the current minority of jobs that involves programming and maintaining machines. It is a slow transition that has been underway for decades and has already seen, for example, the number of employees needed in a steel mill drop by a factor of 10 in forty years. It still has a long way to go but the direction is clear. It is a process that moves like a glacier, not a tsunami, with the consequence that it can and should be planned for. The strong manufacturing sector of the future employs a small number of highly skilled people. The jobs are more desirable that traditional manufacturing jobs, but in much smaller numbers.

The book paints China as an enemy, at war with US manufacturing. But the Chinese I know are focused on pulling >1 billion people out of poverty, not putting Ohio machine shops out of business. We will do better if every way if they succeed and become consumers than if they stumble and China reverts to the chaos of 40 years ago. In a truly emerging economy, labor costs rise with the skills of the work force. As local companies develop their own intellectual property, they also become more sensitive to others' and counterfeiting declines. Finally, as incomes rise, so does the demand for imports.

While GE's reshoring of appliance production in a happy ending for Louisville, KY, the story makes you wonder what the executives had been thinking when they outsourced in the first place. Why did they wait until they had actually moved production to Mexico and China and wrecked Louisville before assessing the full economic consequences of these decisions?

The book is about success stories. In a context where so many are writing off the US manufacturing sector, Khanna wants to show how it can be successful, and it is understandable that he would not dwell on failures. One that he could not avoid, however, is Solyndra, because it is a case in which the government made a mistake, even if the mistake was made by a department other than the one Khanna worked for. He talks about "the lessons of Solyndra" but does not say much about what these lessons are. You shouldn't overinvest, but you already knew that.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read about America August 7, 2012

By Gregg Edwards

Format:Hardcover

Wow! I was very impressed with this book. Mr. Khanna explained some of the questions that I always had about our trade deficiencies with China and how we can strategically fight back and win. I had completely lost hope and now I realize that it is possible for America to manufacture the worlds goods not only in the near term but for our future of our nation. I have asked several of my friends who are in the business world to read this book. It is destined to become a cult classic similar to what became of Malcolm Gladwell's economic books. A must read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Piece of Work August 11, 2012

By VK

Format:Hardcover

This is a brilliant book that tells the stories of successful American manufacturers who, despite what is portrayed in the media, are beating the foreign competition. In eloquent yet straightforward prose, Ro Khanna explains the formula for successful American manufacturing. What he demonstrates is that it is the application of American ideals to the manufacturing world that drives innovation. The ability to innovate is rooted in a deliberative process that values the ideas and experiences of everyone involved and American companies are leading the way in maximizing the talent of all of their employees to provide the world's best products.

What Ro's book also demonstrates is the role the U.S. government can play in helping American companies overcome their foreign competition. While companies in China are not able to maximize innovation in the same way American companies can, the Chinese government spends billions of dollars trying to level the playing field. What Ro demonstrates brilliantly is that the U.S. government has a key role to play to make sure that American companies can keep pace. This book is an absolute must read. By telling the story of American manufacturers from the inside, the reader gains an appreciation for the great work going on in this country. By extrapolating policy prescriptions from the everyday experiences of American manufacturers themselves, the book offers a roadmap for American policymaking to come up with targeted and effective policies that will ensure that these great American companies get the government support they so clearly merit.