Customer Reviews

Gustavo Cisneros: The Pioneer

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Anyone interested in Latin America or global business and politics will find Pablo Bachelet's biography of Venezuelan billionaire Gustavo Cisneros fascinating reading. Bachelet, a Chilean journalist, provides an insider's view of Cisneros's remarkable career. The roots of that career were firmly planted in the initial successes of Gustavo's father Diego Cisneros, whose astute ability to anticipate market demands in Venezuela was inherited by his son and then developed on an international scale. Gustavo Cisneros is perhaps best known as the co-founder of the Spanish-language media company Univision, though his choices have included an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of business interests.

Despite the high stakes involved in what he does, there is a sense of highly intelligent playfulness about Cisneros's approach - a man who uses his heart and his (very good) instincts as much as his head in business. It's a creative, even visionary approach that has allowed him the flexibility to make some unexpected and highly profitable moves at the right moments and with the right partners. He's also a man with many good friends in high places and there are numerous photos of Cisneros with world-renowned celebrities, dignitaries and high rollers, as well as with his family. His wife Patricia Cisneros is a well-known and highly respected collector of Latin American art; the glimpses we get of her life in Gustavo Cisneros: Pioneer are intriguing. Together with Gustavo's brother Ricardo, Patricia and Gustavo founded the Fundacion Cisneros, which carries out their many philanthropic activities in education, culture, environment and health.

Although the very uniqueness of Gustavo Cisneros's life and approach to business make it impossible to replicate his success, there are so many valuable lessons here (diversification and vertical integration of businesses being paramount) that it should be required reading in MBA programs. But even for the rest of us it's an absorbing story with more surprises than a telenovela.

Before reading this book I had a rather vague idea of who Gustavo Cisneros was. I knew for instance that he was a prosperous Venezuelan enprepreneur who had also made good in the United States, and I had a faint recollection of the impact that his switch from Pepsi to Coke produced on the business community and beyond a few years ago. What I didn't know, and have now learnt, is that Cisneros is a truly innovative figure, who has developed a distinct and highly efficient style of doing businesses, and been involved in a number of impressive financial deals.

For those who are looking for details about Cisneros' private life, or the kind of gossipy chat that is common in many so-called "biographies" of modern capitalism's tycoons, this is clearly not their book. However, if any of you think it feasible to can extract lessons from the accomplishments and the mistakes of others, particularly in the business field, Pablo Bachelet's book will prove a mine of lessons to be learned.

The author, a Chilean journalist especializing on economic issues -and now working for the Reuters news agency in Washington, D.C.- has done his research, and written a lively and at times fascinating book, that takes us from Cisneros' first steps as an avid learner in his father's footsteps, through the key stages of his business career, culminating with an overview of his most recent initiatives. Bachelet goes deep into some of the pivotal moves in Cisneros' career, including his decision to internationalise his businesses, his entry into the U.S. market, the purshase of Spalding & Evenflo, his incursions in Europe, and his visionary ventures in Univision, DirecTV, AOL Latin America -among several others.

The book is copiously illustrated with photographs that show Cisneros in an eclectic company, with friends ranging from former U.S, Presidents Reagan, Carter, Bush and Clinton, to current President George W. Bush, and including Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger and Margaret Thatcher.

Bachelet insists that there is no single or secret formula that explains Cisneros' achievements, but he points out that a wide and deep pool of contacts extended all over the world, as well as a dedicated concern to cultivate those friendships, go a long way toward explaining Cisneros' remarkable performance as a global entrepreneur.

In sum, I would recommend this book to anybody interested in the study of the attitudes and skills that promote -but can never guarantee- success in business.

This is a must for any Managing Director that wants to take his business to a totally different level - locally or internationally !!!

Every chapter brings light to whole new scenarios to any business !!!

The book has a lot of tips how to approach opportunities and how to exit from them ( if necessary !!!)

Although along the lines you can taste the business experience and how Mr Cisneros and his team has continuesly grown their empire, the english translator might has lost some key elements that are not evident to a outsider of Venezuela. Some minor mistakes were found but I am sure future reviews should take care of them.

Probably due to time and other factors, details of certain marketing strategies and negotiations were missing so the reader could not taste fully that particular flavour, however, I already have enough ammunition and few new ideas.

This book should also be a must in any MBA program.

This book offers a business profile of Gustavo Cisneros, and a detailed description of his ongoing career as an entrepreneur. It develops along three main lines: First, the book tells the story of the growth of Cisneros' web of business concerns on a global scale, and the transformation of what originally was a Venezuelan-based organization into a much bigger corporate structure. In second place the book discusses what may be called Cisneros' business philosophy, his singular way of doing business, the principal elements of his corporate vision, and his willingness to take calculated risks. Finally the author, Chilean journalist Bablo Bachelet, explores Cisneros' wide-ranging educational and cultural activities, and his notion of corporate social responsibility.

The book begins with a summary account of the origins of Cisneros'business empire and of his father's initial steps in Venezuela, then analyzes the complex and fascinating process that led to the Cisneros organization's international expansion. It discusses some of the key business deals achieved by Cisneros over a period of three decades, highlighting the cases of Spalding & Evenflo, DirectTV, the alliance with Coke, AOL Latin America, and Univision.

Of no less interest are the sections describing Cisneros' activities as an art collector and as a member of the boards of Universities, Museums, and other institutions in the United States, his philantropic concerns, the significant educational programs promoted by the Cisneros Foundation in Latin America, and his --and his wife's-- involvement in projects designed to preserve the cultural legacy of native communities in South America. Bachelet's work ends with a long epilogue, updating Cisneros' business trajectory and especulating about the future direction of his efforts.I found the book well-written and attention-catching, and I feel it will be of great interest to those who think lessons can be learned from what others have done.

This person is allied with the dictador chavez. He is a traidor of Venezuela.He ows the TV channel called Venevision and when the students are been attacked, hitted, fired , arrested by the police , Venevision does not inform that. For Venevision only exists the government point of view.This guy has sold his soul to chavez.