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

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Key Phrases: love program, turbulent adolescence, enterprise customers, Silicon Valley, Tom Mendoza, Future History (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Silicon Valley success story Hitz, co-founder of tech consulting company NetApp, takes readers through the three stages of a developing business in this "memoir of a company and of a man," with lessons. Hitz's well-organized chronology outlines the net start-up's 1990s childhood, dot-bust adolescence and triumphant adulthood, centered around three easy-to-grasp themes: risk, growth and success, consecutively. Breezy and entertaining throughout, Hitz's text is also graced with efficient sidebars and a succinct, well-considered time-out capping each chapter. Chapters on his team's struggle to raise funds, find the right CEO for the job and go public are complemented by lessons from ancient Egyptians on data storage and NetApp president Tom Mendoza on public speaking. Though there aren't any lessons here that can't be found in other books, Hitz's personal and professional story encompasses solid business values, common mistakes, a bit of insider lore and some decent outta-left-field jokes (says the engineer to the frog princess: "Who has time for a girlfriend? But a talking frog: that's really cool").
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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

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (January 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470345233
• ISBN-13: 978-0470345238
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,279 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Informative Management Book, January 11, 2009

By	David R. (Cary, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Management books, even those written (or mostly written) by industry luminaries, can offer informative looks into the exclusive world of the corporate executive. But they also tend to be very, very dry.

This book, of the other hand, is a funny and enlightening romp through the early days of a Silicon Valley startup written by one of the founders, but written in a light and clear fashion that even my parents would understand. In fact, I bought a copy for them too.

The book covers both the creation and evolution of a technology company as well as a brief outline of the author's life and influences that contributed to his development and growth as an entrepreneur and manager.

It is full of insightful and humorous tales of success and failure, both personal and professional, of the author and the company he founded. It is worth the price just to learn how his company got to be so successful, but the extras (including the funny sidebars and Interludes) make it worth so much more. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has always wished someone would make a management book fun to read. This is it!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are starting a company, read this book., January 19, 2009

By	John T. McArthur "CoFounder of Walden Technol... (Holliston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book, by NetApp's founder, Dave Hitz, provides direct, honest, thoughtful business advice, applicable to business founders and leaders throughout the growth cycle of a business. He puts special emphasis on hard choices and decision-making processes, with an understanding that comes from a life-time of risk taking. If you are a first time entrepreneur, read this book. If you are entering a growth phase for your company, read this book. If you failed at your first venture and want to understand why, read this book. And if you want a few good laughs, read this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Business Book for Everyone, January 30, 2009

By	R. Pearse (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I loved this book. Yes, it is a great summary of how one of Silicon Valley's more successful entrepreneurs `made it big'. But what sets this book apart from dozens of others like it is the openness, honesty and humor with which Dave Hitz shares the life lessons that put him on the track to success and taught him what success really means (hint: it is not just about the money and power).

This is the ideal `business book' for high school and college students who are just starting to think about what they want to do in life and how they want to measure their own personal success. My son, a high school senior, read the book and really related to Dave's sincere style of writing. Nothing pompous or ivory tower in this book! But he also liked how Dave, who is clearly a very successful business person, showed that success can be measured in many ways. This was a welcome alternative point of view for my child whose high school peers seem obsessed with measuring success only by grades and test scores.

Like other reviewers have noted, this is an ideal business book for the non-business person or soon to be business person. In today's world of win-at-any-cost, Dave's book provides an alternative view of what success is all about that is a welcome relief.

A must read for anyone starting off their business careers, rethinking their business careers, or just wanting a different view of the path to success in Silicon Valley.

Oh, and you just might learn a thing or two about data storage and management!