Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading for several audiences., August 4, 2001
Commentary, August, 2001. This is an important book for several audiences. First, it should help entrepreneurs understand the skills and experience that are required to move from start up, or as the authors put it, from "initial growth," through "rapid growth," and finally into "continuous growth" phases. Thoughtful entrepreneurs will ask of themselves: "Do I have those shills - if not, what must I do to gain them? And, do I have what it takes to do so?" If they are truly honest with themselves, a good number will realize that it will take different individuals with different skills and experience to lead their creation through these phases, and act accordingly. The second group range from board directors, especially if venture capitalists are among them, and trusted personal advisors, especially if the entrepreneur does not have a true board comprised of some seasoned executives or consultants with requisite experience. These are the individuals who are in the best position to make these kind of judgments. Many years ago, I was in the office of the head of one of the more successful venture capital firms in Boston...let's call him Mr. D. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss a possible collaboration with one of his ventures. As the discussion unfolded, it was clear that his attention was elsewhere, so I asked him if this was the case. He seemed relieved, and emotionally stated that he had just concluded a phone conversation with the outside directors of a promising venture in which he was the lead investor. The venture, with annual revenues over $20 million, was pioneering a new, important technological field. The outside directors were aware of the leadership problems, and were not surprised that Mr. D. was recommending the removal of the founder and his replacement an individual Mr. D. believed had the skills, experience, and desire to lead the company well into the rapid growth phase profitably. This was in spite of Mr. D's several frank one-on-one discussions with the firm's founder that revolved around his bringing in a new CEO, thereby permitting the founder to concentrate on the R&D efforts that were so essential for success. The founder refused to relinquish total control of his baby. The founder's loss represented a serious setback for the investors, but one if not taken put the venture at extreme risk. It took several years before the company got back on its rapid growth phase while retaining its leadership position in its markets. Would the entrepreneur have acted differently if he had read Catlin & Matthews' book with its real life examples? I can't tell, but he might have accepted his new role...after all, it would have been in his own self-interest - he owned about 30% of the stock. Another example. I was on the board of a company facing the same kind of problem. The company had grown from $800,000 in revenues to somewhat over $5 million in 15 months. The CEO confided in me that the joy of building his creation was being displaced by too many operating details. First he brought in a solid COO, but soon thereafter asked us the board to find his replacement. He gave us enough time to do this as we worked out ways we could collaborate with him in the near future. Similar stories repeated time and time again. Catlin & Matthews offer constructive advise to help entrepreneurs make it through their growth phases - or to counsel them to face reality. Bravo, Katherine and Jana; may your book gain widespread use. Catlin & Matthews at least spell out for entrepreneurs the nature of the game they are in. To ignore their advice seems, to me, to be foolhardy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Superb Look at the Changing Demands on the CEO, June 28, 2001
Summary: Almost everyone has an idea at some point in their lives for a great new company. Of those who go forward with those ideas, few actually get to stick around to enjoy all of the benefits of the eventual success. The reason is that many such founder CEOs remain stuck in the roles and habits that were essential to getting off to a good start. Those habits in turn become the limitations that keep the enterprise from growing. This book is an invaluable resource for CEOs who want to understand how they need to grow with the job. The book would have been greatly improved by including a focus on how the top management team needs to change its roles and focus as well. Without that detailed level of perspective, CEOs will still stumble with this information. Review: "But the sad reality is that relatively few members of this wave of entrepreneurs will still be in charge when the companies they founded break through to super success." "The mission of Learning at the Speed of Growth is to enable many more entrepreneurs to be great leaders of growth companies." The book's title is an outstanding one for its subject. The CEO's ability to learn is a key key limit to a company's success. When an improved product or service ignites rapid growth, it is typical for the growth to exceed that of the CEO's ability to learn. The board eventually finds a replacement who already has those lessons under her or his belt. While no book can teach you everything you need to know, you can use this book as a road map to tell you where you need to go next. "The irony of entrepreneurial ledership is that the very behaviors and habit patterns that lead to success at one stage of growth contribute to failure in the next stage." Keep that lesson in mind. It's the important take-away from this book. In the start-up phase, the CEO is both a doer and a decision-maker. In the initial growth phase, the CEO's best roles are as delegator and direction setter. If the CEO tries to keep doing all the key roles, the CEO becomes a stall who delays everything. In the rapid growth phase, the CEO's best roles are as team builder, coach, planner, and communicator. That's the stage where many CEO's don't have the experience to leap the talent chasm within themselves. Think of Chuck Scwab as a good role model here. In the continuous growth phase, the CEO should be a change catalyst, organization builder, promoter of innovation, and chief of culture. Think of Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines in that last role. The book also addresses what the company's focus should be. During start-up, it's developing new products and services. During initial growth, it's driving sales forward. In rapid growth, it is leading the market. And in continuous growth it is dominating the industry. Those who have followed Geoffrey Moore's work will recognize a similarity to the stages he describes in Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado. The material in the book is greatly improved by sections called "red flags" where warning signs of the need to change are identified. I found the book to be limited in not providing enough guidance about the roles of the rest of the top management team during these transitions. The work of Adizes on that subject is a good complement to the material in this fine book. CEOs would do well to find coaches to help them with these transitions if the shifts call for roles for which they have no experience. Those who wish to be CEOs of start-ups would be helped by organizing their careers to get these experiences before becoming a CEO. A take-away from this book is to think about all of the roles in which you have to change in your life. For example, as a parent, you are initially a loving adult and caregiver for babies. But when you children are 25, they need something different. You need to make those transitions along the way, or you lose the connection to their most urgent emotional, psychological, and physical needs. Learn the art of improvisation . . . so that you can play any role on a moment's notice!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
High growth companies often evolve faster than their leaders, June 11, 2001
How many founding entrepreneurs are still in the CEO role at the IPO and beyond? If you look at those that are backed by professional investors, you'll see that the vast majority of companies reaching the public market are without their founding entrepreneur at the helm by IPO time.Leaders looking to build a company to last, and plan on being around to see it, will want to buy this book to help in their own understanding of the stages of company growth that are clearly profiled from the insights and quotes of real life entrepreneurs. More than just understanding stages that a high growth company goes through, it is the recognition of where one's own state of leadership maturity is that may make the difference between your personal growth or being forced to pass the mantle of your company's leadership to a "professional manager." I found the stages for both company and leadership growth to be dead on in recounting what has been a ten year journey for me - as well as consistent with what I see in the high growth venture backed companies that comprise my customer base. Even with several aspects of those stages behind me, I find the book to present a useful framework that helped prompt healthy discussion within our management team to stimulate further change. Martin Babinec CEO, TriNet Group, Inc.
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