Foreword by Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell xi
Introduction xvii
Part 1 The Start-Up Playbook: How to Turn a Simple Idea into a High-Growth Company 1
Play #1: Allow Yourself Time to Recharge 1
Play #2: Have a Big Dream 3
Play #3:Believe in Yourself 5
Play #4: Trust a Select Few with Your Idea and Listen to Their Advice 7
Play #5: Pursue Top Talent as If Your Success Depended on It 8
Play #6: Sell Your Idea to Skeptics and Respond Calmly to Critics 9
Play #7: Define Your Values and Culture Up Front 11
Play #8: Work Only on What Is Important 12
Play #9: Listen to Your Prospective Customers 13
Play #10: Defy Convention 14
Play #11: Haveâ"and Listen toâ"a Trusted Mentor 14
Play #12: Hire the Best Players You Know 15
Play #13: Be Willing to Take a Riskâ"No Hedging 18
Play #14: Think Bigger 20
Part 2 The Marketing Playbook: How to Cut Through the Noise and Pitch the Bigger Picture 23
Play #15: Position Yourself 23
Play #16: Party with a Purpose 25
Play #17: Create a Persona 27
Play #18: Differentiate, Differentiate, Differentiate 28
Play #19: Make Every Employee a Key Player on the Marketing Team, and Ensure Everyone Is On Message 33
Play #20: Always, Always Go After Goliath 34
Play #21: Tactics Dictate Strategy 37
Play #22: Engage the Market Leader 39
Play #23: Reporters Are Writers; Tell Them a Story 40
Play #24: Cultivate Relationships with Select Journalists 41
Play #25: Make Your Own Metaphors 44
Play #26: No Sacred Cows 44
Part 3 The Events Playbook: How to Use Events to Build Buzz and Drive Business 47
Play #27: Feed the Word-of-Mouth Phenomenon 47
Play #28: Build Street Teams and Leverage Testimony 49
Play #29: Sell to the End User 52
Play #30: The Event Is the Message 54
Play #31: Reduce Costs and Increase Impact 57
Play #32: Always Stay in the Forefront 60
Play #33: The Truth About Competition (It Is Good for Everyone) 60
Play #34: Be Prepared for Every Scenario ... and Have Fun 61
Play #35: Seize Unlikely Opportunities to Stay Relevant 63 Play #36: Stay Scrappy ... but Not Too Scrappy 65
Part 4 The Sales Playbook: How to Energize Your Customers into a Million-Member Sales Team 67
Play #37: Give It Away 67
Play #38: Win First Customers by Treating Them Like Partners 69
Play #39: Let Your Web Site Be a Sales Rep 72
Play #40: Make Every Customer a Member of Your Sales Team 73
Play #41: Telesales Works (Even Though Everyone Thinks It Doesn't) 76
Play #42: Don't Dis Your First Product with a Discount 78
Play #43: Sales Is a Numbers Game 79
Play #44: Segment the Markets 80
Play #45: Leverage Times of Change 82
Play #46: Your Seeds Are Sown, so Grow, Grow, Grow 86
Play #47: Land and Expand 95
Play #48: Abandon Strategies That No Longer Serve You 96
Play #49: Old Customers Need Love 97
Play #50: Add It On and Add It Up 98
Play #51: Success Is the Number One Selling Feature 100
Part 5 The Technology Playbook: How to Develop Products Users Love 103
Play #52: Have the Courage to Pursue Your Innovationâ"Before It Is Obvious to the Market 103
Play #53: Invest in the Long Term with a Prototype That Sets a Strong Foundation 106
Play #54: Follow the Lead of Companies That Are Loved by Their Customers 107
Play #55: Don't Do It All Yourself; Reuse, Don't Rebuild 109
Play #56: Embrace Transparency and Build Trust 110
Play #57: Let Your Customers Drive Innovation 115
Play #58: Make It Easy for Customers to Adopt 119
Play #59: Transcend Technical Paradigms 120
Play #60: Provide a Marketplace for Solutions 125
Play #61: Harness Customers' Ideas 127
Play #62: Develop Communities of Collaboration (aka Love Everybody) 131
Play #63: Evolve by Intelligent Reaction 132
Part 6 The Corporate Philanthropy Playbook: How to Make Your Company About More Than Just the Bottom Line 135
Play #64: The Business of Business Is More Than Business 135
Play #65: Integrate Philanthropy from the Beginning 139
Play #66: Make Your Foundation Part of Your Business Model 140
Play #67: Choose a Cause That Makes Sense and Get Experts on Board 144
Play #68: Share the Model 146
Play #69: Build a Great Program by Listening to the Constituents 148
Play #70: Create a Self-Sustaining Model 153
Play #71: Share Your Most Valuable Resources â" Your Product and Your People 156
Play #72: Involve Your Partners, Your Vendors, Your Network 159
Play #73: Let Employees Inspire the Foundation 161
Play #74: Have Your Foundation Mimic Your Business 166
Part7 The Global Playbook" How to Launch Your Product and Introduce Your Model to New Markets 169
Play #75: Build Global Capabilities into Your Product 169
Play #76: Inject Local Leaders with Your Corporate DNA 170
Play #77: Choose Your Headquarters and Territories Wisely 172
Play #78: Box Above Your Weight 175
Play #79: Scale Without Overspending 176
Play #80: Understand Sequential Growth 177
Play #81: Uphold a One-Company Attitude Across Borders 178
Play #82: Follow Strategy, Not Opportunity 179
Play #83: Going Far? Take a Partner. Going Fast? Go Alone 180
Play #84: Fine-Tune Your International Strategy 182
Play #85: Send Missionaries to Build New Markets 186
Play #86: Handle Global Disputes with Diplomacy (aka Light and Love) 188
Play #87: Edit an Overarching Outlook 192
Play #88: Bring Old Tricks to New Regions 196
Play #89: Don't Use a "Seagull Approach;" the Secret to Global Success Is Commitment 198
Part8 The Finance Playbook: How to Raise Capital, Create a Return, and Never Sell Your Soul 201
Play #90: Don't Underestimate Your Financial Needs 201
Play #91: Consider Fundraising Strategies Other Than Venture Capital 203
Play #92: Use Internet Models to Reduce Start-Up Costs 206
Play #93: Set Yourself Up Properly from the Beginning, Then Allow Your Financial Model to Evolve 207
Play #94: Measure a Fast-Growing Company on Revenue, Not Profitability 208
Play #95: Build a First-Class Financial Team 209
Play #96: Be Innovative and Edgy in Everything You Doâ"Except When It Comes to Your Finances 210
Play #97: When It Comes to Compliance, Always Play by the Rules 215
Play #98: Focus on the Future 218
Play #99: Allow for Change as Your Company Grows 220
Part9 The Leadership Playbook: How to Create Alignmentâ"the Key to Organizational Success 225
Play #100: Use V2MOM to Focus Your Goals and Align Your Organization 225
Play #101: Use a Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approach 230
Play #102: Build a Recruiting Culture 233
Play #103: Recruiting Is Sales 236
Play #104: Keep Your Standards High as You Grow 239
Play #105: How to Retain Top Talent 242
Play #106: The Importance of Mahalo 244
Play #107: Foster Loyalty by Doing the Right Thing 246
Play #108: Challenge Your Best People with New Opportunities 247
Play #109: Solicit Employee Feedbackâ"and Act On It 249
Play #110: Leverage Everything 252
The Final Play 255
Play #111: Make Everyone Successful 255
Notes 261
Acknowledgments 265
About the Authors 269
Index 271
