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New Ideas from Dead CEOs: Lasting Lessons from the Corner Office
New Ideas from Dead CEOs uncovers the secrets of success of great CEOs by giving readers an intimate look at their professional and personal lives. Why did Ray Kroc's plan for McDonald's thrive when many burger joints failed? And how, decades later, did Krispy Kreme fail to heed Kroc's hard-won lessons? How did Walt Disney's most dismal day as a young cartoonist radically change his career? When Estée Lauder was a child in Queens, New York, the average American spent $8 a year on toiletries. Why did she spot an opportunity in selling high-priced cosmetics, and why did she pound on Saks's doors? How did Thomas Watson Jr. decide to roll the dice and put all of IBM's chips on computing, when his father thought it could be a losing idea? We learn about these CEOs' greatest challenges and failures, and how they successfully rode the waves of demographic and technological change. New Ideas from Dead CEOs not only gives us fascinating insights into these CEOs' lives, but also shows how we can apply their ideas to the present-day triumphs and struggles of Sony, Dell, Costco, Carnival Cruises, Time Warner, and numerous other companies trying to figure out how to stay on top or climb back up. The featured CEOs in this book were not candidates for sainthood. Many of them knew "god" only as a prefix to "dammit." But they were devoted to their businesses, not just to their egos and their personal bank accounts and yachts. Extraordinarily fresh and deeply thoughtful, Todd G. Buchholz's New Ideas from Dead CEOs is a truly enjoyable and fun—yet serious and realistic—look at what we still have to learn and absorb from these decomposing CEOs.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 22, 2007
19 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
Todd G. Buchholz
15 books23 followersA well-known American economist and a former senior economic advisor at the White House, Buchholz holds advanced degrees from Cambridge University and Harvard, where he won the Allyn Young Teaching Prize. Buchholz is known for being on the short list for Federal Reserve considerations in 2006. He frequently writes for newspapers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to appearing as a commentator on NBC, CNBC, Fox News, and PBS. His books have been translated into over 15 languages.
Buchholz resides primarily in San Diego, California, but travels around the world speaking to various companies, including Microsoft and Citibank, about the worldwide economic issues. Buchholz is involved in several business, real estate, and design companies, including Wetamorph and the Two Oceans Fund. He is one of the founding producers of Jersey Boys.
Buchholz resides primarily in San Diego, California, but travels around the world speaking to various companies, including Microsoft and Citibank, about the worldwide economic issues. Buchholz is involved in several business, real estate, and design companies, including Wetamorph and the Two Oceans Fund. He is one of the founding producers of Jersey Boys.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 5, 2018
An exceptional book that I've read now for the second time. Read about the founder of the Bank of America (though he didn't know it at the time...he was just a poor immigrant starting to do well who went down to the docks to loan money to other Italian newcomers. He went to the people in a time where people - only rich ones - went to the banks, and never the other way round). Meet Mary Kay, who pulled herself from near-poverty by developing affordable skin care products. Or Estee Lauder, who wanted to sell to the rich (but wasn't rich herself). Or Thomas Watson who founded IBM, Sam Walton (Walmart) or Ray Kroc of McDonalds. You may not hold the latter two companies in high regard, but you may respect them more if you read the biographies of their founders.
These are very interesting stories to read, and this book is very engaging. Boring it is NOT!
These are very interesting stories to read, and this book is very engaging. Boring it is NOT!
August 5, 2012
This book is really inspiring in fact that the author took a few great example from the really successful CEOs, like: IBM, Wal-Mart, McDonal's, Diney, Sony and....just to name few.
One thing in common among all these CEOs apart from being dead, they went through the period of World War II, (some even World War I) the great US economic depression. Faced huge challenged in their early part in life and turn crisis into opportunity and making history.
Read it for yourself.....
One thing in common among all these CEOs apart from being dead, they went through the period of World War II, (some even World War I) the great US economic depression. Faced huge challenged in their early part in life and turn crisis into opportunity and making history.
Read it for yourself.....
July 16, 2018
This is not a book that you should be reading at one continuous stretch. It’s best you dip into it here and there or read a chapter at a time. Good preparation for trivia but there are points where an overload of asides and fun facts tire your brain out. The chapter on Bank of America is definitely the most obscure and interesting, the rest are strictly middling.
October 19, 2017
There is something about this book that I really don't like. The writing is annoying and the writer jumps from topic to topic without any transitions. For example, in the chapter about IBM, he threw in a quick paragraph about Dell, which had nothing to do with the moral of the IBM story. The real key takeaway from this book was to not be afraid to think differently than your competition. I appreciated the inclusion of two female CEOs, but together they received ~25 pages, when each individual male received at least that, and more. The males didn't do anything more warranting those extra pages, he just included many more anecdotes from their lives and included whole sections dedicated to other businesses who either did or did not learn from the CEO profiled. The author also offended me several times. First with the multiple use of the word "niggardly" to describe miserly investors. Then, he attempts to use Fred and Ginger as a metaphor for a synergistic meeting of minds which completely fell flat, and was offensive ("They say Fred gave Ginger class and Ginger gave Fred sex"). Overall, not one I would recommend unless you are just interested in learning how some companies started, which did hold my interest enough to read it until the end and give it 2 stars.
November 30, 2024
I had to read this book for my college economics class. Overall, it was one of the better books I've been required to read. It was relatively easy to understand, & there were some chapters I found interesting, like the ones about Sony & Disney.
However, I would not recommend trying to read this book at one time. The chapters are roughly 30-40 pages each & often go off on random side tracks that don't feel necessary. After a while, it starts to feel mind-numbing.
However, I would not recommend trying to read this book at one time. The chapters are roughly 30-40 pages each & often go off on random side tracks that don't feel necessary. After a while, it starts to feel mind-numbing.
October 28, 2017
Interesting concept.
Writing is a little slow.
Writing is a little slow.
February 26, 2018
A good, quick, interesting read.
June 8, 2019
Good, but not as good as New Ideas from Dead Economists.
September 23, 2019
Inspirational book.
December 7, 2021
inspiring stories compiled in a book only!
April 3, 2022
inspiring stories and i'm loving it sm
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November 29, 2024
informative
This book does a great job communicating the stories of CEOs that worked so hard and were able to show the importance of dedication
This book does a great job communicating the stories of CEOs that worked so hard and were able to show the importance of dedication
September 29, 2007
Plutarch wrote his paired biographies of eminent Romans and Greeks to inspire and teach, after realising that retelling a person's life can make for more effective moral instruction than abstract philosophizing. Buchholtz, I presume, is going for a similar approach here with 9 vignettes of individuals who built what are now some of the world's largest corporations.
His style is annoyingly ditty and American at times, especially at the end of chapters when he lauds his subjects' perseverance and entrepreneurism in attempts to inspire his readers. Otherwise, the book is well-written, witty and entertaining. Besides a straight serving of how, for example, of how IBM, Bank of America or Sony came into being, its also contains sharp, frank comments on contemporary businesses from Buccholtz, former economic policy advisor to the first Bush Administration and now a hedge fund manager. And, as most of the corporations he discusses were built in early to middle parts of the 20th Century, its a great snapshot of the period's social history.
Buccholtz appears less interested in the companies than the individual, or perhaps, in dealing with the companies' early life, he cannot avoid describing how their founders' personal histories and social contexts fundamentally shaped their strategies. The results are excellent sketches, sufficient in themselves, though a more scientific reader will want better detail.
Nothing remains but to describe a couple favorites. I'm unfortunately less interested in how Mary Kay and Estee Lauder built up their respective cosmetic giants (using very different approaches) and far more interested in how David Sarnoff, an impoverished Russian Jewish immigrant, not even in his teens when he landed in New York, gave millions of Americans access to broadcast radio and color television. That was RCA (Radio Corporation of America). Fascinatingly, Buccholtz also writes that in preperation for the Allied Forces conclusive attack on Germany in WWII, Eisenhower called upon Sarnoff to design and equip the American, British and French forces with a communications system in order to coordinate their activities. His radio experience was critical to helping the Allied defeat the Nazis.
Or, how Italian A.P.Giannini became the first banker to extend credit to the common man, building what became the Bank of America. At the time, financials like JP Morgan reserved banking services only for top-hat-and-coat clad hoighty toighty. Even today, compared to rival giant Citigroup, BOA is known for its strong domestic US base, and Citi for its extensive international presence.
The histories of Sony, IBM and Wal-Mart are perhaps better known, but still interesting, especially to lay readers.
His style is annoyingly ditty and American at times, especially at the end of chapters when he lauds his subjects' perseverance and entrepreneurism in attempts to inspire his readers. Otherwise, the book is well-written, witty and entertaining. Besides a straight serving of how, for example, of how IBM, Bank of America or Sony came into being, its also contains sharp, frank comments on contemporary businesses from Buccholtz, former economic policy advisor to the first Bush Administration and now a hedge fund manager. And, as most of the corporations he discusses were built in early to middle parts of the 20th Century, its a great snapshot of the period's social history.
Buccholtz appears less interested in the companies than the individual, or perhaps, in dealing with the companies' early life, he cannot avoid describing how their founders' personal histories and social contexts fundamentally shaped their strategies. The results are excellent sketches, sufficient in themselves, though a more scientific reader will want better detail.
Nothing remains but to describe a couple favorites. I'm unfortunately less interested in how Mary Kay and Estee Lauder built up their respective cosmetic giants (using very different approaches) and far more interested in how David Sarnoff, an impoverished Russian Jewish immigrant, not even in his teens when he landed in New York, gave millions of Americans access to broadcast radio and color television. That was RCA (Radio Corporation of America). Fascinatingly, Buccholtz also writes that in preperation for the Allied Forces conclusive attack on Germany in WWII, Eisenhower called upon Sarnoff to design and equip the American, British and French forces with a communications system in order to coordinate their activities. His radio experience was critical to helping the Allied defeat the Nazis.
Or, how Italian A.P.Giannini became the first banker to extend credit to the common man, building what became the Bank of America. At the time, financials like JP Morgan reserved banking services only for top-hat-and-coat clad hoighty toighty. Even today, compared to rival giant Citigroup, BOA is known for its strong domestic US base, and Citi for its extensive international presence.
The histories of Sony, IBM and Wal-Mart are perhaps better known, but still interesting, especially to lay readers.
July 27, 2008
New Ideas from Dead CEOs: Lasting Lessons from the Corner Office
Todd Buchholz
Collins
The ideas on which Todd Buchholz focuses in this book were obviously “new” at one time but have by now become widely-adopted core concepts for achieving and then sustaining success in business. For example, almost all of the ideas about salesmanship that Thomas J. Watson, Sr. institutionalized so effectively at IBM and his son Thomas Jr. then refined were developed years earlier at National Cash Register when CEO John Patterson noted that his brother was outselling everyone else, examined how he achieved it, and established what is reputed to be the first corporate sales training program (in 1893) based on his brother’s sales strategies and tactics. It is worth noting that Watson Sr. worked for IBM for several years and later acknowledged the value of what he learned about salesmanship from its branch manager in Buffalo, John J. Range.
A.P. Giannini “invented modern banking” by establishing and then building his Bank of Italy (that eventually became Bank of America) with a customer base of “the little people” (e.g. immigrants) and small businesses ignored by other banks. It is also true of Estée Lauder who “recognized that by placing herself among the ‘power elites,’ to borrow C. Wright Mills’ phrase, she could more easily market her cosmetics to the strata just below them.”
Buchholz also has much of value to say about the lives and careers of Mary Kay Ash, Ray Kroc, Akio Morita, Walt Disney, and Sam Walton. With regard to Disney, as a boy he lived with his family on a small farm near Marceline, Missouri, for only a few years but later immortalized it as Main Street, USA, an especially popular area that welcomes visitors to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. “In fact, along Main Street, Walt honored his father with a fictitious second-story shop, featuring the following window sign: Elias Disney – contractor – est. 1895.”Some of the anecdotes Buchholz shares about them and the other CEOs are well-known, some less so. However, in combination with a wealth of carefully selected historical material, they help to reveal the CEOs’ “passion, and obsession with turning a great idea into a sweeping revolution.”
Todd Buchholz
Collins
The ideas on which Todd Buchholz focuses in this book were obviously “new” at one time but have by now become widely-adopted core concepts for achieving and then sustaining success in business. For example, almost all of the ideas about salesmanship that Thomas J. Watson, Sr. institutionalized so effectively at IBM and his son Thomas Jr. then refined were developed years earlier at National Cash Register when CEO John Patterson noted that his brother was outselling everyone else, examined how he achieved it, and established what is reputed to be the first corporate sales training program (in 1893) based on his brother’s sales strategies and tactics. It is worth noting that Watson Sr. worked for IBM for several years and later acknowledged the value of what he learned about salesmanship from its branch manager in Buffalo, John J. Range.
A.P. Giannini “invented modern banking” by establishing and then building his Bank of Italy (that eventually became Bank of America) with a customer base of “the little people” (e.g. immigrants) and small businesses ignored by other banks. It is also true of Estée Lauder who “recognized that by placing herself among the ‘power elites,’ to borrow C. Wright Mills’ phrase, she could more easily market her cosmetics to the strata just below them.”
Buchholz also has much of value to say about the lives and careers of Mary Kay Ash, Ray Kroc, Akio Morita, Walt Disney, and Sam Walton. With regard to Disney, as a boy he lived with his family on a small farm near Marceline, Missouri, for only a few years but later immortalized it as Main Street, USA, an especially popular area that welcomes visitors to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. “In fact, along Main Street, Walt honored his father with a fictitious second-story shop, featuring the following window sign: Elias Disney – contractor – est. 1895.”Some of the anecdotes Buchholz shares about them and the other CEOs are well-known, some less so. However, in combination with a wealth of carefully selected historical material, they help to reveal the CEOs’ “passion, and obsession with turning a great idea into a sweeping revolution.”
September 17, 2007
The book is a group of stories of CEOs that have lived in our century.
I like the book because I find biographies fun to read. Each chapter was a new story so it was fun to learn about people that I've either heard of but don't know much about or haven't heard of all like AP Gianini.
Read this book if you are looking for a brief history of people in the business world or your planning on playing Jeopardy soon.
I like the book because I find biographies fun to read. Each chapter was a new story so it was fun to learn about people that I've either heard of but don't know much about or haven't heard of all like AP Gianini.
Read this book if you are looking for a brief history of people in the business world or your planning on playing Jeopardy soon.
April 15, 2008
This book was an interesting and quick read. Buchholz cleverly interweaves the life stories of CEOs of well-know companies, such as Mary Kay, Estee Lauder, IBM, and Bank of America, with their drive, focus, and determination to create, build, and develop their companies. Buchholz also exposes lessons and business practices from these entrepreneurs that continue to influence and benefit corporations today.
August 9, 2008
Brief short snaps of what have made some of the most sucessful companies of recent times. The common theme was they all had someone believ in them at some point in there lives that they would be "someone". However not all were your typical highly educated, come from the right family types as well. It made me think if you put your mind to something and you make a calculated risk at the right time.
June 24, 2011
Great book. Fun to read and packed with real life lessons that can be used by the rest of us non-CEOs. Buchholz digs into the personal past as well as behind the scenes decisions that make up the story of each CEO. I read with fascination about each and every one of the 9 people that he has chosen to examine.
October 23, 2008
I spoke at a conference in Vail and Todd Buckholz was the keynote. This guy has a very interesting background and I have never had a lecture on global economics come across so simple and relate so well to the world today while still making me laugh. Great speaker...I bought the book on the spot.
August 13, 2012
I had to read this for college!! I liked it! It gives you a history lesson on many successful dead CEOs, each chapter is a different CEO. My Favorite Chapter was About Mary Kay & Estée Lauder!!
September 20, 2012
excellent!
March 26, 2013
Excellent book. A brilliant combination of business and biography.
September 19, 2014
I enjoyed the book and insights. Some of the stories I knew. Other stories were new and offered great perspective.
November 15, 2015
Stories about 10 successful, dead CEOs, Not too many helpful ideas, but a very fun read
May 29, 2011
Good read. Some of it seemed strangely worded. The Ray Kroc chapter is a must-read.
May 25, 2016
Exciting capitalism success stories....
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews