Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big: Bo Burlingham
From Publishers Weekly
What do the Anchor Stream microbrewery and underground rock star Ani DiFranco have in common? The two are among Burlingham’s examples of privately held businesses that have become “giants” in their field without becoming huge corporations. (And if you don’t think being a rock star is a business, consider that DiFranco’s dealings with local vendors in her Buffalo neighborhood have led to the creation of more than 100 new jobs.) For the 14 small companies profiled here, success comes by getting richer, not by getting bigger. Burlingham’s central conceit, that these are companies that excel in generating “mojo,” may seem abstract at first, but he carefully demystifies the term by focusing on issues like community relations and customer service. The owners he interviews speak from hard-won experience about resisting the pressure to simply keep expanding or sell the company to the highest bidder and staying true to their original visions for excellence. Burlingham, an editor-at-large at Inc., closes his account with a tribute to the magazine’s late founder, Bernard A. Goldhirsh, whose celebration of entrepreneurship and loose managerial style clearly provided a lasting influence. (Jan.)
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Review
Bo Burlingham’s done for private companies what Jim Collins did for public companies in Good to Great. — Steve Pearlstein, The Washington Post
For all you harried entrepreneurs out there, Bo Burlingham has a reassuring message: Relax. Bigger isn’t necessarily better. The wonderful stories in Small Giants show you how to prosper by retaining the vision of excellence that got you into business in the first place. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of Confidence
It aims to do for small private companies what In Search of Excellence did two decades ago for big public companies: shine a light on a handful of business practices the author admires, and which he believes are the reason some companies consistently do better than others. — Joseph Nocera, The New York Times
Small Giants is one of the most relevant and articulate arguments for staying bold and creative, intimate and manageable as I have ever read. I guarantee that expression and the arguments for staying small will cause a collective sigh of relief from thousands of entrepreneurs. — Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop
The fourteen companies that Bo Burlingham… features in his new book Small Giants demonstrate conclusively that a company can resist the temptation to keep getting bigger and bigger—and wind up better for it. — Cecil Johnson, The Fort Worth Star- Telegram
This well-written book should inspire thousands of entrepreneurs to reject a mantra of growth for growth’s sake in favor of a passionate dedication to becoming the absolute best. Bo Burlingham reminds us of a vital truth: big does not equal great, and great does not equal big. — Jim Collins, author of Good to Great
With new management books arriving by the boatload, Bo Burlingham has somehow managed the near impossible—he’s given us a true original. Moreover, in the process he may have ‘discovered’ the most interesting and under-reported corner of the U.S. economy. In short, Small Giants is a Large Masterpiece. Bo’s reporting is stupendous, and his writing and storytelling skills make the book equal parts fun and profound. — Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence
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