Billion Dollar Lessons » Praise

Another Best of 2008 award — This time from CIO Insight

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:38:08 +0000

CIO Insight Magazine named Billion-Dollar Lessons one of the top 10 business-tech books of 2008.

This award follows similar recognition from several other prestigious publications. The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, named Billion-Dollar Lessons the #1 business book of 2008. Inc. Magazine named it one of the best books for business owners in 2008.

Inc. Magazine: Best Books for Business Owners

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:56:37 +0000

Inc. Magazine names Billion Dollar Lessons one of the best books for business owners in 2008.

“Success is inspirational; disaster is educational. Billion Dollar Lessons offers an exhaustive curriculum on how not to run a company. This is a great book for decision-makers anxious to eliminate their own vulnerabilities.”

View Inc. Magazine’s Best Books for Business Owners, 2008 slide show.

The Globe and Mail: “Billion-Dollar Lessons” is Best Business Book of 2008

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:26:31 +0000

Billion-Dollar Lessons has been named the best business book of 2008 in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper!

Best of the best: intelligent, clear, filled with advice

HARVEY SCHACHTER
Special to The Globe and Mail; harvey@harveyschachter.com
December 17, 2008

[...]

#1 — Billion Dollar Lessons

by Paul Carroll and and Chunka Mui (Portfolio)

The authors’ study of colossal business failure found that strategy was invariably the cause. They pinpoint seven popular strategies that can lead a company off the rails: Foolhardy pursuit of synergy, financial engineering, rollups of mom and pop operations, steadfastly refusing to switch from a misguided course, moving into an adjacent market, riding the wrong new technology, and consolidation. The list is a catalogue of strategies that companies are routinely urged to follow and that can work – but also can lead to disaster. The authors provide sobering examples of failed companies as well as tough questions to ask when considering any of these strategies.

Read the full article:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081217.CABOOKS17/TPStory/Business

Newsweek

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:03:05 +0000

"Indeed, even though it has gone on sale amid a string of business failures so colossal as to make the 750 corporate flameouts the authors study look trivial, Wall Street's implosion actually bolsters their finding that bad strategy, not flawed execution or bad luck, causes most business disasters." Link to full review here.

Time Magazine

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:58:03 +0000

“They make a persuasive case that it is only by studying the (costly) mistakes that other businesses have made that executives and investors can steer clear of disaster.”

Link to the full review.

The Wall Street Journal

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:00:28 +0000

"Billion-Dollar Lessons is an insightful and crisply written book, one that offers wisely chosen and well- narrated case studies but also good advice, such as urging companies to appoint an in-house "devil's advocate" to challenge the unhealthy unanimity that accompanies many major decisions." Link to full review.

Miami Herald

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:09:23 +0000

“Billion-Dollar Lessons is a good collection of cautionary tales and a worthwhile repository of wisdom that might help companies avoid the fate of those chronicled within.”

Link to full review.

Inc. Magazine

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:51:29 +0000

“The big idea: This litany of bankruptcy, humiliation, and obsolescence suggests that corporate debacles are 1 percent perspiration and 99 percent really dumb inspiration. Although executives blame failed strategies on bad luck or poor execution, the authors write, most are doomed by flawed assumptions at the inception: about complexity of integration, achievable economies of scale, purchasing power, and appeal to customers. The lesson? Companies must build rigorous tire kicking into their decision making — that is, if they ever brave another major decision after reading this book.”

Link to full review here.

Guy Kawasaki, co-founder of Alltop and author of “The Art of the Start”

Chunka Mui — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:00:00 +0000

“Why pay a billion when you can read this book for only $25.95? The sad thing is that the companies and people who need this advice the most are the least likely to read it. Don’t be a bozo like them. You can pay now or your shareholders can pay later.”

Phil Fasano, Chief Information Officer, Kaiser Permanente

Chunka Mui — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:57:55 +0000

“A fabulous look into the world of executive decision making. We openly celebrate our success but rarely discuss failures. Anyone who makes business decisions will benefit from the authors’ perspectives.”