Book Review: 1,000 Dollars & an Idea
Examiner.com
July 14, 2009
Unlike many other memoirs published by prominent CEOs that were probably ghost-written by someone else, this book seems to have been written by Sam Wyly who duly acknowledges dozens of people who were involved in his journey to success. As he explains, he wrote this book because, while "taking stock of his life," he was feeling "one overriding emotion: gratitude. The urge to tell my story hit me hard; more than just a distant hum on the background, it was a palpable force pulling at my concentration like a child tugging at your sleeve...I thought that my story, properly told, might inspire and help others, too. So the next day I started to write it." Here it is.
When discussing a period of several decades, Wyly minces no words when recalling several mistakes he made. What were the most important lessons he learned from them? Here are three, in his own words: "By 1966, I understood that wherever computers took us, it would not happen until computers could talk to one another quickly, efficiently, and cheaply. We were moving into a digital world and my instincts moved me to lead the charge." (Page 96) Note that this was 30 years before the emergence of the Web.
"To grow a business by acquisition, you need to do several things. First, you need to integrate quickly and smoothly. Second, you need to find a way to keep your new employees as passionate about their work as they were before you acquired their company. Third, you need to clarify your vision, which is central to the first and third things." (Pages 153-154) Over time, Wyly took the lead in negotiations as Sterling Software acquired 35 companies. Only one was hostile. "But that was the big one. Details are provided in the narrative that follows.
"You can't spend your time obsessed with what others say about you. The world was littered with garbage gossip long before there were bloggers. I guess the reason the `wild man' tag seems particularly funny in regards to Michaels is that, while we were aggressive as all get-out in expanding as fast as we could, Michaels is really a story of perseverance and patience...It's easy now to look at Michaels' more than 900 stores and think, `What a beautiful economic engine.' But it took us over twenty years." (Pages 198-199)
Thank you, Sam Wyly, for the pleasure of your company as you share the quality of your own journey to success. Hopefully many others, especially those now enrolled in schools or colleges, will be inspired by your example of self-creation. And hopefully they will soon realize, as did you when you were a 5'7" and 155 pound noseguard playing for Coach Raymond Richards on the Delhi football team, that almost all human limits are self-imposed.
