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Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry

AUTHOR: Michael Dell, Catherine Fredman
ISBN: 0887309151
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Editorial Review

Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry
- Book Review, by Michael Dell, Catherine Fredman

Amazon.com
The PC business is full of rags-to-riches stories. But perhaps none is as dramatic as the rise of Dell Computer. In Direct from Dell, founder and CEO Michael Dell tells how he started his company from a dorm room at the University of Texas with less than $1,000 and built it into an industry powerhouse with a market capitalization of well over $100 billion. What makes Dell Computer unique is not what it sells, but rather how it sells it. Dell was first in the PC industry to pioneer the direct-selling model, a method that competitors such as Compaq and Apple Computer are only now starting to embrace. By cutting out the intermediary and creating a direct link between manufacturer and customer, Dell was able to provide customers with computers that cost less and that were more apt to meet customer needs.

Direct from Dell is organized into two parts. The first recounts the history and the enormous growth of Dell Computer. The second part focuses on Dell's management approach, from developing customer focus to creating alliances with suppliers. The book manages to avoid most of the promotional and self-congratulatory air that seem to plague so many first-person CEO tomes. Anyone who has followed the PC industry or would like insight into Dell Computer's success should enjoy reading this book. Well written and easy to read. Recommended.

From Publishers Weekly
The results are impressive: a 19 year-old with $1000 starts a company, remains at the helm and on top of changes in the industry for 10 years, and watches the stock rise 36,000% over another decade as his company becomes the second largest maker of PCs in the world, and the largest in the U.S. The founder of the Dell Computer Corporation uses anecdotes from his entrepreneurial life and his company's history to illustrate the "direct model" he developed to do itAone that eliminates the middleman via a host of direct-marketing media and incorporates a full-blown philosophy of doing business. While most of that philosophy's components are familiar (internally, "Reward Success by Narrowing Responsibility"; externally, "Teach Innovative Thinking"; "Retail: First in, First out"; "Hyperlink to the Future"), seeing how Dell put these theories into practice will sustain a reader's interest. Rightly, the custom-built and directly shipped computers that are the company's signature product get the most airtime. While the book, like nearly all in its CEO-authored subgenre, is heavy on self-congratulatory propaganda ("The spirit of the company that remains today was beginning to take hold"), Dell makes an agreeable maverick. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The chair and CEO of Dell, the world's largest direct computer company, explains his success.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Dell Computer is perhaps the purest example of the efficiencies made possible by information technology."

"Virtual integration.may well become a new organizational model for the information age."

"Dell Computer is perhaps the purest example of the efficiencies made possible by information technology."

"His book provides the insight into his drive for improvement, his business logic and the learning from his mistakes..."

"Dell's story is the stuff high-tech legends are made of."

"Virtual integration.may well become a new organizational model for the information age."

"Dell, the company, seems to have been born and evolved with an anticipation of the Internet age. Michael Dell walks us through how he turned his prescience into a powerful reality--and an outstanding example of the companies of the future."

"Virtual integration.may well become a new organizational model for the information age."

"I've long admired Dell's pioneering use of the World Wide Web. In Direct from Dell, you'll find strategies for using the Web to enhance your sales and empower information throughout your business. If you want to capitalize on cyberspace, you should read this book."

"Michael Dell has become the poster boy of the new economy..The closest person we have to Henry Ford is Michael Dell."

"Michael Dell is clearly a genius in the computer world, but his revolutionary insights into business processes provide invaluable lessons for many other industries as well."

Book Description
In 1983, Michael Dell, a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, drove away from his parents' Houston home in a BMW he'd bought selling subscriptions to his hometown newspaper. In the backseat were three personal computers. Today, he is the chairman and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation, a $30 billion company and the second largest manufacturer and marketer of computers in the world.Founded on a deceptively simple premise-to deliver high-performance computer systems directly to the end user-Dell Computer is the envy of its competition. It has consistently grown at two to three times the industry rate, its stock went up more than 90,000 percent in the last decade, and Dell is now selling more than $35 million worth of systems per day over In Direct from Dell, you will learn why it's better for any business starting out to have too little capital rather than too muchwhy your people pose a greater threat to the health of your business than your competitionhow you can exploit your competition's weakness by exposing its greatest strengthhow intergrating your business virtually can make the difference between being quick -and being deadand much more

Book Info
(HarperBusiness) Advice on starting a business from the chairman and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation. Tips include why having too little capital is better than too much, why employees pose a greater risk to a business than the competition, how integrating a business can make a difference, and more. Previous edition: c1998. Softcover. DLC: Dell Computer Corp.--History.

Card catalog description
Founded on a deceptively simple premise - to deliver high-performance computer systems directly to the end user - Dell Computer is the envy of its competition, consistently growing at five times the industry rate, and a perennial darling of Wall Street: its stock is up more than 36,000 percent this decade, and more than 200 percent in the last year alone. In Direct from Dell, Michael Dell himself tells the incredible story of Dell Computer's successful rise, beginning in his college dorm room with $1,000 in capital. Not just for CEOs or those in high tech, the strategies revealed in Direct from Dell are invaluable to managers in a broad cross section of industries. From starting a successful business to pioneering computer sales and service over the Internet, Dell shares his perspectives.

About the Author
At 19, Michael Dell began selling computers from his dorm room. Today he is chairman and CEO of Dell the world's largest direct computer company.

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Book Review

Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry
- Book Reviews, by Michael Dell, Catherine Fredman

Direct From Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
February 1999

He's allergic to inefficient hierarchies. He disdains inventory. He refuses to be limited by "conventional wisdom." Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation — the fastest-growing computer-systems company in the world — is living the American dream. How does Dell do it? Find out in Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry.

At 19, Michael Dell began selling computers from his college dorm room. At 33, the visionary CEO of Dell Computer is at the pinnacle of the entire PC industry. His highly anticipated first book, Direct from Dell, is a fascinating success story coupled with Dell's practical and innovative advice for doing business in the 21st century.

Dell reveals how he began his business career while still an undergraduate. Much to his parents' dismay, he soon left college, and by the day he would have graduated, he was already selling $70 million worth of computers each year. He recounts, with humor and candor, both his successes and failures — from a failed entry into the retail arena to the breakthrough triumph of selling directly to customers via the Web. Direct from Dell is both an engaging and refreshing account of how Dell became the youngest CEO to ever run a Fortune 500 company and a practical model for achieving success in today's rapidly changing business arena.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

By the visionary who founded Dell Computer Corporation — one of the most profitable and innovative companies in the world — Direct from Dell recounts the amazing story of Dell and the pioneer strategies that resulted in the company's phenomenal success.

At age 13, Michael Dell was a kid with a knack for taking apart the motherboard of his Apple II computer and a penchant to run a business. Today, only 20 years later, after becoming the youngest CEO in history to head a Fortune 500 company, he leads one of the most profitable and innovative companies in the world.

Direct from Dell tells the story of Dell Computer's successful rise, beginning with Michael Dell's vision for creating a low-cost, direct-sales model and chronicling the development of key competitive advantages that are the envy of Dell's competition: unrivaled speed to market; an unwavering dedication to customer service; a fierce commitment to producing consistently high-quality, low-priced, custom-made machines; and a shrewd exploitation of the Internet — strategies that have driven sales to an astronomical $13 billion, up from just $159 million 10 years ago.

Told by the man who revolutionized an industry, Direct from Dell is not just for CEOs or those working in the high-tech industry. It is an inspiring business story that epitomizes the American Dream — and provides a blueprint for doing business in the 21st century.

Dell stock — up more than 29,000% since 1990 and more than 200% in the last 12 months — has been the single biggest gainer among the S&P 500 this decade.

Michael Dell has been dubbed "the Jack Welch of a new generation" and compared to Henry Ford and Sam Walton for his "God-is in-the-details" vision.

Articles on Dell and Dell Computer appear regularly and widely in the business and mainstream press, including Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, BusinessWeek and USA Today.

Dell travels the world to keynote conferences and participates in leadership forums with the likes of Peter Drucker, Andy Grove, and Jack Welch. At 19, Michael Dell began selling computers from his dorm room. Much to his parents' dismay, he left college and, by the day he would have graduated, was selling $70 million worth of computers a year. Today, he is chairman and CEO of Dell, the world's largest direct computer company. Catherine Fredman collaborated with Andrew Grove, chairman of Intel, on his bestselling book, Only the Paranoid Survive.

SYNOPSIS

At 19, Michael Dell began selling computers from his college dorm room. At 33, the visionary CEO of Dell Computer is at the pinnacle of the entire PC industry. Read his highly anticipated first book, Direct from Dell, a fascinating American dream success story coupled with Dell's practical and innovative advice for doing business in the 21st century.

FROM THE CRITICS

Financial Times

Dell is a wonderful company which has transformed the industry in which it competes.

Fortune Magazine

Michael Dell has become the poster boy of the new economy...The closest person we have to Henry Ford is Michael Dell.

Forbes ASAP

Dell's story is the stuff high-tech legends are made of.

Fortune

Michael Dell has become the poster boy of the new economy. The closest person we have to Henry Ford is Michael Dell.

Forbes

Dell's story is the stuff high-tech legends are made of. Read all 18 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Occasionally, rarely, history is made when a gifted new leader, who has a vision of new processes and technologies, produces a brilliant new business model. Henry Ford did it in automobiles, Michael Dell has done the same in PC's—the parallels are remarkable. His book provides the insight into his drive for improvement, his business logic and the learning from his mistakes, so we can aspire to emulate his successes. — (Jacques A. Nasser, President and CEO, Ford Motor Company)

I've long admired Dell's pioneering use of the World Wide Web. In Direct From Dell, you'll find strategies for using the Web to enhance your sales and empower information throughout your business. If you want to capitalize on cyberspace, you should read this book. — (Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft)

Dell, the company, seems to have been born and evolved with an anticipation of the Internet age. Michael Dell walks us through how he turned his prescience into a powerful reality — and an outstanding example of the companies of the future. — (Andrew S. Grove, Chairman, Intel Corporation)

Idei Nobuyuki

Michael Dell's book illustrates the history of the company's success and vision for the future in a concise and powerful way. It is a great book that will serve as a reference to all executives, and we certainly have a lot to learn from it at Sony. — (Idei Nobuuki, CEO, Sonty Corporation)

Michael Dell is clearly a genius in the computer world, but his revolutionary insights into business processes provide invaluable lessons for many other industries as well. — (Fredrick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO, Federal Express Corporation)

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