InstructionsToMyOfficers.com

Book Background

I prepared this as a manual for the officers and troops of True. Its purpose is to set forth a frame of reference that will guide us in operations and decision-making.

As I was writing, it occurred to me that this work might prove of some value to my revolutionary entrepreneurial colleagues, as well as to academicians, researchers, and others interested in the practical application of business-school courses to actual operations. The book is arranged as follows:

PART 1 - Herb Stories

This section is a collection of my favorite parables. These parables reveal the fundamentals of good teamwork and leadership. They are, for the most part, fictional stories that I have told over the years to illustrate the importance of teamwork in building any organization. This section is particularly applicable to a business aiming for high growth.

Chapters 1 and 2 tell my favorite story: my encounter with The Dealer. The story illustrates that all human beings have special abilities that it is the job of the entrepreneur to identify and develop. The story further asserts that all people have a desire for purpose in their lives. The entrepreneur must provide a societal purpose to give his troops reason to come to work in the morning. Nothing can stop a person (or organization) who knows what they are trying to do and are determined to accomplish their mission.

Chapter 3 is a fictional story of my encounter with a professional race car driver. It illustrates the need for focus on the organization's immediate objective. It also points out the importance of planning.

Chapter 4 discusses the importance of taking responsibility.

Chapter 5 is a fictional account of my dream about a dead GI. The story illustrates that teamwork is a matter of life and death.

PART 2 - Entrepreneurial Strategy

This section classifies certain entrepreneurs as agents for social change. Starting with the wide-eyed idealist with a utopian dream, the section outlines a model that brings the dream into reality. In many respects, the entrepreneur is like the political revolutionary, violent or nonviolent. I have drawn from the pages of history to point to the common elements of most revolutions.

Chapter 6 outlines the three elements common in most manifestos: The Dissatisfaction, The Cause and The Goal. In The Manifesto, the revolutionary memorializes his purpose and the aims of his movement "for the entire world to see."

Chapter 7 sets forth how the revolutionary entrepreneur arrives at The Vision. It nearly always begins with a "Why" question. From the answer, the entrepreneur begins the evaluation phase and ultimately arrives at a "go or no-go" decision. The entrepreneur then starts from the future in which his utopian dream becomes a reality and proceeds backward to develop stages and phases through which the company must pass to arrive at his vision.

Chapter 8 is a statement of general Principles of Entrepreneurial Strategy. Adherence to these principles will help the entrepreneur avoid most of the pitfalls encountered by high growth companies.

Chapter 9 extracts The Principle of Audacity from the principles stated in Chapter 8 and examines it in detail. The effective use of audacity will establish the movement of the revolutionary entrepreneur as legitimate and accelerate its growth by multiples.

Chapter 10 sets forth guidance for leadership and examines The Inspiration that the revolutionary entrepreneur must provide to his troops. It proposes that winning or losing is a state of mind. If a football game went on into infinity, the winner and loser would be determined solely by this criterion: the team who didn't quit. Morale is the relative measure of the troops' devotion to The Cause stated in The Manifesto.

Chapter 11, The Political Paradigm states that the boundaries for business are set by politicians in the form of laws and regulations. Changing these boundaries will change the way business is conducted and, accordingly, change the market. The revolutionary entrepreneur needs to have input into the political paradigm in order to protect his customers, his troops and his company.

PART 3 - Nerd Shit

Business schools do a good job of teaching the detail of business. However, the schools do not know exactly how the student will ultimately employ the detail in the business world. Accordingly, many students leave school without a feel for a top-down view of business. This section is meant to bridge the gap from theory to practice. It assumes that the reader has at least the equivalent of a bachelors degree in business. If not, the reader will have to acquire knowledge in the basics of corporate finance before this section can be fully absorbed.

Chapter 12, The Financial Model of the company is the highest-level view of the business. The chapter presents a proven financial model through which the company can maximize shareholder value by manipulating different categories of revenue and expenses. Chapter 13 analyzes marketing expenditures and looks at marketing from the standpoint of firm valuation. The reader will learn the pitfalls of setting a fixed marketing budget, i.e., budgeting customer acquisition costs necessarily entails flexibility in order to exploit unexpected success and avoid waste.

Chapter 14 is the Paradigm for Change used to dynamically propel the company to excellence in the eyes of the boss (customer).

Chapter 15, Organize for Change presents the model to control the chaos necessarily present in high-growth companies. Employees must be free to innovate, which naturally leads to chaos. Organize for Change proposes that chaos be controlled by preparing dynamic organizational documents that can change daily.

Chapter 16, Financing Your Venture explores the reality that financing a new company is extremely difficult. Sorry to disappoint you, I know of no real way to finance a high-growth business except with venture capital, which can be extremely expensive. Accordingly, the revolutionary entrepreneur will have to create the business out of thin air. It is not ideal; however, with determination, he will ultimately prevail.

PART 4 - The Curator

The last chapter of the book, The Curator, is a fictional account of my encounter with a museum curator. In this story, I bare my all. It was a difficult chapter to write. It is, however, necessary to convey to a young entrepreneur a sense of "you are not alone."