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Product Description
Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer and one of the world's top businessmen, explains how to foster and maintain a competitive edge, drawing lessons from his own formidable success. At the age of twelve Michael Dell earned $2,000 selling stamps, and by the age of eighteen he was selling customized PCs from his room. He went on to found one of the most successful computer businesses in the world, redefining the industry. "Direct from Dell" teaches you how to get on to the front of the pack and stay there. The pioneer shares his ideas on: why, initially, it's better to have too little capital rather than too much; how studying customers, not competition, will give you a greater competitive edge; why your people pose a greater threat to your business than the competition; how to exploit the competition's weakness by exposing it's greatest strength; and, how integrating vertically can make the difference between survival and collapse. Revealing nothing less than a new model for business in the information age, "Direct from Dell" is both a success story and a manifesto for revolutionizing any industry.
Amazon.com Review
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. --Harry C. Edwards
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