Dream Merchants & Howboys: Mavericks, Nutters and the Road to Business Success - Tapa blanda

The stories of the people captured on the pages within are anything but ordinary. Like you, they had to start somewhere. But ita s not what you do or where you start, but how you do it. It wasna t through maintaining the daily grind (for themselves or others) that got them to the top. It was by building their dreams and doing business in a way that no other had done before them. These Dream Merchants and Howboys live in the Business Icon Hall of Fame in the Sky (ok so maybe one day this will exist). But before they got there they lived somewhere very different. They lived in the land of complete Nutterdom. Retired CEO of Burger King and Fortune turn--around champion, Barry Gibbons, introduces you to this world. Gibbons brings together some of the most famous names in business today. He takes us on a whirlwind tour of the careers, lives and crazy decisions of nutters -- from Walt Disney and Michael Dell to Luciano Benetton and Anita Roddick. All of them made decisions that seemed odd, crazy or downright weird. But they worked. Gibbons, a distinguished madman himself, keeps you hooked with his humour and wit, but never straying from the point of it all. That we can learn from these mavericks. That we can put a little madness into our daily grind. Heck yeh. Steal their ideas! Why should they be famous and not you? Dream Merchants and Howboys may just be the most unconventional business book ever written and firmly cements Gibbonsa reputation as the P.J. Oa Rourke of business.

Looking for a regurgitated summary of bland biographies on some of the world's most successful business men and women? Then place this book back on the shelf immediately. Because within these pages you will find much to entertain you. And at the same time you will discover everything you could possibly want to know, and more, about how and why the most successful leaders of our time made it to the top. By being complete Nutters.

Find out...

...why Luciano Benetton fired his best friend, a.k.a. the brains behind some of the most awe-inspiring marketing campaigns at the height of the benetton brand explosion.

...how the act of becoming annoyed by a duff vacuum cleaner led James Dyson into a 15 year project and the eventual pinnacle of not writing his own autobiography

...about Michael Dell's first attempts at demolishing computers and putting them back together again. Well what other way is a 15 year old boy going to get his kicks?

...why you never see Anita Roddick and the brunette from ABBA in the same room.

...how Walt Disney did not dream about plastic castles and mouse ears on on fat tourists, but he did dream about 'A Thing Called Product'.

...what Keith Richards and sixteen-inch Florida cockroaches have in common with AOL founder, Steve Case.

...how Jürgen Schrempp became the power behind DaimlerChrysler and increased the mortality rate amongst his friends and colleagues.

...about the walking bundle of conflicts that is Richard Branson (a professional amateur, ruthlessly affable, controlling empowerer, strategic guerilla, etc)

...how Robert Goizueta amazingly and successfully widened the gap between Papsi and Coca-Cola, even without Michael Jackson on his side.

...how it's possible to have the most loyal consumers to your brand in the world and yet be declared legally dead. Just ask Steve Jobs. Apple man extraordinaire.

...about the Wild-Turkey swilling, tattooed madman who built his dream business, Southwest Airlines, by actually having fun. Yes this is the Herb Kelleher who arm-wrestled the company's rival chairman in a packed Dallas Stadium.