{"product_id":"how-to-castrate-a-bull-isbn-9780470345238","title":"How to Castrate a Bull","description":"Dave Hitz likes to solve fun problems. He didn’t set out to be a Silicon Valley icon, a business visionary, or even a billionaire. But he became all three. It turns out that business is a mosaic of interesting puzzles like managing risk, developing and reversing strategies, and looking into the future by deconstructing the past.  \u003cp\u003eAs a founder of NetApp, a data storage firm that began as an idea scribbled on a placemat and now takes in $4 billion a year, Hitz has seen his company go through every major cycle in business—from the Jack-of-All-Trades mentality of a start-up, through the tumultuous period of the IPO and the dot-com bust, and finally to a mature enterprise company. NetApp is one of the fastest-growing computer companies ever, and for six years in a row it has been on \u003ci\u003eFortune\u003c\/i\u003e magazine’s list of Best Companies to Work For. Not bad for a high school dropout who began his business career selling his blood for money and typing the names of diseases onto index cards.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith colorful examples and anecdotes, \u003ci\u003eHow to Castrate a Bull\u003c\/i\u003e is a story for everyone interested in understanding business, the reasons why companies succeed and fail, and how powerful lessons often come from strange and unexpected places.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDave Hitz co-founded NetApp in 1992 with James Lau and Michael Malcolm. He served as a programmer, marketing evangelist, technical architect, and vice president of engineering. Presently, he is responsible for future strategy and direction for the company. Before his career in Silicon Valley, Dave worked as a cowboy, where he got valuable management experience by herding, branding, and castrating cattle.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0 Chapter Zero 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart One Beginnings 5\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e1 Before NetApp: On Computers, Colleges, Castration, and Risk 7\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eWhat NetApp Does \u003c\/i\u003e21\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2 Starting NetApp: On Toasters, Angels, Resellers, and Ferraris 23\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eRedundant Array of Pyramid Hieroglyphics (RAPH) \u003c\/i\u003e41\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3 CEO Lessons: On Pixie Dust, Decision Making, Candor, and Going Public 43\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eTom Mendoza's Lessons on Public Speaking \u003c\/i\u003e57\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart Two Turbulent Adolescence 59\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e4 Hypergrowth: On Goals, Doubling, Ancestors, and Pain 61\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eHow to Fail in Executive Staff Presentations \u003c\/i\u003e79\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e5 Values and Culture: On Dilbert, Drooling, Lies, and Game Theory 81\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eLawyers Aren't Evil—Fairness and Morality Are Not Their Job \u003c\/i\u003e97\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e6 Managing Engineers: On Development, Consensus, Doctor Death, and Magic 101\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eScientific-Truth and Useful-Truth \u003c\/i\u003e117\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart Three Grown-Up Company 121\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e7 Customers: On Love, Enterprise, Simplicity, and Partners 127\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eShark Island—A Parable of Risk and Mass Media \u003c\/i\u003e145\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e8 Strategic Change: On Reversing Course, Chocolate, Debates, and Core Beliefs 147\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterlude: \u003ci\u003eSpeckled-Egg Thinking \u003c\/i\u003e157\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e9 Vision: On Whining, Eras, Future History, and the Meaning of Life 161\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppendix A: \u003ci\u003eEarly NetApp Business Plan \u003c\/i\u003e177\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAppendix B: \u003ci\u003eNetApp Company Values \u003c\/i\u003e186\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGlossary 188\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBibliography 194\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments 195\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Author 197\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 199\u003c\/p\u003e  NetApp Awarded #1 Best Company to Work For 2009 by \u003ci\u003eFortune\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cp\u003eA \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e Nonfiction Best-Seller, January 30, 2009\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Readers will gain insight into management styles, different ways to make decisions, alternative approaches to managing people, and the value of dissent within a company. They also will learn why it is better to castrate a bull with a dull knife than a sharp knife. And they may get a few chuckles along the way.\"—\u003cb\u003eByteandSwitch.com\u003c\/b\u003e, January 27, 2009\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Hitz spends much of the book discussing what happened after he moved to move Silicon Valley in 1986 and began working at a series of start-ups, and the various business problems he faced and how he approached them. Hitz describes in detail the evolution of NetApp and, of course, does not omit the vendor's sales pitch. But at various points in the 200-page book Hitz takes a break from talking business to focus on some of the humorous passages referenced in Chapter Zero.\"  —\u003cb\u003eNetworkWorld.com\u003c\/b\u003e, January 21, 2009\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eTHE AUTHORS \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDave Hitz\u003c\/b\u003e co-founded NetApp in 1992 with James Lau and Michael Malcolm. He served as a programmer, marketing evangelist, technical architect, and vice president of engineering. Currently, he focuses on future strategy and setting the direction for the company.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePat Walsh\u003c\/b\u003e is the founding editor of MacAdam\/Cage, a publisher of literary fiction and narrative non-fiction.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDave Hitz didn’t set out to be a Silicon Valley icon, a business visionary, or even a billionaire, but he became all three. Perhaps it’s because he likes to solve fun puzzles. Somewhere along the way, Hitz discovered that business is a mosaic of fascinating puzzles that involve managing risk, developing and reversing strategies, and looking into the future by deconstructing the past.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFilled with colorful examples and anecdotes, Dave Hitz’s autobiographical book, \u003ci\u003eHow to Castrate a Bull\u003c\/i\u003e, is a story for anyone interested in understanding business, the reasons why companies succeed and fail, and how powerful lessons often come from strange and unexpected places—even from the open range. Before his career in Silicon Valley, Dave worked as a cowboy, where he got valuable management experience by herding, branding, and castrating cattle. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a founder of NetApp, a data storage and management firm that began as an idea scribbled on a placemat and now takes in $4 billion a year, Dave has seen his company go through every major cycle in business—from the jack-of-all-trades mentality of a start-up, through the tumultuous period of the dot-com boom and bust, and finally to a mature enterprise. NetApp is one of the fastest-growing computer companies ever, and for six years in a row it has been on \u003ci\u003eFortune\u003c\/i\u003e magazine’s list of Best Companies to Work For. Not bad for a high school dropout who began his business career selling his blood for money and typing the names of diseases onto index cards. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten for anyone who wants to know what it takes to succeed in today’s volatile market-place, \u003ci\u003eHow to Castrate a Bull\u003c\/i\u003e relates not only \u003ci\u003ewhat\u003c\/i\u003e lessons Dave Hitz has learned in the course of his remarkable life but more important \u003ci\u003ehow\u003c\/i\u003e he learned them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jossey-Bass","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47989377728741,"sku":"NP9780470345238","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780470345238.jpg?v=1761783878","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/how-to-castrate-a-bull-isbn-9780470345238","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}