Product Description

At nineteen, Michael Dell started his company as a freshman at the University of Texas with $1,000 and has since built an industry powerhouse. As Dell journeys through his childhood adventures, ups and downs, and mistakes made along the way, he reflects on invaluable lessons learned.

Michael Dell's revolutionary insight has allowed him to persevere against all odds, and Direct from Dell contains valuable information for any business leader. His strategies will show you effective ways to grow your business and will help you save time on costly mistakes by following his direct model for success.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130672 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-01
• Released on: 2006-01-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

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. --Harry C. Edwards

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.

Customer Reviews

Dell's story
This book gives an excellent overview of Dell's strategy up until Rollins became CEO. Interesting examples allow you to make application to other businesses.

Snore...Full of ghost-written cliches
If, like me, you are looking for personal details and antidotes, you will be disappointed. Dell's early years are just briefly mentioned.

The book bulks up with pap and filler from Dell's PR machine. The business "wisdom" contained within is dumbed down for the masses -- something along the lines of "We must do what is right, instead of what is wrong." Here is a sampling:

-Dell was founded on the premise of "under-promise and over-deliver."
-No matter what your industry, try to identify potential problems early and fix them fast.
-Communicating is one of the most important tools in recovering from mistakes.
-We began to realize that it's as important to figure out what you're not going to do as it is to know what you are going to do.
-Instead of leaping into the abyss of opportunity, as we always had, we had to put one foot in front of the other, in an attempt to grow, yes, but grow deliberately.
-In leadership, it's important to be intuitive, but not at the expense of facts.
-Planning is one of those areas where experience counts as much as intellect.
-What is the right plan? It's the one that helps you identify what you need to do to ensure success.
-One of the sayings around Dell is that if you want to get people to think big, you need to act big.
-If you accept the status quo as "good enough," you're managing in a review mirror.
-One of our saying is "Don't perfume the pig"...you need to recognize the facts for what they are, rather than what you'd sometimes like them to be.

Now, I'm not saying that this book is a total waste. If you can stand the stench of excessive perfume, you might find some useful insight. But like the pig that it is, there's more fat than meat.

Valuable Lessons Learned through people and information
This was a great read. Learning the basics of how to stay completive in a environment that is ever changing. He started with $1000 with his business, what if it was $100,000 dollars. Makes you think. Anyway, the book gives you the insight of the ups and downs of a business. What it boils down to is, the customer is the life of your business. Asking your customers the right questions makes all the difference. This book illstrates that point throughout. Highly Recommended.