New Ideas From Dead CEOs by Todd Buchholz

New Ideas From Dead CEOs: lasting Lessons from the Corner Office by Todd Buchholz, (New York: MJF Books; 2007), 300 pages.

We all believe that the present time is the peak time for knowledge and wisdom. This book explicitly challenges that proposition or belief by suggesting that iconic business leaders and business founders from the past can provide valuable life and business lessons to people today. In this short book, Buchholz examines the lives and and business challenges of a dozen business leaders. The people he examines are self-made successes that faced numerous ups and owns on their way to making business history. The book is divided into chapters that, for the most part, chronicle one business leader and the business they built. For example, he reviews the life of A.P. Giannini and how he built the Bank of America, Sam Walton and Walmart, Ray Croc at McDonalds, Walt Disney at Disney, Akio Morita at Sony, and Estee Lauder at the company that bears her name. Two chapters cover two people: one covers Thomas Watson Sr. and Jr. at IBM, and another covers Mary Kay Ash and Estee Lauder before he writes a separate chapter on both women. Each chapter provides biographic material including their upbringing, their early careers, decisions they made., and events that forged their distinct goals and aspirations, as well as challenges they faced during the establishment of their business and how they overcame obstacles.

The strength of this book is the wide range of lessons it covers. For example, the story of Walt Disney's loss of ownership of his creative content in the 1920s as an animator formed his resolve to retain ownership of Mickey Mouse, the character the built the Disney corporation. By contrast, the author also shows the importance of concentrating on low prices to the development of Walmart, the use of research and development in the growth of Sony, and the willingness for franchisees to experiment in the development of McDonalds.

This short book is a good introduction in to the lives of successful business founders, and their unique and varied experiences that led to their growth and ability to dominate their various industries.  The book contains a useful end notes section for readers interested in getting more detailed works of the people covered in this book, for example, biographies, autobiographies and studies. It is a book suitable for the curious reader and business owner alike, or student interested in the factors that led to some major businesses becoming what they are today.