How to Castrate a Bull: Unexpected Lessons on Risk, Growth, and Success in Business

Silicon Valley success story Hitz, co-founder of tech consulting company NetApp, takes readers through the three stages of a developing business in this ""memoir of a company and of a man,"" with lessons. Hitz's well-organized chronology outlines the net start-up's 1990s childhood, dot-bust adolescence and triumphant adulthood, centered around three easy-to-grasp themes: risk, growth and success, consecutively. Breezy and entertaining throughout, Hitz's text is also graced with efficient sidebars and a succinct, well-considered time-out capping each chapter. Chapters on his team's struggle to raise funds, find the right CEO for the job and go public are complemented by lessons from ancient Egyptians on data storage and NetApp president Tom Mendoza on public speaking. Though there aren't any lessons here that can't be found in other books, Hitz's personal and professional story encompasses solid business values, common mistakes, a bit of insider lore and some decent outta-left-field jokes (says the engineer to the frog princess: ""Who has time for a girlfriend? But a talking frog: that's really cool"").