NetApp Awarded #1 Best Company to Work For 2009 by Fortune

NetApp Awarded #1 Best Company to Work For 2009 by Fortune

"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."—ByteandSwitch.com, January 27, 2009

"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." —NetworkWorld.com, January 21, 2009

NetApp Awarded #1 Best Company to Work For 2009 by Fortune

Product 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.

As 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 Fortune 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.

With colorful examples and anecdotes, How to Castrate a Bull 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.

Dave 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.

NetApp公司创始人兼执行副总裁 Dave Hitz 于近日出版其所著的新书《庖丁解牛：妙解企业风险、成长和生存之道》（《How to Castrate a Bull: Unexpected Lessons on Risk, Growth, and Survival》）（Jossey-Bass 出版社；精装；2009 年 1 月）。该书讲述了 NetApp 从创立、融资，到在商海里拼搏，并最终获得成功，为全球的客户提供领先的存储和数据管理解决方案的传奇经历。

登陆 www.howtocastrateabull.com 了解更多该书的信息，也可访问 Hitz 的博客，或加入 NetApp 论坛与 Hitz 及其他读者进行交流。

Hitz 表示："从某种意义上说，我是同 NetApp 共同成长的。这段美好的旅程让我拥有了一份珍贵的经历。我亲身参与了风险资本融资和管理层变革，也历经了公司的高速增长期和上市，接着受到千禧年金融危机的影响，通过战略性扭转，使公司得以恢复。《庖丁解牛》阐述了 NetApp 卓越的企业文化和工作环境。这正是使 NetApp成为最成功的技术公司之一的根本所在。"

《庖丁解牛》以丰富有趣的事例和小故事，向每一位对商业感兴趣的读者揭示了企业成败的原因，以及如何在课堂以外的地方（甚至在广阔的牧场上）学到受益匪浅的知识。1992 年，Hitz 同 James Lau （现任 NetApp 执行副总裁兼首席战略官）与 Michael Malcolm 共同创立了 NetApp。在开始硅谷的职业生涯前，Hitz 是一个放牛娃。在养牛放牛等牧场工作中，Hitz 积累了宝贵的管理经验。Hitz 不甘平庸，后在普林斯顿大学获得计算机学士学位。但是，那些帮助他使NetApp 成为业界领先者的技能和策略却是在牧场那样课堂以外的地方领悟到的。

该书包含了许多商业课程，如下为部分内容：

* 一位硅谷的企业领导者好比领导整个牛群的头牛；

* 为什么发现错误后改变策略比最开始就诸事正确更重要；

* 当风险投资成为产品出货的必要方式时，为什么会让人欢喜让人忧；

* 如何在现今低迷的市场环境中运用高明的策略壮大企业。