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

0 Chapter Zero 1

Part One Beginnings 5

1 Before NetApp: On Computers, Colleges, Castration, and Risk 7

Interlude: What NetApp Does 21

2 Starting NetApp: On Toasters, Angels, Resellers, and Ferraris 23

Interlude: Redundant Array of Pyramid Hieroglyphics (RAPH) 41

3 CEO Lessons: On Pixie Dust, Decision Making, Candor, and Going Public 43

Interlude: Tom Mendoza's Lessons on Public Speaking 57

Part Two Turbulent Adolescence 59

4 Hypergrowth: On Goals, Doubling, Ancestors, and Pain 61

Interlude: How to Fail in Executive Staff Presentations 79

5 Values and Culture: On Dilbert, Drooling, Lies, and Game Theory 81

Interlude: Lawyers Aren't Evil—Fairness and Morality Are Not Their Job 97

6 Managing Engineers: On Development, Consensus, Doctor Death, and Magic 101

Interlude: Scientific-Truth and Useful-Truth 117

Part Three Grown-Up Company 121

7 Customers: On Love, Enterprise, Simplicity, and Partners 127

Interlude: Shark Island—A Parable of Risk and Mass Media 145

8 Strategic Change: On Reversing Course, Chocolate, Debates, and Core Beliefs 147

Interlude: Speckled-Egg Thinking 157

9 Vision: On Whining, Eras, Future History, and the Meaning of Life 161

Appendix A: Early NetApp Business Plan 177

Appendix B: NetApp Company Values 186

Glossary 188

Bibliography 194

Acknowledgments 195

The Author 197

Index 199