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The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates, How the Great Entrepreneurs Transformed Ideas into Industries
 
 
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The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates, How the Great Entrepreneurs Transformed Ideas into Industries [Hardcover]

Maury Klein (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

"The watershed event in American history is not the Civil War but the industrial and managerial revolutions of the late nineteenth century," asserts Klein (Rainbow's End) in this lively survey of influential American entrepreneurs. He draws a clear distinction between such entrepreneurs and robber barons who left no concrete legacy and argues that the 26 men (yes, they're all men) he celebrates here share more qualities with artists committed to creating something new and valuable than with their more notoriously rapacious commercial brethren. Drawing on a vast store of vivid anecdotes, Klein shows that his subjects, including Cornelius Vanderbilt and John Wanamaker, are as idiosyncratic as many artists are; a comparison of Klein's profiles of Henry Ford and Warren Buffett defines the extremes of the personality spectrum from curmudgeonly to congenial. The artistic metaphor fades, however, once the focus shifts to the men's work as innovative producers, organizers, merchandisers, technologists and investors: all were driven to succeed with a decidedly nonbohemian dedication to business epitomized by Thomas Edison, who worked so much that his daughter Madeleine first realized she had a father on a family trip to an ore-separating mine. While many of these men became philanthropists to share the fruits of their success, others kept their fortunes to themselves. For those following the Microsoft antitrust case, Klein's discussion of his entrepreneurs' run-ins with the law (nine have butted up against the Sherman Antitrust Act) will illuminate the shifts in government policy toward entrepreneurship and competition over the last century.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Klein considers the question, What separates the great entrepreneurs from merely good business people? Business lies at the heart of American culture, with money as the driving force; yet the author's research discovers money to be a by-product of the efforts of 26 famous industrialists, from Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, to Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. These entrepreneurs share similar characteristics, and we learn what they accomplished and how and what factors account for their achievement. Masterful creativity is found within each man, along with his own vision and style, and each often exhibits obsessions and flaws as great as the results achieved. They all show persistence and determination with a fierce drive to succeed; they all had supreme talent and a strong work ethic. All transcend conventional wisdom and while fearing failure they took risks and accepted consequences. This is an excellent book not only for aspiring entrepreneurs but also for those who teach and encourage them. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but not great, Jun 16 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates, How the Great Entrepreneurs Transformed Ideas into Industries (Hardcover)
As one reviewer pointed out, he should have focused on each man seperatly! It was hard to remember who was who. It is still an interesting read though. Try Masters of Enterprise. It is a more thorough look at most of the same men, and also has some different entrepreneurs like Mary Kay (yes, the cosmetics Mary Kay.)
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2.0 out of 5 stars Dry and Boring, Jan 9 2004
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S. Yi - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates, How the Great Entrepreneurs Transformed Ideas into Industries (Hardcover)
The author does go into great depth with his research, but the writing style is academic, dry, and unengaging.
It was difficult for me to get a clear profile of the entrepreneurs profiled in the book because instead of focusing on one at a time, Klein takes one topic (i.e. - childhood), and does a brief synopsis on every single person, before tackling another topic and doing it all over again.
The author also seems to waver between trying to establish a relationship, a common thread, between the profiled entrepreneurs, only to state that there is not set pattern or point out abberations.

A frustrating read.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Compilation, Nov 11 2003
This review is from: The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates, How the Great Entrepreneurs Transformed Ideas into Industries (Hardcover)
Few books of this sort are around, so you must give credit to Klein for doing his research. Interesting stories and analyses of two dozen or so entrepreneurs and their various personality traits. Perhaps could be more concise sometimes, but nonetheless good that he went into detail because it was interesting to compare this elite group of business leaders for each of the areas he discusses.
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