Blueprint to a Billion

Praise for BLUEPRINT TO A BILLION "e;A wonderful, well thought out analysis of entrepreneurship and leadership of a growth company."e; Howard Lester, Chairman, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. "e;If you dream about growing your business to a billion, this is a fascinating down-to-earth study that you must read. Apply the seven essential principles to your business and you are off and running. Learn about strategy, growth, leadership, team building, and a whole lot more."e; Joe Scarlett, Chairman of the Board, Tractor Supply Company "e;Blueprint to a Billion is a well-researched and thoughtfully written book that quantifies the growth pattern of America's highest growth companies."e; Professor John Quelch, Senior Associate Dean, Harvard Business School "e;Eighty percent of the top-performing stocks in the last twenty years were small entrepreneurial companies that had an IPO in the prior eight years. Blueprint to a Billion tells you the seven key things these innovators did in common to become America's greatest growth companies."e; William J. O'Neil, Chairman and Founder Investor's Business Daily, investors.com "e;Thomson has written a masterful work that will catalyze, empower, inspire, motivate, and illuminate entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers. The world needs this book and will profit from it in manifold ways."e; David M. Darst, Managing Director, Individual Investor Group Chief Investment Strategist, Morgan Stanley

Praise for BLUEPRINT TO A BILLION"A wonderful, well thought out analysis of entrepreneurship andleadership of a growth company."Howard Lester, Chairman, Williams-Sonoma, Inc."If you dream about growing your business to a billion, this isa fascinating down-to-earth study that you must read. Apply theseven essential principles to your business and you are off andrunning. Learn about strategy, growth, leadership, team buildingand a whole lot more."Joe Scarlett, Chairman of the Board, Tractor SupplyCompany"Blueprint to a Billion is a well-researched and thoughtfullywritten book that quantifies the growth pattern of America'shighest growth companies."Professor John Quelch, Senior Associate Dean, HarvardBusiness School"Eighty percent of the top-performing stocks in the last twentyyears were small entrepreneurial companies that had an IPO in theprior eight years. Blueprint to a Billion tells you the seven keythings these innovators did in common to become America's greatestgrowth companies."William J. O'Neil, Chairman and Founder Investor's BusinessDaily, investors.com"Thomson has written a masterful work that will catalyzeempower, inspire, motivate, and illuminate entrepreneursinvestors, and policymakers. The world needs this book and willprofit from it in manifold ways."David M. Darst, Managing Director, Individual Investor GroupChief Investment Strategist, Morgan Stanley

Foreword ixPreface xiAcknowledgments xvii1 The Blueprint Thesis: A Different Approach to Growth 1Part One Create and Sustain a Breakthrough Value Proposition 232 The Blueprint Value Proposition 25Part Two Create and Sustain Exponential Revenue Growth 513 Exploit a High-Growth Market Segment 534 Marquee Customers Shape the Revenue Powerhouse 755 Leverage Big Brother Alliances for Breaking into New Markets 105Part Three Seizing the Opportunity to Create Exponential Returns 1296 Becoming the Masters of Exponential Returns 1317 The Management Team: Inside-Outside Leadership 1558 The Board: Comprised of Essentials Experts 1839 Linking the 7 Essentials 18910 Blueprint Companies for the Next Decade and Your Part in Them: An Epilogue 213Appendix A Top 100 Blueprint Companies 223Appendix B Delivering Breakthrough Benefits Drives Exponential Growth 227Appendix C Assessing Management's Focus, Drive, and Ability 233Appendix D Methodology 237Endnotes 243Index 253