Page 14 - The Bootstrapper Bible

ChangeThis Whenever a market or a technology changes, thereʼs a huge opportunity for new businesses. The number-one Web site on the Internet isnʼt run by Ziff Davis or Microsoft. Itʼs run by an upstart bootstrapper named Jerry Yang (Yahoo!). Don’t underestimate the power of the brand! Fifteen years ago, I met with Jim Levy. At the time, he was running the fastest-growing company in the history of the world. Activision had exploded on the scene, introducing one videogame after another, capturing a huge share of the Atari 2600 marketplace. After just one year, the company had transformed itself from bootstrapper to fat, happy bureaucracy. As a freshly minted, slightly arrogant MBA, I decided it was my job to tell him what to do next. So I handed him an article from the Harvard Business Review and explained that he ought to start using some of the huge profits that Activision was earning to take over the brand-new software market. By making software for IBM PC and Apple Macintosh, he could leverage his early lead and his cash and own even more markets. But Jim had something to lose. His investors and his employees wanted more years like the one theyʼd just finished. They didnʼt want to hear about investing in new markets. They want- ed to hear about profits. So Activision did more of the same. A few years later, they were bought for, like, $4.34. 2 HAPPY WITH SMALL FISH. In the ocean, the first animals to die are the big fish. Thatʼs because they need to eat a lot to be happy. The small guys, the plankton, can make do with crumbs. Same is true with you. Disney canʼt be happy with a movie that earns less than $40 million at the box office. Compare this to the entrepreneur in Vermont who made a kidsʼ video in 1990 | iss. 6.01 | i | U | X | + | What are the most talked about manifestos? FIND out here. h 14/103 f