The Unusual Billionaires
Rs. 2,790.00
Saurabh Mukherjea
What makes a company truly outstanding? What is the secret sauce of delivering successful results year-on-year? What is common to Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Marico, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Berger Paints? They are Unusual Companies, built by Unusual Billionaires.
The Unusual Billionaires tells the story of eight, truly outstanding companies which delivered 10 percent revenue growth over the last ten years and a 15 percent return on capital employed. In simple words, these companies defeated 5000 other publicly listed companies to deliver high growth while maintaining profitability year-on-year for the last decade. How did these companies do it? Why couldn’t this be reciprocated by other companies? What are they doing differently? Saurabh Mukherjea, the bestselling author of Gurus of Chaos, delivers an outstanding book with lessons to learn from these eight businesses. Mukherjea tells you why focusing on the core business could save a company’s life or how giving control to top management could be a boon. Packed with these learnings are riveting corporate stories of how Hindustan Unilever made aggressive bids to buy Mariwala’s business but had to sell it to the same company in a few years, or how Page Industries found an exciting way to stop unionization at their manufacturing units. It also includes the turnaround of Axis Bank and the boardroom coup that led to its chairman’s downfall and how Vijay Mallya lost control of Asian Paints to the Dhingra Brothers. These and many more make this book a mandatory read for all corporate leaders to simulate and implement.
Out of stock
Notify me when stock available
About the Author
Book Specifications
Title: The Unusual Billionaires
Language: English
Binding: Paperback
Pages:454
Weight: 370g
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: Penguin Random House India
ISBN: 978-0143426738
Dimensions: 20.3 x 25.4 x 4.7 cm
Print size: Please feel free to drop us a message.
You may also like…
From Third World to First: The Singapore Story – 1965-2000
Rs. 4,990.00Read moreLee Kuan Yew
In this memoir, the man most responsible for Singapore’s astonishing transformation from colonial backwater to economic powerhouse describes how he did it over the last four decades. It’s a dramatic story, and Lee Kuan Yew has much to brag about. To take a single example: Singapore had a per-capita GDP of just $400 when he became prime minister in 1959. When he left office in 1990, it was $12,200 and rising. (At the time of this book’s writing, it was $22,000.) Much of this was accomplished through a unique mix of economic freedom and social control. Lee encouraged entrepreneurship, but also cracked down on liberties that most people in the West take for granted–chewing gum, for instance. It’s banned in Singapore because of “the problems caused by spent chewing gum inserted into keyholes and mailboxes and on elevator buttons.” If American politicians were to propose such a thing, they’d undoubtedly be run out of office. Lee, however, defends this and similar moves, such as strong antismoking laws and antispitting campaigns: “We would have been a grosser, ruder, cruder society had we not made these efforts to persuade people to change their ways…. It has made Singapore a more pleasant place to live in. If this is a ‘nanny state,’ I am proud to have fostered one.”
Lee also describes one of his most controversial proposals: tax breaks and schooling incentives to encourage educated men and women to marry each other and have children. “Our best women were not reproducing themselves because men who were their educational equals did not want to marry them…. This lopsided marriage and procreation pattern could not be allowed to remain unmentioned and unchecked,” writes Lee. Most of the book, however, is a chronicle of how Lee helped create so much material prosperity. Anticommunism is a strong theme throughout, and Lee comments broadly on international politics. He is cautiously friendly toward the United States, chastising it for a “dogmatic and evangelical” foreign policy that scolds other countries for human-rights violations, except when they interfere with American interests, “as in the oil-rich Arabian peninsula.” Even so, he writes, “the United States is still the most benign of all the great powers…. [and] all noncommunist countries in East Asia prefer America to be the dominant weight in the power balance of the region.” From Third World to First is not the most gripping book imaginable, but it is a vital document about a fascinating place in a time of profound transition. –John J. Miller
Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire
Rs. 3,290.00Read moreBrad Stone
‘Stone’s new volume is on its surface a business book that seeks to explain the rise of America’s most important private enterprise… Amazon Unbound is particularly valuable in explaining how the company makes money, and the day-to-day decisions that end up having a big effect on consumers… a dense, at times juicy tour of the company Bezos built.’ (Ben Smith New York Times)
‘Fascinating and deeply researched… Stone is at his best describing Bezos’s demanding style of management… Masterful.’ (Marc Levinson Washington Post)
‘An excellent new book…Bezos emerges as the ur-billionaire of our time, the deft wielder of a fortune so vast that he and his company are becoming “perilously close to invincible”.’ (Farhad Manjoo New York Times)
‘In this vivid, anecdote-filled page-turner of a book, Stone goes deep inside a company with colossal power, one we rely on for low-cost, wonderful service, and one that also kills many businesses and jobs. With rare access to Amazon executives, readers are taken inside Amazon meetings, see up close Jeff Bezos’s brilliance but also his belligerence, understand the trade-off between impressive efficiency versus the perils of market dominance, and get an up-to-the-moment appreciation of why government is now awake to the monopoly dangers posed by digital giants like Amazon.’ (Ken Auletta, author of Googled )
‘Amazon’s reach is so extensive that it can seem easier to list the few areas of commerce that it doesn’t touch than the many it does. Stone even-handedly describes the history, expansion and major personalities of the company.’ (Curtis Sittenfeld, my favourite non-fiction books The Week)
‘There are really only a handful of writers who can craft a page-turning narrative about the most transformative business ideas. Brad Stone is one. His topic of choice – Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos – is equal to his journalistic skill. In this book, he gives us his second must-read account of how the world’s most important company and technology titan captured not only global retail, but Washington, Hollywood, outer space and your brain.’ (Rana Foroohar, author of Makers and Takers and Don’t Be Evil )
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Rs. 2,990.00Read moreBen Horowitz
- NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
- Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Nominee for Longlist (2014)
- Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Business Books (2014)
Ben’s experience and expertise make him one of the most important leaders not just in Silicon Valley but also in the global knowledge economy. For anyone interested in building, growing, or leading a great company, this book is an incredibly valuable resource and a funny and insightful read.” -MARK ZUCKERBERG, COFOUNDER AND CEO OF FACEBOOK
“Ben’s book is a great read-with uncomfortable truths about entrepreneurship and how to lead to a company. It’s also an inspiring story of a business rebirth through sheer willpower.” -LARRY PAGE, COFOUNDER AND CEO OF GOOGLE
“Every management guide presumes that all great companies follow a formula. But successful startups don’t imitate; they build innovations that can’t be copied. Ben Horowitz knows no recipe guarantees success. He has written the first true guide for protecting a startup from self-sabotage.” -PETER THIEL, COFOUNDER OF PAYPAL AND FOUNDER AND PARTNER AT FOUNDERS FUND
“Ben’s advice has been invaluable to me over the past few years. He is forthright and direct, acknowledging, for example, that the job of leading can be impossibly lonely, while eloquently providing no-nonsense guidance for managing teams through good times and bad times. Stripping away the veneer of management-speak, Ben’s writing carries the authority of somebody who has been through all of this. The results are simple, thorough, and compelling.” -DICK COSTOLO, CEO OF TWITTER
“There is more than enough substance in Mr. Horowitz’s impressive tome to turn it into a leadership classic.” — The Economist
“More than any other business book released this year, “Hard Things” gives an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to lead and scale a startup.” — –Business Insider’s Best Business Books of 2014
“This is easily one of the essential books every business leader should read if they’re looking for proven and honest management advice.” — –Entrepreneur’s 25 Amazing Business Books from 2014
“Horowitz, a tech entrepreneur turned venture capitalist, offers hard-earned business advice and a compendium of the best posts from his popular blog. For the budding tech mogul, this is heady stuff, and politic to heed, as his firm, Andreesen Horowitz, is a nearly $3 billion powerhouse that has invested in winners, including Skype, Facebook, Groupon, Twitter, and Zynga.” — “Publishers Weekly”
Related products
The Art of War
Rs. 890.00Read moreSun Tzu
“This ancient Chinese text is still utilized by both militaries and business schools around the world…The Art of War is the essential strategy guide of our time.” — “Time”
“The book has long been heralded for its advice on military success…It’s a smart book.” — “Business Insider”
“The most useful and important book ever written for aspiring leaders.” — “Toronto Sun Times”
“Absorb this book, and you can throw out all those contemporary books about management leadership.” — “Newsweek”
“Military theory comes in two forms. The first is an attempt to understand the nature of war and its relation to politics…The second and more prevalent form falls into the ‘how to do it’ category…Most military professionals would agree that Sun Tzu’s The Art of War remains at the top of the former list.” — “Washington Times”
Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX
Rs. 2,890.00Read moreEric Berger
‘Just read it.’ –Elon Musk
“The elegant brilliance of the engineering that allows today’s space rockets to land themselves back on earth—or at sea—right way up, and on target to the inch, is all the doing of the teams assembled by Elon Musk—and the story of how he did it, and how for sure he will get us to Mars whether we like it or not, is told in appropriately stellar fashion by Eric Berger in a book that held me captive, in earth orbit, from prologue to epilogue, countdown to splashdown.” — Simon Winchester, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Perfectionists
“A colorful page-turner.” — WALTER ISAACSON, New York Times Book Review
“Liftoff reads like something out of the golden age of Science Fiction but this isn’t a novel by Robert Heinlein or Arthur C. Clarke. This is the true, astounding story of the men and women who spun those sci-fi dreams into reality.” — Homer Hickam, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Rocket Boys
“Eric Berger has followed the exploits of SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, from its very early days. In Liftoff, Eric relates the many personal accounts collected in one-on-one interviews with Musk and many of his key leaders and associates. He chronicles the frenetic pace of Falcon 1 development and the toll it took on many of the early employees. This is a book that will hold your rapt attention from start to finish.” — Charles Bolden, Former NASA Administrator and Four-Time Astronaut
“Eric Berger brings to life the passion and sacrifice of the early SpaceX team as they navigated through countless obstacles toward unlikely success. The skillfully described technical details, paired with a candid glimpse into individual personalities, makes Liftoff a must read for space enthusiasts and novices alike.” — KAREN NYBERG, NASA Astronaut
“This might be the best space book I’ve ever read. Liftoff will prove to be a defining story not only for the commercial space industry, but for the Space Age writ large, and there’s no one better than Eric Berger to tell it.” — KELLIE GERARDI, author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science
“Compelling. … Great reading. … An essential, unofficial reference test for what to do (and not do) as space flight goes commercial. … Fascinating.” — New Scientist
“Does a fine job of telling the white-knuckle story of how SpaceX was created in 2002 and came close to collapse several times.” — Financial Times
New Ideas from Dead Economists: The Introduction to Modern Economic Thought
Rs. 2,190.00Read moreTodd G. Buchholz
“If you read only one economics book this year, read this one.” —Larry Summers, secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton, director of the National Economic Council under President Obama
“Outstanding . . . fun to read.” —The Wall Street Journal
An entertaining and widely-praised introduction to great economic thinkers throughout history, now in its fourth edition, with updates and commentary on the 2020 “great cessation,” Trump and Obama economic policies, the dominance of Amazon, and many other timely topics.
The Personal MBA: A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume
Rs. 2,590.00Read moreJosh Kaufman
Audie Award Nominee, Business and Educational, 2013
“File this book under NO EXCUSES. After you’ve read it, you won’t be open to people telling you that you’re not smart enough, not insightful enough, or not learned enough to do work that matters. Josh takes you on a worthwhile tour of the key ideas in business.”
—Seth Godin, bestselling author, This Is MarketingThis book goes far beyond business: I used the marketing, sales, and communication principles in this book to complete my PhD and land a highly competitive postdoc and professorship at a world-class research university. Whatever you do for a living, this book will help you do it even better ― Dr. Zachary Gagnon, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
A masterpiece. This is the ‘START HERE’ book I recommend to everyone interested in business. An amazing overview of everything you need to know. Covers all of the basics, minus buzz-words and fluff. One of the most inspiring things I’ve read in years ― Derek Sivers, founder of CDbaby.com and bestselling author of Anything You Want
I graduated with an MBA in 2005 before I encountered The Personal MBA, but I still felt like I didn’t know anything about business. In retrospect, I wish I had read this book before enrolling in an MBA program-it would’ve helped me be more mindful while completing my degree. Who knows . . . I might have skipped the MBA completely. This is easily the best foundational business book available. ― Roger Hui, Technical Account Manager, RedHat, Inc.
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Rs. 3,190.00Read moreDaniel Kahneman
- Major New York Times Bestseller
- More than 2.6 million copies sold
- One of The New York Times Book Review’s ten best books of the year
- Selected by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best nonfiction books of the year
- Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest (2011)
- Best Book of Ideas Prize Nominee (2012)
- Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Nonfiction (2012)
- Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction Nominee for Longlist (2012)
There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow. Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel Prize for economics, distils a lifetime of research into an encyclopedic coverage of both the surprising miracles and the equally surprising mistakes of our conscious and unconscious thinking. He achieves an even greater miracle by weaving his insights into an engaging narrative that is compulsively readable from beginning to end. My main problem in doing this review was preventing family members and friends from stealing my copy of the book to read it for themselves…this is one of the greatest and most engaging collections of insights into the human mind I have read — William Easterly ― Financial Times
This is a landmark book in social thought, in the same league as The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud — Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of ‘The Black Swan’
Daniel Kahneman is one of the most original and interesting thinkers of our time. There may be no other person on the planet who better understands how and why we make the choices we make. In this absolutely amazing book, he shares a lifetime’s worth of wisdom presented in a manner that is simple and engaging, but nonetheless stunningly profound. This book is a must read for anyone with a curious mind — Steven D. Levitt, co-author of ‘Freakonomics’
This book is a tour de force by an intellectual giant; it is readable, wise, and deep. Buy it fast. Read it slowly and repeatedly. It will change the way you think, on the job, about the world, and in your own life — Richard Thaler, co-author of ‘Nudge’
Thinking, Fast and Slow is a masterpiece – a brilliant and engaging intellectual saga by one of the greatest psychologists and deepest thinkers of our time. Kahneman should be parking a Pulitzer next to his Nobel Prize — Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of ‘Stumbling on Happiness’, host of the award-winning PBS television series ‘This Emotional Life’
A terrific unpicking of human rationality and irrationality – could hardly have been published at a better moment. Kahnemann is the godfather of behavioural economics, and this distillation of a lifetime’s thinking about why we make bad decisions – about everything from money to love – is full of brilliant anecdote and wisdom. It is Kahnemann’s belief that anyone who thinks they know exactly what is going on hasn’t understood the question; as such it’s the perfect gift for opinionated family members everywhere. — Tim Adams ― Observer Books of the Year
Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing – Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth
Rs. 2,690.00Read moreChan Kim & Renee Mauborgne
- The New York Times bestseller.
- #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller.
Kim and Mauborgne have followed one blockbuster book with another. BLUE OCEAN SHIFT takes the groundbreaking principles of their original work and offers a smart, systematic plan to help any organization move from competing in existing markets to creating new markets altogether — Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of Drive and To Sell Is Human
Kim and Mauborgne guide you on a journey that will open your eyes to the untapped growth opportunities in your business, whether you are a startup, small business, or Fortune 500 company. — Ram Charan, CEO and board advisor, New York Times bestselling author of Rethinking Competitive Advantage
An exciting new book that synthesizes their experience in assisting with the implementation of Blue Ocean strategy . . . BLUE OCEAN SHIFT provides us with a comprehensive guide to enable any organization with the right mindset to launch and implement a Blue Ocean initiative. — Forbes
Provides a clear process for businesses identifying opportunities and developing plans for change . . . Highly recommended. — Library Journal
Marketing Made Simple : A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business
Rs. 2,990.00Read moreDonald Miller
‘I created collateral for a client and they recently told me not to release the next round we created because they can’t handle the influx of customers from the first round. They had more listings this year than in 30 years of business.’ – Amy Burgess, Marketing Consultant
‘My last email campaign I delivered raised $20k. Thank you Donald Miller for giving me a system that I know works.’ – Ian Stewart, Owner/Creative Director of Root Source Digital
‘A client went from $15MM last year to $27MM so far this year. All from updating their messaging and implementing new lead generators and email campaigns. – Wes Gay, CEO Wayfinder
‘Just heard from one of my clients that she’s getting 18 ideal client leads a day from her website. Before we redid her wireframe, she averaged around 1-3 leads a week. And that’s just with updating her website.’ – Amy Schutte, Owner of Hudson and Co LLC
The Obstacle is the Way: The Ancient Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage
Rs. 2,990.00Read moreRyan Holiday
- Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Business Books (2014)
‘A book for the bedside of every leader in the world’ –Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power and Mastery
“Ryan brings philosophy out from the classroom and thrusts it back where it belongs, in our daily lives, helping anyone approaching any problem address it with equanimity and poise. A kind of user’s manual for life, you will turn to it time and time again and learn to tear through any obstacle and resolve any conflict. An absolute must-read.” –JIMMY SONI, managing editor of The Huffington Post, author of Rome’s Last Citizen
“First came Marcus Aurelius, then Frederick the Great…. and now there’s you. This surprising book shows you how to craft a life of wonder by embracing obstacles and challenge.” -CHRIS GUILLEBEAU, author of The $100 Startup
“In this tight, engaging book, Ryan Holiday shines a bright, powerful light on the path to living and leading well. By showing us how to turn failure, obstacles, and plain old everyday frustration to our advantage, he offers up a host of easy-to-use tactics that each of us can put to work to follow our dreams. Read it, learn from it, and get cracking!” -NANCY F. KOEHN, historian and leadership expert, Harvard Business School
“My life has been beset with obstacles. It takes practice (and pain) to surmount them and achieve success. Ryan’s book is a how-to guide for just that.” -JAMES ALTUCHER, investor and author of Choose Yourself
“If there’s such a thing as a cargo-pocket handbook for Jedi knights, this is it. Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way decants in concentrated form the timeless techniques for self-mastery as employed to world-conquering effect by philosophers and men of action from Alexander the Great to Marcus Aurelius to Steve Jobs. Follow these precepts and you will revolutionize your life. As Mr. Holiday writes, ‘It’s simple, it’s just not easy? Read this book!” -STEVEN PRESSFIELD, author of The War of Art and Gates of Fire
The 48 Laws Of Power
Rs. 2,790.00Read moreRobert Greene
WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS BOOK AWARD 2019
“Greene’s specialty is analyzing the lives and philosophies of historical figures like Sun Tzu and Napoleon, and extracting from them tips on how to manipulate people and situations–a cutthroat worldview that has earned him a devoted following among a like-minded readership of rappers, drug dealers and corporate executives.” —The New York Times
“The Laws of Human Nature provides some first-rate comprehensive and in-depth information about how to deal with our fellow human beings effectively. Greene’s intense curiosity about the inner workings of humanity is contagious, as he invites us to join him as fellow sleuths on his investigation of why people, including ourselves, do what we do. He rightly (and frequently) reminds us that in order to understand others, we must first and foremost understand what makes ourselves tick.” — New York Journal of Books
“Machiavelli has a new rival. And Sun Tzu had better watch his back. Greene . . . has put together a checklist of ambitious behavior. Just reading the table of contents is enough to stir a little corner-office lust.”—New York magazine
“The writing is engaging and the ideas are fascinating… we could all use the insights Greene provides…. a hopeful book that advocates freedom and creativity.” — Quartz
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
Rs. 2,890.00Read moreRobert Iger
- #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
- A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019
- NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR
One of the best business books I’ve read in years. Unlike most books on leadership, this one is worth your time. ― Bill Gates
“Nurturing creativity is less a skill than an art—especially at a company where the brand alone is synonymous with creativity. That’s a lot to live up to. Bob Iger has not only lived up to ninety-six years of groundbreaking history but has moved the Disney brand far beyond anyone’s expectations, and he has done it with grace and audacity. This book shows you how that’s happened.”—Steven Spielberg
“People have been waiting years for Bob Iger to share his leadership secrets. Now he has, and they are utterly brilliant. The Ride of a Lifetime is not merely a memoir; it’s a personal, all-access session with the wisest CEO you’ve ever met and a playbook for handling the key challenges of our age: how to drive change, leverage technology, build an enduring culture, and empower people. It’s a rippingly good, revelatory read.”—Daniel Coyle, New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code
“I expected a book written by the person who has led Disney for decades to be defined by both gripping storytelling and deep leadership wisdom. Bob Iger delivers, and then some! The Ride of a Lifetime is leadership gold—you won’t forget the stories or the lessons.”—Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead
Iger’s tenure as the leader of the world’s most lucrative dream factory has been one long CEO highlight reel. Iger is unassailable. He’s transformed his company from a stuffy media doyen into a sexy cultural force. ― TIME – Businessperson of the Year 2019
