New to Big: How Companies Can Create Like Entrepreneurs, Invest Like VCs, and Install a Permanent Operating System for Growth

by David S. Kidder, Christina Wallace

Adam Grant's "19 New Leadership Books to Read in 2019"

Serial entrepreneurs David Kidder and Christina Wallace reveal their revolutionary playbook for igniting growth inside established companies.

Most established companies face a key survival challenge, says David Kidder, CEO of Bionic, lifelong entrepreneur, and angel investor in more than thirty operational efficiency and outdated bureaucracy are at war with new growth. Legacy companies are skilled at growing big businesses into even bigger ones. But they are less adept at discovering new opportunities and turning them into big businesses, the way entrepreneurs and early-stage investors must. In New to Big , Kidder and Wallace reveal their proprietary blueprint for installing a permanent growth capability inside any company--the Growth Operating System.

The Growth OS borrows the best tools, systems, and mind-sets from entrepreneurship and venture capital and adapts them for established organizations, leveraging these two distinct skills as a form of management for building in a future that is uncertain. By focusing on what consumers do rather than what they say, celebrating productive failure, embracing a portfolio approach, and learning from the outside-in, Kidder and Wallace argue any company can go on offense and win the future.

This isn't about a one-off innovation moonshot. It's about building a permanent ladder to the moon.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership, Entrepreneurship

240 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2019

About the author

Born in Upstate New York, David S. Kidder is a serial entrepreneur with a wide range of operational, technology, and marketing expertise focused on online product development and Internet advertising and marketing. He is currently co-Founder and serves as CEO of Clickable, an online advertising web service. Prior to Clickable, Kidder co-founded SmartRay Network, a mobile advertising delivery pioneer acquired by LifeMinders. Prior to SmartRay, he founded Net-X which was acquired by TargetVision. Kidder and his companies have appeared in publications and periodicals such as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, and TechCrunch, among others.

Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a recipient of ID Magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[A.G. Stranger · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Unlike established businesses obsessed with shareholder returns, start-ups look to provide new solutions to customer problems. They seek to identify a “pain point” or “friction point” for consumers."

[Nathan Trulsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with the premise of the book and appreciate that it sets out a nice, practical approach to innovation and growth within big companies. I do this work for a living so skimmed most of the rest of the book after agreeing with the intro. I also appreciate more scholarly works so as a book it wasn’t quite my style.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kidder and Wallace provide a highly readable playbook for companies that deal with the many sticky issues of developing in-house farm teams.

The authors argue that New to Big must sit alongside Big to Bigger in the corporate mindset. “In the same way an MBA program teaches a form of management for administering and growing existing businesses, entrepreneurship and venture capital are, together, a form of management for discovering and building new businesses. Enterprises need both,” note the authors.

They offer just a few examples of companies that have deployed these methods (Uber, Amazon, Nike, TD Ameritrade). Perhaps this area is still too new. But this is quite a thoughtful read.

[Juan Castro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Build a Growth Mindset inside your company, and act like a startup.

Modern startups have developed a more dynamic way of doing business and innovation than traditional companies.

By keep continuing to seek solutions for endless customer problems, companies with a startup mindset can grow.

Companies should shift from a Total Addressable Market model to a Total Addressable Problem model.
Discovering new market and new solutions to grow.

Anticipating what customers want (look at what customers actually do, instead of what they say they’ll do in market research questionnaires)

Build a good team to achieve a new-to-big philosophy. Seek out the iconoclasts, free thinkers and contrarians. They should be adaptable. They should be able to detect patterns between disparate and unrelated sources and trends and build innovative business ideas from them. They should be humble and know how to work collaboratively. It’s a team effort.

Invest in new projects with more intelligent risk and dynamism. Install a Growth Board (small team at the top of the company) who will judge the merits and allocates funding and monitors development of each scheme. Investing small amounts at the beginning of each project.

[Mauricio Coindreau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would read this book only if you are planning on implementing a startup investment fund inside of an organization or if this is already installed and you want to improve it.

The book has some great advice for implementing a successful internal fund with the tools to how to create teams, choose founders, track progress and measure success. I mention the first paragraph because if you are not going through this process, the book might be to specific to learn something relevant outside this space. That being said, if you are buying the book for this particular reason, you will for sure enjoy the content, the writing and the overall thoughtful experience that went into the publication. Personally I really enjoyed it.

[Melissa Plamann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kidder and Wallace have produced an exceptional playbook for business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in the inner workings of successful companies. It is a delightful read, free of heavy indistry jargon, with real-world insights and clever tips for success. It is a fresh, open-minded approach to leadership that leaves readers invigorated and equipped to tackle challenges.

[Paul Cuatrecasas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to even like this book but I ended up LOVING it! David explains so well how to use one of the most important tools companies have - talented and committed people. Decision-makers of every “traditional” company should read this book. In fact I’d say it is required reading. Today you either think big - and GO big - or you die. There are only a few ways to “go big” and “new to big” is one of them!

[Jap Hengky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big companies seeking growth must act with the dynamism and flexibility of new start-ups. Otherwise, they face stagnation and obsolescence. The key to growth is to provide new solutions to customer pain points, which can be ascertained by an attentive approach to market research. To introduce this growth model into a big organization, a special team of maverick innovators must be employed.

[Aniq N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy of this book.

David and Christina did a wonderful job explaining a framework for large corporations to streamline thinking and innovate.

This is should be required reading for big companies to compete in the modern era of capitalism.

[Lisa Stillings · Rating 3 out of 5]

how big businesses can become innovators

[Lisa Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a slightly inflated review since this was an acquisition. This isn’t particularly different from other books out there on corporate innovation, but it is structured well and provides some examples that help bring the points to life.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good playbook for enterprise to innovate from new to big, from big to bigger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER2h8... (done)

https://shows.acast.com/mastering-inn... (done)

Table of Contents
1 New to Big 1
2 How We Got Here 10
3 From TAM to TAP 23
4 The Growth Leader Challenge 40
5 Discover a Big, Unmet Customer Need 70
6 Validate Like an Entrepreneur 91
7 Invest Like a VC 120
8 It All Comes Down to People 146
9 Install a Permanent Growth Capability 167
10 Go on Offense 196
Acknowledgments 203
Glossary 207
Notes 209
Resources 217
Index 223

[Kathy Cowie · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be reviewed in the May-June issue of Global Business and Organizational Excellence.