#24-Bloomberg by Bloomberg

Sunday Biographies 📚 Perfect for those who love learning from the experiences of successful individuals.

Every Sunday, I'll share biographies I've read and the highlights that resonated with me. Your positive feedback on my previous biography-related posts inspired me to create this newsletter.

What started in 1981 with four guys and a coffee pot—and not one customer—has grown beyond our wildest imaginations. And yet on the most important measures, Bloomberg has not changed at all. The culture that we created at the very beginning continues to define who we are: We are still a company that will outwork our competitors, take more risks than they will, serve our customers better, invest more in the long term, and place greater emphasis on transparency and teamwork. The design of our physical environment is still the same—no private offices. I have the same desk space as everyone else in the company. We have never stopped believing that our greatest asset is our own people, and we invest in them and reward them accordingly.

My Top 10 Highlights from the book

1. The technology that we pioneered in the early 1980s has long been ancient history. But we never made the error that so many others have: mistaking their product for the device that delivers it. Executives at Eastman Kodak, for instance, thought they were in the camera and film business, instead of the photography business. The digital photography revolution passed them by, and after more than a century as one of the most innovative companies in the world, they filed for bankruptcy in 2012. At Bloomberg, we got out of the business of building physical computers as soon as PCs began taking off. We knew our core product was data and analytics, not hardware. Look ahead or fall behind. We’re still looking ahead.
2. I’ve always believed that the next person can do it better. If a company can’t survive a change at the top, the top person hasn’t done her or his job. Talent development is one of a CEO’s most important responsibilities.
3. For all that we’ve accomplished, I still believe that tomorrow will be better than today, and the best is yet to come.
4. It’s said that 80 percent of life is just showing up. I believe that. You can never have complete mastery over your existence. You can’t choose the advantages you start out with, and you certainly can’t pick your genetic intelligence level. But you can control how hard you work. I’m sure someone, someplace, is smart enough to succeed while “keeping it in perspective” and not working too hard, but I’ve never met him or her. The more you work, the better you do. It’s that simple. I always outworked the other person (and if I hadn’t, he or she would be writing this book). Still, I had a life. I don’t remember being so driven or focused that my job got in the way of playing in the evenings and on weekends. I dated a lot. I skied and jogged and hit the town more than most. I just made sure I devoted twelve hours to work and twelve hours to fun—every day. The more you try to do, the more life you’ll have.
5. Some young people starting their careers today are too impatient for current compensation, at the expense of continuing their education and giving their jobs a chance. Get back to work. Forget the money today. There’s plenty of time for that later. Novices should go to the best firm they can get into—and then listen and learn.
6. Sunday night was my favorite because I knew when I awoke the next morning, I’d have five full days of fun at the office.
7. If you’re going to succeed, you need a vision, one that’s affordable, practical, and fills a customer need. Then, go for it. Don’t worry too much about the details. Don’t second-guess your creativity. Avoid overanalyzing the new project’s potential. Most importantly, don’t strategize about the long term too much.
8. In business, growth is a necessity: You grow or you get out. No company can stay anchored to the status quo, no matter how successful it is. Customers come and go; their needs change with time, and the services that help them do their jobs are always in flux. Woe to the supplier without the best offering. If you’re depending on longtime personal relationships, and not the quality of what you provide, start working on your golf game: You have a friendship with the buyer—your competitor already has one with his or her successor!
9. Any supplier who offers today what it sold yesterday will be out of business tomorrow.
10. Every day at Bloomberg, we face challenges that jeopardize our comfortable life. We constantly have to fight established competitors trying to take food out of our children’s mouths. And then there are the start-ups that want to destroy everything we’ve built. Stand still and their products will overtake ours. If we’re not careful, one day it’ll be easier for them to add our features to their products than for us to add theirs to ours. Growth makes us a moving target. No growth makes us a sitting duck.

And remember, your comments and book recommendations are always welcome in the comments below.🙏🏽👇🏼

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See you all next week, and happy reading! 📖