How to Castrate a Bull (ePub)

Dave Hitz likes to solve fun problems. He didn't set out to
be a Silicon Valley icon, a business visionary, or even a
billionaire. But he became all three. It turns out that business is
a mosaic of interesting puzzles like managing risk, developing and
reversing strategies, and looking into the future by deconstructing
the past.

As a founder of NetApp, a data storage firm that began as an
idea scribbled on a placemat and now takes in $4 billion a year,
Hitz has seen his company go through every major cycle in
business--from the Jack-of-All-Trades mentality of a start-up,
through the tumultuous period of the IPO and the dot-com bust, and
finally to a mature enterprise company. NetApp is one of the
fastest-growing computer companies ever, and for six years in a row
it has been on Fortune magazine's list of Best
Companies to Work For. Not bad for a high school dropout who began
his business career selling his blood for money and typing the
names of diseases onto index cards.

With colorful examples and anecdotes, How to Castrate a
Bull is a story for everyone interested in understanding
business, the reasons why companies succeed and fail, and how
powerful lessons often come from strange and unexpected places.

Dave Hitz co-founded NetApp in 1992 with James Lau and Michael
Malcolm. He served as a programmer, marketing evangelist, technical
architect, and vice president of engineering. Presently, he is
responsible for future strategy and direction for the company.
Before his career in Silicon Valley, Dave worked as a cowboy, where
he got valuable management experience by herding, branding, and
castrating cattle.