Thursday, January 9
This newsletter isn't an ordinary one. Today, I'm thrilled to announce that I am writing a new book, called Always Day One, that will take you deep inside the tech giants, revealing the unique culture, processes, and leadership practices behind their success. The book will be published in fewer than three months — on April 7, 2020 — and that day can't come soon enough.
You can pre-order here.
The book is built off more than 130 interviews with everyone from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to hourly workers. It'll take you into Amazon's fulfillment centers and its corporate offices, into Facebook's feedback trainings, into Google's strategy meetings, into Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's leadership sessions, and into places inside Apple's Cupertino headquarters the company would rather keep secret. There's also a Black Mirror chapter and some other surprises. It's already been named one of Inc's business books you need to read in 2020 — and I'm just announcing it today.
As the Always Day One name indicates, the book goes into depth about how these companies constantly reinvent themselves. Unlike the titans that once dominated the corporate world — like GM and IBM — the tech giants haven't hunkered down to protect their flagship businesses. Instead, they constantly reinvent, building new products and services with little regard for legacy. Amazon, to give one example, has transformed itself from an online bookseller to a logistics provider, a cloud services company, an Academy Award-winning movie studio, a voice computing platform, and a grocer.
Entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban, who owns approximately $1 billion in Amazon stock, had this to say about the book: "The Tech Giants are far from perfect, but Always Day One reveals the inventive elements of their culture that entrepreneurs can and should learn from."
I decided to write this book because, after years of reporting on the tech giants, I've seen that they operate differently than conventional companies. To live in "Day One," they've reimagined how to run a business. What happens on the inside is their competitive advantage. And this book reveals it.
The tech giants, I will note, are far from perfect, and in their quest for growth they often cross the line (as I reported last year regarding Facebook). But they are experts at creating inventive cultures that produce new things, and the rest of the world should have access to their methods.
If you're interested in the tech giants' unprecedented run of success, and what it takes to compete in the age they've dominated, or have enjoyed this newsletter for years, months, or even a few weeks, I hope you pick up a copy. It would mean a lot to me. Again, you can preorder here and I can't wait to keep talking with you about what I've learned as we move into 2020.
Best,
Alex
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