VENTURE CATALYST

THE FIVE STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATING GROWTH AND PROFIT

Donald L Laurie

'To Hell with leadership. Where's the growth?' demands Lou Platt, the former chairman and CEP of Hewlett Packard, in an interview with Don Laurie. Platt's audacious question captures the essence of this book - a powerful, eye-opening approach to creating and managing spectacular corporate growth and value.

We have seen the end of dot-com mania, high-tech hypervaluations and multimillion-dollar venture capital investments in get-rich-quick business models that had no earnings potential. Now as managers go forward, they must resist the temptation to yield to feelings of complacency. They must take action - substative action that will ensure a profitable, growth-fuelled future.

In Venture Catalyst, Don Laurie presents a dynamic alternative to the traditional strategies of incremental growth or expansion through risky mergers and acquisitions. He defines a practical framework for venture investing and new business creation, drawing on extensive interviews, in-depth company profiles and his own expertise as a high-level advisor.

Venture Catalyst identifies five key strategies for creating the next billion-dollar business:

• Invent;
• Invest;
• Venture;
• Partner;
• Integrate -

For each strategy, Laurie details the obstacles and advantages, along with the fundamental 'preconditions' and 'value-added activities' necessary to achieve success.

Reaching far beyond the mechanics of analyzing and implementing ventures, Laurie addresses the cultural issues that can either impede or facilitate the path to wealth creation. In stark contrast to the mindless frenzy that fuelled the dot-com bubble, Venture Catalyst offers a rigorous and field-tested perspective.

Donald L Laurie is founder and managing director of Laurie International and of Oyster International LLC, a management consulting firm that focuses on strategies for growth, new business creation, venture investing and technology spinouts. The author of The Real Work of Leaders, Laurie is an advisor to industry leaders worldwide.