A couple of months back I finished reading Subroto Bagchi's book, Elephant Catchers; The Key Lessons for breakthrough growth. Here is my brief review:
A very good read especially for those who want to know how to scale up the operations of their company.
This book could be useful, even if you are not in a senior position. Some of the quotes which impressed me:
- Companies do not scale themselves; it is the people who take it to the next step.
- A strategy is most effective when it is presented as a simple idea that touches the chord and then moves people into action.
- Unlike an operation to catch rabbits, trapping an elephant call for expertise over enthusiasm.
- Your customers may begin their relationship with you based on trust and certain personal connect, but as the initial years go by, they begin to build critical dependence on how you manage your internal affairs. They demand process maturity and vertical expertise.
- Elephant catchers (by elephant catchers, author means people with expertise) are hard to come by. The best among them always work for the king.
- Just as you need the first-rate, hungry, lean, combative hunters to win logos, you also need the steady farmers who will cross-sell other products and services, seek adjacency while exploring customer needs and make the relationship stick.
- Sales is not witchcraft; it is a science just as much as it is an art. It must be managed with the same discipline as product development, manufacturing and servicing. A sales organization that is built right can alone scale contribute to the success of the organization.
- It does not take technology to create great things, it takes people...
- I am thankful that I knew how to treat my equity with respect... If you build a company of some consequence, your equity is, in reality, significantly more valuable than cash.
- The board represents wisdom; the management team brings in the intellect and the capacity to execute. Without wisdom intellect can only achieve so much and can even be destructive.
As the readers can understand from the above, the book covers almost every aspect of a growing organization. There is much more. I suggest you read the book if you, at least in part, are concerned about scaling your company to greater heights.
