1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire - Softcover

Wyly, Sam

3.75

213 ratings by Goodreads

9781557048486: 1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1557048487 ISBN 13: 9781557048486

Publisher: Newmarket Pr, 2009

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Expanded edition with new chapters on the Great Crash of 2008 and looking ahead.

Self-made billionaire Sam Wyly is a natural storyteller. In this expanded edition of his memoir, he recounts his experiences establishing and expanding companies on the leading edge of advancements in technology, energy, retail, and investments over the last five decades. From the hardships his family faced trying to hold on to their cotton farm during the Depression to the coaching he received on the high school football field, Wyly describes how his early years in Louisiana prepared him for what lay ahead.

Risking $1,000 of his savings, Wyly founded University Computing in 1963 and took it public two years later, becoming a millionaire at the age of thirty. Throughout this book, he reveals the decisions and strategies behind his many business successes, including founding Sterling Software, growing the small chains of Michaels Stores and Bonanza Steakhouses into nationwide brands, and founding Green Mountain Energy, the largest provider of cleaner energy in America today.

Wyly also discusses the "Great Crash of 2008" in historical perspective, offering insights on our current financial crisis and the path to recovery—including the importance of green energy for the future.

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About the Author:

Sam Wyly, a self-made billionaire of Scottish and Irish descent, grew up in Louisiana and attended local schools before going to Louisiana Tech University to study journalism and accounting. He won a scholarship to the University of Michigan Business School, where he earned his MBA. With his brother, Charles, his partner in many of his businesses, Sam funded the Charles Wyly Sr. Tower of Learning at Louisana Tech, in memory of their father.

Sam, an avid reader and student of history, and his wife Cheryl own Explore Booksellers in Aspen, Colorado. Sam is also an active proponent of clean air through clean energy.

He has lived most of his adult life in Dallas, and also spends time in Aspen and in New York's Greenwich Village.

From AudioFile:

This rags-to-riches memoir recounts the business life of Sam Wyly as he made his way from IBM salesman in the early 1960s to the owner of Sterling Software and Michael's stores, as well as a chain of restaurants, among other companies. Along the way, Wyly tells of his investment strategies, his business partners, his successes, and his failures. Phil Gigante reads this business story with a steady voice that lulls listeners instead of exciting them. In addition to the occasional odd pronunciation, Gigante's voice is barely modulated, and he fails to engage emotionally. Nonetheless, this title offers an interesting view of how to invest in your business, making it grow while weathering an ever-changing economy. M.B.K. � AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

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