You'll Manage: Lessons Learned From A Former CEO

You’ll Manage is a gritty collection of essays about the life and business wisdom Chris Allison gathered as entrepreneur and CEO of a start-up that became a publicly-traded company. His entertaining prose makes it easy to get wrapped up in the stories and forget you’re getting an education in finance and management. Unlike many entrepreneurs who offer business advice, Allison doesn’t take himself too seriously. In titles like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Entrepreneur” and “Big Daddy,” he uses humor to speak with the candor of someone who’s not afraid to admit he’s made mistakes along the way, and learned from them. You’ll find yourself on the last page of You'll Manage before you know it, wishing for more.

For 16 years -- 10 of which as chairman and CEO - Chris Allison led Tollgrade Communications Inc. from technology start up to public company to being recognized as one of the Best Small Companies in America by Forbes, Fortune, Business 2.0, Bloomberg Personal Finance and Industry Week. In the year 2000, sales of Tollgrade's centralized telephone test systems hit $114 million and its value on the NASDAQ exchange reached $2 billion. For his efforts, Allison was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, as well as by the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association. He was also named CEO Communicator of The Year by the Public Relations Society of America. Now, Allison devotes much of his time to Allegheny College, where he teaches entrepreneurship and managerial economics as the college's entrepreneur-in-residence. He is also a member of Allegheny's board of trustees and a member of the board of directors of Timesys Corporation. Allison has been a columnist for Pittsburgh Quarterly since the magazine's inception in 2005. For his writing, he is a two-time nominee and one-time winner of the Golden Quill Award from the Pittsburgh Press Club.