Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

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Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Bernie Marcus (Author), Arthur Blank (Author), Bob Andelman (Author),

4.5 490 ratings

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When a friend told Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank that "you've just been hit in the ass by a golden horseshoe," they thought he was crazy. After all, both had just been fired. What the friend, Ken Langone, meant was that they now had the opportunity to create the kind of wide-open warehouse store that would help spark a consumer revolution through low prices, excellent customer service, and wide availability of products.

Built from Scratch is the story of how two incredibly determined and creative people - and their associates - built a business from nothing to 761 stores and $30 billion in sales in a mere 20 years.

Built from Scratch tells many colorful stories associated with The Home Depot's founding and meteoric rise; shows that a company can be a tough, growth-oriented competitor, and still maintain a high sense of responsibility to the community; and provides great lessons useful to people in any business, from start-ups to the Fortune 500.

Listening Length

11 hours and 49 minutes
Author

Bernie Marcus, see all
Narrator

Mike Chamberlain
Audible release date

May 30, 2017
Language

English
Publisher

Tantor Audio
ASIN

B0725ZD5ZM
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	11 hours and 49 minutes
Author	Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Bob Andelman
Narrator	Mike Chamberlain
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	May 30, 2017
Publisher	Tantor Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0725ZD5ZM
Best Sellers Rank	#103,592 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #199 in House & Home #364 in Biographies of Business Leaders #670 in Entrepreneurship (Audible Books & Originals)

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4.5 out of 5

490 global ratings

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Dorothy meyer

Great story

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2024

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John A.

Leadership and Culture

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2020

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Great book! Although 22 yrs old it was a great read! Main points: leadership! Establishing a value driven corporate culture! Trusting employees, empowerment, decision making, good business sense, ken Langone!! Walking the floor of their stores. Like I. Previous books about GE and Ford with C.E.C, Workout, Home Depot engaged World Tours and Bernies Time. Also their 14 Points of Mgt, and all the great business stories they shared of success and failures. Great book!

One person found this helpful

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Richard of Connecticut

The INDISPENSIBLE history of building a business from one store with zero sales to a $100 BILLION company.

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2007

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It never ceases to amaze me in what it takes to satisfy a reader. When I read a book like this, I am basically asking myself several questions. How on earth did these guys do it? How did they come through the funnel and get it done. What was at stake? What were the major premises of the concept? Could it have failed, if so how? How close did it come to failing? Could some one else have done this, or replicated it, or perhaps have done it better.

A lot of life is pure fantasy. You have your own template of how things works, and you look at the world and you see that template everywhere. If you go out and try to apply this system and superimpose it onto the real world, it either fails or it succeeds. Sometimes the template is a good one, but the execution gets screwed up.

When I look at Home Depot, a story that I have an intimacy with, I found this particular book to be fabulous. There is nothing boring about it; in fact I found every page worthwhile. Having spent 35 years in Wall Street running money, and figuring out how does a company make a buck, I found this book even more worthwhile. If you are involved in the investment business, this becomes a particularly worthwhile read.

If you run a company or have aspirations towards a career in management, you better read this book, because there is something in it for everyone. For most of us, there is more than one thing in it. Peter Drucker the ultimate management mind of the 20th century probably said it best when he talked about the corporation as a living, breathing organism that required nourishment on a daily basis. You just can't assume that corporations will continue to exist simply because they exist now.

Every day a company fights for its corporate life, for its right to continue to exist. Those corporate entities that assume that they will always be around - NEVER LAST. Other entities out there either eat them up, or they suffer the slow final death of arrogance, and go out of business without even knowing why they went out.

Home Depot is the story of two guys that got up in the morning every morning, fighting for the right to keep doing it a better way. They lived by the credo that you have to keep moving or they will throw dirt on you. Some of the lessons and ideas you will learn from this book include the following:

· CUSTOMER SERVICE - You have to take care of good people, and constantly be on the lookout for them. If necessary hire them, even when you don't have the jobs for them because you may not get a second shot at them.

· DOING THE RIGHT THING ALL THE TIME - It can cost you money doing the right thing, but it comes back in spades. Something else happens when you do the right thing. People realize your efforts, and some will take advantage of you, but that will be more than offset by the multitude of others who will become loyal customers for life.

· NOBODY LOVES A COMPANY- They may love what you do, and what you do for them as customers, but there is no real loyalty to companies, at least in this generation. Home Depot always tried to make as many of their employees stockholders as possible, so that they could align the employee (associates at HD) goals with the corporate goals.

· THIS IS A TOUGH PLACE TO WORK IF YOU ARE INFLEXIBLE - This lesson was lost on the current Chairman, CEO Nardelli who was fired by the Board for his IMPERIAL management style. He also possessed no understanding of the Home Depot culture as he tried to superimpose his General Electric template on the company. He failed miserably but that's another book.

· IF YOU CAN SAVE THE CUSTOMER MONEY, DO IT - Always do the right thing by the customer, and you will have a customer for life. Go the extra mile for the customer. CULTIVATE the customer.

· THE FOUNDERS WERE LIVING ON THE FUMES OF DREAMS - I loved these stories. These guys Marcus and Blank were honest about what they faced, and several times this company was touching or facing bankruptcy. This is an important lesson. The way around it is to have twice as much capital as you think you need. This by itself was worth reading the entire book. This is priceless knowledge.

· IT'S ABOUT PRICE, SELECTION, AND CUSTOMER SERVICE - Never lose sight of this statement and act on it in your own business goals. Give people the best price you can, and the finest selection of merchandise. If you back it up with the industry's best customer service you have found for yourself a business model for success. It may sound simple, but try executing on it.

So let me let you in on a secret. I spent years with Bear Stearns well over 20 years ago as a limited partner. When I read the early financial stories of Home Depot on Wall Street, I knew that what the founders in this book were saying was the complete unvarnished truth.

The story of how Ross Perot, one of America's wealthiest men in the early 1980's blew having dominant control of this company is now the stuff of myths. Nevertheless it's a true story. The founders ultimately turned down Ross Perot as a shareholder. They believe Perot to be a control freak. Yes, Perot didn't want the founders driving around in a Cadillac. Perot was a Chevy man. Well, the Chevy man blew a $60 billion dollar fortune by not investing a couple of million in Home Depot.

Then there's Ken Langone, the financial guy behind this phenomenal story. Langone may be the only guy in America to be the IPO maven behind two all time American success stories. He successfully brought public both Ross Perot's EDS, and the Home Depot. Who else can say that? He also made a billion dollars in the process. Langone is a unique, fabulous, walk to the well with you kind of guy. Among Wall Street types, he is unique, and the Street needs many more like him.

There is a story in the book where Langone is involved in a stock sale to a very nasty executive who is very prominent in his own right. Every time the executive refuses to give in to Langone's price, Langone just keeps upping the ante on him. This goes on for pages. It is uproariously funny, and is deserving of retelling over and over again. You will love this book, and learn an enormous amount about business in the process. It should probably be required reading for all MBA programs in management.

If you have any desire to understand what it takes to dedicate your entire life to building something, especially in the business world than this book is a read for you. There's one more thing that I must get across that is compelling. Having spent my life involved with companies like Home Depot, and high-powered successful people, I have come to the conclusion that it does not have to work out successfully.

There is no such thing as one must succeed, or it was ordained that this must happen. As an example Home Depot could have gone out of business a half dozen times before becoming so financially solvent that the business model had to work.

Steve Jobs at Apple could have decided 20 years ago, to license that Apple operating system to the PC industry, and Gates and Microsoft would never have happened. GM could have decided to build quality cars 25 years ago, instead of building [...]for decades while the Japanese took the market away.

Al Gore could have concentrated just a little bit more on Florida in 2000, and George W. Bush would have never been. John Kerry could have fought off the challenge of the Swift Boat accusations, and Ohio would have gone his way, and with it the election.

In the end, it's really a question of who comes through the funnel, and that is not always predictable. As I read this wonderful book, I came to the conclusion once again, that yes, you have to go for it, and dedicate all to getting there, but there is no certitude that you are going to make it. Just make sure you follow YOUR PASSION, because no matter where you wind up, a PASSION FILLED LIFE is a life WORTH LIVING. Good luck.

Richard Stoyeck

30 people found this helpful

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Billy K

How did we get lost?

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2021

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Like this book and only half way through it. It screams how far Home Depot, has gotten away from the original ideals and ethos’s of how to do business. We now are focused on over head space management leaving the customer on the floor, with no one to assist.

We hire a person for seasonal work, then hire permanently assigning them to a department without any training. A disservice to the customer who as at the top of the inverted triangle as being the boss and cheating the associate who is right under the customer of a tool do their job.

A culture of keep knowledge to yourself because the new guy may threaten your job or show up one of your favorites. Yes favoritism.

Definitely not the Home Depot the founders built or envisioned.

One person found this helpful

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G. J Wiener

Quality Material

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2000

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I just finsihed reading this book and it is undoubtedly high quality material. Anyone reading this book gets a very informative history of the Home Depot and the two owners behind it. You also get a clear picture of the management style of the company as well as what their priorities are. I am not a do it yourself person when it comes to home maintenance so last wekend I decided to view the experience from the inside of one of Home Depot's stores. Not expecting to buy anything, I left with four items that I could use for my apartment. Let me tell you, the associates are all fairly nice people and the shelves are stacked up high. Was everything perfect in the store, no, but we all could improve ourselves in someway. Anyway, as a shareholder in the company, I am proud to say that this is a company that is going to be around for a long time. And this book truly depicts the Home Depot environment very well as it focuses on a very large audience.

6 people found this helpful

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Ron Nason

Great model for retail sales!

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2018

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Very interesting chronicle of the history behind the evolution of The Home Depot! As a 15 year veteran of Home Depot I have lived what the founders created, so I found the book quite interesting to read. The book serves as a great model for how a retail business should be run. The inverted pyramid of corporate management and the companies core values, Take care of the associates on the front lines nes and the rest will take care of itself!

5 people found this helpful

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Neeraj Aggarwal

Elaborate advert for Home Depot

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021

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Very interesting book but the authors displayed little to no vulnerability. They covered the harrassment scandal because they had to - but given how much they rave about their culture, I'd have expected a more objective narrative

2 people found this helpful

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Troy Kirby

Awesome from start to finish

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2021

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This audio book snuck up on me. It was very detailed in the mindset, positioning and branding of The Home Depot. And the stories were fantastic. I highly recommend it.

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Top reviews from other countries

Robert Nixon

Fantastic Book. A look behind the scenes at the creation and growth of an American giant.

Reviewed in Canada on February 21, 2023

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This book let's you in on the thinking, planning, fighting, pushing and unrelenting effort of the founders of this great company in getting it started and growing it into the behemoth it is now. If you ever wondered why it felt different in a good way, this book tells you how it was done.