Editorial Review:
Conventional wisdom once told us big companies are unbeatable... and eat smaller competitors for breakfast. Not anymore. These days It's Not the Big that Eat the Small... It's the FAST that Eat the Slow! Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton discovered what separates today's icons of speed from everybody else. They asked questions like:- What is the difference between speed and haste?
- Where does business go to spot trends before the competition?
- How can leaders help people stop dreading high velocity and rediscover the thrill of deciding, acting and staying fast?
And studied the world's fastest companies like: - H&M Europe's fast fashion phenomenon now poised to threaten apparel stores in America.
- AOL who gulped down Netscape and Time Warner in record time.
- Charles Schwab the new dominant name in discount and on-line financial services.
The results are in this sensational book... a national bestseller, translated all over the globe and universally praised. Would you like to make speed a competitive tool in your business? Here's your roadmap!
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
...THE FAST THAT EAT THE SLOW - Great PR Read!  2008-08-20
This was a great read where authors have done their research on how some companies strategize their business so well. Speed is a great rule and tool for your business. My favorite part was on Getting to Market Faster. I first heard about this book from Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5WPR, who recommended this on his blog. His opinion sparked my interest to get the book, and now I have changed my ways in my own business.
Excellent thought points for entrepreneurs -- speed does kill your competition 2006-10-05
Disclaimer: I have worked as an early stage Venture Capitalist for roughly two years, worked with several Angel investment groups in California and gone to business school. My perspective on the book is based on my investing experience and my time working with high-technology start-ups.
The book is a quick read packed with many very good insights into how to build a small company into a successful one. The main focus is about keeping a very sharp focus on what the company needs to do to succeed -- learn what works, listen to the customer and build an agile organization that can quickly move react but execute flawless when the on point with known customer base. A key point to consider which is missed by many business / management books is that you can not control what your customer base, your competitors and outside economic forces are doing. Change/Chaos = opportunity not a problem. The agile company will maximize the economic opportunity while a large company will try to react but be very late to the party.
An agile company can also position itself favorably for a liquidity event by beating a large competitor to a profitable market; you make the build vs. buy decision for the large company very easy.
I have seen many part of the book put into action successfully and some companies that did not implement the advice; the results are very clear that speed is a competitive tool.
The downside about speed being a competitive tool is that it is very difficult to keep it up for a long period. So, Speed needs to be used to locate and dominate a market to block out competitors. However, other strategies need to be developed in combination with speed and innovation to stay on top...but speed is the way to be the lead company in developing markets.
Simple management philosophy that worths a read  2004-03-30
I think most people understand the importance of "speed" in the marketplace. The problem lies in "how" to incorporate this element into their daily business before they or their companies had been eaten by someone else. I am sorry that the author had not done a good job in this respect. He said a lot about the advantages of being speedy, but not practical methods of pushing it through bureaucracy, redtape, human resistance to change, the long term committment of top management......... Perhaps I had demanded too much from such a small book. However, I really believe the author is capable of giving us more, judged by his smooth and intelligent writing skills and choice of words. Below please find some copy and paste for your reference. Speed, merely for the sake of moving fast, without a destination inmind, is haste. Eventually, out of control, speed will land you in big trouble. But imagine how many more races you would win if you had a big head start. Think about the advantage you would have if you knew what the future was going to look like and were able to spot trends before the competition. Consider the power of being able to think about things quickly and accurately, tackling in minutes the same big issues and questions the competition would be processing for weeks. pg 9 Question everything...all the time. If you want to hone your anticipatory skills, accept nothing. Question everything. Ask how and why of everything that's presented to you. pg 19 A fund manager's best year will likely be his or her first. He or she is without a need to defend the previous year's choices and is able to ruthlessly assess the viability and potential performance of holdings in the fund. Dr. Richard Geist, professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. pg 101 It's not the strongest nor most intelligent of the species that survive; it is the one most adaptable to change. Charles Darwin pg 111 When you refuse to abandon, bad things always seem to happen. p.s. The main book title is very interesting. I think if the author did add one more word "idiot" in the end, the impact will be even bigger.
Good 2004-03-20
Lots of good stuff. Some you'll have read in other books, but that's not a negative if such info is presented in a new way, as it is here. I do think the choices of AOL and Hotmail as fast company examples were dumb choices, since Hotmail never actually turned a profit, it just grew to become an enticing buy for Microsoft, which is when the owners cashed in. AOL's troubled history is famous enough I need not repeat it here. But the other companies chosen (Charles Schwab, Clear Channel, among others) as examples are "legitimate" companies, aiming for profit and succeeding while growing quickly. And it's because of those examples I recommend this book.
Some flaws, but overall a good value 2003-05-11
There is an old story about the two fellows who went lion hunting in Africa. They searched for days to no avail, then suddenly-right in front of them-was a huge lion!
The lion saw them, too, and thought, "lunch!" One of the men reached into his knapsack, retrieved his running shoes, and began putting them on. His friend, incredulous, mocked, "You'll never outrun that lion." The first man responded, "I don't have to outrun the lion; I just have to outrun you!" The speed of business has increased, along with the speed of change. Today, and in the years ahead, the prizes will go to the companies that anticipate the trends, then move most quickly and wisely to put themselves in the right place at the right time. Those firms that allow any employee-at any level-to tie them to tradition or to get in the way of progress risk extinction. Given the title, we'd expect to find the secrets in the pages of this book. Readers will find quite a few tips, some great lessons, snappy writing, and valuable summary lists at the end of each chapter. There's a lot of good content here, but also some annoying redundancy. This well-organized book moves steadily and deliberately through a collection of strategies that stimulate thinking and action. A number of examples are offered to illustrate fast movement and not-fast-enough movement. Many of the anecdotes and case studies come from the same companies, which is both good and bad. We see deeper into these companies, but miss the opportunity to appreciate the strategies and actions of a wider range of organizations. Hearing about the same companies over and over again made me wonder if the authors had investigated any other examples. The sameness got old. Toward the end of the book, the reader may sense some repetition, as if the authors forgot they had mentioned these things or were looking for filler to complete the manuscript at the end of their writing process. I sensed some redundancy in the main body of the book, but as the manuscript drew to a close I almost lost interest because I was reading words I'd already read. There's a lot of good content in this volume, so I'll still recommend it. Look for the tips, the advice, and the strategies that will inspire you to make notes, turn down pages, and highlight various sections. While the book wasn't 100% for me, there are a lot of valuable and thought-provoking lessons in these pages. Many of the ideas and observations are sufficiently thought-provoking to stimulate change in the way you do things, particularly if you perceive yourself to be in a competitive environment. This review refers to the hardcover edition.
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