Praise for BLUEPRINT TO A BILLION "A wonderful, well thought out analysis of entrepreneurship and leadership of a growth company." --Howard Lester, Chairman, Williams--Sonoma, Inc. "If you dream about growing your business to a billion, this is a fascinating down--to--earth study that you must read. Apply the seven essential principles to your business and you are off and running. Learn about strategy, growth, leadership, team building, and a whole lot more." --Joe Scarlett, Chairman of the Board, Tractor Supply Company "Blueprint to a Billion is a well--researched and thoughtfully written book that quantifies the growth pattern of Americaa s highest growth companies." --Professor John Quelch, Senior Associate Dean, Harvard Business School "Eighty percent of the top--performing stocks in the last twenty years were small entrepreneurial companies that had an IPO in the prior eight years. Blueprint to a Billion tells you the seven key things these innovators did in common to become Americaa s greatest growth companies." --William J. Oa Neil, Chairman and Founder Investora s Business Daily, www.investors.com "Thomson has written a masterful work that will catalyze, empower, inspire, motivate, and illuminate entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers. The world needs this book and will profit from it in manifold ways." --David M. Darst, Managing Director, Individual Investor Group Chief Investment Strategist, Morgan Stanley

Table of Contents

Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgments. 1. The Blueprint Thesis: A Different Approach to Growth. Part One: Create and Sustain a Breakthrough Value Proposition. 2. The Blueprint Value Proposition. Part Two: Create and Sustain Exponential Revenue Growth. 3. Exploit a High--Growth Market Segment. 4. Marquee Customers Shape the Revenue Powerhouse. 5. Leverage Big Brother Alliances for Breaking into New Markets. Part Three: Seizing the Opportunity to Create Exponential Returns. 6. Becoming the Masters of Exponential Returns. 7. The Management Team: Inside--Outside Leadership. 8. The Board: Comprised of Essentials Experts. 9. Linking the 7 Essentials. 10. Blueprint Companies for the Next Decade and Your Part in Them: An Epilogue. Appendix A: Top 100 Blueprint Companies. Appendix B: Delivering Breakthrough Benefits Drives Exponential Growth. Appendix C: Assessing Management's Focus, Drive, and Ability. Appendix D: Methodology. Endnotes. Index.

About the Author

DAVID G. THOMSON has been leading business growth for twenty years in general management and executive sales/marketing at Nortel Networks and Hewlett--Packard. He also served as an associate principal during his five years at McKinsey & Company. Thomson graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He resides with his family in Overland Park, Kansas.