So I finished this book last friday while my flight to Cali was landing. I completely fell in love with Collins' writing about 3 years ago when I read Good To Great, which presented through an extensive research what it takes for a good company to become a great one. I guess what I loved about it is that modern entrepreneurs who grew up with the stories of people like Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison and Jeff Bezos (among many others) aspire to that. Our unofficial motto should be that cliché'd expression that even actors use: "I don't want to just play the game, I want to change the way the game is played".
However, what we don't realize is that the things that make a company a great one, can also make it a visionary one, and those kind of companies didn't just appear out of the thin air in the last half of the 20th century with the technological revolution, they have been quietly growing and changing the way the game is played since more than a century ago, and this is what this book is about, understanding the secrets of those long-lasting visionary companies. However, as he did in Good to Great, in this book he dispels many myths we have about those kind of companies.
First of all, it's not about having a market-reshaping idea that will change the world, few companies start that way. The best way to start a visionary company is by building a core vision and core values that will set a culture that will ensure continued success and improvement. And it has to go further than economic goals, as fun as it is to make money, people are hardly passionate about it, you have to make sure that the vision and core values inspire passion and commitment that will last, even if you retire and leave someone else in charge. As Collins puts it, be a clock-maker not a time-teller.
Second, stop thinking that you have to compromise your values in order to have economical success, or viceversa, visionary companies are so ambitious and disciplined that they understand what Collins calls "The Genius of the And". Instead of asking yourself if you have to chose between being a core philosophy-based company and a visionary one, find the way to have both.
These takes us to the third part, you have to think that if you have an inspiring core beliefs that promotes and embraces change, innovation and progress, your company will not only evolve with the times, but will even be able to lead those evolutions.
Finally, as told earlier, you can't just grow for the sake of growing, however the way to avoid that, as well as to avoid loosing your core, is to align every project, every process and every goal with your core vision and your core values. This will not only ensure the faith that your customers have put on your company, but will also set the path for the future leaders of your organization.
Those are just broad ideas that Collins develops expertly in his book, but the applicability of them in real companies is unquestionable. And if you aspire to create something with real lasting value, this is your book.

We need to maintain ourselves our personalities to put last longer impression on others, we do business, friendship, and relationships. Reading is good habit, but more important is to take effect, take actions, and make changes to your life. Without an reaction, your actions does not count as effective, or say, Waste of Time.

Great book, detailing the successes of visionary companies and what differentiates them from their competitors. Inspiring, makes me want to implement as many of the suggestions as I can in my own company. I want to read "The Halo Effect", a book a different author that details possible errors in the research done by Collins on this book - balanced viewpoints are important.

*Note: Some visionary companies listed in this book have undergone major transformations since the book was first published in 1994*

In my opinion, this book is a research paper on successful companies’ verses not so successful companies involved in the same kind of business. Depending on the period you read Built to Last, you will notice that some companies Jim and Jerry refer to as successful or visionary have collapsed (guess there is nothing really built to last). The idea for the reader, therefore, is to understand the principles behind what once made those companies successful and apply that knowledge differently to avoid the same pitfalls.

In the 21st century, the insights of chapter three, more than profits, can serve as a major talent attraction tool for organizations since they now have to deal with millennials. Research has shown that millennials prefer working for organizations they think serve a greater purpose for humanity. Successful companies such as Sony and Ford, both given as examples in this book, have known this for years and capitalize on it. Having a big hairy audacious goal to get people pumped up and excited about reporting for work every morning is another way built to last companies get their people engaged. They also believe in home-grown talent. I am glad Jim and Jerry exposed the weakness in our thinking that successful companies are built by charismatic leaders with a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’.

The two authors deserve a lot of credit for their work. Anyone who has done research will know how hard it is to make sense out of raw data. The book is informative, simple and has helped me understand why and how some companies have survived the test of time. Four stars for these reasons.