Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras is a research book. In the book, it researched some of the successful companies such as 3M, P&G, Sony, and etc.

It use a comparison method to identity why some companies become successful and some companies failed in the same industry.

I really like this book because in the end of each chapters, it has a applicational sections for CEO, managers, and entrepreneurs. It helps me to reflect on how to manage the team with a vision better.

These are some of the quotes I found very useful:

1. You can learn from success but you have to work at it; it's a lot easier to learn from failure.
2. A company should not change its core value in response to market change; rather, it should change its market.
3. Core ideology need only be meaningful and inspirational to people inside the organization... it's the people inside the organization that need to be compelled by the core values and purpose to generate long-term commitment to the organization's success.

Ever since the explosion of social networks, people have more interest in start ups. There are a lot of discussions on how to start a successful startups and how to build a successful product. It creates a whole new set of "startup language" in the hotbed of startups, San Francisco. Terms such as: Incubate, Pivot, Disruptive, Lean Startup, Valuation, Scaleable. While I was reading this book, I found these are just fantasying words that are trying to sell by marketing department.

Note on this: Sony started by a group of people who just want to start a company without any products in mind.

Anyway, I recommend those who wants to start a company to read this book before reading any other startup books.