"My work is to create companies and build them," writes Sam Wyly in this candid, engrossing memoir, which reveals how he established and expanded companies on the leading edge of advancements in technology, energy, retail, and investments over the last forty-five years. Wyly shares the process, relationships, struggles, and strategies that have made him one of the 1,000 wealthiest people in the world. From the hardships his parents faced trying to hold on to the family cotton farm during the Depression to the coaching he received on the high school football field, this self-made billionaire describes how his early years in Louisiana prepared him for what lay ahead. His sales experience with IBM and Honeywell in Dallas in the early 1960s gave him the idea to start the first "computer utility." Risking $1,000 of his savings, he founded University Computing in 1963 and took it public two years later, becoming a millionaire at the age of thirty.
Part autobiography and part inspirational business guide, this audio is full of refreshing insights about what it takes to create, grow, and build successful companies.

This rags-to-riches memoir recounts the business life of Sam Wyly as he made his way from IBM salesman in the early 1960s to the owner of Sterling Software and Michael's stores, as well as a chain of restaurants, among other companies. Along the way, Wyly tells of his investment strategies, his business partners, his successes, and his failures. Phil Gigante reads this business story with a steady voice that lulls listeners instead of exciting them. In addition to the occasional odd pronunciation, Gigante's voice is barely modulated, and he fails to engage emotionally. Nonetheless, this title offers an interesting view of how to invest in your business, making it grow while weathering an ever-changing economy. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

 

Sam Wyly, a self-made billionaire of Scottish and Irish descent, grew up in Louisiana and attended Louisiana Tech to study journalism and accounting. He won a scholarship to the University of Michigan Business School, where he earned an MBA. With his brother, Charles, his partner in many of his businesses, Sam funded the Charles Wyly Sr. Tower of Learning at Louisiana Tech, in memory of their father.
Always an avid reader and student of history, he recently purchased the independent bookstore Explore Booksellers and Bistro in Aspen, Colorado, with his wife, Cheryl. Sam is also an active proponent of clean air through clean energy. He has lived most of his adult life in Dallas, and also spends time in Aspen and New York's Greenwich Village.

1,000 Dollars & an Idea by Sam Wyly
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