Making the Cisco Connection: The Story Behind the Real Internet Superpower at Dominant Systems Book Store

Cisco Systems is one of the most valuable companies in the world, yet few know very much about it. Making the Cisco Connection, by Upside Media CEO and editor David Bunnell, is a clear and comprehensive corporate history that certainly will change that. Beginning with the firm's 1984 founding at Stanford University--when Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner first concocted a way for different computer systems to communicate with each other--Bunnell follows the major players and their key actions in order to place this continuing Silicon Valley success story in the proper perspective. There's its meteoric rise at the cusp of the online age, when Bosack and Lerner initially devised the electronic router that is now the backbone of the Internet. There's the power struggle with a venture capitalist that ousted this once-married duo, the marketing savvy that ultimately gave their product an 80 percent market share, the acquisition strategy that has brought both allies and competitors into the fold, the culture that celebrates cooperation and fair play, the ongoing drive to become an even broader communication gateway. These and other moves, which Bunnell fully details, have built a company worth $200 billion today. "In the end," he writes, "who knows?" --Howard Rothman

Customer Reviews & Comments
Reading this book provides a fairly compact history of Cisco Systems ascent from a start-up to the world's most valuable corporation in less than 20 years. As best I can tell from comparing the book to interviews with Cisco executives and news reports, the data included are pretty accurate. The only significant thing missing from this book is enough context on why Cisco has been more successful than other companies. The details are there, but the highlighting of what is significant is too light. The essential point is that a company needs a vision, strategy, values, culture, management style, and business processes that permit it to prosper from irresistible forces and trends, regardless of how these turn out. Cisco has adhered to this perspective more than almost any other company. The aspects of what Cisco does differently come primarily in using acquisitions to add talent and provide flexibility responses to unclear, emerging technology trends. The accomplishment here is that the talented people stay, are more productive than ever before, and fit comfortably into the Cisco culture. Hardly anyone ever does these things well. The authors also understate the significance of how Cisco has multiplied irresistible forces. The focus on the Internet allows the company to benefit from both Moore's and Metcalfe's Laws. Because of that, Cisco has a very high stock price. That makes for low costs in acquiring and keeping top people, through the use of stock-based acquisitions and stock options. Converging technologies mean that the Internet basis allows the company to impinge on other forms of communications as the convergence occurs. All this means that Cisco has the potential to be 10 times the size of Microsoft. The key difference: Cisco is much more adept at irresistible force management. People who want to understand more about high tech competition, how to create a successful company, and find good investments will all find this book to be valuable. I especially recommend this book to people who are about to start up a new business. Do take the material with a little grain of salt though. As good as Cisco Systems is, they're not quite as good as this book suggests.

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