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Justin Skinner
Mr. McKeever
English 102H
Word Count:1318
March 7, 2016

Review of Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time by Daniel Gross

Daniel Gross, recently graduated from Harvard University, wrote Forbes Greatest
Business Stories of All Time, which was published by John Wiley & Sons Inc. in 1996.
The book was a New York Times Business bestseller and a finalist for the Financial
Times "Lex" award (Pittinos). Gross purpose when writing the book was to elaborate on
some of the greatest business stories of all time, including one of the greatest
entrepreneurs of all time, Ray Kroc. He achieved this by researching many great
business stories and giving a detailed overview of each. The following review of Gross
work will discuss its major strengths and weaknesses
The author does not really play a role in book; his purpose was to research some
of the most successful businesses and how those businesses accomplished their
successes. He also wanted to personalize the individuals and show their strengths and
weaknesses. His tone is pretty neutral; he chooses to provide the readers with the facts
and allow the readers to draw their own conclusions. By doing this, the author comes off
as an intellectual thinker who wants the readers to be educated on a subject he cares
deeply about.
The author is trying to reach anyone and everyone, feeling strongly that everyone
should be interested in how people achieve such great success in their life endeavors.

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His focus may lean towards individuals who want to become successful business
entrepreneurs. He definitely reaches his most targeted audience. He also reaches
people who simply like reading about successful people, but do not necessarily want to
start their own businesses. He wrote this book in hopes of educating many people,
whether it be a college student researching a paper or an entrepreneur looking to start a
business, by researching successful attempts at businesses. Anyone can be successful
no matter their age, gender, ethnicity or social status. Ray Kroc was a fifty-two-year-old
milkshake salesman. He never in his wildest dreams thought he was going to be the
CEO of McDonalds. If an amazing opportunity is presented to someone, they should
take it.
The authors interest lies with commerce and industry; the book locates lifes
center of gravity around business. It is all about learning from the successful business
examples within the book. Business is a Darwinian proposition, in which those least fit
and adaptable would go the way of the dinosaur (Gross). That statement is true; you
have to stay true to current trends and adapt in order to keep a customer base. The
author talks about many aspects needed to adapt and run a business. He discusses
how Kroc had to learn about consistency in products, turning a profit, expansion,
franchising, stocks, reputation, advertising, marketing and many more aspects of
business. The summaries of the stories leave some of the aspects open to
interpretation. As a result, this could cause a want for the reader to further develop their
research by looking up more articles about the topics. For example, the author talks
about how Kroc created a research laboratory in Chicago in order to devise a method to

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produce the perfect french fry. However, the process of product development is not
discussed; therefore, one could further research Krocs methods.
One of the significant moments in the book is when the author discusses Ray
Krocs divorce. Ray had been throwing so much into his business that he was
neglecting his family. After thirty-nine years of marriage, he and his wife were divorced.
A successful business changes people; Kroc cared more about McDonalds and being
successful than his family. It was a good idea for the author to add this into the story
because it shows how work can consume you and take over your life if its something
you really care about. It is important to establish a balance between your work life and
your personal life. Ray Kroc was most likely trying to establish success for himself as
well as his family; unfortunately, he did not find that balance.
Another significant event is when the author discusses how McDonalds was in
the beginning making millions of dollars in sales, but they were only yielding a couple
hundred thousand in profit. Kroc could not afford to pay his employees the salaries they
needed/wanted. He had to adapt and come up with a way to make more revenue. One
of his partners in the company suggested buying store sites and franchising them while
having the franchisee pay rent for the property. It worked and saved the company. This
was a good inclusion in the book because it shows even if you are a successful
business owner making lots of money, you need to learn how to control your expenses
and overhead costs or you wont show a good profit. You have to work hard for every
dollar you earn. Also, it shows that no idea is a bad idea. Instead of dealing with the
issues on his own, Kroc listened to what others had to say in the matter. If he had not
been open-minded to suggestion, who knows if McDonalds would have become the

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world-renowned company that it is today. It could very well have been bankrupted and
failed.
The author views all human beings as customers; anyone who has and is willing
to spend money. There is also a view of customers being business partners because
they are the ones keeping the business going. On the other hand, he views human
nature as being run on instincts; a person will know what the right thing to do and not to
do is. This is true for morals as well as running a business. Most everyone knows the
difference between right and wrong, but not everyone knows how to apply that to
operating a business. Another big view of human nature for the author is reasoning; a
person must be able to use reason to think out all sorts of situations.
Individuals are motivated by many things, some of which include: the need to
take care of themselves, the need to take care of their families, the need to be
successful, the need to be wealthy, the need to be respected, the need to be famous. A
person has to push themselves and have the right attitude in order to be successful in
anything they do in life. They also need to have the drive to devote the necessary
amount of time to it. The only thing that restricts an individual is themselves. If one tells
themselves they cannot do something, chances are they will not. If they stay positive
and believe in themselves, they can do anything they set their minds to.
The only strain in explanation that the author faces is when he discusses a
prediction that Ray Krocs future would involve the food industry. It was done by a
Phrenologist. Phrenologists are practitioners of nineteenth century medicine that gave
insights into a persons character and capabilities from feeling the shape and size of a
persons skull (Gross). It is a little obscure that the author includes this in his story

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because the mind works with reasoning. Predicting the future based on the shape of
someones head doesnt seem like a likely method for a person made of reason.
There were many thoughts and emotions that Gross put into his work. Through
this book, he was able to create a text full of successful stories that hopefully have
inspired many people to not give up on their dreams. Success is not just handed to an
individual, they have to earn it. Many of the individuals discussed within this book had to
work extremely hard to get where they are. For some of them success came quickly, but
for others it was a hard fought battle. No matter what their concept, plans or aspirations,
every business entrepreneur should give it their all and hope it pays off, like the men
and women discussed in this book.

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Works Cited
Gross, Daniel. Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
1996. 2 March 2018.
Pittinos, Will. Newsweek editor Daniel Gross named Commencement speaker. 26
April 2010. 2 March 2016. <http://www.lakeforest.edu/news/story.php?
id=109>.