
Play Nice but Win
A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader
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Narrated by:
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Michael Dell
About this listen
Wall Street Journal best seller
From Michael Dell, renowned founder and chief executive of one of America’s largest technology companies, the inside story of the battles that defined him as a leader
In 1984, soon-to-be college dropout Michael Dell hid signs of his fledgling PC business in the bathroom of his University of Texas dorm room. Almost 30 years later, at the pinnacle of his success as founder and leader of Dell Technologies, he found himself embroiled in a battle for his company’s survival. What he’d do next could ensure its legacy — or destroy it completely.
Play Nice But Win is a riveting account of the three battles waged for Dell Technologies: one to launch it, one to keep it, and one to transform it. For the first time, Dell reveals the highs and lows of the company's evolution amidst a rapidly changing industry — and his own, as he matured into the CEO it needed. With humor and humility, he recalls the mentors who showed him how to turn his passion into a business; the competitors who became friends, foes, or both; and the sharks that circled, looking for weakness. What emerges is the long-term vision underpinning his success: that technology is ultimately about people and their potential.
More than an honest portrait of a leader at a crossroads, Play Nice But Win is a survival story proving that while anyone with technological insight and entrepreneurial zeal might build something great — it takes a leader to build something that lasts.
©2021 Michael Della, James Kaplan (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“The book is acidly funny, nail-biting and fast-paced. It is also blessed with a villain from central casting: Carl Icahn, activist investor and publicity hound, whose sparring with Mr. Dell gives the story its bite.” (The Economist)
“In this super-candid book filled with revealing stories, Michael Dell shows how his development as a person was tightly intertwined with building the company he founded in his college dorm room. It’s a fast-paced tale of launching a public company, taking it private, and then taking it public again, all while wrestling with colorful characters such as Carl Icahn. Dell provides a wealth of business insights but also something more important: how curiosity and good values are essential to success both in life and in business. It’s a lesson he learned from his strong parents and shares with his wife in the work of their foundation to give kids better opportunities. The result is a book that is exciting, insightful, and valuable.” (Walter Isaacson, best-selling author of The Code Breaker)
“Michael Dell takes you into the real world of building and transforming an empire, vividly describing conversations and deals with key players so you see the whole picture. It’s a great gift for those on a similar journey.” (Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates and author of Principles: Life and Work)
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Story
What’s the secret to business growth and innovation and a purpose-driven career in a world that is becoming vastly more complicated by the day? According to Marc Benioff, the answer is embracing a culture in which your values permeate everything you do. In Trailblazer, Benioff gives listeners a rare behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of one of the world’s most admired companies. He reveals how Salesforce’s core values - trust, customer success, innovation, and equality - and commitment to giving back have become the company’s greatest competitive advantage.
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Most useless business book
- By Todd on 10-22-19
By: Marc Benioff, and others
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The Dealmaker
- Lessons from a Life in Private Equity
- By: Guy Hands
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd, Guy Hands - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The Dealmaker is a frank and honest account of how a severely dyslexic child who struggled at school went on to graduate from Oxford and become a serial entrepreneur. It describes Guy Hand's career in private equity, first at Nomura and then as head of his own company, Terra Firma. It looks in detail at the huge deals that Terra Firma has done over the years, involving everything from cinema chains and pubs to waste management, aircraft leasing and green energy.
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Very Interesting, rather self involved
- By Michael Bereslavsky on 03-06-24
By: Guy Hands
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Behind the Cloud
- The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company - and Revolutionized an Industry
- By: Marc Benioff, Carlye Adler
- Narrated by: Ax Norman
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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How did salesforce.com grow from a start-up in a rented apartment into the world's fastest growing software company in less than a decade? Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman, and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change.
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Inspirational
- By Anonymous User on 07-29-20
By: Marc Benioff, and others
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The Thinking Machine
- Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip
- By: Stephen Witt
- Narrated by: Stephen Witt
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In June of 2024, thirty-one years after its founding in a Denny’s restaurant, Nvidia became the most valuable corporation on Earth. The Thinking Machine is the astonishing story of how a designer of video game equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process re-invented the computer. Essential to Nvidia’s meteoric success is its visionary CEO Jensen Huang, who more than a decade ago, on the basis of a few promising scientific results, bet his entire company on AI.
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So good, it read like a movie, I bet it becomes one.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-12-25
By: Stephen Witt
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Invested
- Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest
- By: Charles Schwab
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In this deeply personal memoir, Schwab describes his passion to have Main Street participate in the growing economy as investors and owners, not only earners. Schwab opens up about his dyslexia and how he worked around and ultimately embraced it, and about the challenges he faced while starting his fledgling company in the 1970s. A year into his grand experiment in discounted stock trading, living in a small apartment in Sausalito with his wife, Helen, and new baby, he carried a six-figure debt and a pocketful of personal loans.
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Seeing through the entrepreneur’s eyes
- By Gregory Albiani on 10-14-19
By: Charles Schwab
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Becoming Trader Joe
- How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys
- By: Joe Coulombe, Patty Civalleri - contributor
- Narrated by: Mark Smeby
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Joe Coulombe founded what would become Trader Joe’s in the late 1960s and helped shape it into the beloved, quirky food chain it is today. Realizing early on that he could not compete and win by playing the same game his bigger competitors were playing, he decided to build a store for educated people of somewhat modest means. In this way, Joe laid down a blueprint for other business owners to follow to build their own unique shopping experience that customers love, and a work environment that employees love being a part of.
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Many mispronunciations
- By Maria Francesca on 06-26-21
By: Joe Coulombe, and others
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The Story of Lululemon: Little Black Stretchy Pants
- By: Chip Wilson
- Narrated by: Chip Wilson
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The unauthorized story of Lululemon. Chip Wilson’s part in this story comes from the learning of thousands of mistakes. He set the culture, business model, quality platform, and people development program and then got out of the way. Lululemon’s exponential growth, culture, and brand strength have few peers, and it is because of those employees who choose to be great. This book is also about missed opportunity - five years of missed opportunity. Chip was playing to win while the directors of the company he founded were playing not to lose.
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Score settling second rate business advice
- By Amazon Customer on 07-13-19
By: Chip Wilson
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The First Billion is the Hardest
- Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future
- By: T. Boone Pickens
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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From a businessman who is extraordinarily humble yet is considered one of the world's most visionary, The First Billion Is the Hardest is both a riveting account of a life spent pulling off improbable triumphs and a report back from the front of the global energy and natural-resource wars - of vital interest to anyone who has a stake in America's future.
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A Guide for a U.S. National Energy Policy.
- By HuskerFan on 10-20-08
By: T. Boone Pickens
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Winners Dream
- A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office
- By: Bill McDermott, Joanne Gordon - Contributor
- Narrated by: Bill McDermott
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In Winners Dream, Bill McDermott - the co-CEO of the world’s largest business software company, SAP - chronicles how relentless optimism, hard work, and disciplined execution embolden people and equip organizations to achieve audacious goals. Growing up in working-class Long Island, a sixteen-year-old Bill traded three hourly wage jobs to buy a small deli, which he ran by instinctively applying ideas that would be the seeds for his future success.
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A truly inspiring story
- By Brock on 10-16-14
By: Bill McDermott, and others
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I Love Capitalism!
- An American Story
- By: Ken Langone
- Narrated by: Ken Langone
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Ken Langone has seen it all on his way to a net worth beyond his wildest dreams. A pillar of corporate America for decades, he's a co-founder of Home Depot, a former director of the New York Stock Exchange, and a world-class philanthropist (including $200 million for NYU's Langone Health). In this memoir he finally tells the story of his unlikely rise and controversial career. It's also a passionate defense of the American Dream - of preserving a country in which any hungry kid can reach the maximum potential of his or her talents and work ethic.
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Save your money, he clearly has enough!
- By Jared M. on 12-01-19
By: Ken Langone
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The Whole Story
- Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism
- By: John Mackey
- Narrated by: Adam Barr, John Mackey
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Whole Foods Market's cofounder and CEO for forty-four years, John Mackey offers an intimate and provocative account of the rise of this iconic company and the personal and spiritual journey that inspired its remarkable impact.
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Amazing story about Whole Foods!(up there with Shoe Dog for best business book!)
- By Sachin Dalal on 04-02-25
By: John Mackey
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Built from Scratch
- How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion
- By: Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Bob Andelman
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Built from Scratch is the story of how two incredibly determined and creative people - and their associates - built a business from nothing to 761 stores and $30 billion in sales in a mere 20 years. Built from Scratch tells many colorful stories associated with The Home Depot's founding and meteoric rise; shows that a company can be a tough, growth-oriented competitor, and still maintain a high sense of responsibility to the community; and provides great lessons useful to people in any business, from start-ups to the Fortune 500.
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Bezos must have read this book.
- By Jensen on 06-22-17
By: Bernie Marcus, and others
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Shut Up and Listen!
- Hard Business Truths that Will Help You Succeed
- By: Tilman Fertitta, Jim Gray
- Narrated by: Tilman Fertitta
- Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Tilman Fertitta, also known as the Billion Dollar Buyer, started his hospitality empire 30 years ago with just one restaurant. So he knows the challenges that business owners face, as well as the common pitfalls that cause them to go under. Over the years, he’s stayed true to the principles that helped him scale his business to what is believed to be the largest single-shareholder company in America, with more than four billion dollars in revenue. He’s also sole owner of the Houston Rockets. In Shut Up and Listen!, he shares the key insights that made it all possible.
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This is truth!
- By coco on 09-18-19
By: Tilman Fertitta, and others
What listeners say about Play Nice but Win
Highly rated for:
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- Stanislav
- 10-09-21
A window into the mind of a CEO
how often do you see a CEO of one of the biggest companies there are, tell their story, explain their personal values and take the time to record the 10 hour long voice over?
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4 people found this helpful
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- Willreviews
- 05-15-23
Very inspiring
Great to hear from Michael Dell himself on how he started Dell and how he kept control of it through the years. Highly recommend
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- Katy Bagdon
- 10-26-21
It's feels very genuine
A real true inspiration. I of course knew made computers, but WOW, never new they were much more. Michael, thank you for making this world a better place ❤
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1 person found this helpful
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- CB
- 07-06-22
Inspirational
This is an excellent book giving us a peak into the life of one of the most Towering Leaders of our time. Micheal Dell provides such an inspiring story of his life that keeps you hooked from the first page. It also provide invaluable lessons for anyone wanting to develop themselves. A very positive an uplifting book. Looking forward to more from him.
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- EJ
- 07-07-23
Loved every minute!
I never grow weary of entrepreneurship stories, and this was great on multiple levels. I was blessed to live in Austin in the early 90s, so I got to witness much of the early Dell growth. Outstanding book.
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- Jurell Tanksley
- 01-06-25
The story telling was amazing - never knew Dell had so many challenges.
I love the transparency in this book. I could almost feel the weight of the decisions that were made through the descriptions.
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- Ron - Danville, CA
- 10-28-21
Best part is you hear Michael Dell read
Many of the best books by Industry leaders have become obsolete to the pandemic. In this book not only does Michael Dell allow you to learn more about his organization and his adventure and journey to where he is today. Mr Dell acknowledged the fact that the pandemic has validated, and confirmed that we can work from home and be just as productive. During the story he shared the challenges of being a young entrepreneur, taking his enormous company private and the challenges. And how he overcame adversity from some of the most powerful people in private equity. In the end he showed how you can work hard and be nice.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Tara Jaye Frank
- 11-06-23
An Enlightening Listen
As an entrepreneur, I learned so much from this story. Appreciated the candor, the detail, the lessons, and the humor. If you’re seeking inspo to push yourself beyond what you thought possible, you’ll enjoy this listen.
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- Adam T.
- 03-20-22
Enjoyed the book
Would have preferred a straight timeline. The bouncing back and forth was a bit confusing. You have a minute or two where you’re thinking okay where are we in the timeline?
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-28-24
Awesome!
Great journey!!! Not sure Michael is regarding so much higher on technology Rushmore? All he’s done is delivered for 40 years!
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