S4P Takes on the Four Horsemen

The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
by Scott Galloway

Book Summary

Written in NYU professor Scott Galloway's unmistakable prose, "The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google" explores the history, leadership, innovative strategies, empire-building, and flaws of four of most influential tech companies. Galloway speaks directly to both the brilliance of ideas that changed the world and to the egotism and greed that shadow the legacies of each of these companies. "The Four" dissects strategies of success and the basic drivers of human innovation in Galloway's thoroughly entertaining and irreverent voice.

Key Insights

  • Continued innovation is a strategic strength. The big four tech companies have historically been ruthless innovators constantly looking for ways to improve their products and their processes. This drive for self-improvement keeps their brands not only relevant but successful in an age where technology is easily replicated and new competitors spring up frequently. 

  • Customer response, not industry precedent, determines success. The tried-and-true methods of building a company may seem like the most obvious paths to success but sometimes breaking the mold to better deliver for customers can radically boost your company's positioning amongst competitors. Galloway illustrates this point by explaining that Apple's development of brick-and-mortar stores, which was predicted to be a huge flop by industry professionals, became a major source of revenue for the company as it brought customers closer to the product. 

  • Integrated verticals solidify success through process ownership. Not only do the big four continually look for ways to innovate their product and process, they also continually seek out ownership of their processes to increase their vertical. While there can be faults to this strategy, integrating verticals allows for more complete ownership and customization of a company's process and brand. 

Workflow Applications

  • S4P mantra: "Trust the process, follow the process, improve the process" is something we tell ourselves and each other throughout our work as part of S4P. This is a constant reminder to continue to innovate, like the big four, and never settle into the structure without thinking of ways we can be more efficient, more thoughtful, and more strategic about our approach to our jobs. 

  • Vertical ownership: Each of us at S4P has our own individual workflow, a workflow as part of a project team, and a workflow as part of the company. Taking ownership of verticals means thinking about ways in which we can streamline processes for each of these roles to be more efficient and self-reliant as well as contribute to the greater team process. Being proactive about where we can each step in and own a task will not only build our own individual processes but will improve the capacity of the whole team to complete a project. 

  • Stay humble: If there's anything to be learned from Galloway's words about the iconic founders and leaders of the big four, it's that humility can go a long way in saving the soul of your company. While success is definitely about increasing revenue and profit, it's also about providing a good service to clients. Like we discuss at the beginning of every project in Foundational Questions, the success of our work at S4P is closely related to the success of our clients, so we strive to be contributors rather than exploiters. 

Discussion Questions

  • How does Galloway's analysis of the big tech platforms hold up over time? What is not accounted for?

  • How does "The Four" inform how you think about competition in our workflows? 

  • Based on this book, what large tech platform do you believe has the strongest competitive moat?

  • What is the promise of a SaaS based business?


Memorable Quotes From The Book

  • "Expect that a certain amount of failure is out of your control, and recognize that you may need to endure it or move on."

  • "Failure and invention are inseparable twins. To invent you have to experiment, and if you know in advance it's going to work, it's not an experiment."

  • "What's clear is that we need business leaders who envision, and enact, a future with more jobs -- not billionaires who want the government to fund, with taxes they avoid, social programs for people to sit on their couches and watch Netflix all day. Jeff, show some real fucking vision."

  • "Don't follow your passion, follow your talent."

  • "The digital ages is Heraclitus on steroids: change is a daily constant."

Additional Resources