Why the best way to drive growth might be to focus rather than expand

When Sanjay Khosla took charge of developing markets for Kraft Foods in 2007, the business was floundering. Six years later, annual sales had soared from 5 billion to 16 billion with significant improvement in profitability. The secret? Making fewer, bigger, and bolder bets and stopping a lot of small stuff. Kellogg School professor Mohanbir Sawhney discovered a similar formula for stellar results - focus and simplicity - in advising Fortune 500 companies.

Now Khosla and Sawhney have combined their experiences into a seven-step model for sustained profitable growth in any market, based on fewer but better bets. Drawing on case studies that feature dozens of companies, from Cisco to Hyatt to Spirit Airlines, the authors show how their program applies to global giants, small startups, and any organization in between.

Fewer, Bigger, Bolder is contrarian and sometimes startlingly counterintuitive. But in an era of chronically tight budgets and dangerously short attention spans, it provides a proven formula for moving ahead with success.