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The Four - A Book That Prompts You To Rethink Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

Book Description:

The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are the four most influential companies on the planet. Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. 

For all that’s been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway.

Instead of buying the myths these compa­nies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions. How did the Four infiltrate our lives so completely that they’re almost impossible to avoid (or boycott)? Why does the stock market forgive them for sins that would destroy other firms? And as they race to become the world’s first trillion-dollar company, can anyone chal­lenge them?

In the same irreverent style that has made him one of the world’s most celebrated business professors, Galloway deconstructs the strategies of the Four that lurk beneath their shiny veneers. He shows how they manipulate the fundamental emotional needs that have driven us since our ancestors lived in caves, at a speed and scope others can’t match. And he reveals how you can apply the lessons of their ascent to your own business or career.

Whether you want to compete with them, do business with them, or simply live in the world they dominate, you need to understand the Four.

My Top Takeaways: 

  • The Four have done a LOT of good in the world but they have also been the source of some of our most stressful and hotly debated issues over the last 15 years. They aren't easily painted as all good or all bad like so many profess.
  • Each of the Four is constantly testing new products, systems, and ideas and is typically good at killing experiments quickly when they see that they aren't successful. Most experiments fail, but the few winners more than pay for the losers. 
  • General Motors was an anomaly when they were able to post earnings of $231,000 per employee, but that is paltry compared to what the Four have been able to accomplish. Facebook has driven $20.2 million per employee and the Four all together have increased in value by $1.3 trillion (more than the GDP of Russia). And these numbers were BEFORE the pandemic!
  • The Four has generated trillions of dollars for their shareholders and helped millions of families build economic safety through stock ownership, but they have also decimated huge job sectors and left many unemployed.
  • Amazon's access to nearly unlimited capital has allowed it to purchase warehouses where others can't and buy their own trucks, planes, and cargo ships to ship products faster and cheaper than anyone else. Most of this isn't making them a profit but it's pushing their competitors out of business. Galloway said it's similar to challenging others to a diving competition, but Amazon is the only one who could afford to bring an oxygen tank. Eventually, everyone else is going to die.
  • We are happily trading our privacy for convenience. Millions of people share their thoughts with their friends and family every day (giving Facebook valuable data), they go to Google with their most personal questions (giving Google even more insight than their spouses), and they place Amazon Alexa in their home allowing Amazon to hear their most intimate conversations and interactions. But hey, at least our great aunt Jenny, who we never see in real life, got to see how cute our kid's first words were and our new pair of shoes is arriving same-day from Amazon. Worth it, right?
  • Steve Jobs is listed as one of Time's 20 Most Influential Americans of All Time and he, along with Apple, is seen as one of the most trusted brands in the world. So many people love him that they've conveniently ignored the fact that he was also a bully to his own employees (and nearly everyone else), cared little for philanthropy, expertly dodged taxes, fired people without notice, and refused to pay child support to his biological daughter. But he brought the iPhone to the market, so I guess he's a good guy, right?
  • All of the Four are incredibly good at making money and avoiding taxes. Looking between 2007 and 2015, companies like Lowes, Exxon, Starbucks, and Disney had 31% - 39% tax rates while Apple had 17%, Google 16%, Amazon 13%, and Facebook only had 4%.
  • Facebook and Google said in 2018 that they were adding 26,000 high-paying jobs. At the same time, because of competition that was killed off, they destroyed 207,000 jobs.

'The 52 Book' Review Rating:

Final Thoughts:

Funny enough, I picked up The Four from an Amazon best sellers shelf while visiting my first Amazon Bookstore in Washington. Unlike most of the books I read, it wasn't one that came highly recommended, it just had a catchy cover that caught my attention.

Two chapters in I fell in love with Scott Galloway's straightforward commentary and no-nonsense approach to writing. In fact, I told my dad that he immediately became one of my favorite authors and encouraged him to pick up the book as well. I may have judged a little too early though...

The Four, while interesting and informative, was written with a clear agenda to make people view Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google as the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Based on the first couple of chapters I had hoped the book would take an even approach to weigh the good and bad of each company, and maybe even show insight into what it takes to build equally successful companies. However, it ended up strongly leaning towards each of their negative aspects and didn't fairly talk about the good these companies have done.

I can't help but wonder how Galloway would have written about other innovative companies throughout history that reshaped the economy, upset job markets, and changed societal structures. What would he have said about Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press if he had been around in the 1400s?

In the end, while I agree with many of his points and don't personally hold any of these companies in very high regard, I also know that it's easy to attack ultra-successful companies and people without a clear understanding of the good they've done. I look forward to what innovations we'll see that either push these companies into their next stage of growth or replace them. No one is too big to fall. 

Do you love learning and want to hear about future books?

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Have you read The Four, and if so, what are your thoughts?

Also, I am always on the prowl for my next great book. What life-changing books have you read recently? I'm excited to see your comments below.


You can reach out to David Inman at: david@kennected.io 
You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at: 
Location: Indianapolis, IN, USA

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