Seize Mismanaged Clay and Sculpt It

“After some few months, the legal entanglements came unstuck, and I also became chairman of the Home Shopping Network. I was definitely humbled, but I was back in business and I liked being back on the attack. I also more than liked being discounted again. I was in firm control of two public companies, and while of no size or circumstance, I had enough clay to get going. First up, though, was fixing the forlorn and broken-down Home Shopping Network.”

“You do get lucky when you buy a company that has been mismanaged and yet is still running. Running on fumes is still running, and if you’re compelled to be willful and tough minded it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the few simple things needed to turn one around. Within a year of me taking over, HSN went from losing $70 million to making $60 million.”