The Four. Or, How To Build A Trillion Dollar Company

Scott Galloway Bantam Press €24.70 ★★★★★

They are bywords for growth and success, the four ubiquitous monoliths of the internet age: Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

In the first part of his book, Galloway breezily examines each of what he calls the ‘Four Horsemen’, and tells their familiar stories: how Apple became the epitome of innovation, aspiration and design; how Amazon revolutionised delivery and fuelled our never-ending need for consumption; how Google became omniscient and all-powerful; and then there is Facebook with data the secret services would kill for, all of it in the cause of marketing. The second part is disappointing. Galloway identifies eight factors as being crucial in developing a super company, none of which is a groundbreaking insight. Then briefly, and wholly inadequately, he considers the potential of other pretenders (Alibaba, Uber and Tesla).

His style is personable and accessible, but too often his observations are marred by sloppy writing.