Lawrence Levy (1)Critiques

Terrific one.

Reading To Pixar and Beyond felt like going on an emotional ride. You feel yourself a part of Pixar, elated with the wins, shattered with the losses.

The book is an amalgamation of info about animation tech, entertainment industry and business processes.

I'm not really into Pixar movies but I love reading about how people from different worlds end up working together. If the author can write, this should be an interesting book!

You wouldn't expect a book by a CFO and lawyer to be particularly exciting, but this one actually was! The author does a great job of explaining the challenges at Pixar from when Steve Jobs was funding it month by month (eventually totaling $50mm invested), the very low upside licensing deal with Disney for the first 3 films, the challenges of negotiating appropriate stock options for employees with Steve Jobs (when those shares essentially came out of his pocket, and sadly were issued late enough that the basis was high), to the launch of some truly revolutionary films, the managerial and commercial challenges of growing, an IPO, and sale to Disney. Probably the best account of Pixar from a business perspective, and well worth reading in addition to other books about Pixar.

The outcome of Steve Jobs involvement with Pixar outs likely well known to any potential reader of To Pixar and Beyond. The authors tale ends with boys on exploration of the middle way of Buddhism. The Middle Way being a blending of ones creative needs and self exploration with the need to deal with the often demanding details of everyday life.
The book does provide insights into the personality of Jobs and the challenges involved in getting Pixar off the ground. But as the author points out the balancing of creativity and the details of Pixar‘a daily management is indeed an exploration of the middle way as I understand it. I am no authority but I enjoyed the journey he takes the reader through.

An autobiography of the Chief Financial Officer at Pixar. This book details this persons journey with the company and how they became such a big and influential company it is today. It is written really well, with very interesting stories on how Pixar got its feet off the ground. For a non-fiction book, it was a pleasure to read, as it doesn't jump around or repeat the same story over and over again. The author keeps it succinct and entertaining. It also ends with a morale to the story too. I would recommend it, not just for the history, but also as an influential story you might take away something from.