How They Started by David Lester Read Free Book Online Page A

raising $140 million. With the IPO, Pixar changed its name to Pixar Animation Studios, signaling that its entire focus would be on animation going forward. With the IPO cash in hand, Pixar renegotiated its Disney deal, obtaining a 50 percent share of merchandising on future films.
    Where are they now?
    With each successive film, Pixar broke new ground in animation and it became known for developing moving, unique storylines that enthralled audiences. From animating hundreds of insects in huge crowd scenes for A Bug’s Life to creating animated fur in Monsters Inc., and realistic fabric and human hair for The Incredibles, Pixar’s team kept advancing the standard. Pixar films have won six Best Animated Feature Oscars®.
    Pixar’s deal with Disney had been extended through the years but was coming to an end in 1995, prompting a re-evaluation of whether the studio was the right partner going forward. A rift had emerged between the two: Disney wasn’t willing to accept Toy Story 3 as one of the movies Pixar owed under their contract, preferring an original feature rather than a sequel. Disney also announced it would make sequels of all Pixar films, with or without Pixar’s participation. In 2004, the two broke off renegotiation talks.
    The impasse played a role in another management upheaval at Disney. Then-CEO Michael Eisner was ousted in favor of Bob Iger. Iger wanted Pixar back in the fold, and made a new offer: to buy Pixar outright.
    In 2006, Disney acquired Pixar for $7.5 billion in stock. The move returned John to Disney at last as chief creative officer for both Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, and Ed now serves as president of both Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.
    Since uniting with its former production partner, Pixar has continued cranking out the hits, including Ratatouille , Wall-E and Up. Ironically, when Toy Story 3 finally came out in 2010, it became the highest-grossing animated film by any studio to that date, earning over $1 billion.

Zipcar
Motoring to a billion
    Founders:   Robin Chase (shown) and Antje Danielson
    Age of founders:   Both 42
    Background:   MBA business executive, and PhD researcher and instructor in environmental studies
    Founded in:   2000
    Headquarters:   Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Business type:   Car sharing service

    Americans love their cars. So when two women friends started a business offering by-the-hour car rentals as an alternative to car ownership, skeptics thought the concept would never shift out of “Park.” Twelve years later, Zipcar is the world’s largest car sharing service, with over 650,000 members using more than 9,000 cars. When the company went public in 2011, it was valued at $1 billion.
    The road to the top of this niche market was a bumpy one, however. First, the pair had to sell investors on a business model that was untried in the US. Then, they had to sell those venture investors—who rarely invest in women-owned businesses—on the idea that two women with no previous start-up experience should run it.
Getting schooled
    Environmental issues were always a passion for German native Antje Danielson, but her first few jobs didn’t reflect that. She worked for a couple of years in car sales and repairs, then for three years as a research assistant on a semiconductor project at Hahn-Meitner Institute in Berlin. She returned to school and earned her PhD in geology at Freie Universität Berlin. Afterward, she came to Boston to teach at Harvard on a NATO fellowship, while her husband finished up his PhD at MIT.
    At Wellesley College, Robin Chase triple-majored in English, French, and philosophy while holding down several positions on the college newspaper and serving as president of the philosophy club. One of her first jobs after graduation was for Boston-based healthcare consultancy John Snow Inc. In 1986, she earned her MBA in applied economics and finance from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She then became the finance and