Foreword

More than 45 years ago a bunch of young guys in the San Francisco Bay Area, living in their cars and on tomato soup made from tap water and ketchup packages lifted from fast-food restaurants, had a dream and vision of driving the train that would change our world on so many fronts.

That band of merry pranksters ultimately became the Grateful Dead. They have changed the way we live and think—in ways we don't even know. But of all the lasting impact that they have bestowed upon us, who would have ever thought that it would be their business and marketing models that would today be the envy of the culture that they all fought so hard to change.

And now a couple of young scientists, economists and historians, true new-age Cosmic Charlies—Brian Halligan and David Meerman Scott—have help on the way. They have come up with a fascinating story of how the Grateful Dead's counter-intuitive ways of doing business are really best business practices that work for everyone.

Brian and David's newest book, Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, is like a powerful, hard-charging anthem that fills in so many blanks while closing the circle of life all around us. Like the Grateful Dead, Brian and David are transformational visionaries with a keen eye for the second set.

Their ability to synthesize the core values, beliefs, and best practices of the Grateful Dead are captured brilliantly in a thoroughly enjoyable and readily applicable package that is like the release of the band's ...

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