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Gary can be reached at garyhoov@msn.com.
Gary Hoover has been a student (and practitioner) of business for longer than most. His interest in companies was triggered by curiosity about General Motors, the biggest employer in his Indiana hometown. By the age of 12, he was subscribing to Fortune magazine, and soon added Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. By 15, he was becoming an expert in retailing and visiting companies of all types and sizes to quiz their managements. At 18, he went door-to-door in New York City, “dropping in” on Fortune 500 companies’ headquarters, armed with a list of questions.
This start was followed by a bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Chicago, taking courses from future Nobel Prize winners Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Robert Fogel, and Eugene Fama. He and friends also started small businesses on the University campus.
Next was a nine-year stint in the corporate world, serving as a Wall Street securities analyst for Citibank, then a buyer and later financial analyst and marketing executive for Federated Department Stores and the May Department Stores Company, including experience in shopping center development.
Gary took the entrepreneurial plunge in 1982, moving to Austin, Texas, to found Bookstop, the first chain of large book superstores. Raising capital from angel investors, a corporate investor, and venture capitalists, Bookstop was by 1989 one of the largest bookstore chains in America, stretching from Miami to San Diego. In that year, Barnes & Noble purchased Bookstop, foundational to Barnes & Noble’s entry into the superstore segment.
Next, Gary and friends founded the Reference Press to publish reference books about business. Gary had always been fascinated by every industry and by issues of strategy and leadership. The company published its first Hoover’s Handbook: Profiles of over 500 Major Corporations in the autumn of 1990. Under the leadership of Gary’s college friend Patrick Spain, the company morphed into Hoover’s, Inc., which became a top provider of online business information, went public and was listed on NASDAQ in 1999, and was purchased by Dun & Bradstreet in 2003.
During this time, Gary also served four years on the Board of Directors of fellow Austin company Whole Foods Market, during their era of early growth and the company’s Initial Public Offering.
Gary’s next venture, TravelFest, was the first bricks-and-mortar travel superstore in America. While the company substantially exceeded revenue projections and won many awards for store design and operation, the airlines drastically cut the commissions paid to travel agencies and the business failed. Gary invested his heart, soul, and capital in the venture, and lost the latter. Gary has also experimented in the tablet game app business and the for-profit “experiential” museum industry.
All these adventures have given Gary Hoover a wealth of experience that he now uses to help others, whether they lead large companies, startups, or non-profit organizations.
Gary has given over 1,000 talks about how to build great, lasting organizations across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and 16 other nations, and traveled to 30 additional countries studying business. In 2009-10, he served as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the top-rated McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin. His audiences have included Fortune 500 executives, corporate management retreats, the global Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), industry conventions of every type, and high school, college, and MBA students.
Gary’s high energy talks have been called “Like drinking out of a fire hydrant.” His message is filled with facts and lessons from his lifelong study of business as well as his own experiences. His perspective is unusually broad, given his study of every industry and almost every nation.
Gary combines the heart of a scholar with the soul of an entrepreneur. His knowledge is supported by his 57,000-book personal library, one of the largest in the United States.
Gary has written three books, The Art of Enterprise about how to innovate and build successful businesses, Gary Hoover’s Retail Handbook, and, most recently, The Lifetime Learner’s Guide to Reading and Learning, which includes recommendations of his 160 favorite books and his slow-reading method for digesting a non-fiction book in under 30 minutes.
Today Gary Hoover continues to mentor entrepreneurs and business leaders around the world, to give talks, and to write online at www.Hooversworld.com. He has written a series of biographies of great business leaders for the Archbridge Institute. In 2019, he and his friends founded a 501(c)3 non-profit, the American Business History Center, to educate the world on the lessons that can be learned from the business leaders and companies of the past. The Center publishes a free weekly newsletter. Gary also maintains a diverse YouTube channel, which includes business and entrepreneurship lessons.
Gary serves on the Advisory Council of the University of Texas’ highly-ranked graduate School of Information. He is the treasurer of his local Chamber of Commerce, serves on the town’s Economic Development Board, and is vice-president of the Fayette County (Texas) Tourism Association. The Hoover House dormitory at the University of Chicago was named after him due to his extensive donations to the university. Gary believes in supporting his community and friends and has zero interest in “retirement.”
Gary can be reached at garyhoov@msn.com.
Comments on Gary Hoover’s Talks and Courses
As a businessman and a thinker, Gary Hoover is a true visionary.
Laurence J. Kirshbaum, former CEO, Time Warner Trade Publishing
I’ve been teaching at the McCombs School of Business since 1989. I have won every teaching award given by the students. Gary is one of the most gifted teachers I have ever known. He knows his subject cold and has a God given gift of being about to reach students in a way that is just awe inspiring. When you add his passion for teaching and helping people, he is priceless.
John Doggett, Harvard MBA, Yale JD, Senior Lecturer in Management, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin
Gary Hoover is a man of many, many talents, and I respect him dearly. He is really a genius level business thinker. You guys are super-lucky to have him as a teacher. I had a lot of great professors at Wharton and when I attended Wharton it was rated the #1 MBA program 6 years in a row. And none of them approached Gary’s level of knowledge about business history or entrepreneurship.
Brett Hurt, Founder and CEO, data.world, founder BazaarVoice
Gary Hoover is one of my all-time favorite speakers. I’ve had the pleasure on multiple opportunities to hear him present. If you find yourself in one of his audiences be prepared to drink rapidly from this fire hose of knowledge and experience. If you’re anything like me, you’ll come away with a mountain of takeaways that will have a provocative impact on the way you think about business. If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak there is no excuse not to go. If you’re in a position to hire him to talk to your group do it now! Your audience will thank you.
Scott Ingram on LinkedIn
I have known Gary Hoover for over 20 years. With that background, I can tell you that Gary Hoover is one of the most amazing entrepreneurs and teachers I have ever encountered. He is literally a walking encyclopedia of business history and his story telling is incredible. He is the most prolific reader I have ever met and his ability to not only speed read but retain information is incredible. I consider Gary Hoover one of Austin’s most valuable assets and recommend him without reservation. Whether you are a lifetime learner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or an academic, you will find Gary Hoover as one of your truly great resources and your time spent with him among your most memorable.
Jim Nolen, Distinguished Senior Lecturer Emeritus, Department of Finance, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin
Gary is a gifted instructor and one of my all-time favorite teachers. His ‘Art of Entrepreneurship’ course changed the way I think about business and observe the world. Gary’s casual teaching style combined with vast knowledge, humble demeanor, and energetic passion for business makes every class a pleasure.
Amanda Dewoody on LinkedIn
Gary has promethean foresight and is a phenomenal speaker. In the beginning of Hoover’s, his passion and dedication revolutionized an industry. In 1995 we had a discussion on how in the future we would need information on companies in order to trade stocks online. Everyone laughed at the notion, I took it seriously and today almost everyone uses the internet to search companies and trade.
Marcello Benati on LinkedIn
Gary was a speaker at Fisher College of Entrepreneurship at the Ohio State University. He is the most memorable speakers I’ve ever seen; funny, factual, energetic, smart, and entertaining. I highly recommend Gary. He’s unforgettable!
Leslie J. Mack on LinkedIn
Gary brings to the table both an understanding of the applied aspects of entrepreneurship as well as the ability to teach and engage in intellectual activity around entrepreneurship. Because he has started companies, he has an understanding of the entrepreneurial process, from idea to market. Because of his love for scholarship and teaching, he understands how to integrate the practical and the intellectual.
John Sibley Butler, Professor of Sociology and Business, Former Director of the IC2 Institute and the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Texas at Austin
Gary Hoover is one of “Austin’s 30 most influential people”
Austin Business Journal, December 2011
Gary can be reached at garyhoov@msn.com.
