Part of Entrepreneur biographies · All guides
What It Takes summary
What It Takes
- Schwarzman says it's as hard to do something small as something big.
- He hired top talent and expected them to keep raising the bar.
- Blackstone's culture is built around sharing information openly in regular meetings.
- He says avoiding losses matters more than chasing the biggest wins.
- Later chapters cover his philanthropy, including Schwarzman College in China.
What does Steve Schwarzman say it takes to build something big?
He says it is as hard to do something small as something big, so you may as well aim high. He stresses hiring very talented people, avoiding losses, thinking about risk all the time and building a strong culture of meetings where people share everything openly.
Actionable
- Write your goal for the next five years, then double its size and see what changes.
- Ask before each decision what could go wrong and how badly.
- Hold a weekly meeting where everyone shares what they see.
- Hire one person who is better than you at something.
Lessons
- Ambition costs about the same as caution.
- Protecting the downside lets you stay in the game.
- Open culture spreads knowledge.
- Great people attract great people.
Quick answer
Our summary of What It Takes by Stephen A. Schwarzman (2019), in our own words.
What 125x is: 125x is a web app at 125x.app. You connect your YouTube subscriptions, and it gives you a feed of the latest videos from the channels you follow, each with a summary: a verdict, the 5 key takeaways, and the spoiler, plus Actionable and Lessons tabs with more tips. You read that and decide what's actually worth opening.
Open 125xWho is Steve Schwarzman?
Steve Schwarzman co-founded Blackstone with Pete Peterson in 1985 and is its chair and CEO.
The book mixes his life story with numbered lessons, published in 2019.
The story in 5 parts
- Growing up in Philadelphia and working in his family's store.
- Yale, Harvard and Lehman Brothers.
- Starting Blackstone with Pete Peterson.
- Growth and the IPO.
- Philanthropy and later work.
A closer look
Schwarzman describes his early job at his family's linen store and his push to grow it, which his father resisted. He says that tension shaped his view that ambition is a choice.
He is open about early mistakes at Blackstone, including a deal that lost money and a hire who didn't work out. He uses them to explain the review process the firm built so that every deal gets tough questions from the whole team.
A big theme is how to run meetings. Blackstone partners gather regularly to share what they're seeing in markets, so that ideas and warnings spread fast across the firm.
The last part covers his giving, from a center at Yale to Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University. He frames it as using the same build big approach outside business.
Business lessons from the book
- Think big: the effort is similar.
- Don't lose money: protect the downside first.
- Open meetings: share everything with the team.
- Talent: hire the best and keep raising standards.
Who should read it
Founders, finance readers and leaders who want lessons on culture and risk.
Watch them in their own words
Hear it from Steve Schwarzman and the people around them in our interview summaries:
About this summary
We wrote this summary in our own words from the book and its public reviews. It follows the same layout as a 125x video summary: a verdict, 5 takeaways, the answer to the big question, and Actionable and Lessons tabs. More in entrepreneur biographies.
FAQ: questions people ask
What is What It Takes about?
Steve Schwarzman's story of building Blackstone, with lessons on leadership.
What is Schwarzman's main advice?
Aim big, avoid losses, hire great people and share information openly.
Is What It Takes worth reading?
Some value given. Useful lessons with some self-praise.
Related guides
- Entrepreneur Biography Summaries: Founder Lessons
- Billionaire and Founder Interview Summaries
- Productivity and Self-Improvement Book Summaries
- Every 125x guide
125x is a web app at 125x.app that turns your YouTube subscriptions into a feed with a summary on every video, plus Actionable and Lessons tabs with more tips, so you can see what's worth opening before you spend the time.
125x is made by Blake Labs Inc. 125x is not made by YouTube or Google.