Future Forward

"Through his work at IDG, Patrick McGovern shaped the way that millions of people grew to understand the enormous potential of computers and how they would change the world. He was also known for being a caring and thoughtful boss—two traits that extended to his generous philanthropy."

—Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft

"Every great leader, from Benjamin Franklin to Steve Jobs, leaves behind a valuable set of lessons to be learned from their lives and careers. Pat McGovern was such a leader, and in this insightful book, Glenn Rifkin provides a dramatic, clear-eyed look at this visionary entrepreneur and the leadership lessons he used to build his global company. McGovern’s wisdom about business and people puts him in the pantheon of the best and most successful leaders."

—Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo da Vinci

"Glenn Rifkin has beautifully captured the Pat McGovern I knew and admired: curious, bold, innovative and visionary. Pat was a true MIT original, with an iconic story of entrepreneurial success. Future Forward reminds us of Pat’s extraordinary commitment to the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, an anchor for arguably the greatest concentration of brain science researchers on the planet. I am delighted that a wide audience will have this wonderful opportunity to read about Pat’s impact—past, present and future—on science and society."

—L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT

"Future Forward offers a vivid look at how Pat McGovern built a global organization able to innovate time and again. McGovern understood that innovation, at its best, is a team sport, and over the course of his extraordinary career, he propelled IDG’s employees to build an agile and innovative organization. His successes and missteps provide invaluable lessons for leadership in a marketplace in which change and innovation are demanded."

—Linda A. Hill, professor and chair of the Leadership Initiative at Harvard Business School

"Pat McGovern is one of the unsung heroes of the tech business. His invisible hand helped many companies like Apple, Dell, and IBM. Read this book because it’s about time that Pat’s vision and wisdom sees the light of day."

—Guy Kawasaki, chief evangelist for Canva and former chief evangelist for Apple

"Truly great companies are built on ephemeral but critical ‘soft’ assets— culture, ethics, integrity, a deep-seated valuing of employees, and a genuine reverence for customers. This Pat McGovern playbook guides executives on how to build and leverage these powerful capabilities and keep them central to the life of all successful organizations."

—George F. Colony, founder and CEO of Forrester Research

"Pat McGovern was a visionary leader who recognized early on the power and influence of information technology. McGovern’s unique leadership philosophy created a remarkable company that spread the gospel of IT to every continent, and influenced countless managers and researchers around the world, including me. Glenn Rifkin has effectively captured McGovern’s mission and the critical leadership lessons he taught his thousands of IDG employees. Future Forward is a must-read for aspiring leaders who want to harness the impact of the ongoing technology revolution."

—Erik Brynjolfsson, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and coauthor of Machine Platform Crowd

"Pat McGovern was an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, by which I mean he grew his startup not merely by hiring experienced and energetic people, but by recruiting and supporting entrepreneurs. He tolerated corporate inefficiency to get entrepreneurial energy. And he loved people, especially customers, so he backed entrepreneurs who loved them, too."

—Bob Metcalfe, professor of innovation at the University of Texas, inventor of Ethernet, and founder of 3Com

"Having known Pat McGovern for several decades, his influence and mentorship left an indelible mark on my career. Future Forward skillfully offers the set of leadership lessons that formed the basis for McGovern’s remarkable success in building his company, IDG, into a global technology media giant. This is a provocative book which goes well beyond the usual prescriptive business offerings. Instead, Rifkin brings McGovern’s lessons to life with detailed examples of his visionary outlook and his devotion to IDG’s mission. Given the complexity of global business today, the timing couldn’t be better for this invaluable set of lessons."

—Jim Breyer, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital

"Pat McGovern was one of the most important—and least famous— media moguls of the twentieth century. Glenn Rifkin gives you a chance to get to know him, and shares some of the key lessons from a business empire that stretched from Boston to Beijing."

—Scott Kirsner, columnist at the Boston Globe and cofounder of Innovation Leader

"Glenn Rifkin has managed to capture Pat McGovern’s spirit and his story—that of someone who came of age with the modern computing industry and understood from an early age how computing would transform the world."

—John Markoff, former technology writer at the New York Times and author of Machines of Loving Grace