Dream No Little Dreams

Clayton Mathile's business career parallels the American Dream. From his beginning as an accountant for Campbell Soup Company to the sale of his company in 1999 to Procter & Gamble, then the largest P&G acquisition ever, Clay parlayed an entrepreneurial spirit and intense emphasis on values into a carefully designed business model that he continues to share. Paul Iams asked Clay to help run Iams Food Company in 1970, a largely unknown, privately held pet food company. A natural risk-taker, Clay accepted. He chose to forego the prestige of working for a consumer giant to help build this radical start-up company. And build it he did, increasing revenues from $1 million early in his tenure to nearly $1 billion at the time of the sale. He became co-owner and vice president in 1975, sole owner and CEO in 1982, and chairman of the board in 1988. With unyielding devotion to his employees and customers, Clay helped redefine the premium pet food category through his steadfast emphasis on research and development of "best of class" pet food nutrition. Snapshots of Iams' success have been captured in other books, but this is the first time the Iams story has been told in the first person - by the man who shaped its vision, its culture, its people, its products, and ultimately, its success.