In the midst of the phenomenal changes being brought by the internet, one thing remains pre-eminent in business and more critical than every before: passion. In this behind-the-scenes look into the e-trade revolution, the authors show how successful fast transition really happens. David Pottruck and Terry Pearce tell the story of the meteoric rise of Charles Schwab to its position as the world's leading online brokerage firm. They explain how it takes people with passion and conviction, not just a good business plan, to build a high-growth organization in the business environment. The future is being built by passionate companies made up of passionate people - with the internet as one route to getting there. Passionate companies have a culture that inspires and supports new ideas, risk-taking, and the belief in a set of guiding first principles. Passionate leaders are driven by their vision for the health and success of their organizations and the people in them, not by the promise of a share option.