Pioneer is the story of Gustavo Cisneros as an entrepreneur and how he shaped one of the most successful conglomerates originating from Latin America.
Extract of prologue of Carlos Fuentes: The dictionary defines the verb “to undertake” as “to attempt and begin a work…,” and it adds this caveat: “…especially if it encompasses difficulty or danger.”
One could say that the dictionary had Gustavo Cisneros in mind when it added that phrase, which Larousse confirms in French. To undertake is “to make the decision to do and initiate.”
The biography of Gustavo Cisneros now being published is, first of all, a dynastic history that begins with his father, is complemented by his siblings, and is extended by his children. It is the history of an energetic youth who knew how to take advantage of the privileges granted by his inheritance and continue to grow more agile and skillful, never resting on the laurels of what
has been achieved.
It is a history of risks that are rewarded, and of errors that are admitted. It is a history of opportune changes of velocity. Cisneros moves from the business of mass consumption to the business of communications, from the generation of cash flow to the generation of value. And always, before the next step, there is internal consolidation. Cisneros’ entrepreneurial saga—worthy of being described by a Balzac or a Dreiser, if not by the Renaissance Fuggars—has, like every life, and above all every life of action, its lights and shadows, its defeats and victories, which are described in detail in this book.
