But as usual, Dell is looking ahead. Wielding its ruthless low-margin game as a strategy to seize market share in new terrain like storage and mobility, and in new markets overseas, Dell continues to test its flexible, speedy style. American Way talked to the Austin entrepreneur about what the future holds, and why his fast-breaking culture is so envied.

American Way: Everyone likes to talk about your corporate culture. How do you describe your corporate culture?
Dell: Our culture is agile, results-oriented, it sets aggressive goals for itself, it's challenging, it's internally very self-critical. We don't spend a lot of time congratulating ourselves for things that have happened. We spend most of our time thinking about what we are going to do in the future to improve things and make them better. We continue to set higher and higher standards.

AW: How do you keep that mindset at this huge company? How has your start-up mentality changed as your company has grown?
Dell: You can't make all your decisions in the center of your company. Those days were over about 15 years ago. Basically, what you have to do is have a clear strategy, a framework for decisions, and almost a philosophy for ideas and strategies that can permeate many different kinds of businesses [around the company].

What I spend my time on and what the people in the center of the company spend their time on, is to work the strategy - what are we trying to accomplish? We don't know anything about how to go after the market in a faraway country. We have a strategy. But there is a team there that knows the market much better than we do. They have the accountability, some assets, and resources from the company, but they also know what the framework for success is and can compare themselves to other Dell businesses around the world. That has worked well for us.

AW: Where is Dell going with its business geographically?