Others might point to the qualities of today’s so-called celebrity CEOs—charisma, virtuoso communication skills, and a confident management style. But what really matters when you run an organization? What is the hallmark of exceptional CEO performance? Quite simply, it is the returns for the shareholders of that company over the long term.In this refreshing, counterintuitive book, author Will Thorndike brings to bear the analytical wisdom of a successful career in investing, closely evaluating the performance of companies and their leaders. You will meet eight individualistic CEOs whose firms’ average returns outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of twenty—in other words, an investment of $10,000 with each of these CEOs, on average, would have been worth over $1.5 million twenty-five years later. You may not know all their names, but you will recognize their companies: General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Capital Cities Broadcasting, TCI, and Teledyne. In The Outsiders, you’ll learn the traits and methods—striking for their consistency and relentless rationality—that helped these unique leaders achieve such exceptional performance.Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these "outsiders” shunned Wall Street and the press, and shied away from the hottest new management trends. Instead, they shared specific traits that put them and the companies they led on winning trajectories: a laser-sharp focus on per share value as opposed to earnings or sales growth; an exceptional talent for allocating capital and human resources; and the belief that cash flow, not reported earnings, determines a company’s long-term value.Drawing on years of research and experience, Thorndike tells eye-opening stories, extracting lessons and revealing a compelling alternative model for anyone interested in leading a company or investing in one—and reaping extraordinary returns.

    After years of profitable, predictable growth, Swan Services was in a rut. Meetings were called and discussions held, but few decisions were made and even less got done. People were pointing fingers and assigning blame, but nothing happened to solve Swan’s mounting problems. It felt as though they were working harder than ever but with less impact. The company Eileen and Vic had founded and built for 10 years was a different place. It just wasn’t fun anymore.Their story is not unusual. The challenges they were facing are common, predictable, and solvable. Get A Grip tells the story of how Swan Services resolves its issues by implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System®. With the help of EOS, Eileen, Vic, and their leadership team master a set of managerial tools that allow them to get traction on their business, grow the business, and deliver better results for clients.The story of Swan Services is a fable, but the Entrepreneurial Operating System® is very real and has helped thousands of businesses worldwide. A complete entrepreneurial toolkit, EOS has helped thousands of businesses get to where they want to be.In Get A Grip, learn how Swan Services leaders learned to develop and commit to a clear vision, establish focus, build discipline, and create a healthier and more cohesive team.With characters and situations created from collective business experiences and stories, Get A Grip is a fable that will ring true for entrepreneurial leaders the world over and guide them to get their companies on track.

    In the early days you can use equity to get the things you need to start your company including help, equipment, supplies, rent and even credit. Slicing Pie explains how to calculate the fair amount of equity to the right people. Learn the tricks of the trade including: - Calculating a theoretical value of your company- Assigning value to the various inputs to your business- What to do when a founder leaves your company- How to handle equity when you have to fire someone This unique guide answers the tough questions for budding entrepreneurs and helps make sure they get started on the right foot.

    You're probably tired of being told "you can do it if you just believe you can."You're probably tired of reading about tricks that made a particular sale ~ tricks that may have been appropriate to a particular situation, but not yours ~ and even if they were appropriate, how would you have thought of them at the right time?If you've read books on selling before or listened to "sales experts," you're probably tired of being pumped with hot air ~ told how you must "come alive," be full of enthusiasm, dominate the world around ~ all the things that don't happen to be a part of your basic nature.Well, this book isn't anything like that. In fact, this book was written to refute many cliches of selling that have been accepted without question for years.This book will prove to you, I hope, that the stereotyped image of the "born salesman" is a mistake. You don't have to remake your personality and become super-enthusiastic, super-aggressive, domineering. Not only are those traits not necessary, they are actually a hindrance to making sales.And you won't have to develop that uncanny ability to come up with the right answer at the right time ~ that super-human knack of having the brilliant flash of insight that is so prevalent in books on selling. Sure, given several days to think about it, the writer of a sales book can always come up with a solution to a sales problem. But how does that help you when confronted face-to-face with a question that must be answered now? This book will show you that you don't need such skills.This book can truly revolutionize your selling career ~ but only because it will show you that you no longer need to waste your time developing skills that are of no value to a salesman. For example, here are some of the points that will be made in the course of this book:-- Contrary to the accepted mythology, enthusiasm is not a virtue; it destroys more sales than it creates.-- "Positive thinking" is an unrealistic fallacy. The salesman who thinks negatively has a far greater chance for success than the so-called "positive thinker."-- Sales success does not come from convincing people to buy things they don't want.-- The salesman who always has an answer for every objection is also probably plugging along with a very low income.-- Extroverts don't make the best salesmen; they are invariably outsold by introverts.-- To be a good salesman, you don't have to be a "smooth talker".-- Another all-time sales fallacy is the statement "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". When the going gets tough, I usually take a vacation.-- The desire to be able to motivate others is unrealistic and foolish. A really-great salesman will never try to motivate anyone.Perhaps all of this sounds so far removed from what you've heard about selling through the years that you wonder how it could possibly be true. I intend to demonstrate the validity of these statements in two ways.First, my own experience verifies their worth. Almost invariably, in any selling experience where I've found myself, I have outsold everyone else around me ~ usually while working far fewer hours.In addition, I've seen these principles work for a few others, too ~ a very few, for they are unknown to most people.But there is nothing mysterious about them ~ and that brings us to second way in which I will demonstrate their validity. I will prove them to you. We will deal with life logically and carefully in this book. Everything will be proven in terms of the real world as it is ~ in ways we can both understand.

    As you live your life you must keep your guard up. As you grow your wealth you must protect it. For those who don’t predators await, and their attorneys will use every trick in the toolbox to get at - whether large or small-your unprotected assets.Start Your Own Corporation educates you on an action plan to protect your life’s gains. Corporate attorney and best selling author Garrett Sutton clearly explains the all too common risks of failing to protect yourself and the strategies for limiting your liability going forward. The information is timely, accessible and applicable to every citizen in every situation.Garrett Sutton has spent the last thirty years protecting clients’ assets and implementing corporate structures to limit liability. This significant experience shines through in a very readable book on the why to’s and how to’s for achieving asset protection. Start Your Own Corporation teaches how to select between corporations and LLCs and how to use Nevada and Wyoming entities to your maximum advantage. This non-technical and easy to understand book also educates on the importance of following corporate formalities, using business tax deductions and building business credit.Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki says, “Start Your Own Corporation is a must read for anyone with any assets to protect.”

    

    It:Incorporates the "Business Model Canvas" as the organizing principle for startup hypothesesProvides separate paths and advice for web/mobile products versus physical productsOffers a wealth of detailed instruction on how to get, keep, and grow customers recognizing the different techniques for web and physical channelsAnd teaches a "new math" for startups: "metrics that matter for fueling growth"The Startup Owner's Manual is a step-by-step, near-encyclopedic reference manual or "how to" for building a successful, scalable startup. Want to know what to do the first, week, month or year?What's the right distribution channel for your product?How to get traffic to your web site? …and how to activate customers or users on arrival?Who are the right "first customers," and why? …plus many more great tips in nearly 500 pages, complete with index, glossary, and Customer Development ChecklistsIt's the indispensible reference guide for any startup founder, entrepreneur, investor or educator.

    yet. The Lean Entrepreneur shows you how to become one. Most of us believe entrepreneurial visionaries are born, not made. Our media glorify business outliers like Bezos, Branson, Gates, and Jobs as heroes with X-ray vision who can look to the future, see clearly what will be, imagine a fully formed product or experience and then, simply make the vision real.Many in our entrepreneur community still believe that to be visionary, we must merely execute on a seemingly good idea and ignore all doubt. With this mindset, companies build doomed products in a vacuum; enterprises make ill-fated innovation investment decisions; and employees and shareholders come along for an uncomfortable ride. Falling prey to the Myth of the Visionary confuses talented entrepreneurs, product managers, innovators and investors. It leads us to heartbreaking, costly and preventable failures in new product and venture development. The Lean Entrepreneur moves us beyond this myth. It combines powerful customer insight, rapid experimentation and easily actionable data from the Lean Startup methodology to empower individuals, companies, and entire teams to evolve their vision, solve problems, and create value at the speed of the Internet.Anyone can be visionary. The Lean Entrepreneur shows you how to: Apply actionable tips, tricks and hacks from successful lean entrepreneurs. Leverage the Innovation Spectrum to disrupt existing markets and create new ones. Drive strategies for efficient market testing with Minimal Viable Products. Engage customers with Viability Testing and radically reduce time and budget for product development. Rapidly create cross-functional innovation teams that devour roadblocks and set new benchmarks. Bring your organization critical focus on the power of loyal customers and valuable products you can build to serve them. Leverage instructive tools, skill-building exercises, and worksheets along with bonus online videos.

    It can be the adventure of LIVING. Australia's Simone Milasas is a dynamic business leader with a difference. She is the worldwide coordinator of Access Consciousness (www.accessconsciousness.com), the founder of Good Vibes For You (www.goodvibesforyou.com), and the creative spark that ignited The Joy of Business (www.accessjoyofbusiness.com). "I LOVED reading this book. It has changed so many things for me. I see the places in business where I stuck only one toe in the water rather than choosing the adventure of immersing my whole body and being. I have also become more aware of how to communicate with people whose style of communication is different from mine. Holy moly, that is huge! Thank you, Simone, for reminding me of how differently I do business and that anything is possible-no matter what anyone else says.' -Diva Diaz, Australia.

       As the creator of DanielleLaPorte.com--deemed “the best place online for kick-ass spirituality,” Danielle LaPorte’s straight-talk life-and-livelihood sermons have been read by over one million people. Bold but empathetic, she reframes popular self-help and success concepts:   : Life balance is a myth, and the pursuit of it is causing us more stress then the craving for balance itself. : Being well-rounded is over-rated. When you focus on developing your true strengths, you enter your mastery zone. : Screw your principles (they might be holding you back). : We have ambition backwards. Getting clear on how you want to feel in your life + work is more important than setting goals. It's the most potent form of clarity that you can have, and it's what leads to true fulfillment.

    We’re building more products than ever before, but most of them fail—not because we can’t complete what we set out to build, but because we waste time, money, and effort building the wrong product.What we need is a systematic process for quickly vetting product ideas and raising our odds of success. That’s the promise of Running Lean.In this inspiring book, Ash Maurya takes you through an exacting strategy for achieving a "product/market fit" for your fledgling venture, based on his own experience in building a wide array of products from high-tech to no-tech. Throughout, he builds on the ideas and concepts of several innovative methodologies, including the Lean Startup, Customer Development, and bootstrapping.Running Lean is an ideal tool for business managers, CEOs, small business owners, developers and programmers, and anyone who’s interested in starting a business project.Find a problem worth solving, then define a solutionEngage your customers throughout the development cycleContinually test your product with smaller, faster iterationsBuild a feature, measure customer response, and verify/refute the ideaKnow when to "pivot" by changing your plan’s courseMaximize your efforts for speed, learning, and focusLearn the ideal time to raise your "big round" of fundingGet on track with The Lean Series Presented by Eric Ries—bestselling author of The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses—The Lean Series gives you solid footing in a proven methodology that will help your business succeed.

    A few years later, without ever hiring an employee or leaving his home office, he sold it for more than $100 million. As the economy slipped into another free fall, he did this again with a company in a different field. He accomplished this through no particular genius. Rather, he studied the habits of the many successful men and women who preceded him, and developed three simple rules that, if followed diligently, virtually ensure success. Using them first to escape poverty, then to achieve a life of adventures, he finally turned them toward financial independence.Written in a straightforward and no-nonsense style, Three Simple Steps shows you how to take back control of your destiny and reshape your mind for increased creativity, serenity and achievement. While building on the wisdom of great thinkers and accomplished individuals from East and West, Three Simple Steps isn't a new age text or guide to esoteric fulfillment. Rather, it's a practical guide to real-life achievement by a pragmatic businessman who attributes his incredible successes to these very simple ideas. Three Simple Steps, a 2013 Small Business Book Awards winner, is a must-read guide for everyone who wants to achieve more, live better and be happier.

    Patagonia, named by Fortune in 2007 as the coolest company on the planet, has earned a reputation as much for its ground-breaking environmental and social practices as for the quality of its clothes. In this exceptionally frank account, Chouinard and Stanley recount how the company and its culture gained the confidence, by step and misstep, to make its work progressively more responsible, and to ultimately share its discoveries with companies as large as Wal-Mart or as small as the corner bakery. In plain, compelling prose, the authors describe the current impact of manufacturing and commerce on the planet’s natural systems and human communities, and how that impact now forces business to change its ways. The Responsible Company shows companies how to reduce the harm they cause, improve the quality of their business, and provide the kind of meaningful work everyone seeks. It concludes with specific, practical steps every business can undertake, as well as advice on what to do, in what order. This is the first book to show companies how to thread their way through economic sea change and slow the drift toward ecological bankruptcy. Its advice is simple but powerful: reduce your environmental footprint (and its skyrocketing cost), make legitimate products that last, reclaim deep knowledge of your business and its supply chain to make the most of opportunities in the years to come, and earn the trust you’ll need by treating your workers, customers and communities with respect.

    When your customers are delighted, they can amplify your message in ways that were never before possible. But when your company’s performance runs short of what you’ve promised, customers can seize control of your brand message, spreading their disappointment and frustration faster than you can keep up.To keep pace with today’s connected customers, your company must become a connected company. That means deeply engaging with workers, partners, and customers, changing how work is done, how you measure success, and how performance is rewarded. It requires a new way of thinking about your company: less like a machine to be controlled, and more like a complex, dynamic system that can learn and adapt over time.Connected companies have the advantage, because they learn and move faster than their competitors. While others work in isolation, they link into rich networks of possibility and expand their influence.Connected companies around the world are aggressively acquiring customers and disrupting the competition. In The Connected Company, we examine what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and why it works. And we show you how your company can use the same principles to adapt—and thrive—in today’s ever-changing global marketplace.

    And while they lead very intensely rewarding lives, time is always short and relationships are often long-distant and stressed because of extended periods apart. Coping with these, and other obstacles, are critical if an entrepreneur and their partner intend on staying together--and staying happy.In Startup Life, Brad Feld--a Boulder, Colorado-based entrepreneur turned-venture capitalist--shares his own personal experiences with his wife Amy, offering a series of rich insights into successfully leading a balanced life as a human being who wants to play as hard as he works and who wants to be as fulfilled in life and in work. With this book, Feld distills his twenty years of experience in this field to addresses how the village of startup people can put aside their workaholic ways and lead rewarding lives in all respects.Includes real-life examples of entrepreneurial couples who have had successful relationships and what works for them Provides practical advice for adapting to change and overcoming the inevitable ups and downs associated with the entrepreneurial lifestyle Written by Brad Feld, a thought-leader in this field who has been an early-stage investor and successful entrepreneur for more than twenty years While there's no secret formula to relationship success in the world of the entrepreneur, there are ways to making navigation of this territory easier. Startup Life is a well-rounded guide that has the insights and advice you need to succeed in both your personal and business life.

    Ries’ Lean Startup method provides entrepreneurs with an agile Build-Measure-Learn process, helping them to successfully develop products based on direct customer feedback.Widely praised for its practical and actionable insights, The Lean Startup is essential reading for entrepreneurs in companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.The Lean Startup…in 30 minutes is the essential guide to quickly understanding the important ideas in Eric Ries’ bestselling book, The Lean Startup. Offering an overview of Ries’ Lean Startup method, this concise summary gives entrepreneurs—independent of size or sector—the necessary tools for fostering innovation and developing successful products.

    Are we ready? In 1998, Dr Kalam and Y.S. Rajan published the now iconic India 2020, a vision document for the new millennium that charted how India could become one of the top five economic powers in the world by 2020. Sixteen years later, as the year 2020 approaches, it is time to take stock of how much India has achieved and what lies ahead. In many ways, India s growth story in the twenty-first century has been hamstrung by missed opportunities and slowdowns in project execution; but it has also been marked by new opportunities and emerging technologies that make faster and more inclusive growth viable. A renewed policy focus is now needed for agriculture, manufacturing, mining, the chemicals industry, health care and infrastructure to invigorate these sectors and boost economic growth, argue Kalam and Rajan. Alongside, education, job creation, emerging technologies, biodiversity, waste management, national security and the knowledge economy are some of the other vital areas that we need to build on as we look beyond 2020. India can still make it to the list of developed nations in a decade. Beyond 2020 provides an action plan for that transformation.

    It explains how startups search for a business model using Customer Development, and explains the overall customer development methodology, and key implementation steps. It is designed for founders, advisors, entrepreneurs and others curious about how the Customer Development process works. Many readers prefer to use the Strategy Guide along with either The Startup Owner’s Manual for Physical Channel Startups or The Startup Owner’s Manual for Web/Mobile Startups as they work to build a successful startup.

    You didn’t go to business school? That’s okay, neither did I. Frankly, most MBA programs won’t teach you much about what goes in to actually making a startup. Most of what you need to know you learn “on the job” as you’re founding your first business, which can be downright scary when you’re in an environment with people who have seen a thousand people just like you and understand all the subtleties and lingo and incentives and laws. So this is the guide I wish my future self had handed me when, at the bright and shiny anything-is-possible age of 25, I decided to start my first Internet business.

    For those who want to succeed and stand out from the herd this book is a beacon of uncommon sense and a timely antidote to managerial humbug.

    A key component of the facilitator-lead Five Dysfunctions of a Team Workshop, the Team Assessment delivers what the name implies "a team assessment" rather than an individual self-assessment. It provides participants with an opportunity to begin exploring the pitfalls that are side-tracking their team. Easy to use, the Assessment is ideal for team off-sites, retreats, or a series of team development meetings. It will help teams of all types increase their cohesiveness and productivity.

    Their brand-new two- or three-person start-ups are given a seemingly impossible challenge: to turn a raw idea into a viable business, fast.   Each YC session culminates in a demo day, when investors and venture capitalists flock to hear pitches from the new graduates. Any one of them might turn out to be the next Dropbox (class of 2007, now valued at $5 billion) or Airbnb (2009, $1.3 billion).   Randall Stross is the first journalist to have fly-on-the-wall access to Y Combinator. He tells the full story of how Paul Graham started this ultra exclusive institution, how it chooses among hundreds of aspiring Mark Zuckerbergs, and how it teaches them to go from concept to profitability in record time.

    An affable prairie boy, he took the leap from the RCMP and started to build a global empire. In his first book, Jim shows why today, he’s not only surviving, he’s thriving in a volatile 20th-century global market. For Treliving, success involves hard work and taking a measured, principled approach to making decisions, because successful people make decisions and act. Unsuccessful people freeze in the face of choice.Decisions is for budding entrepreneurs and fans of the CBC’s Dragons’ Den, for those who want the story behind the scenes. But it’s also for people who want to understand how lasting success is built and how steady wealth is created. It’s for people who want to make wiser decisions in business and in life, and become true leaders in their chosen field.

    Under such pressure to stay alive—let alone grow—it’s easy for entrepreneurs to get caught up in a never-ending cycle of “sell it—do it, sell it—do it” that leaves them exhausted, frustrated, and unable to get ahead no matter how hard they try.This is the exact situation Mike Michalowicz found himself in when he was trying to grow his first company. Although it was making steady money, there was never very much left over and he was chasing customers left and right, putting in twenty-eight-hour days, eight days a week. The punishing grind never let up. His company was alive but stunted, and he was barely breathing. That’s when he discovered an unlikely source of inspiration—pumpkin farmers.After reading an article about a local farmer who had dedicated his life to growing giant pump­kins, Michalowicz realized the same process could apply to growing a business. He tested the Pumpkin Plan on his own company and transformed it into a remarkable, multimillion-dollar industry leader. First he did it for himself. Then for others. And now you. So what is the Pumpkin Plan?Plant the right seeds: Don’t waste time doing a bunch of different things just to please your customers. Instead, identify the thing you do better than anyone else and focus all of your attention, money, and time on figuring out how to grow your company doing it. Weed out the losers: In a pumpkin patch small, rotten pumpkins stunt the growth of the robust, healthy ones. The same is true of customers. Figure out which customers add the most value and provide the best opportunities for sustained growth. Then ditch the worst of the worst. Nurture the winners: Once you figure out who your best customers are, blow their minds with care. Discover their unfulfilled needs, innovate to make their wishes come true, and overdeliver on every single promise.Full of stories of other successful entrepreneurs, The Pumpkin Plan guides you through unconven­tional strategies to help you build a truly profitable blue-ribbon company that is the best in its field.

    Membership is open to graduates of System trainings and other invited parties.These letters - fifty-seven in all - were written to be absorbed quickly and deliver hard hitting, targeted marketing tactics and inspiration.Here are just a few of the ideas Ken shares in his latest book: The invisible foundation of killer ad copy Formulas for generating productive action The world's greatest marketing university When to break the rules All big things start out small Can you improvise? The power of Internet video The 40-40-20 rule Your most important asset Values and vision in business and in life Warning: Much of what you will read in this book is dramatically different from the advice of the Internet marketing gurus.

    But as the world's economic and ecological meltdowns demand that we redesign our livelihoods, our enterprises, our communities, our organizations, our food system, our housing, and much more, transactional lawyers are needed, en masse, to aid in an epic reinvention of our economic system.This reinvention is referred to by many names--the "sharing economy," the "grassroots economy," the "new economy"--and involves new and different ways of consuming, producing, and transacting with each other. This new economy facilitates community ownership, localized production, sharing, cooperation, small scale enterprise, and the regeneration of economic and natural abundance. Sharing economy lawyers make the exploding numbers of social enterprises, cooperatives, urban farms, cohousing communities, time banks, local currencies, and the vast array of unique organizations arising from the sharing economy possible and legal.There are nine primary areas of work that sharing economy lawyers should become familiar with, andeach is addressed in a chapter of Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy:--Designing and Drafting Agreements--Choosing, Forming, and Structuring Entities--Advising on the Legalities and Taxation of Exchange--Navigating Securities Regulations--Navigating Employment Regulations--Navigating Regulations on Production and Commerce--Managing Relationships with and Use of Land--Managing Intellectual Property--Managing RiskThe work of lawyers helping to build the sharing economy will often be challenging, but will always be interesting and demand creativity. Perhaps best of all, these lawyers will contribute greatly to the creation of a world in which innumerable people have now decided they want to live.

    Victor W. Hwang and Greg Horowitt propose a radical new theory to explain the nature of "innovation ecosystems": human networks that generate extraordinary creativity and output. They argue that free market thinking fails to consider the impact of human nature on the innovation process. This ambitious work challenges the basic assumptions that economists have held for over a century.The authors argue that such ecosystems - what they call Rainforests - can only thrive when certain cultural behaviors unlock human potential. People in Rainforests belong to "tribes of trust" and follow a secret unwritten code: the Rules of the Rainforest. The theory of the Rainforest is influenced by several breakthrough ideas in academia, including insights on sociobiology from Harvard, economic transactions from the University of Chicago, and design theory from Stanford. With an unorthodox and entertaining narrative, the book reveals the mysterious mechanisms of Rainforests. Furthermore, the authors provide practical tools for readers to design, build, and sustain new innovation ecosystems. The Rainforest will transform the way you think about technology, business, and leadership.

     Living the 8 Wisdoms can take anyone from poverty to success. Take your own motivational journey with Shinhon as he finds that the Wisdoms can change his life—or keep him from what he loves most.

    . . JUST A FEW RAVES: Fantastic! The auditorium was jam-packed. They were sitting in the aisle! . . . Inspirational! -- Harvard Business SchoolIt takes guts to be an entrepreneur. In that quest, Joe Girard's riveting book will empower you to become tomorrow's entrepreneurial legend. -- Warren E. Avis, founder, Avis Rent-A-Car[Girard is] the consummate salesman! -- ForbesGirard captures the essence of rising to the top in any endeavor: Set ambitious goals and visualize success, work hard, persevere, and stick to your principles. -- Mary Kay Ash, founder and Chairman Emeritus, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.

    A "must have" for Mark Cuban fans!

    This book has three ebook companions: The Startup Owner’s Manual Strategy Guide (http://amzn.to/OijMDb), The Startup Owner’s Manual for Physical Channel Startups (http://amzn.to/QZvorJ) and The Startup Owner’s Manual Founder’s Workbook (http://bit.ly/SlPQqc). Together, these books will tell you:•How to incorporate the Business Model Canvas as the organizing principle for startup hypotheses•How to find Product-Market fit•How to get, keep and grow customers •How to fuel growth with metrics that matterThe Startup Owner’s Manual series walks you, step-by-step, through the tested and proven Customer Development process created by startup expert Steve Blank, unlocking the secrets to building a successful, scalable company. The series lays out the best practices, lessons and tips that have swept the startup world, offering a wealth of proven advice and information for entrepreneurs of all stripes.It is used by thousands of startups, leading universities (including Stanford, U.C. Berkeley and Columbia) and the U.S. National Science Foundation, among many others.

    In a monumental verdict, a jury recently awarded Apple $1.05 billion dollars in damages, determining that Samsung copied the technology used on the iPhone and iPad. Christian Louboutin did not make out as well in its case against Yves St. Laurent. Despite having applied for a trademark for their brand-defining red-soled shoes, the court found that Louboutin could not impede the creativity of other designers and granted Yves St. Laurent the right to copy the well-known fashion statement. From smart phones to high heels, song lyrics to Spider-Man, possessing copyrights, patents and trademarks is the first line of self-defense, as well as highly lucrative. In INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Money and Power in a New Era (Thomson Reuters, September 2012) attorney Alexandre Montagu explores the pitfalls of being caught unaware of Intellectual Property law. Montagu’s clients include Fortune 500 companies and his practice encompasses a broad variety of industries such as culinary, financial services, entertainment, publishing, and cosmetics. “Whether it’s the trade secrets of a hedge fund’s algorithms, the copyrights or patents underlying the smart phone, the trademarks that protect well-known brands, intellectual property bastes the modern economy,” he says. Through fascinating anecdotes and compelling court cases, Montagu brings home just how important legal literacy can be for your business—think how different social media would be if the Winklevoss brothers had a written agreement with Mark Zuckerburg.INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY fascinates with cases pulled from the evening news. Montagu provides inside access to The Da Vinci Code lawsuit when an author sued publisher Random House for stealing his previously published plot for the best-selling novel. Montagu explains why the case was dismissed, even though there are blatant similarities between the two books. Compelling stories and legal insight make this book essential for songwriters, CEOs, Web designers, inventors, restaurateurs, and anyone who’s ever signed a legal document without reading all of the fine print.

    Understand them, and you can create extraordinary growth. Ignore them, and you run the risk of becoming another statistic. It's become almost cliche 8 out of every 10 new ventures fail. Of the ones that succeed, how many truly thrive-for the long run? And of those that thrive, how many continually overcome their growth hurdles ... and ultimately scale, with meaning, purpose, and profitability? The answer, sadly, is not many. Author Lex Sisney is on a mission to change that picture. After more than a decade spent leading and coaching high-growth technology companies, Lex discovered that the companies that thrive do so in accordance with 6 Laws - universal principles that govern the success or failure of every individual, team, and organization.

    Whether you own a garage gym, a CrossFit Box, or a martial-arts studio, Two-Brain Business can help you getrunning, get organized, and getmembers; keep people happier, and make more time for yourself.Chris Cooper of TwoBrainBusiness.comshows you h

    While traditionally stock exchanges have returned about 11 percent annually in the past half century, Buffett's investments have by nearly 29 percent a year, solidifying Buffett's conglomerate holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, as the eighth-largest business in the world and netting him $44 billion along the way.Despite this tremendous success, "the Oracle of Omaha" remains modest. He acknowledges that he has a unique ability to evaluate businesses, but he doesn't feel entitled to the vast wealth that ability has earned him. Instead, he likes to say that he was born at the right place and time. This humility in the face of proven talent and innumerable wealth is part of what makes Buffett universally popular--he is one of the world's wealthiest men and yet he is still personable and relatable.For the first time, the most thought-provoking and inspiring quotes from Buffett are now compiled in a single book. The Oracle Speaks: Warren Buffett in His Own Words is a comprehensive guidebook to the inner workings of the Berkshire Hathaway chairman. Hundreds of Buffett's best quotes, comprising thoughts on investing, Wall Street, business, politics, taxes, and life lessons, will provide the most intimate and direct look into the mind of a modern business icon and give readers enough counsel to last a lifetime.Media outlets, financial advisers, politicians, and Americans from Main Street to Wall Street hang on every word Buffett speaks, hoping to gain valuable insight into Buffett's investments and successes. There is possibly no greater stamp of approval in the business world than to have Buffett invest in a company, and few leaders in the course of history have commanded such universally agreed-upon respect. Even beyond his business savvy, Buffett is influential as a progressive thinker and active philanthropist, having pledged to give most of his money to charity through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as foundations run by his three children. It is this humility that consistently draws people to Buffett, and will draw people to The Oracle Speaks.Most recently, inspired by Buffett's New York Times editorial in which he claimed he paid too little in taxes, President Barack Obama and Congress have named a series of tax reforms after Buffett. While the political implications have been controversial, Buffett has retained his reputation as an outspoken and successful business leader. The Oracle Speaks draws from decades of interviews, editorials, and annual shareholder reports, amassing the most complete outline of how Buffett believes a good business is run and a good life is led. It's advice that Buffett has successfully adhered to throughout his 80-plus years, and it is advice now available in the succinct, poignant, gift-friendly package of The Oracle Speaks.

    If internet marketing sounds intimidating to you, or you’ve gotten started but need more guidance, this book can remove the fear and give you the solutions you need to achieve your goals.Own Your Niche is ideal for consultants, coaches, freelancers, health services professionals, financial advisers, attorneys, doctors, professional speakers, authors, and other service-based businesses.

    To write a winning business plan requires reading Garrett Sutton s dynamic book on the topic. Writing Winning Business Plans provides the insights and the direction on how to do it well and do it right. Rich Dad/Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki says, The first step in business is a great business plan. It must be a page turner that hooks and holds a potential investor. Garrett Sutton s Writing Winning Business Plans is THE book for key strategies on preparing winning plans for both business and real estate ventures. Crisply written and featuring real life illustrative stories, Writing Winning Business Plans discusses all the key elements for a successful plan. Topics include focusing your business vision, understanding your financials and analyzing your competition. Also covered are how to really use your business plan as a tool and how to attract funding for your new or existing businesses.As business plan competitions become more popular around the world Writing Winning Business Plans also discusses how to enter and how to win these ever more lucrative contests. In addition, how to quickly interest a potential investor, also known as the elevator pitch, is explained. And, as opportunities arise around the world, how to present your plan in various countries is explored. Writing Winning Business Plans is the complete compendium for this essential business rite of passage preparing a winning plan.

    It is a manual about getting money from those who have it and are, given reason and their interests met, very willing to spend it --on just about everything, and more of it, at higher average prices than any other consumers.Covers: What leading-edge boomers and seniors buy and why they buy it: the diversity and amount of their spending will surprise you Opportunities with The Affluent and The Still-Working: while 10,000 retire every day, 72% of boomers plan to keep working past age 65The power of profiling: learn how to sub-divide this market, develop the profile of your ideal customer within this demographic, and use it profitably The New American Family: 2 and 3 generations under one roof: what does this mean to your business? The 10 best advantages of marketing to boomers and seniors and how to leverage them: Capitalize on conditioned behaviors and imbedded commands How to incorporate the power of...frame of reference, familiarity, classic credibility, fear and stress reduction, aspirations, and ambition in your advertising, marketing, and selling Lessons from and secrets of AARP, Disney, Playboy, psychics and mentalists, 7-figure income financial advisors, dentists and lawyers, the mattress store with prices starting 6X the national price average, the J. Crew Co., Facebook, Coke vs. Pepsi, and others

    Lisa Mills, an experienced general transcriptionist and publisher of work-at-home site Work at Home Mom Revolution, shares everything you need to know to get started in this exciting career. This ebook also includes links to valuable resources, including a list of 60 general transcription companies that hire home-based transcriptionists (with links).

    In it, literary agent and publishing veteran Jennifer Lyons empowers aspiring and experienced writers with everything they need to know about the business of selling books, from publicity to legal and financial aspects of the trade. A senior agent for seventeen years before opening her own literary agency, Lyons has taught numerous courses on the business of writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and has visited both undergraduate and graduate writing programs to share her expert knowledge. This enjoyable guide brings Jennifer’s in-depth tutorials to the broader public, balancing accessible, bulleted information for writers on the critical stages of acquiring and maintaining representation with interviews with professionals in the field. Interviewees include a Harper’s magazine editor, a contracts manager, and other publishing professionals that you can expect to encounter as you advance in your career. Covering everything from how to write the perfect query letter to deconstructing the terminology of a publishing contract, this indispensable handbook to the writer’s trade will give you a thorough introduction to the nuts and bolts of publishing.

    These creatives are founding their own small companies all over the world--storefronts and other locations with a uniquely individual character that often serve simultaneously as an office, workshop, warehouse, and local meeting point for like-minded people. Whether florists, butchers, or yoga studios, these small businesses need a customized visual identity that can adequately capture and represent their particular dynamic.Introducing: Visual Identities for Small Businesses is a compilation of intelligent corporate designs for small, creative companies. The book Showcases innovative work that captures the imagination with which their founders pursue and communicate their business concepts. The featured examples reflect the full spectrum of today's most important design trends--from minimalism and classic modernism to styles that range from retro and letter-press-nostalgic to playful and surreal. All of the included work makes clear that intriguing visual concepts do not depend on a large budget. It is a testament to the fact that certain limitations can be beneficial to coming up with original and effectively executed creative ideas.The selection of projects in Introducing: Visual Identities for Small Businesses is neither limited to a certain branch of business, nor to particular media. The diverse examples include a small run of pastel-colored stationary for a nursery, the hand-set business cards of a typographer, as well as the shop design and chalk-written price list of a small-town pastry shop. What thematically unites the work in the book is the fresh attitude and the personal, proactive approach of the founders on which it is based.

    "Rippling" shows how to activate the type of change that is needed to address the critical challenges that threaten to destroy the foundations of our society and planet in these increasingly turbulent times.These actionable principles are brought to life by compelling real-life stories. Schwartz provides a road map that allows anyone to become a changemaker.Presents some of today's most innovative and effective approaches to solving social and environmental challengesOffers a vision of social entrepreneurs as role models, catalysts, enablers and recruiters who spread waves system changing solutions throughout societyThe author offers a model of change that begins with the end result in mindFirst book from an insider at Ashoka, the foremost global organization on social change through social entrepreneurship"Rippling" clearly demonstrates how and when empathy, creativity, passion, and persistence are combined; significant, life-altering progress is indeed possible.

    In our increasingly interdependent world, winning requires more than just delivering on your own promises. It means ensuring that a host of partners -some visible, some hidden- deliver on their promises, too.In "The Wide Lens," innovation expert Ron Adner draws on over a decade of research and field testing to take you on far ranging journeys from Kenya to California, from transport to telecommunications, to reveal the hidden structure of success in a world of interdependence.A riveting study that offers a new perspective on triumphs like Amazon's e-book strategy and Apple's path to market dominance; monumental failures like Michelin with run-flat tires and Pfizer with inhalable insulin; and still unresolved issues like electric cars and electronic health records, "The Wide Lens" offers a powerful new set of frameworks and tools that will multiply your odds of innovation success."The Wide Lens" will change the way you see, the way you think - and the way you win.

    Robert Gaskins (who invented the idea, managed its design and development, and then headed the new Microsoft group) has written this book to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of PowerPoint, recounting stories of the perils narrowly evaded as a startup, dissecting the complexities of being the first distant development group in Microsoft, and explaining decisions and insights that enabled PowerPoint to become a lasting success.

    Here's what you need to know to manage the technical side of blogging, create a cool design, select the ideal content, style and photograph food, and share your kitchen inspirations as an active member of the online food community.Collect your tools — claim your domain, choose a blog platform, and establish your place in social mediaFind your niche — survey the blog landscape, meet your fellow food bloggers, select a blog name, and find your unique voiceServe it in style — see how to design a blog that serves up mouthwatering content as elegantly as a perfect table settingFeed their eyes — learn simple food-styling tricks and how to take photos that awaken the taste budsTo market, to market — find out how to market your blog, increase your search engine rankings, and make your blog payOpen the book and find:Why it's the perfect time to launch your blogWays to make your blog credibleAdvice on creating and presenting contentA primer in food blog legaleseDesign ideas to make your blog user-friendlySurprising ways to enhance your photosInsider food-styling tricksTips for tapping into ad networksLearn to:Find your voice and your niche in the food blogosphereEnhance your blog with superb design and photographyMake your recipes searchable and connect your blog to social mediaIN FULL COLOR!

    Without this kind of structure and guidance, even the brightest, most tenacious innovators most often fall short. Now, Breakthrough Entrepreneurship closes the gap. Jon Burgstone is the founding Faculty Chair at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley. He's studied entrepreneurship for years and advised hundreds of new ventures on how to succeed. Moreover, he practiced exceptional entrepreneurship as the co-founder and CEO of Supplier- Market, an Internet technology firm that sold for $1.1 billion in a record 362 days. Working with business journalist Bill Murphy Jr., Burgstone has now written a book that can help just about any aspiring founder to build a great new venture. Burgstone and Murphy distill key lessons from the experiences of today's most interesting entrepreneurs-people like Peter Thiel (PayPal, Facebook), Jim Koch (Boston Beer Co.), Wendy Kopp (Teach for America), and many, many others. You don't have to be the most knowledgeable person in the field to succeed as an entrepreneur. You don't have to be the founder with the most "advanced" ideas to come out on top. You just need to be the best at recognizing opportunities, minimizing risk, and following through. Breakthrough Entrepreneurship shows you how.

    Those fortunate enough to succeed then face a second, major challenge: how to grow. This book focuses on the key questions an entrepreneur must answer in order to grow a business. Based on extensive research of more than fifty successful growth companies, Grow to Greatness discusses the top ten growth challenges and how to overcome them.Author Edward D. Hess dispels the myth that businesses must grow or die. Growth can create value. But, too much growth too fast outstrips effective processes, controls, or management capacity. Viewing growth as "recurring change," Grow to Greatness lays out a framework for how to approach business development—and how to manage its risks and pace.The book then takes readers through chapters that explore whether the time is right to grow, how to do it, and how to manage the vital reality that growth requires the right leadership, culture, and people. Uniquely, this book aims to prepare readers for the day-to-day reality of growth, offering up the lived experiences of eleven entrepreneurs. Six workshops to assess where readers stand now and a suite of templates that will prove to be useful over time help bring the book's teachings to life. After reading this book, entrepreneurs will have a real understanding of their readiness to grow and place in the growth cycle, as well as a concrete action plan for where to take their businesses next.Many books address how to start a business, but this is a unique, go-to resource for readers who want to learn how to thrive beyond the start-up phase.

    The second part, which is a section of my book Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics, goes deeper and seeks to overturn the foundations of Buffett's and most other people's ideas concerning the relationship between profits and wages.At least since the time of Adam Smith, it has been believed that profits, interest, and all other income that is not wages (or salaries) is a deduction from what is naturally and, by implication, rightfully, wages. This view is the starting point of the Marxian exploitation theory, which seeks to explain what determines the extent of this alleged deduction and finds the answer in a distorted version of the classical economists' labor theory of value. But this same view is no less the starting point of the most important critic of the Marxian exploitation theory, namely, the great Austrian economist Böhm-Bawerk, who differs from Marx in concluding that, because of time preference, profits (interest) are a justified deduction from what is originally all wages.In opposition to Smith, Marx, Böhm-Bawerk, and all who share their ideas, the theory that I propound is that the original, primary form of income is not wages but, however ironically, profits. Developing the implications of this major finding and anticipating and answering the questions that come to mind in connection with it occupies a substantial portion of both parts of this book. The most important of these implications is the demonstration of a harmony of the self-interests of wage earners and capitalists. This, in turn, has enormous implications for the way people view such major economic issues as capitalism versus socialism, economic freedom versus government controls, income and inheritance taxation, and labor and social legislation.This little book offers an unprecedentedly powerful defense of capitalism and economic freedom in the space of a comparatively few pages. It is offered as an introduction to the author's major work Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics, which is a state of the art defense of capitalism and economic freedom in virtually all of their aspects.

    Her enthusiasm and genuine concern for self-publishers are evident on every page. Laura shares links, suggests other great books and inspires with her own challenges and triumphs." - Author Stephen BlackThis short but sweet eBook was inspired by an indie author desperate for help. Marianne asked: “The self-published author community is really supportive of each other, but how do we break beyond it and promote to NEW readers?”.She wasn't alone in wanting to find new readers. It seems that authors are thirsty for new and unique marketing ideas, and having them curated all in one place enables authors to cut through the noise and take advice for a tried and trusted source. “Laura Pepper Wu is an author’s best friend! With her assistance and always-friendly advice, I was able to laser-focus the platform for my novels, achieve maximum visibility for my books, and plan for my future as a full-time author."- Author Lauren ClarkAuthor Laura Pepper Wu poured onto paper the strategies and ideas she uses to coach self-published authors for over three years, along with actionable tips on how to use them. 77 Ways is designed to inform, inspire and entertain.“Laura is one of the most effective and professional people I’ve ever worked with. Her marketing plan and eBook strategy for our book was beyond my wildest dreams." - Sophia ViklundTry one new idea each day for 2-3 months, and you have a creative marketing plan that is both manageable and effective. You'll break beyond your current network and find ways of connecting with new readers that feels comfortable and enjoyable.Written by Laura Pepper Wu of the award-winning 30 Day Books book studio, self-published author and head of promotions for several Amazon best-sellers.Get your hands on a copy and discover a NEW approach - and several new ways - to promoting your book now!"You will be glad you purchased this book!" - Melissa Wenzel

    When these strategies falter, the common response is simply to try harder—but firms falling into this “implementation trap” usually end up losing out to a competitor whose approach is more inclusive.So where do you start? By asking the right questions, argue INSEAD’s Laurence Capron and coauthor Will Mitchell, of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Drawing on decades of research and teaching, Capron and Mitchell find that a firm’s aptitude for determining the best resource pathways for growth has a defining impact on its success. They’ve come up with a helpful framework, reflecting practices of a variety of successful global organizations, to determine which path is best for yours.The resource pathways framework is built around three strategic questions:• BUILD: Are your existing internal resources relevant for developing the new resources that you have targeted for growth?• BORROW: Could you obtain the targeted resources via an effective relationship with a resource partner?• BUY: Do you need broad and deep relationships with your resource provider?Written for large multinationals and emerging firms alike, Build, Borrow, or Buy will help solve a perennial question and will guide you through change while priming your organization for optimal growth.

    Now what do I do?"All too often business owners and real estate investors are asking this question. They have formed their protective entity -- be it a corporation, LLC or LP -- and don't know what to do next.Run Your Own Corporation provides the solution to this very common dilemma. Breaking down the requirements chronologically (i.e. the first day, first quarter, first year) the audiobook sets forth all the tax and corporate and legal matters new business owners must comply with. Written by a Rich Advisor Garrett Sutton, Esq. who also authored the companion edition Start Your Own Corporation, the audiobook clearly identifies what must be done to properly maintain and operate your corporation entity.From the first day, when employer identification numbers must be obtained in order to open up a bank account, to the fifth year when trademark renewals must be filed, and all the requirements in between, Run Your Own Corporation is a unique resource that all business owners and investors must have.

    Inspirational words. Motivational acronyms. Empowering words to cause you to see life in a whole different way. Enjoy Life!

    In this transformational book, twenty-five entrepreneurs pull back the curtain to reveal their powerful and life-changing lessons on how to: -Create prosperity through partnership. -Uncover gems in your current associations. -Define success principles involved in joint venturing. -Tap into the capital lying dormant within your relationships. -Create raving fans out of your clients and customers. -Invest in your clients so they invest in you. -Build a team that supports and champions your success. Discover how to fuel your own dream surrounded by people who support, encourage, and leverage your influence in the global marketplace. It's time to uncover the profit potential in building the relationships that build your business. Contributors include: Adela Rubio, Ally Piper, Christine Gallagher, Cindy Rushton, Connie Ragen Green, David Perdew, Dr. Linda Miles, D'Vorah Lansky, Eileen Voyles, Ellen Britt, Felicia Slattery, Dr. Joseph Peck, Kathleen Ann, Kendall Summerhawk, Kirk Duncan, Lisa Rae Preston, Lou Bortone, Mari-Lyn Harris, Nancy Marmolejo, Rhonda Hess, Ronda del Boccio, Shannon Cherry, Terri Zwierzynski, Therese Skelly

    For most firms, networking, attending benefit dinners, advertising in the Yellow Pages, and merely adding the new partner's name to the office sign was enough to stay top of mind. Today, everything has changed. Even traditional industries need to figure out how to differentiate and compete in our digital, socially-networked society. Bold Brand is a process that any professional services firm can follow to identify, develop, and leverage their brand essence to market themselves in a truly unique way. Today's professional services marketers know that if they want to stand out, they have to do something different. Read Bold Brand to find out how, and get ready to get Bold!

    As shocked as he is, Nate still expects Gabrielle to keep the baby. He's from a Christian family who believes in the sanctity of life. But Gabrielle is leaning toward an entirely different decision--and he's starting to see things her way.Told from both Nate and Gabrielle's points of view, ABSOLUTE VALUE is a powerful story about two teens and their families who confront the gray area between right and wrong...and who are changed forever as a result.

    

    The result is a chilling page-turner. If you don't know much about how vague federal laws and regulations can put innocent people at risk, or if you already know but want to know more, Rich-Hunt is for you." -- Review by David Henderson, Research Fellow with the Hoover Institution, author of Making Great Decisions in Business and Life."Donway, who heads the Business Rights Center of the Atlas Society, makes his position clear from the outset. He sees Reyes as a hard-working, clear-thinking entrepreneurial hero. He also sees the law that Reyes was charged with violating as pernicious and vague. But even if one thinks that Reyes was not a hero, and even if one thinks that the law was a good law, Donway gives ample evidence that the legal system badly abused an innocent man. The abuse involved prosecutorial misconduct and mischievous actions by a federal judge. Another player that comes off looking very bad is the Wall Street Journal's news section, which hyped the backdating options controversy as if it was obvious that options shouldn't be backdated." -- Review by David Henderson, Research Fellow with the Hoover Institution, author of " Making Great Decisions in Business and Life." Rich-Hunt is the most comprehensive study yet of the interaction of business, law, and journalism in the backdated options episode. It is a case study of prosecutorial misconduct and the media’s tendency to be an echo chamber for accusations against businesses. But it is primarily the story of a man who excelled in business achievement. Greg Reyes became CEO of Brocade at 36 and increased its revenues twenty-fold within three years—only to be felled by a miscarriage of justice. In this deeply researched work, Donway shows how Reyes became the victim first of a board made fearful by the power of regulators; then of a frenzied media attack on backdated options; and, finally, of prosecutors who charged him with fraud. Despite the prosecutors’ failure to establish that someone was misled, the central point required for a charge of fraud, Reyes was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.Rich-Hunt includes an introduction by Greg Reyes and a foreword by David Kelley.ABOUT ROGER DONWAYBusiness Rights Center Director Roger Donway is a freelance writer and editor whose work focuses on philosophy, economics, and history. In addition to heading up the Business Rights Center, Donway assisted author Robert Bradley, Jr. with his book "Edison to Enron: Energy Markets and Political Strategies", the second volume in Bradley's projected trilogy, "Political Capitalism" (M&M Scrivener Press). Donway performed editing and research for Bradley's first book in the trilogy, "Capitalism at Work: Business, Government, and Energy".From 1997 to 2005, Donway was the editor of The Atlas Society's monthly magazine, Navigator to which he also contributed numerous articles, including "Eliot Spitzer: Ayatollah General" and "The Case for Frank Quattrone." From 1988 to 1997, Donway was managing editor of Orbis, the quarterly journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. In 1983, he co-authored (with David Kelley) "Laissez-Parler: Freedom in the Electronic Media". He has also written a book-length manuscript, "The Steelmasters", a history of steel technology told through the biographies of the men who created it.

    You don't need to be a programmer or technical wizard to create a successful app business, Appsters will show you how. Using their first hand experience launching multiple successful mobile apps, along with interviews conducted with other successful app entrepreneurs, Bobby and Jordan give you an easy-to-understand and comprehensive look at everything you need to know to take your idea and turn it into a successful app business. Written for a non-technical audience, Appsters breaks through the technical jargon to give you a plain-spoken, entertaining and end-to-end understanding of app entrepreneurship. From designing engaging user experiences, to choosing the right mobile platform, to effective marketing and promotion, follow along as Bobby and Jordan go step-by-step through the entire process of designing, building and releasing a mobile app for the iPhone from scratch. Appsters is a must have guide for the aspiring app entrepreneur. With Appsters you'll learn: What separates the great money making apps from the rest of the pack. How to design beautiful apps that users will love to use and tell their friends about. How to use paid-downloads, 'freemium' functionality and advertising to monetize your app from day 1. How to manage the app development process from managing off-shore development teams to finding the right engineers to work on your app. The secrets to marketing your app. Learn how successful app entrepreneurs use press releases, web sites, and social media to help their apps go viral and get thousands of downloads within a few weeks.

    Faced with the environment of the last several years, every entrepreneur needs an edge. "Secrets to Entrepreneurial Success" gives an entrepreneur that edge. No matter where a small business is in its growth cycle - startup, growth or near exit - the "Secrets" provide "to-the-point" advice and easily implementable solutions for key issues entrepreneurs face, every day. The book is authored by Lonnie Sciambi, "The Entrepreneur's Yoda," a veteran of more than 30 years in the entrepreneurial trenches as a founder, CEO, turnaround specialist and advisor to small businesses. His "Secrets' are delivered with equal parts experience, candor and humor that makes them impactful and not easily forgotten. The "Secrets" are focused around critical functional areas to help get a startup on the path to success "right out of the chute!" They explain why partners and advisors are, often, as important as strategies and plans. The "Secrets" show how an entrepreneur's success begins and ends with marketing and sales and why it's so critical to "love" your customer and how to make them love you back. They show how the culture you create should reflect your values and provide an environment for employees to thrive. The "Secrets" answer the key questions why cash, how to generate it, manage it and raise it, are second only to breathing for an entrepreneur. They will describe unique ways to continue grow top and bottom line, over time, and then how to develop an "end game" and assist you to, ultimately, monetize all of your efforts. In each chapter, there are anecdotal stories from real-life situations that "The Entrepreneur's Yoda" faced in his multi-faceted career that entrepreneurs and small business owners can relate to and help them apply the lessons to their businesses today.

    Author C. J. Rubis delivers a fascinating story-filled narrative of the Technology Think Tank business and its effects on many government and industry projects. The numerous adventures, challenges and learned wisdom demonstrate the opportunities for the technology-services entrepreneur in this exploding age of technology to develop services and product innovations.Technology educators, students, budding and struggling entrepreneurs, and others will find real-life stories and dozens of examples to illustrate business principles. Learn aboutthe history of one company that operated as a microcosm of the think tank industry;ways to overcome problems of business continuity and stability;methods for company formation, staffing, and business development and management; andprocesses for research, analysis, and development of innovative products.Written as a memoir, this business narrative is meant to inspire and guide entrepreneurship. It shares how to successfully initiate and grow small business opportunities in the huge government and defense technology services industry. You'll be educated and amused by the lessons and stories in Technology Entrepreneur.

    Businesses make millions of decisions every day. But once in a great while a leader makes a truly game-changing decision that shifts not only the strategy of a single company but how everyone does business. These big decisions are counterintuitive-they go against the conventional wisdom. In hindsight, taking a different direction may seem easy, but these bet-the-company moves involve drama, doubt, and high tension. What made Apple's board bring back Steve Jobs to the company? How did Johnson & Johnson decide to recall every bottle of Tylenol after a poisoning scare that involved only a small batch of the drug? What made Henry Ford decide to double the wages of his autoworkers, and how did that change the American economy for the next century? Here management consultant Verne Harnish, the CEO of Gazelles, and Fortune's editors provide the background stories behind the greatest business decisions of all time. In this fully original book, you'll get a glimpse into the thought processes leading up to these groundbreaking moments and will learn how the decisions have shaped the thinking of today's top leaders. The book also contains an insightful foreword by management guru Jim Collins, the author of Built To Last and Good To Great, which explains the importance of decision making in creating a successful company.

    Who links to a site and how they link to it is one of the most important factors that search engines rely on when ranking results. But how do marketers control this? Link building expert Eric Ward provides the answers.Sharing little-known techniques for link building via social media platforms, blogs, partnerships, public relations, articles, and more, Ward teaches marketers which link-building techniques will maximize the quality links that point to their site, allowing them to charm both search engines and customers and which methods to avoid.This one-of-a-kind guide details a variety of link building tools, tactics, and techniques illustrated by case studies, expert interviews, and resources. Ward leaves no opportunity unexplored, and no link-building questions unanswered.

    

    These types of entrepreneurial ecosystems are driving innovation and small business energy. "Startup Communities" documents the buzz, strategy, long-term perspective, and dynamics of building communities of entrepreneurs who can feed off of each other's talent, creativity, and support.Based on more than twenty years of Boulder-based entrepreneur turned-venture capitalist Brad Feld's experience in the field?as well as contributions from other innovative startup communities?this reliable resource skillfully explores what it takes to create an entrepreneurial community in any city, at any time. Along the way, it offers valuable insights into increasing the breadth and depth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem by multiplying connections among entrepreneurs and mentors, improving access to entrepreneurial education, and much more.Details the four critical principles needed to form a sustainable startup communityPerfect for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists seeking fresh ideas and new opportunitiesWritten by Brad Feld, a thought-leader in this field who has been an early-stage investor and successful entrepreneur for more than twenty yearsEngaging and informative, this practical guide not only shows you how startup communities work, but it also shows you how to make them work anywhere in the world.

    Weaving threads of narrative, fascinating thought experiments and sharp logic, Borders offers Superwealth: Why we should stop worrying about the gap between rich and poor. Borders’s case is not just an answer to Occupy Wall Street and inequality fetishists of the intellectual salon, it is an antidote to status quo thinking.At a time when our political and economic discourse is stuck in old dualisms, Borders’s vision of change is strikingly optimistic. He cuts the Gordian knot of wealth and want with keen thinking. He carries the reader with elegant prose. Superwealth readers who really care about the poor will discover that government is not God, attacking entrepreneurs is counterproductive, and we are at our best when we build community from the bottom up.“Whether it’s tacos in Texas, tomatoes in California or dentistry in North Carolina,” says economist Lawrence Reed, “nobody grabs and keeps your attention better than Max Borders does in this destined-to-be-a-classic volume.”

    David used a slingshot and pouch of rocks to defeat Goliath. The author profiles past "Davids" like Wal-Mart, Apple, and Turner Enterprises, and derives from their garage-to-Goliath transformations the ultimate small business "slingshot" strategy and "marketfighting" tactics. Guerrillapreneur is a MUST READ for every entrepreneur! 1 Samuel 17 of the King James Bible details the battle between David, an undersized Israeli teenager, and Goliath, a nine foot tall Philistine warrior. As the Israeli and Philistine armies prepared for war in nearby camps, Goliath taunted the Israeli army and challenged any man brave enough to head-to-head battle. David, armed with slingshot and a pouch of rocks, accepted Goliath's challenge. As Goliath charged with spear in hand, David released a rock from the slingshot and struck the giant in the forehead knocking him down. David took Goliath's sword and removed the Philistine's head. The sight of David holding Goliath's decapitated head sent the Philistine army into retreat. The moral of the story: small players with good strategies can defeat even the biggest giant.Show More Show Less

    This book will teach you, step-by-step, how to market yourself and your work so that you can build the writing career you've always dreamed of. You'll learn fundamentals of building a platform, and the techniques to make it work:1. How to build a blog, name it, and promote it.2. How to use social media to drive traffic and sales.3. The key components of every successful Home Base4. What steps to take to ensure long-term success5. How to build your name (your brand) as an author, using free tools and technology. 6. And much more...This book is the culmination of an author's struggle (and eventual success) to build an online Home Base. These tactics and strategies aren't just speculation--they truly work. Over the course of years of consulting, training, teaching, and coaching, this book was formed from the things that worked. Stop writing for no reason--you have a voice, and this book is the route to letting people hear it!

    Some of those mistakes can be rectified, but many will result in your start-up company being Dead on Arrival when it looks for financing or acquisition opportunities. Knowing what those mistakes are and how to avoid them is essential to starting and building a successful company. This book is essential to help you recognize potential pitfalls and to avoid falling victim to the mistakes that cause companies to fail. This book is a must read for every start-up entrepreneur and lawyer in the start-up space. Roger Royse is the founder of Royse Law Firm, a business and tax law firm with offices in Northern and Southern California. Roger has practiced tax and business law since 1984 in markets as diverse as Hollywood, Wall Street and Silicon Valley and has helped clients navigate legal issues and opportunities in a variety of industries including technology, entertainment and real estate. Roger has served as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University and is a frequent speaker, writer and blogger for bar associations CPA organizations, and prominent business groups. Roger regularly advises domestic and international startup and emerging growth companies on formation, financing and exit planning. In addition to providing in-depth legal counsel, Roger's firm applies innovative technology platforms to offer cost-effective, efficient and responsive legal solutions, opportunities, and connections to the business community.