It happens because VCs are experts in financings and most entrepreneurs are not. Brad and Jason are out to fix that problem with Venture Deals. This book is long overdue and badly needed."—Fred Wilson, Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures"Feld and Mendelson pack a graduate-level course into this energetic and accessible book.?The authors' frank style and incisive insight make this a must-read for high-growth company entrepreneurs, early-stage investors, and graduate students.?Start here if you want to understand venture capital deal structure and strategies.?I enthusiastically recommend."—Brad Bernthal, CU Boulder, Associate Clinical Professor ofLaw, Technology Policy, Entrepreneurial Law"A must-read book for entrepreneurs.?Brad and Jason demystify the overly complex world of term sheets and M&A, cutting through the legalese and focusing on what really matters.?That's a good thing not just for entrepreneurs, but also for venture capitalists, angels, and lawyers.?Having an educated entrepreneur on the other side of the table means you spend your time negotiating the important issues and ultimately get to the right deal faster."—Greg Gottesman, Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group"Venture Deals is a must-read for any entrepreneur contemplating or currently leading a venture-backed company. Brad and Jason are highly respected investors who shoot straight from the hip and tell it like it is, bringing a level of transparency to a process that is rarely well understood. It's like having a venture capitalist as a best friend who is looking out for your best interests and happy to answer all of your questions."—Emily Mendell, Vice President of Communications,National Venture Capital Association"The adventure of starting and growing a company can be exhilarating or excruciating—or both. Feld and Mendelson have done a masterful job of shedding light on what can either become one of the most helpful or dreadful experiences for entrepreneurs—accepting venture capital into their firm. This book takes the lid off the black box and helps entrepreneurs understand the economics and control provisions of working with a venture partner."—Lesa Mitchell, Vice President, Advancing Innovation, Kauffman Foundation

    It is moving away from its current structure of documents and pages linked together, and towards a new structure that is built around people. This is a profound change that will affect how we create business strategy, design, marketing, and advertising. The reason for this shift is simple. For tens of thousands of years we've been social animals. The web, which is only 20 years old, is simply catching up with offline life.From travel to news to commerce, smart businesses are reorienting their efforts around people-around the social behavior of their customers and potential customers. In order to be successful, businesses will need to understand how people are connected, how their social network influences them, how the people closest to them influence them the most, and how it's more important for marketers to focus on small, connected groups of friends rather than looking for overly influential individuals.This book pulls together the latest research from leading universities and technology companies to describe how people are connected, and how ideas and brand messages spread through social networks. It shows readers how to rebuild their business around social behavior, and create products that people tell their friends about.

    Since its creation in 2010, Instagram’s fun and simple interface has captured our collective imagination, swiftly becoming a way of life. In No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram, technology reporter Sarah Frier explains how Instagram’s founders married art and technology to overcome skeptics and to hook the public on visual storytelling. At first, Instagram initially attracted artisans, but then the platform exploded in popularity among the masses, creating an entire industry of digital influencers that’s now worth tens of billions of dollars. Eighteen months after Instagram’s launch and explosive growth, the founders—Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger—made the gut-wrenching decision to sell the company to Facebook. For most companies, that would be the end of the story; but for Instagram, it was only the beginning. Instagram borrowed some lessons from Facebook and rejected others, until eventually its success stirred tension with Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, just as Facebook became embroiled in a string of public crises. Frier unearths the details that led to the cofounders’ departure, bringing to light dramatic moments unknown to the public until now. At its heart, No Filter draws on unprecedented exclusive access—from the founders of Instagram, as well as employees, executives, and competitors; hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio; Anna Wintour of Vogue; Kris Jenner of the Kardashian-Jenner empire; and a plethora of influencers, from fashionistas with millions of followers to owners of famous dogs worldwide—to show how Instagram has fundamentally changed the way we communicate, shop, eat, and travel. The book brings readers inside users’ strategies to craft their personal image and fame, explaining how the company’s product decisions have affected the structure of our society. From teenagers to the pope, No Filter tells the captivating story of how Instagram not only created a new industry but also changed our lives.

    As an executive, board member, advisor, and investor, John has not only coached a generation of companies on selling, but he has also influenced a generation of executives and leaders in technology, Mike Speiser-Managing Director-Sutter Hill VenturesThe learnings in The Qualified Sales Leader will help you and your sales team sell more, make more money and grow your career in enterprise sales. Luca Lazzaron-CRO SprinklrMost sales books are boring, clinical "textbooks" that "cookie-cutter" a few generic ideas into a monotonous, dull read, that puts you to sleep. The Qualified Sales Leader is an easy read, dripping with the fundamentals of enterprise sales. Real world advice that you'll put to use the next day. Chris Degnan-CRO-SnowflakeThe Qualified Sales Leader is an easy to read book that will absolutely resonate through any enterprise software sales team. Realistic, usable advice for any sales leader or sales rep. If you're in enterprise sales, you'd be crazy not to read this book Cedric Pech-CRO-MongoDBMonthly someone asks:, "When are you going to write a book". When I ask, "Why?", I'm told, "Because no one has written a sales leadership book with practical, solutions to real life issues in enterprise SaaS sales forces", Why:6 of 10 sales reps fail, not because they couldn't sell but because they were assigned the wrong accounts. Sales leaders don't align skillsets to account complexity.Rep attrition at most SaaS companies is over 20%Sales leaders can't recruit A playersSales Leaders don't coach their reps on deal advancement issuesMost sales leaders are "glorified scorekeepers"Most sales leader don't motivate their sales teamThey're focused on deals, not rep competencySales forecasts are inaccurate because most reps game the CRM system.Sales team leaders lack qualification of sales stage exit criteriaMany salesforces only win 50% of their proof of conceptsThey're unable to frame a winning POC Criteria because they skip steps 8 of 10 executive buyers say the sales meetings they take are a waste of time.Sales reps lack the ability to sell business value aligned to specific personas and use cases. 4 of 10 reps in enterprise sales say one of the top 3 biggest challenges is to establish urgency. Reps don't quantify critical business pain to create a buying influence.Reps can't find high-level business champions, only low-level coachesLeaders don't teach them to find pain above the noise.Reps find pain but can't attract a championManagers have them selfishly focused on closing a sale instead of earning trust.40% of reps say they feel out of control during the sales process.Leaders don't teach them how to control the process.Reps can't get high in the tree to drive large deals.They don't speak the language of the Economic Buyer.50% of reps say they can't overcome price objections while sales leaders struggle to increase the average deal size. Managers are pushing their sales reps into vending, not selling. Reps can't answer the simple "3 Whys" for forecasted dealsWhy do they have to buy? Why do they have to buy from us? and Why do they have to buy now?Top sales leaders will find the answers to these issues and more in The Qualified Sales LeaderFrom the PublisherJohn is widely recognized as the only person having been the CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) at five public, enterprise software companies, PTC, Geo-Tel, Ariba, BladeLogic and BMC.John's expertise was formulated as a pre-IPO member of 4 of the 5 companies listed above.Today, John is a board member at public software companies Snowflake, MongoDB and private, pre-IPO companies Lacework, Sigma, Cybereason and Observe. In the past, John has been a board member or executive consultant to: Hubspot, Glass Door AppDynamics and Sprinklr.

    Without it, we forget what's important to us and lose sight of the steps we might take to reach those goals. Conscious business, explains Fred Kofman, means shining this awareness on every area of your work: in recognizing the needs of others and expressing your own; in seeing the hidden emotional obstacles that may be holding your team back; in making good decisions under pressure; and even in delving into such spiritual questions as "Who am I?" and "What is my real purpose here?" In Conscious Business, this visionary teacher and consultant to Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and other leading companies presents the complete training manual in the breakthrough techniques he has shared with over 20,000 executives on four continents.

    You know it could make a crucial difference for you, your organization, your community. You present it to the group, but get confounding questions, inane comments, and verbal bullets in return. Before you know what's happened, your idea is dead, shot down. You're furious. Everyone has lost: Those who would have benefited from your proposal. You. Your company. Perhaps even the country. It doesn't have to be this way, maintain John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead. In Buy-In, they reveal how to win the support your idea needs to deliver valuable results. The key? Understand the generic attack strategies that naysayers and obfuscators deploy time and time again. Then engage these adversaries with tactics tailored to each strategy. By "inviting in the lions" to critique your idea--and being prepared for them--you'll capture busy people's attention, help them grasp your proposal's value, and secure their commitment to implementing the solution.The book presents a fresh and amusing fictional narrative showing attack strategies in action. It then provides several specific counterstrategies for each basic category the authors have defined--including:· Death-by-delay: Your enemies push discussion of your idea so far into the future it's forgotten.· Confusion: They present so much data that confidence in your proposal dies.· Fearmongering: Critics catalyze irrational anxieties about your idea.· Character assassination: They slam your reputation and credibility.Smart, practical, and filled with useful advice, Buy-In equips you to anticipate and combat attacks--so your good idea makes it through to make a positive change.

    Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.” It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success.In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards” for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.Here is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.

    You're not competing for attention only against other similar products. You're competing against your customers' friends and family and viral videos and cute puppies. To win attention these days you must ask a different question: "How can we help?"Jay Baer's Youtility offers a new approach that cuts through the clut­ter: marketing that is truly, inherently useful. If you sell something, you make a customer today, but if you genuinely help someone, you create a customer for life.

    It is hard to think of a more valuable skill." --Peter Kaufman, CEO, Glenair Inc. Former MGM Director of Creative Affairs Stephanie Palmer reveals the techniques used by Hollywood's top writers, directors and producers to get financing for their projects and explains how you can apply these techniques to be more successful in your own high-stakes meetings. Because, as Palmer as found, the strategies used to sell yourself and your ideas in Hollywood Hollywood not only work in other businesses, they often work "better." After taking over three thousand pitch meetings, Stephanie Palmer has seen what works, what doesn't, and has developed a system for helping people with good ideas get the attention and financing they deserve. This is important because of how technology and globalization have created exponential growth in the marketplace for ideas. If you can communicate your ideas concisely and effectively, you will have the edge no matter what industry you are in. Whether you intend to ask for a raise, sign a potential client, promote a new business, secure financing for a creative project, get sponsors for your charity walk or even ask someone on a date, GOOD IN A ROOM shows you how to: -Master the five stages of the face-to-face meeting-Avoid the secret dealbreakers of the first ninety seconds-Be confident in high-pressure situations-Present yourself better and more effectively than you ever have before GOOD IN A ROOM is a step-by-step guide to improving your performance in high-stakes meetings as well as in other areas of your professional life. You'll learn insider secrets, cutting-edge techniques, and how to construct winning presentations that persuade decision-makers. That's what being good in a room is all about.

    Women of all ages are suffering from an epidemic of fatigue and burnout. But exhaustion doesn’t have to be your new normal.  Inspired by her personal wellness journey, integrative medical doctor Amy Shah has created this program so that you can regain your energy and reclaim your life. The key is tapping into the powerful energy trifecta: the complex relationship between your gut, your immune system, and your hormones.  Drawing on the latest science and her work helping thousands of clients, Dr. Shah explains how to transform your life by changing:  What You Eat: Increase your vegetable intake and sip Dr. Shah’s hormone-balance tea to tamp down inflammation and heal your gut, without giving up your wine and chocolate!When You Eat: Changing when you eat and practicing intermittent fasting – the right way – will help you feel energized all day long.How you manage stress:  Simple, stress-busting exercises and herbs like Ashwagandha and Amla berry help calm the Adrenal system and ease anxiety.In just two weeks, you’ll feel your energy surge. In three months, you’ll feel like a whole new person. It’s time to regain the energy you’ve lost, so you can get back to the life you want to live.

    In a brilliant and unconventional book, Phil Rosenzweig unmasks the delusions that are commonly found in the corporate world. These delusions affect the business press and academic research, as well as many bestselling books that promise to reveal the secrets of success or the path to greatness. Such books claim to be based on rigorous thinking, but operate mainly at the level of storytelling. They provide comfort and inspiration, but deceive managers about the true nature of business success.The most pervasive delusion is the Halo Effect. When a company's sales and profits are up, people often conclude that it has a brilliant strategy, a visionary leader, capable employees, and a superb corporate culture. When performance falters, they conclude that the strategy was wrong, the leader became arrogant, the people were complacent, and the culture was stagnant. In fact, little may have changed -- company performance creates a Halo that shapes the way we perceive strategy, leadership, people, culture, and more.Drawing on examples from leading companies including Cisco Systems, IBM, Nokia, and ABB, Rosenzweig shows how the Halo Effect is widespread, undermining the usefulness of business bestsellers from "In Search of Excellence" to "Built to Last" and "Good to Great."Rosenzweig identifies nine popular business delusions. Among them:"The Delusion of Absolute Performance: " Company performance is relative to competition, not absolute, which is why following a formula can never guarantee results. Success comes from doing things better than rivals, which means that managers have to take risks."The Delusion of Rigorous Research: " Many bestselling authors praise themselves for the vast amount of data they have gathered, but forget that if the data aren't valid, it doesn't matter how much was gathered or how sophisticated the research methods appear to be. They trick the reader by substituting sizzle for substance."The Delusion of Single Explanations: " Many studies show that a particular factor, such as corporate culture or social responsibility or customer focus, leads to improved performance. But since many of these factors are highly correlated, the effect of each one is usually less than suggested.In what promises to be a landmark book, "The Halo Effect" replaces mistaken thinking with a sharper understanding of what drives business success and failure. "The Halo Effect" is a guide for the thinking manager, a way to detect errors in business research and to reach a clearer understanding of what drives business success and failure.Skeptical, brilliant, iconoclastic, and mercifully free of business jargon, Rosenzweig's book is nevertheless dead serious, making his arguments about important issues in an unsparing and direct way that will appeal to a broad business audience. For managers who want to separate fact from fiction in the world of business, "The Halo Effect" is essential reading -- witty, often funny, and sharply argued, it's an antidote to so much of the conventional thinking that clutters business bookshelves.

     Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how--by saying less and asking more--you can develop coaching methods that produce great results. – Get straight to the point in any conversation with The Kickstart Question – Stay on track during any interaction with The Awe Question – Save hours of time for yourself with The Lazy Question – and hours of time for others with The Strategic Question – Get to the heart of any interpersonal or external challenge with The Focus Question – and The Foundation Question – Ensure others find your coaching as beneficial as you do with The Learning Question A fresh innovative take on the traditional how-to manual, the book combines insider information with research based in neuroscience and behavioural economics, together with interactive training tools to turn practical advice into practiced habits. Witty and conversational, The Coaching Habit takes your work--and your workplace--from good to great. "Coaching is an art and it's far easier said than done. It takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice, provide and answer, or unleash a solution. giving another person the opportunity to find their own way, make their own mistakes, and create their own wisdom is both brave and vulnerable. In this practical and inspiring book, Michael shares seven transformative questions that can make a difference in how we lead and support. And he guides us through the tricky part - how to take this new information and turn it into habits and a daily practice. --Brené Brown, author of Rising Strong and Daring Greatly

    Unlike other sales books, which primarily rely on anecdotal evidence and unproven advice, Hoffeld's evidence-based approach connects the dots between science and situations salespeople and business leaders face every day to help you consistently succeed, including proven ways to:- Engage buyers' emotions to increase their receptiveness to you and your ideas - Ask questions that line up with how the brain discloses information - Lock in the incremental commitments that lead to a sale - Create positive influence and reduce the sway of competitors - Discover the underlying causes of objections and neutralize them - Guide buyers through the necessary mental steps to make purchasing decisionsPacked with advice and anecdotes, The Science of Selling is an essential resource for anyone looking to succeed in today's cutthroat selling environment, advance their business goals, or boost their ability to influence others.**Named one of The 20 Most Highly-Rated Sales Books of All Time by HubSpot

    Think a win-win solution is the best way to make the deal? Think again.For years now, win-win has been the paradigm for business negotiation. But today, win-win is just the seductive mantra used by the toughest negotiators to get the other side to compromise unnecessarily, early, and often. Win-win negotiations play to your emotions and take advantage of your instinct and desire to make the deal. Start with No introduces a system of decision-based negotiation that teaches you how to understand and control these emotions. It teaches you how to ignore the siren call of the final result, which you can't really control, and how to focus instead on the activities and behavior that you can and must control in order to successfully negotiate with the pros.The best negotiators: * aren't interested in "yes"--they prefer "no" * never, ever rush to close, but always let the other side feel comfortable and secure * are never needy; they take advantage of the other party's neediness * create a "blank slate" to ensure they ask questions and listen to the answers, to make sure they have no assumptions and expectations * always have a mission and purpose that guides their decisions * don't send so much as an e-mail without an agenda for what they want to accomplish * know the four "budgets" for themselves and for the other side: time, energy, money, and emotion * never waste time with people who don't really make the decisionStart with No is full of dozens of business as well as personal stories illustrating each point of the system. It will change your life as a negotiator. If you put to good use the principles and practices revealed here, you will become an immeasurably better negotiator.