Book picks similar to
Disciplined Entrepreneurship Case Studies & Examples by Bill Aulet
business
entrepreneurship
lean
startups
The Naked Trader's Guide to Spread Betting: How to make money from shares in up or down markets
Robbie Burns - 2010
But it's not a world populated by pinstriped men waiting to rob you, steal your savings and do nasty things to small kittens. You can win. (And you never have to pay a penny in tax!) This book shows you how. Robbie Burns, bestselling author of The Naked Trader, has been spread betting for years. He explains why it's an indispensable tool to use alongside normal investing or trading. Especially as you can make money even if the market goes down. Robbie takes you through everything from how it works, to managing your risk, working out exposure, and how, often, doing nothing is the best move! He explains the ins and outs of successfully betting on shares in his trademark down-to-earth style, covering everything you need to know. From the simple stuff through to proven strategies, including those that can be used in different markets - it's all here. There are also behind-the-scenes visits to two top spread betting firms. But it's a big, bad old world out there, and there are a whole heap of mistakes you can make, an awful lot of money you can lose. Rounding up spine-chilling traders' tales of spread bets gone wrong, and using all he has learnt from making silly mistakes himself, Robbie also helps you learn what not to do. This is the ultimate guide to spread betting - how to do it, have fun and hopefully make a few quid.
Sam Walton: Made In America
Sam Walton - 1992
And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other folks don't, and about sticking to your guns." It's the story of how Walton parlayed a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late twentieth century, he never lost the common touch. Here Walton tells his extraordinary story in his own inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure of his ambitions and achievements, Walton shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style."Here is an extraordinary success story about a man whose empire was built not with smoke and mirrors, but with good old-fashioned elbow grease."
The Harvard Business Review Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level
Ron Ashkenas - 2019
His clients have included the World Bank, GE, Thomson Reuters, and Merck. He is a frequent contributor to HBR and is the author of Simply Effective. Brook Manville, a former partner at McKinsey & Company and executive vice president of United Way Worldwide, advises leaders on strategy, organizational development, and leadership. He regularly contributes to HBR, and other business publications. His previous books are A Company of Citizens and Judgment Calls. .
Business Model Generation
Alexander Osterwalder - 2010
You will learn how to systematically understand, design, and implement a new business model or analyze and renovate an old one.2) Co-created by 470 strategy practitionersBusiness Model Generation practices what it preaches. Co-authored by 470 Business Model Canvas practitioners from 45 countries, the book was financed and produced independently of the traditional publishing industry. It features a tightly-integrated, visual, lie-flat design that enables immediate hands-on use.3) Designed for doersBusiness Model Generation is for those ready to abandon outmoded thinking and embrace new, innovative models of value creation: executives, consultants, entrepreneurs and leaders of all organizations.
Hipster Business Models: How to make a living in the modern world
Priceonomics - 2014
Yet, today’s young people have much more to offer. If half of the hipster stereotype is a consumer who tries to show off how cool he is based on his tastes, the other half of the stereotype is ‘The Maker’ -- the person out hawking homemade cheese, knitting sweaters for your beard, or repurposing steel-framed bicycles. The hipster business model is distinctive: Make a product you love so much that you’ll make it yourself. See if anyone wants it. Try again. When they want to build apparel companies, they teach themselves how to sew. When they dream of producing toys, they learn how to use 3D printing software. When they don’t know investors who will back their restaurant concepts, they open food trucks. All the while, they are guided by books, instructional videos, and intuition; only later do they move production to real factories, or hire lawyers. They frequent public parks to see if anyone will buy their custom, typewritten stories. They use crowdfunding websites to raise money from customers before their products even exist. They post their ideas to massive web forums to gauge interest, or set up online shops the second they have a product to sell. In their world, sales come first, not last. While each entrepreneur featured in this book embarked on his or her own unique quest, their stories share a common thread: like true hipsters, they were not afraid to try new things.
#BreakIntoVC: How to Break Into Venture Capital And Think Like an Investor Whether You're a Student, Entrepreneur or Working Professional (Venture Capital Guidebook Book 1)
Bradley Miles - 2017
#BreakIntoVC: How to Break Into Venture Capital And Think Like an Investor gives you the insight to understand technology investing without endlessly scouring the internet or having access to the top venture firms in the industry.What if a few new habits could help you understand the complex and ever-changing landscape of the technology sector? What if you could tell a great business from a good business with a few simple steps? Imagine being one of the smartest people in the room when it comes to transportation technology, drones or healthcare technology. Bradley Miles, in his first book, covers multiple ways to analyze and understand the complex and opaque world of technology investing.Here are a few things that you will get out of #BreakIntoVC.In this book, you will learn:
The fundamentals of the venture capital industry and how it works
The difference between accelerators, angel investors, early stage VCs and late stage VCs
How to understand any market
The key metrics that matter to VCs How to value early and late stage technology companies How to reach venture capitalists How to land a job, internship or learning-based opportunity at a venture capital firm How to handle a mock call with a venture capitalist
How to spot great technology businesses in your everyday life
How to pitch a business to venture capitalists
Case studies on how five other people broke into the venture capital BONUS: A step-by-step method to pitching a company that Bradley has utilized when speaking with venture capital investors and current businesses that he recommends you use when setting up your first pitch. Buy this book NOW to learn everything you need to know to access the world of venture capital. Pick up your copy today by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top of this page. To get access to the bonus materials other resources (all for FREE) be sure to visit breakintovc.com
Matching Supply with Demand: An Introduction to Operations Management
Gérard Cachon - 2003
The book demands rigorous analysis on the part of students without requiring consistent use of sophisticated mathematical modeling to perform it. When the use of quantitative tools or formal modeling is indicated, it is only to perform the necessary analysis needed to inform and support a practical business solution. The guiding principle in the development of Matching Supply with Demand has been "real operations, real solutions." "Real operations" means that most of the chapters in this book are written from the perspective of a specific company so that the material in this text will come to life by discussing it in a real-world context. "Real solutions" means that equations and models do not merely provide students with mathematical gymnastics for the sake of an intellectual exercise.
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
Peter F. Drucker - 1966
Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done." This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results.Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned: Managing time Choosing what to contribute to the organization Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect Setting the right priorities Knitting all of them together with effective decision-makingRanging widely through the annals of business and government, Peter F. Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations.
How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of "Intangibles" in Business
Douglas W. Hubbard - 1985
Douglas Hubbard helps us create a path to know the answer to almost any question in business, in science, or in life . . . Hubbard helps us by showing us that when we seek metrics to solve problems, we are really trying to know something better than we know it now. How to Measure Anything provides just the tools most of us need to measure anything better, to gain that insight, to make progress, and to succeed." -Peter Tippett, PhD, M.D. Chief Technology Officer at CyberTrust and inventor of the first antivirus software "Doug Hubbard has provided an easy-to-read, demystifying explanation of how managers can inform themselves to make less risky, more profitable business decisions. We encourage our clients to try his powerful, practical techniques." -Peter Schay EVP and COO of The Advisory Council "As a reader you soon realize that actually everything can be measured while learning how to measure only what matters. This book cuts through conventional cliches and business rhetoric and offers practical steps to using measurements as a tool for better decision making. Hubbard bridges the gaps to make college statistics relevant and valuable for business decisions." -Ray Gilbert EVP Lucent "This book is remarkable in its range of measurement applications and its clarity of style. A must-read for every professional who has ever exclaimed, 'Sure, that concept is important, but can we measure it?'" -Dr. Jack Stenner Cofounder and CEO of MetraMetrics, Inc.
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
William N. Thorndike Jr. - 2012
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.
Lean Customer Development: Building Products Your Customers Will Buy
Cindy Alvarez - 2014
These insights may shake your assumptions, but they'll help you reach the "ah-ha!" moments that inspire truly great products.Validate or invalidate your hypothesis by talking to the right peopleLearn how to conduct successful customer interviews play-by-playDetect a customer's behaviors, pain points, and constraintsTurn interview insights into Minimum Viable Products to validate what customers will use and buyAdapt customer development strategies for large companies, conservative industries, and existing products
Finding & Funding Great Deals: The Hands-on Guide to Acquiring Real Estate In Any Market
Anson Young - 2017
In Finding and Funding Great Deals, seasoned real estate agent and investor Anson Young guides you through his tried and true methods for finding deals in any market. Inside, he outlines his own methods as well as other techniques to help new and seasoned investors alike improve their real estate business. This is not a magic pill that will turn you in to a successful investor overnight; instead this is a practical guide to several approaches to use in each step of your real estate deal finding journey. Hard work required (but not included with the purchase of this book). Inside, you will learn: Inside, you’ll discover: Marketing methods Several analysis techniques Funding approaches How to help others through pain points Negotiation techniques How to build your business so you can do it all over again.
High Growth Handbook
Elad Gil - 2018
Across all of these break-out companies, a set of common patterns has evolved into a repeatable playbook that Gil has codified in High Growth Handbook. Covering key topics including the role of the CEO, managing your board, recruiting and managing an executive team, M&A, IPOs and late stage funding rounds, and interspersed with over a dozen interviews with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley including Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Marc Andreessen (Andreessen Horowitz), and Aaron Levie (Box), High Growth Handbook presents crystal clear guidance for navigating the most complex challenges that confront leaders and operators in high-growth startups. In what Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 NYT bestsellers The Alliance and The Startup of You calls "a trenchant guide," High Growth Handbook is the playbook for turning a startup into a unicorn. "Elad Gil is one of Silicon Valley's seriously knowledgeable and battle-tested players. If you want the chance to turn your startup into the next Google or Twitter, then read this trenchant guide from someone who played key roles in the growth of these companies." - Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, co-author of the #1 NYT bestsellers "The Alliance" and "The Startup of You," and host of the podcast Masters of Scale "Elad eschews trite management aphorisms in favor of pragmatic and straight-shooting insights on complex topics like managing a board of directors, executing functional re-organizations with as little trauma as possible, and everything in-between." - Dick Costolo, former CEO of Twitter and serial entrepreneur "Elad first invested in Airbnb when we were less than 10 people and provided early advice on scaling the company. This book shares these learnings for the next generation of entrepreneurs." - Nathan Blecharczyk, cofounder of Airbnb, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chairman of Airbnb China "Elad jam-packs every useful lesson about building and scaling companies into a single, digestible book. My only gripe is that he didn't write this when we were in the early days of Box as it would have saved my ass countless times." -Aaron Levie, cofounder and CEO of Box "Armed with observations gathered scaling some of the most successful and important companies of Silicon Valley, Elad has no-nonsense, highly applicable advice to any operator transitioning a company from the proverbial garage to the next stage and beyond." - Max Levchin, cofounder and CEO of Affirm, cofounder and CTO of PayPal "Elad is one of the most experienced operators in Silicon Valley having seen numerous companies hit their inflection point. His advice has been key for Coinbase as we go through hypergrowth, from hiring executives to improving M&A." - Brian Armstrong, cofounder and CEO of Coinbase"Elad is one of the best connected and respected early stage investors in the Valley - he invested in Minted when we had fewer than 50 employees and his advice was critical to us in growing our business to where we are now, in the low hundreds of millions in sales. In his book, he crystallizes all of these learnings for the next generation of companies."-Mariam Naficy, cofounder and CEO of Minted
Breakpoint
Jon McGee - 2015
Fortunately, Jon McGee is an ideal guide through this dynamic marketplace. In Breakpoint, he argues that higher education is in the midst of an extraordinary moment of demographic, economic, and cultural transition that has significant implications for how colleges understand their mission, their market, and their management. Drawing from an extensive assessment of demographic and economic trends, McGee presents a broad and integrative picture of these changes while stressing the importance of decisive campus leadership. He describes the key forces that influence higher education and provides a framework from which trustees, presidents, administrators, faculty, and policy makers can address pressing issues in the aftermath of the Great Recession.Although McGee avoids endorsing one-size-fits-all solutions, he suggests a number of concrete strategies for handling prospective students and developing pedagogical practices, curricular content and delivery, and management structures. Practical and compelling, Breakpoint will help higher education leaders make choices that advance their institutional values and serve their students and the common good for generations to come.