That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea


Marc Randolph - 2019
    Late fees were ubiquitous, video-streaming unheard was of, and widespread DVD adoption seemed about as imminent as flying cars. Indeed, these were the widely accepted laws of the land in 1997, when Marc Randolph had an idea. It was a simple thought—leveraging the internet to rent movies—and was just one of many more and far worse proposals, like personalized baseball bats and a shampoo delivery service, that Randolph would pitch to his business partner, Reed Hastings, on their commute to work each morning.But Hastings was intrigued, and the pair—with Hastings as the primary investor and Randolph as the CEO—founded a company. Now with over 150 million subscribers, Netflix's triumph feels inevitable, but the twenty first century's most disruptive start up began with few believers and calamity at every turn. From having to pitch his own mother on being an early investor, to the motel conference room that served as a first office, to server crashes on launch day, to the now-infamous meeting when Netflix brass pitched Blockbuster to acquire them, Marc Randolph's transformational journey exemplifies how anyone with grit, gut instincts, and determination can change the world—even with an idea that many think will never work.What emerges, though, isn't just the inside story of one of the world's most iconic companies. Full of counter-intuitive concepts and written in binge-worthy prose, it answers some of our most fundamental questions about taking that leap of faith in business or in life: How do you begin? How do you weather disappointment and failure? How do you deal with success? What even is success?From idea generation to team building to knowing when it's time to let go, That Will Never Work is not only the ultimate follow-your-dreams parable, but also one of the most dramatic and insightful entrepreneurial stories of our time.

Steve Jobs: His Own Words and Wisdom (Steve Jobs Biography)


Steve Jobs - 2011
    Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."DESCRIPTIONA remarkable collection of quotations by one of the most influential visionaries of our time. Given up for adoption by his biological parents, and never having graduated from university, Steve Jobs subsequently became the most admired businessperson of his generation. A man who invented or revolutionized five major global industries (personal computer, music, film, mobile phone, and tablet computers), Steve Jobs was a brilliant, enigmatic, and flawed individual, whose personal contradictions were often overshadowed by his public persona.For the first time, his own words have been collected and edited by the Cupertino Silicon Valley Press in a special exclusive Kindle Edition.TABLE OF CONTENTSABILITY TO CHANGEACCEPTANCEADJUSTING WITH DIFFICULTIESADOBE FLASH MISTAKEANDROIDANTI-PORN APPSAPPLE INNOVATIONAPPLE LEGACYAPPLE SUPREMACYAPPLE'S BUSINESS STRATEGIESAPPLE'S DOWNFALLAPPRECIATIONAPPRECIATION OF LIFEBEING THE BESTBEING FRANKBEING UBIQUITOUSBEST FOR APPLEBETTER EXPERIENCEBORROWING IDEASBUILDING THE BESTBUSINESS IDEASBUSINESS SUCCESS IDEASBUSINESS TRANSITIONSBUYING MUSICCALLIGRAPHYCHALLENGE TO MICROSOFTCHANGECOMMUNICATING WITH FEELINGCOMPETITIONCOMPUTER AS SERVANT, GUIDE, AND AGENTCOMPUTER EFFICIENCYCOMPUTER LITERACYCOMPUTERSCONFIDENCE IN APPLE AS A COMPANYCONSUMERS AS THE USERCONTENTMENT AND ADVENTURECOOPERATIONCOURAGECREATING SOFTWARECREATIVITYCUSTOMER SATISFACTIONDEATHDESIGNING PRODUCTSDESKTOP METAPHORDETERMINATIONDISCIPLINEDISNEY'S SEQUELSDOING GREAT WORKDOING SOMETHING INSANELY GREATDROPPING OUTEDUCATIONEFFICIENCY THROUGH PROCESSEMPLOYMENTENCOURAGEMENTENTHUSIASMEXCELLENCEEXPOSUREFAITH IN PEOPLEFAITHFAMILY RELATIONSHIPFEDEX PACKAGE-TRACKING SYSTEMFOCUSFOLLOWING YOUR INSTINCTSFRIENDSHIPFUTURE PRODUCTSGETTING OLDGLOBAL ISSUESGOOD CONTENTGOOGLE RIVALRYHARD WORKH

Advertising for People Who Don't Like Advertising


KesselsKramer - 2012
    Yet, it makes adverts. It has worked with global brands to produce fashion collections and promoted a town with a mass wedding. It creates advertising with more human, truthful communications. The company's name is KesselsKramer. Advertising for People Who Don't Like Advertising is partly a creative handbook and partly an attempt to make the world a very slightly better place. It is intended for anyone who has ever hated a web banner or zapped an ad break.

Hug Your Customers: STILL The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results


Jack Mitchell - 2003
    I wish everyone at Berkshire would follow [Jack Mitchell's] advice--we would own the world." If you want to put your arms around your business and bottom line, you'll want all the updated information and practices found in the landmark business bestseller, Hug Your Customers. The only way to stay in business is to have customers; the only way to increase your profit is to attract more customer visits by providing exceptional customer service. It's that simple says Jack Mitchell. Hug Your Customers shares the hands-on practical philosophy that has allowed Mitchell and his Family of Stores to thrive and excel in today's challenging retail marketplace. Filled with accessible advice, personal case studies and tips any businessperson can use, Hug Your Customers is an energizing blueprint for customer and employee retention, increased per capita spending, and groundbreaking success.

Be the Ultimate Assistant


Bonnie Low-Kramen - 2004
    A first-hand look at the world of a celebrity assistant, and its application to the larger realm of all professional assistants. Enlightening and entertaining, this book is filled with true stories and lessons from author Bonnie Low-Kramen's 25+ years working with Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis. Low-Kramen is also a co-founder of New York Celebrity Assistants (NYCA). THE AUTHOR COMMENTS... I love being an assistant. In fact, I strive to be an ultimate assistant, someone who seeks excellence and improvement - not just on some days, but every day. I don't always succeed, but this is what I try to do. Are you so inclined? Ultimate assistants are like that, and I am privileged to know quite a few, including some whose experiences are in the book. I wrote the book for three reasons. The first is that this work is frequently misunderstood and has been subject to warped misconceptions by the media. The second is that there are too few resources for assistants, and certainly not only those who work for celebrities. Third, there is a tremendous curiosity about the work. I decided that I was in a unique position to set the record straight and tell it the way it really is to those who actually want to know the truth of it! 18 chapters include: How do you find a job? Glamour, Glitz and other perks. Salary & Benefits. Stories & quotes from assts. Skills & Qualities Needed. Public Speaking. Event Planning. Resources-To-Go.

Aligning Strategy and Sales: The Choices, Systems, and Behaviors that Drive Effective Selling


Frank V. Cespedes - 2014
    Addressing that gap, actionably and with attention to relevant research, is the focus of this book.In Aligning Strategy and Sales, Harvard Business School professor Frank Cespedes equips you to link your go-to-market initiatives with strategic goals. Cespedes offers a road map to articulate strategy in ways that people in the field can understand and that will fuel the behaviors required for profitable growth. Without that alignment, leaders will press for better execution when they need a better strategy, or change strategic direction with great cost and turmoil when they should focus on the basics of sales execution.With thoughtful, clear, and engaging examples, Aligning Strategy and Sales provides a framework for diagnosing and managing the core levers available for effective selling in any organization. It will give you the know-how and tools to move from ideas to action and build a sales effort linked to your firm’s unique goals, not a generic selling formula.Cespedes shows how sales efforts affect all elements of value creation in a business, whether you’re a start-up seeking to scale or an established firm looking to jump-start new growth. The book provides key insights to optimize your firm’s customer management activities and so improve selling and strategy.

42 Rules of Product Management: Learn the Rules of Product Management from Leading Experts "From" Around the World


Brian Lawley - 2010
    The goal of this book is to expose you to the wisdom and knowledge from a group of the world's leading product management experts. Among the contributors, there are leading authors, professors, CEOs and vice presidents, bloggers, consultants, trainers, and even a few salespeople and engineers. In total, there are over five centuries of collected wisdom represented here.The contributors each share one rule they think is critical to succeed in product management based on their hands-on product management and product marketing experience with companies such as Apple, eBay, Intuit, SAP, and Yahoo!.Packed with pearls of product management wisdom, this book has something for everyone. You will learn: How to focus on market needs, not just individual requests How to clarify your product positioning before your next big decision How to align your product strategy with company strategy and then sell it Why agility is the key to product management success Why great execution trumps a great product ideaBest of all, it was written with the busy product manager in mind. Each rule is kept to two pages and designed to stand-on its own. The rules can be read in any order. In less than five minutes a day, you can learn from forty of the best product managers in the world. Whether you are a seasoned and experienced product manager or are just starting out, the "42 Rules of Product Management" will help you lead with greater effectiveness and influence.

Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership


Edward Morrison - 2019
    This complexity and the emergence of networks is changing the practice of strategic management. Today's leaders need to understand how to design and guide complex collaborations to accelerate innovation and change--collaborations that cross boundaries both inside and outside organizations.Strategic Doing introduces you to the new disciplines of agile strategy and collaborative leadership. You'll learn how to design and guide complex collaborations by following a discipline of simple rules that you won't find anywhere else.- Unleash the power of true collaboration- Learn and master the 10 skills of agile leadership- Apply individual skills to targeted situations- Introduces a new discipline of leadership strategyFilled with compelling case studies, Strategic Doing outlines a new discipline of leadership strategy specifically designed for open, loosely-connected networks.

Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results.


Larry Kendall - 2017
    He points out the problems with traditional selling methods and instead offers a science-based selling system that gives predictable results regardless of personality type. Ninja Selling teaches readers how to shift their approach from chasing clients to attracting clients. Readers will learn how to stop selling and start solving by asking the right questions and listening to their clients.​Ninja Selling is an invaluable step-by-step guide that shows readers how to be more effective in their sales careers and increase their income-per-hour, so that they can lead full lives. Ninja Selling is both a sales platform and a path to personal mastery and life purpose. Followers of the Ninja Selling system say it not only improved their business and their client relationships; it also improved the quality of their lives.

Major Account Sales Strategy


Neil Rackham - 1989
    Now, for the first time, here's a book of practical, proven-effective strategies and tactics for the entire major account sales cycle.Based on Neil Rackham's exhaustive research, the strategies you'll find here will enable you to . . .Tailor your selling strategy to match each step in the client's decision-making process.Ensure that you won't lose your customers because you'll know the psychology of the buyer and how to respond to their doubts.Gain entry to accounts through many different windows of opportunity.Deal with competitive situations, take on bigger competitors, and win using strategies that the author's meticulous research shows are employed by the most successful salespeople.Handle negotiations, concessions on price, and term agreements skillfully and effectively.Offer the ongoing technical and maintenance support that keeps your major accounts yours.From a world-renowned sales innovator, this first-of-a-kind A-to-Z presentation of major account strategy puts sales success in your hands. Make it yours today. Read Major Account Sales Strategy.

Entrepreneur Mindsets and Habits: To Gain Financial Freedom and Live Your Dreams (Business, Money, Power, Mindset, Elon musk, Self help, Financial Freedom Book Book 3)


James Moore - 2018
     But, in truth, research shows us that it's actually the way that individuals think about their potential and skills that really counts most. In fact, historically speaking, many of those who have achieved real greatness have worked extremely hard to get to their end goals. And, it's also true that many were told that they would never amount to anything at all, by friends, colleagues, family and/or peers. The difference was that they believed that they could achieve their goals and worked extremely diligently to do so. Walt Disney who created Disneyland in the USA is a prime example of an individual who never gave up on his dreams. His belief in himself (and others) was profound and inspirational, to say the least. Of course, we'd all like to know the "magical" secret to success, but the real reality is that there are actually so many different factors that must be taken into account, to what makes one a truly successful human being. It's definitely true that hard work and dedication are so important in reaching success. But there's more to success than just plugging away, day after day. Maintaining a focus-driven mindset is pivotal, and can be the difference between success and failure, especially in the long-term. Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn... Mindsets that Will Impede Progress The Top Mindsets for Success Finding A Great Mentor Changing the Game with Nutrition Entrepreneurial Icons And a 30-Day Plan Much, much more! Like Schwarzenegger once said - "The worst thing i could be, is the same as everybody else. I'd Hate that." Don't be like everyone, grab your copy and begin you're new life of success.

Your 1st Year in Real Estate: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional


Dirk Zeller - 2001
    Along with endless opportunities, flexible hours, and the freedom to chart your own path, you also have the potential to earn fabulous amounts of money. All you need for total success is preparation. Revised and expanded, Your First Year in Real Estate contains the essential knowledge you need to start off right in today’s vastly changed real estate market, avoid common first-year missteps, and get the inside edge that will take you to the top. Real estate expert Dirk Zeller has compiled the industry’s proven secrets and strategies that will enable novice agents to hit the ground running and excel from day one. You’ll get the insider’s guide to:• Selecting the right company • Developing valuable mentor and client relationships• Using the Internet and social networking to stay ahead of the competition (NEW!)• Setting—and reaching— essential career goals• Staying on top in today’s challenging real estate climate (NEW!)• And so much more.Concise and thorough, Your First Year in Real Estate is like having the top coach right by your side.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business


Danny Meyer - 2006
    Danny Meyer started Union Square Cafe when he was 27, with a good idea and hopeful investors. He is now the co-owner of a restaurant empire. How did he do it? How did he beat the odds in one of the toughest trades around? In this landmark book, Danny shares the lessons he learned developing the dynamic philosophy he calls Enlightened Hospitality. The tenets of that philosophy, which emphasize strong in-house relationships as well as customer satisfaction, are applicable to anyone who works in any business. Whether you are a manager, an executive, or a waiter, Danny’s story and philosophy will help you become more effective and productive, while deepening your understanding and appreciation of a job well done. Setting the Table is landmark a motivational work from one of our era’s most gifted and insightful business leaders.

Hoopla


Crispin Porter Bogusky - 2006
    They launched the Mini car craze in America, took on Big Tobacco in the controversial Truth campaign, sexed up Virgin Airlines, and made Burger King sizzle once again. And they did it with bold publicity stunts, infectious viral marketing strategies, funny masks, folding paper, outrageous Internet hoaxes, and a weird, garter belt–wearing chicken who became a cultural sensation. And this random madness has a very sound method to it: Hoopla . In Hoopla , the secret inner workings of this freewheeling, break-the-mold idea factory are revealed for the first time. Veteran journalist Warren Berger, who has tracked and reported on the CP+B phenomenon over the past decade, fully examines and deconstructs the methods that lie behind the agency’s seeming madness, while the striking images throughout the book (captioned by the CP+B creative team) provide insights into the logic, intuition, mischief, and passion that leads to the creation of Hoopla . The result is a fascinating journey into a realm of unbridled creativity. See the madness. Read the method. Hoopla . Hoopla also includes practical, step-by-step advice on how to find and promote big ideas (even on a shoestring budget), and how to generate excitement and hype in today’s cluttered, noisy communications landscape. If you’re a marketer, a communicator of any type, or anyone who needs to get out a message and generate some buzz, Hoopla will change the way you think about the art of communication.

If You Build It Will They Come?: Three Steps to Test and Validate Any Market Opportunity


Rob Adams - 2010
    In If You Build It Will They Come, business professor and strategy consultant Rob Adams shows you how to make sure you hit your target market before you spend a lot of money. He shows you the fast, systematic and proven approach of performing Market Validation in advance of making a large product investment.Adams outlines a simple and effective market validation and testing strategy that is proven, giving entrepreneurs and managers the ability to dramatically improve the prospect of product success. He explains how to quickly gather information on competitors, directly interview members of your target market, and figure out what the market really wants to buy, versus what customers say they want.The steps to quickly understanding the viability of your market Where to go to gather the information needed to hit the market requirements How to follow through with the right product launched in the right way Adams cuts through the fancy terms and expensive market research that gives lots of data but no real product oriented information about usage, pricing, features and competitive forces. In the end you'll produce results on your first release of a far more mature product, shipped in a faster timeframe with features customers will actually use. This book is for anyone involved with designing, developing and launching new products. Its examples and advice cover everything from the fledgling start-up that needs their first product to work just to survive to the successful Fortune Class company establishing new worldwide markets. Examples cut across all major industrial sectors including consumer, retail, manufacturing, technology, life sciences and services. This book offers the step-based guidance you need to make sure failure is not an option.