While most leaders believe culture is critical to success, few know how to build one, or sustain it over time.What if you knew the science behind the magic—a science so predictive and powerful that you could transform your organization? What if you could use cutting edge psychology to unlock people’s innate desire to innovate, experiment, and adapt? In Primed to Perform, Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor show you how to do just that. The result: higher sales, more loyal customers, and more passionate employees.Primed to Perform explains the counter-intuitive science behind great cultures, building on over a century of academic thinking. It shares the simple, highly predictive new measurement tool—the Total Motivation (ToMo) Factor—that enables you to measure the strength of your culture, and track improvements over time. It explores the authors’ original research into how Total Motivation leads to higher performance in iconic companies, from Apple to Starbucks to Southwest Airlines. Most importantly, it teaches you to build great cultures, using a systematic and sustainable approach.High performing cultures cant be left to chance. Organizations must create systems that shape and maintain them. Whether you’re a five-person team or a startup, a school, a nonprofit or a mega-institution, Primed to Perform shows you how.

    Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to: Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique Make it safe to talk about almost anything Be persuasive, not abrasive Keep listening when others blow up or clam up Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want

    Rather than believing they have to start with a big idea or plan a whole project out in advance, trying to foresee the final outcome, they make a series of little bets about what might be a good direction, learning from lots of little failures and from small but highly significant wins that allow them to happen upon unexpected avenues and arrive at extraordinary outcomes.           Based on deep and extensive research, including more than 200 interviews with leading innovators, Sims discovered that productive, creative thinkers and doers—from Ludwig van Beethoven to Thomas Edison and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos—practice a key set of simple but ingenious experimental methods—such as failing quickly to learn fast, tapping into the genius of play, and engaging in highly immersed observation—that free their minds, opening them up to making unexpected connections and perceiving invaluable insights. These methods also unshackle them from the constraints of overly analytical thinking and linear problem solving that our education places so much emphasis on, as well as from the fear of failure, all of which thwart so many of us in trying to be more innovative.               Reporting on a fascinating range of research, from the psychology of creative blocks to the influential Silicon Valley–based field of design thinking, Sims offers engaging and wonderfully illuminating accounts of breakthrough innovators at work, including how Hewlett-Packard stumbled onto the breakaway success of the first hand-held calculator; the remarkable storyboarding process at Pixar films that has been the key to their unbroken streak of box office successes; the playful discovery process by which Frank Gehry arrived at his critically acclaimed design for Disney Hall; the aha revelation that led Amazon to pursue its wildly successful affiliates program; and the U.S. Army’s ingenious approach to counterinsurgency operations that led to the dramatic turnaround in Iraq.               Fast paced and as entertaining as it is illuminating, Little Bets offers a whole new way of thinking about how to break away from the narrow strictures of the methods of analyzing and problem solving we were all taught in school and unleash our untapped creative powers.

    Many people have passion and a burning desire to achieve something more but need direction and assistance focusing their energy. In this book, I have outlined six key points on the path to experience the life of an entrepreneur. These points will become your personal “compass” and will help you point the way to setting a vision that is uniquely yours as you pursue your dreams. You will also get a glimpse into the lives of several very successful entrepreneurs along the way. The key points are: 1. The Truth – Accepting Reality 2. Vision – Looking Forward 3. Commitment – Staying with Your Vision 4. Resiliency – Recovering from Setbacks 5. Validation – Experiencing Confirmation 6. Drifting or Driving – The Challenge! My hope is that this book motivates you to action and you personally discover the satisfaction of the life of an entrepreneur.

    Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is one example. Richard Feynman’s “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” is another. Now comes Youngme Moon’s Different, a book for “people who don’t read business books.” Actually, it’s more like a personal conversation with a friend who has thought deeply about how the world works … and who gets you to see that world in a completely new light.  If there is one strain of conventional wisdom pervading every company in every industry, it’s the absolute importance of “competing like crazy.” Youngme Moon’s message is simply “Get off this treadmill that’s taking you nowhere. Going tit for tat and adding features, augmentations, and gimmicks to beat the competition has the perverse result of making you like everyone else.” Different provides a highly original perspective on what it means to offer something that is meaningfully different—different in a manner that is both fundamental and comprehensive.  Youngme Moon identifies the outliers, the mavericks, the iconoclasts—the players who have thoughtfully rejected orthodoxy in favor of an approach that is more adventurous. Some are even “hostile,” almost daring you to buy what they are selling. The MINI Cooper was launched with fearless abandon: “Worried that this car is too small? Look here. It’s even smaller than you think.”  These are players that strike a genuine chord with even the most jaded consumers. In fact, almost every success story of the past two decades has been an exception to the rule. Simply go to your computer and compare AOL and Yahoo! with Google. The former pile on feature upon feature to their home pages, while Google is like an austere boutique, dominating a category filled with “extras.” Different shows how to succeed in a world where conformity reigns…but exceptions rule.

    The book has a rich mix of illustrations and anecdotal stories that tells you how you can become an entrepreneur even if you are a student, home-maker or have a full time job and if you are risk-averse.Read this book if you are about to launch your first start-up, or if you’re thinking of doing so.The road-map explained here will:- Tell you how you can realize your dream of being an entrepreneur even if you have a full-time job- Provide you with a widely tested and proven methodology that will dramatically reduce your risk of failure- Help your offering to sell and be profitable before any significant investments are made- Rapidly increase the valuation of your start-up before you take outside funding- Help you create a start-up that YOU would enjoy building — one that’s aligned with your goals in life and leverages your personalstrengths

    Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion dollar question: How is it that Israel -- a country of 7.1 million, only 60 years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources-- produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada and the UK? With the savvy of foreign policy insiders, Senor and Singer examine the lessons of the country's adversity-driven culture, which flattens hierarchy and elevates informality-- all backed up by government policies focused on innovation. In a world where economies as diverse as Ireland, Singapore and Dubai have tried to re-create the "Israel effect", there are entrepreneurial lessons well worth noting. As America reboots its own economy and can-do spirit, there's never been a better time to look at this remarkable and resilient nation for some impressive, surprising clues.

    At the time, only three percent of Americans were online. It took a decade for AOL to achieve mainstream success, and there were many near-death experiences and back-to-the-wall pivots. AOL became the top performing company of the 1990s, and at its peak more than half of all consumer internet traffic in the United States ran through the service. After Case engineered AOL’s merger with Time Warner and he became Chairman of the combined business, Case oversaw the biggest media and communications empire in the world. In The Third Wave, which pays homage to the work of the futurist Alvin Toffler (from whom Case has borrowed the title, and whose work inspired him as a young man), Case takes us behind the scenes of some of the most consequential and riveting business decisions of our time while offering illuminating insights from decades of working as an entrepreneur, an investor, a philanthropist, and an advocate for sensible bipartisan policies. We are entering, as Case explains, a new paradigm called the “Third Wave” of the internet. The first wave saw AOL and other companies lay the foundation for consumers to connect to the Internet. The second wave saw companies like Google and Facebook build on top of the Internet to create search and social networking capabilities, while apps like Snapchat and Instagram leverage the smartphone revolution. Now, Case argues, we’re entering the Third Wave: a period in which entrepreneurs will vastly transform major “real world” sectors like health, education, transportation, energy, and food—and in the process change the way we live our daily lives. But success in the Third Wave will require a different skill set, and Case outlines the path forward. The Third Wave is part memoir, part manifesto, and part playbook for the future. With passion and clarity, Case explains the ways in which newly emerging technology companies (a growing number of which, he argues, will not be based in Silicon Valley) will have to rethink their relationships with customers, with competitors, and with governments; and offers advice for how entrepreneurs can make winning business decisions and strategies—and how all of us can make sense of this changing digital age.

    Using Cates's easy-to-master referral-based selling techniques, readers:Work less and earn more by getting existing customers to work for them generating high-quality referralsTurn every business contact into a relationship and every relationship into a sales success story

    But that’s simply not true anymore. “Safe” jobs disappear daily, and the clamor of everyday life drowns out ordinary contributions. To make a name for yourself, to create true job security, and to make a difference in the world, you have to share your unique perspective and inspire others to take action. But in a noisy world where it seems everything’s been said—and shouted from the rooftops—how can your ideas stand out?Fortunately, you don’t have to be a genius or a worldwide superstar to make an impact. Drawing on interviews with more than fifty thought leaders in fields ranging from business to genomics to urban planning, Dorie Clark shows how these masters achieved success and how anyone—with hard work—can do the same. Whether it’s learning to ask the right questions, developing and building on an expert niche, or combining disparate fields to get a new perspective, Clark outlines ways to develop the ideas that set you apart.Of course, having a breakthrough insight is only half the battle. If you really want to share your ideas, you have to find a way to build an audience, communicate your message, and inspire others to embrace your vision. Starting small is fine; Clark provides a step-by-step guide to help you leverage your existing networks, attract new people to your cause, and, ultimately, build a community around your ideas.Featuring vivid examples based on interviews with influencers such as Seth Godin, David Allen, and Daniel Pink, Clark shows you how to break through and ensure that your ideas get noticed. Becoming a thought leader in your company or in your profession is the ultimate career insurance. But—even more important—it’s also a chance to change the world for the better. Whatever your cause, perspective, or point of view, the world can’t afford for the best ideas to remain buried inside you. Whether it’s how to improve the educational system or how to make your company more efficient, your ideas matter. The world needs your insights, and it’s time to be bold.

    New regulations are making the old go-to advice less relevant, as startup money is increasingly moving online. These new waters are all but uncharted—and founders need an accessible guide. This book helps you navigate the online world of startup fundraising with easy-to-follow explanations and expert perspective on the new digital world of finance. You'll find tips and tricks on raising money and investing in startups from early stage to growth stage, and develop a clear strategy based on the new realities surrounding today's startup landscape.The finance world is in a massive state of flux. Changes are occurring at an increasing pace in all sectors, but few more intensely than the startup sphere. When the paradigm changes, your processes must change with it. This book shows you how startup funding works, with expert coaching toward the new rules on the field.-Learn how the JOBS Act impacts the fundraising model-Gain insight on startups from early stage to growth stage-Find the money you need to get your venture going-Craft your pitch and optimize the strategy-Build momentum-Identify the right investors-Avoid the common mistakesDon't rely on the "how we did it" tales from superstar startups, as these stories are unique and applied to exceptional scenarios. The game has changed, and playing by the old rules only gets you left behind. Whether you're founding a startup or looking to invest, The Art of Startup Fundraising provides the up-to-the-minute guidance you need.PRAISE FOR THE ART OF STARTUP FUNDRAISING:“The Art of Startup Fundraising is a must read for anyone who even considers starting a business. Fundraising is hard. This book gives you the roadmap to get where you are going. Alejandro Cremades speaks with wisdom and from experience.“ - Tim Draper , Founder of Draper Associates, DFJ, and Draper University."The Art of Startup Fundraising should be a mandatory reading for entrepreneurs that are looking to raise capital. This book will enable Alejandro to help many more early stage companies answer the tough questions when fundraising." - Marco Landi, Former Chief Operating Officer at Apple and Chairman at Atlantis Ventures"Raising capital is often the most daunting and least understood aspects of starting a new business and there are few people more experienced than Alejandro Cremades to act as a guide. The Art of Startup Fundraising unlocks key secrets of fundraising for newly minted entrepreneurs." - Jeff Stibel, Chairman of BrainGate, Inc. and Vice Chairman of Dun & Bradstreet, Inc.; New York Times bestselling author of Breakpoint and Wired for Thought."This book provides a clear, concise tour of the fundraising game. With his crowdfunding and entrepreneurial expertise in full display, Cremades does a terrific job making a complicated process simple and accessible." - Jeff Bussgang, General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School“Entrepreneurs need to be amazing at recruiting, selling and fundraising. The Art of Startup Fundraising provides the essential toolkit for mastering a core skill for any entrepreneur.” - Gil Penchina, serial entrepreneur and prolific angel investor“For many entrepreneurs finding the right investor for their venture can be a daunting task. Alejandro's experience with equity crowdfunding gives a unique perspective on the fundraising game. The Art of Startup Fundraising is very insightful for entrepreneurs looking to close a round of financing and changing the world.” - Anyndya Ghose, Professor at NYU Stern School of Business“There is no perfect approach to raising investment for a startup, but there is a certain tribal knowledge out there, that most of us had to learn through several failed attempts. The Art of Startup Fundraising captures every bit of advice (and then some!) that I would give to any entrepreneur looking for funding.” - Paul Murphy, Partner at Betaworks and CoFounder of Playdots“Alejandro's The Art of Startup Fundraising is a must read for any entrepreneur. Clear and concise, he outlines in today's startup community the steps to successfully fundraise. This is the golden era for entrepreneurs, any good idea with proof of concept can get access to money. Know your options!” - Angelo J. Robles, Founder and CEO of Family Office Association“It doesn't matter how great of a business you can build. If you can't raise money, you're toast. Master this book.” - Ilya Pozin, Forbes Contributor and CoFounder of Pluto TV and CoFounder of Coplex"The Art of Startup Fundraising translates art into science. By sharing proven formulas, strategies, and case studies that work, Alejandro Cremades provides a needed service to future entrepreneurs." - Josh Cohen, Managing Partner at City Light Capital“This ought to be a reading requirement for all entrepreneurs when building a business and raising capital. This is a very well written and informative book, written by a man who is a testament to dedication and creativity when confronted with the challenges of being an entrepreneur and raising capital.” - Carter Caldwell, serial entrepreneur and Principal at Cross Atlantic Capital Partners“Alejandro is on the bleeding edge of equity crowdfunding today. When he talks about fundraising, startups listen.” - Andrew Ackerman, Managing Director at Dreamit Ventures“Raising capital can be tough. Alejandro provides a step-by-step guidebook to all entrepreneurs that rather spend their time thinking about changing the world instead of thinking of how to raise funds.” - Tobias P. Schirmer, Managing Partner of JOIN Capital "A superb book on fundraising. Alejandro's guidance should arm entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to close with success a meaningful round of financing." - Ellen Weber, Executive Director at Robin Hood Ventures“The Art of Startup Fundraising is a practical and comprehensive resource for entrepreneurs to use again and again. It captures what startups need to do to be successful in the rapidly evolving financing world, while also providing tips on the fundamentals of building businesses that don’t change over time.” - Marianne Hudson, Executive Director at Angel Capital Association“Raising money is hard. But start-up founders all over the world can make it exponentially easier by educating themselves on the process of raising equity capital before they dive into it. The practical, hands-on advice from Alejandro Cremades in this book provides a solid foundation in that self-education process. Delivered in an approachable format with a key lesson to take-away every few pages, “The Art of Startup Fundraising” is essential reading for entrepreneurs everywhere.” - Allen Taylor, Managing Director at Endeavor

    In today’s economy, we have far too much dismay along with our amazement, and technology bears some of the blame. In this combination of memoir, business strategy guide, and call to action, Tim O'Reilly, Silicon Valley’s leading intellectual and the founder of O’Reilly Media, explores the upside and the potential downsides of today's WTF? technologies. What is the future when an increasing number of jobs can be performed by intelligent machines instead of people, or done only by people in partnership with those machines? What happens to our consumer based societies—to workers and to the companies that depend on their purchasing power? Is income inequality and unemployment an inevitable consequence of technological advancement, or are there paths to a better future? What will happen to business when technology-enabled networks and marketplaces are better at deploying talent than traditional companies? How should companies organize themselves to take advantage of these new tools? What’s the future of education when on-demand learning outperforms traditional institutions? How can individuals continue to adapt and retrain? Will the fundamental social safety nets of the developed world survive the transition, and if not, what will replace them? O'Reilly is "the man who can really can make a whole industry happen," according to Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet (Google.) His genius over the past four decades has been to identify and to help shape our response to emerging technologies with world shaking potential—the World Wide Web, Open Source Software, Web 2.0, Open Government data, the Maker Movement, Big Data, and now AI. O’Reilly shares the techniques he's used at O’Reilly Media  to make sense of and predict past innovation waves and applies those same techniques to provide a framework for thinking about how today’s world-spanning platforms and networks, on-demand services, and artificial intelligence are changing the nature of business, education, government, financial markets, and the economy as a whole. He provides tools for understanding how all the parts of modern digital businesses work together to create marketplace advantage and customer value, and why ultimately, they cannot succeed unless their ecosystem succeeds along with them.The core of the book's call to action is an exhortation to businesses to DO MORE with technology rather than just using it to cut costs and enrich their shareholders. Robots are going to take our jobs, they say. O'Reilly replies, “Only if that’s what we ask them to do! Technology is the solution to human problems, and we won’t run out of work till we run out of problems." Entrepreneurs need to set their sights on how they can use big data, sensors, and AI to create amazing human experiences and the economy of the future, making us all richer in the same way the tools of the first industrial revolution did. Yes, technology can eliminate labor and make things cheaper, but at its best, we use it to do things that were previously unimaginable! What is our poverty of imagination? What are the entrepreneurial leaps that will allow us to use the technology of today to build a better future, not just a more efficient one? Whether technology brings the WTF? of wonder or the WTF? of dismay isn't inevitable. It's up to us!

    Though one-on-one advice will always be crucial, we thought it might help us scale Y Combinator if we could distill the most generalizable parts of this advice into a sort of playbook we could give YC and YC Fellowship companies.Then we thought we should just give it to everyone.This is meant for people new to the world of startups. Most of this will not be new to people who have read a lot of what YC partners have written--the goal is to get it into one place.There may be a part II on how to scale a startup later—this mostly covers how to start one.

    Now their latest research reveals something even more surprising: Being a Challenger seller isn’t enough. Your success or failure also depends on who you challenge.Picture your ideal customer: friendly, eager to meet, ready to coach you through the sale and champion your products and services across the organization. It turns out that’s the last person you need. Most marketing and sales teams go after low-hanging fruit: buyers who are eager and have clearly articulated needs. That’s simply human nature; it’s much easier to build a relationship with someone who always makes time for you, engages with your content, and listens attentively. But according to brand-new CEB research—based on data from thousands of B2B marketers, sellers, and buyers around the world—the highest-performing teams focus their time on potential customers who are far more skeptical, far less interested in meeting, and ultimately agnostic as to who wins the deal. How could this be?The authors of The Challenger Customer reveal that high-performing B2B teams grasp something that their average-performing peers don’t: Now that big, complex deals increasingly require consensus among a wide range of players across the organization, the limiting factor is rarely the salesperson’s inability to get an individual stakeholder to agree to a solution. More often it’s that the stakeholders inside the company can’t even agree with one another about what the problem is.It turns out only a very specific type of customer stakeholder has the credibility, persuasive skill, and will to effectively challenge his or her colleagues to pursue anything more ambitious than the status quo. These customers get deals to the finish line far more often than friendlier stakeholders who seem so receptive at first. In other words, Challenger sellers do best when they target Challenger customers. The Challenger Customer unveils research-based tools that will help you distinguish the "Talkers" from the "Mobilizers" in any organization. It also provides a blueprint for finding them, engaging them with disruptive insight, and equipping them to effectively challenge their own organization.

    Includes access to Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment.The key to success, salespeople are constantly told, is to follow specific steps and techniques. Just heed the advice of this guru or that speaker, and you’ll be the best! Well, that approach just doesn’t work for most salespeople. And it probably doesn’t work for you either. The most successful reps, Gallup has determined from decades of research, understand their innate talents and strengths and use them to sell more effectively. The truth is, no two great sales reps are alike: You might thrive on fierce competition, while a colleague wins by being a super-analytical problem solver. Or maybe you have a tremendous talent for building relationships, while your fellow top performer is a brilliant strategist. What’s most important is that you win business your way. Strengths Based Selling explains sales talent and how to identify and maximize it. You’ll receive a code to take the world-renowned CliftonStrengths assessment, which reveals your unique talents and strengths. Armed with this information, you’ll follow this book through the entire selling process — from assessing opportunity and cold calling to retaining and growing accounts — learning how to apply your talents at each step. The book also features action items that will help you make the most of your strengths in sales. There’s no one right way to sell. Salespeople get the best results by building on who they already are. This lively and liberating book will teach you to do just that.