Book picks similar to
One Simple Idea for Startups and Entrepreneurs: Live Your Dreams and Create Your Own Profitable Company by Stephen Key
business
startup
entrepreneurship
non-fiction
Sandler Success Principles: 11 Insights that will change the way you Think and Sell
David H. Mattson - 2012
Now they are revealed for you to learn and use in your own business and career. A remarkable and sometimes painful part of the process is uncovering the truth about yourself, including how your self-image was shaped sometimes carelessly and perhaps even cruelly. As you grasp the influence of these “old tapes,” you see how you have unknowingly sabotaged your potential for being at the top tier of sales professionals. You may be astonished to discover what inner dialogue and even demons you now may choose to control and override. The results? You enjoy a significant advantage over those you seek to impress and persuade, and master a predictable way to reach and exceed your career, business and financial goals. The enormous benefits of self-knowledge and imaginative new tools for self-management are at the heart of the challenging and exhilarating lifelong process of implementing the Sandler Success Principles.
The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A cheat sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany
Brant Cooper - 2010
It is written in a conversational tone, doesn't take itself too seriously, and avoids extraneous fluff."- Eric Ries, Author & Creator of the Lean Startup methodology"Get the CustDev book to dive deep into customer interviews and understand how your product can be developed to meet your customers' needs."- Dan Martell, Founder of Flowtown, angel investorCustomer Development is a four-step framework for helping startups discover and validate their customers, product, and go-to-market strategy, developed by Steve Blank and an integral part of Eric Ries' Lean Startup methodology. Focused on the Customer Discovery step, The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development is an easy to follow guide for finding early adopters, building a Minimum Viable Product, finding Product-Market fit, and establishing a sales and marketing roadmap.Deemed a "must-read" by Steve Blank and Eric Ries, inside you will find detailed customer development and lean startup concept definitions, a step-by-step approach to best practices, a business model analysis guide, case studies, rich graphics, as well as worksheets and exercises. No matter the stage of your business, you will return often to this guide to learn how to build a product people want;"get out of the building;" foster strong customer relationships; test business model risk; reach out to early adopters; conduct startup marketing; create a customer funnel based on buyers' process; and prepare your startup to scale up.The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A Cheat Sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany, affectionately known as the "CustDev book," serves as course text for classes at Stanford University, University of Chicago, Boston University, DePaul University, University of Minnesota and University of Norway."Our UCL (University College London) students love The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development. Thanks to Brant & Patrick for writing this helpful book. "- Dave Chapman, Deputy Head of the Department of Management Science and Innovation at UCL (University College London)"Love it! Required reading for all NYU entrepreneurs."- Frank Rimalovski, Managing Director of NYU Innovation Venture FundThis book is both an introduction for those unfamiliar with lean concepts and highly actionable for lean practitioners. It is a user friendly guide, written to be accessible to marketing professionals, Engineers startup founders and entrepreneurs, VCs, angels, and anyone else involved in building scalable startups.Existing companies will benefit to from applying Customer Development principles described in detail herein: for example, startups struggling to achieve market traction, or well established companies seeking to spark new innovation.This is a business book for startups like no other. No fluff, but rather sound principles and concrete steps to take to build your business. Get up to speed on Customer Development now.
Be Obsessed or Be Average
Grant Cardone - 2016
What can it do for you?....
The Decoded Company: Know Your Talent Better Than You Know Your Customers
Leerom Segal - 2014
Google amazes us by generating answers before we've even finished asking a question. These companies know who we are and what we want.The key to their magic is Big Data. Personalizing the consumer experience with the collection and analysis of consumer data is widely recognized as one of the biggest business opportunities of the 21st century. But there is a flip side to this that has largely been missed. What if we were able to use data about employees to personalize and customize their experience - to increase their engagement, help them learn faster on the job, and figure out which teams they should be on?In this book, Leerom and his colleagues outline the six principles they've used to decode work and unlock the maximum potential of their talent, and share success stories from other organizations that have embraced this approach. The Decoded Company is an actionable blueprint for any company that wants the best from its people, and isn't afraid of radical approaches to get it.Leerom Segal is the president and CEO of Klick and has been named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by the Business Development Bank of Canada, won the "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" award from Ernst and Young, and was named to Profit Magazine's Hall of Fame as the youngest CEO ever to lead a nonprofit company.Aaron Goldstein is the co-founder of Klick and is a Senior Certified Project Manager Professional.Jay Goldman was Head of Marketing at Rypple, a venture-backed startup acquired by Salesforce in 2012 and now known as Work.com. He is the author of the O'Reilly Facebook Cookbook, and he has been published in the Harvard Business Review.Rahaf Harfoush is the author of several books including Yes We Did. She was a contributor to the best-selling Wikinomics and Grown Up Digital.
Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork
Reeves Wiedeman - 2020
Adam Neumann, an immigrant determined to make his fortune in the United States, landed on the idea of repurposing surplus New York office space for the burgeoning freelance class. Over the course of ten years, WeWork attracted billions of dollars from some of the most sought-after investors in the world, while spending it to build a global real estate empire that he insisted was much more than that: an organization that aspired to nothing less than "elevating the world's consciousness."Moving between New York real estate, Silicon Valley venture capital, and the very specific force field of spirituality and ambition erected by Adam Neumann himself, Billion Dollar Loser lays bare the internal drama inside WeWork. Based on more than two hundred interviews, this book chronicles the breakneck speed at which WeWork’s CEO built and grew his company along with Neumann’s relationship to a world of investors, including Masayoshi Son of Softbank, who fueled its chaotic expansion into everything from apartment buildings to elementary schools.Culminating in a day-by-day account of the five weeks leading up to WeWork’s botched IPO and Neumann’s dramatic ouster, Wiedeman exposes the story of the company’s desperate attempt to secure the funding it needed in the final moments of a decade defined by excess. Billion Dollar Loser is the first book to indelibly capture the highly leveraged, all-blue-sky world of American business in President Trump’s first term, and also offers a sober reckoning with its fallout as a new era begins.
Hot Seat: The Startup CEO Guidebook
Dan Shapiro - 2015
From inception to destruction and triumph to despair, this rollercoaster read takes aspiring entrepreneurs from the highs of billion-dollar payouts and market-smashing success to the depths of impostor syndrome and bankruptcy.
Hot Seat is divided into the five phases of the startup CEO experience:
Founding explains how to formulate your idea, allocate equity, and not argue yourself to death
Funding provides the keys to venture capital, angels, and crowdfunding, plus clear advice on which approach to choose
Leadership lays out a path to build a strategy and culture for your team that will survive good times and bad
Management reveals how to manage your board, argue with your team, and play the CEO card
Endgame explains how to finish a company's existence with grace, wealth, and minimal litigation
What If It Does Work Out?: How a Side Hustle Can Change Your Life
Susie Moore - 2017
Susie Moore not only helps you discover your own purpose, but offers a practical guide to making it the driving force in your life and work." — Arianna Huffington Do you have a hobby or passion that has nothing to do with your nine-to-five job? Do you craft vintage jewelry, make handmade furniture, or offer expert negotiating advice to family and friends in your spare time? Then you, too, could join the 1/3 of Americans who turn their talents into a lucrative side hustle. In What If It Does Work Out? life coach and professional side-hustler Susie Moore offers expert tips and guidance to help you earn an extra source of income by doing something you love. In her energetic and encouraging style, she guides you through all of the planning stages and potential obstacles, showing how to overcome any hesitation or fear, create multiple revenue streams, and more. Susie also presents inspiring stories from fellow side hustle successes, including the founders of Spanx and MindBodyGreen. Recommended by Entrepreneur magazine as a book "entrepreneurs must read to dominate their industry," What If It Does Work Out? features all you need to take the practical steps toward living the life of your dreams. "Susie Moore has a truly special gift of making you feel like you can do absolutely ANYTHING your heart desires — and actually showing you how to achieve it. Her book is a highly practical, relatable and fun guide for anyone wanting to start or grow a Side Hustle." — Farnoosh Torabi, bestselling author and Oprah Winfrey's finance columnist "Susie Moore is a powerhouse … highly energetic, positive, generous and creative." — Bruce Littlefield, New York Times bestselling author"This book is the kick-in-the-pants side hustlers need to start living the life they want! An amazing reference for anyone who wants to not be 100% dependent on their 'day job.'" — Molly Beck, host of the Forbes podcast Two Inboxes: Interviews with the Side Hustle Generation"This book is the only resource you need to start your own side hustle. Susie covers the practical, emotional and spiritual path to becoming a success. Warning, it will make you want to put down the remote and get started right away." — Carly Pollack, Nutritional Wisdom founder and author of Finally Fullfilled"After working with Susie for more than a year, I've witnessed the incredibly positive impact her work has on our millennial readers — as well as my own personal and professional life. Her advice is down-to-earth, relatable, and encouraging, with just the right amount of tough love you need to make your goals a reality. This book is guaranteed to change your life, in the best way possible." — Locke Hughes, Greatist "Susie is an inspiration. She runs circles around the rest of us and makes it look easy. Any insight into how she does it is worth reading! For someone so accomplished to open up so candidly is an opportunity for the rest of us to learn, and one we shouldn't miss." — Libby Kane, Business Insider "Susie Moore is a light to everyone who meets her. Her immense insight and experience will help anyone who wants to craft a side hustle and live a life of freedom, security, and creativity." — Melyssa Griffin, The Nectar Collective "Launching a side hustle is no easy task, but after reading Susie Moore's book, I found it not only to be manageable but also inspirational. Susie's positivity shines throughout the entire book, helping side hustlers overcome fear and doubt to help them move forward. Great read for anyone thinking of taking the plunge." — Andrea Huspeni, Entrepreneur.com"Susie has a magic that energizes and motivates even the most jaded, 'read it all, heard it all' self-help skeptic. I'm one of those, and she's had a powerful effect on my life! Soak up all the Susie you can." — Laura Belgray"When you're starting a side hustle, you need emotional support and a confidence boost just as much as you need practical tips and tools for getting started. Susie Moore effortlessly combines both in What If It Does Work Out, making this truly the ultimate guide to getting a side gig off the ground." — Adrian Granzella Larssen, Editor-in-Chief, The Muse
Pichai: The Future of Google
Jagmohan S. Bhanver - 2016
Sundar Pichai’s appointment was hardly an unexpected one. Pichai is a man known as much for his veritable Midas touch with every product he has developed or led for Google – Chrome, Chrome OS and Android, to name just a few – as for his superlative people skills and open-minded approach to innovation. Yet, the company’s decision to restructure its product lines and appoint Pichai as the head of a leaner, more focused Google, has raised inevitable questions: • What does Pichai’s role augur for the future of the tech giant? • Will Google consolidate its position for existing products or will they focus on creating new ones? • And will Pichai transform the organization that Schmidt, Page and Brin created and led, or confirm the belief of a minority of naysayers that he is not yet ready for this daunting role? Pichai: The Future of Google provides answers to these questions while throwing light on Sundar Pichai’s childhood and education; his entry into the tech world and quick rise up the ranks in Google; and his key contributions as a leader and tech-guru to Google’s most successful properties. Timely and insightful, this book offers a rare glimpse into the fascinating ecosystem of a path-breaking company and shows us what it takes to be a dynamic leader in the 21st century.
Put Your Mindset to Work: The One Asset You Really Need to Win and Keep the Job You Love
James Reed - 2011
What does it take to get and keep the job you want? Ninety-six percent of employers argue that it's not just about having the right skills for the position- it's all about the right mindset. As two leading experts on the subject, Reed and Stoltz know what employers really want from the people they hire and keep. According to their extensive and globally acclaimed research, there is a specific set of mental traits that will make you exponentially more desirable to potential employers, and more likely to succeed and enjoy your job once you're hired. This "3G Mindset" is: ? Global-the openness and big-picture perspective to compete on a global scale in any job ? Good-a positive force with an unwavering moral compass ? Grit-the tenacity and resilience to thrive on adversity The authors reveal why employers are three times more likely to hire people with the right mindset over those who are more qualified on paper. This book provides an actionable approach for both assessing and developing these essential traits.
Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs: What You Really Need to Know About the Numbers
Karen Berman - 2008
You'll discover:Why the assumptions behind financial data matter- What income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements really reveal- How to use ratios to assess your venture's financial health- How to calculate return on your investments in your enterprise- Ways to use financial information to do your own job better- How to instill financial intelligence throughout your teamAuthoritative and accessible, Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs empowers you to "talk numbers" confidently with colleagues, partners, and employees-- and fully understand how to use financial data to make better decisions for your business.
Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution
Richard Laermer - 2007
and Mrs. Consumer and their little Consumerlings who have seized power from the corporations and are now firmly in control.In Punk Marketing, Laermer and Simmons take an irreverent, penetrating look at the seismic change in the relationship between the people who sell stuff—products, services, entertainment—and those who purchase it. They demonstrate that to survive in business, a revolutionary approach is needed—one they have branded "Punk Marketing"—and it's one we all need to understand, for the traditional divisions among commerce, content, and consumers are continuing to blur ever more rapidly.Never dull, sometimes controversial, but always a helluva lot of fun, Punk Marketing presents a manifesto for any businessperson needing to engage consumers—or any consumer seeking to understand and employ their newfound power. And here's the good news: It's based on principles that have existed forever. In an age of digital video recorders, "branded" entertainment, cell-phone TV, multiplayer online games, and never-ending social networking, a coherent approach to marketing has never been more vital. With Punk Marketing, there's a built-in plan to equip you with tools to make all this change work out just fine, thanks.Punk Marketing is the first shot—soon to be heard 'round the world—of a long-awaited and breathless uprising that businesses want, deserve, and desperately need.
UX for Lean Startups
Laura Klein - 2013
With this practical, hands-on book, you’ll learn how to do it faster and smarter using Lean UX techniques. UX expert Laura Klein shows you what it takes to gather valuable input from customers, build something they’ll truly love, and reduce the time it takes to get your product to market.No prior experience in UX or design is necessary to get started. If you’re an entrepreneur or an innovator, this book puts you right to work with proven tips and tools for researching, identifying, and designing an intuitive, easy-to-use product.Determine whether people will buy your product before you build itListen to your customers throughout the product’s lifecycleUnderstand why you should design a test before you design a productGet nine tools that are critical to designing your productDiscern the difference between necessary features and nice-to-havesLearn how a Minimum Viable Product affects your UX decisionsUse A/B testing in conjunction with good UX practicesSpeed up your product development process without sacrificing quality
Business Legends
Gita Piramal - 1998
and industrialists of the lime were not afraid to think ahead and plan big. Among the entrepreneurs who led this Industrial resurgence, four were particularly outstanding, G.D. Birla, Walchand Hirachand, Kasturbhai Lalbhai and, J.R.D. Tata. Gita Piramal, author of the acclaimed Business Maharajas, sensitively recreates the Lives and Times of these four titans of industry. She draws upon hitherto untapped sources of information to Sketch her profiles, making htis perhaps the closest Look at these legends this fair. Thought provoking and incisive. Business Legends is a compelling Account of ambition and achievement.
Brand Strategy 101: Your Logo Is Irrelevant - The 3 Step Process to Build a Kick-Ass Brand
Michael R. Drew - 2013
No really, it is. Let me explain.It turns out that drooling dogs and ringing bells are far more important than a logo (thank you Pavlov).Sure, successful businesses have logos--easily recognizable logos. Playboy, McDonald's, Coke. But there's far more to their success than bunny ears, golden arches or a certain shade of red. Stripped of all the marketing lingo, branding is pretty simple: Your brand is all the associations that come to mind when your potential customers see or hear your name.Whether your focus is on personal branding or on branding your company culture--you've got to have more than a fancy logo and edgy color scheme to create brand stickability (you know, a brand your customers can't get out of their heads).Well, there’s a process to capturing attention and getting your foot in the door of your customers’ minds. Here's a taste of some of the personal branding advice you'll find in this book:You must become the first solution your customer thinks of when they have a problem you can solve. How?The first step is to figure out what your audience cares about. What keeps them up at night? What problems can you help them solve? From there, you need to apply these three steps:1) Frequency2) Repetition3) AnchoringIn this e-book, we’ll show you how to figure out what your customers really want. Then we will show you how to apply these three steps to help you become the trusted resource that comes to mind first when your customer’s itch needs to be scratched.Is real and authentic branding going to happen overnight? Probably not. But ask yourself this: Do you want short-term results that lose effectiveness? Or are you willing to invest a bit more time and effort to create long-term results that get better and better?If you're looking for a branding book that promises a quick fix, this isn't the book for you. But if you want to create a brand that sticks like superglue--read this book!Go ahead and let the wimps and whiners have the get-rich quick schemes that fizzle and fall flat like a wet firework. You want to ignite a branding bonfire.
Strategic Marketing
David W. Cravens - 1982
The new edition of "Strategic Marketing" uses a decision-making process to examine the key concepts and issues involved in analyzing and selecting strategies. Marketing strategy is considered from a total business perspective, examining marketing strategy beyond the traditional emphasis on marketing functions. The length and design of the book offer flexibility in the use of the text material and cases. New features and updated cases have made this text the most relevant text in the market today.