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Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success
Tom Eisenmann - 2021
In Why Startups Fail, Eisenmann reveals his findings: six distinct patterns that account for the vast majority of startup failures.- Bad Bedfellows. Startup success is thought to rest largely on the founder's talents and instincts. But the wrong team, investors, or partners can sink a venture just as quickly.- False Starts. In following the oft-cited advice to "fail fast" and to "launch before you're ready," founders risk wasting time and capital on the wrong solutions.- False Promises. Success with early adopters can be misleading and give founders unwarranted confidence to expand.- Speed Traps. Despite the pressure to "get big fast," hypergrowth can spell disaster for even the most promising ventures.- Help Wanted. Rapidly scaling startups need lots of capital and talent, but they can make mistakes that leave them suddenly in short supply of both.- Cascading Miracles. Silicon Valley exhorts entrepreneurs to dream big. But the bigger the vision, the more things that can go wrong.Drawing on fascinating stories of ventures that failed to fulfill their early promise--from a home-furnishings retailer to a concierge dog-walking service, from a dating app to the inventor of a sophisticated social robot, from a fashion brand to a startup deploying a vast network of charging stations for electric vehicles--Eisenmann offers frameworks for detecting when a venture is vulnerable to these patterns, along with a wealth of strategies and tactics for avoiding them.A must-read for founders at any stage of their entrepreneurial journey, Why Startups Fail is not merely a guide to preventing failure but also a roadmap charting the path to startup success.
Tesla Motors: How Elon Musk and Company Made Electric Cars Cool, and Sparked the Next Tech Revolution
Charles Morris - 2014
The most trusted sources in the auto industry have called its Model S the most advanced, safest and best-performing car ever built - and it doesn’t use a drop of gasoline. Tesla has changed the way the public perceives electric vehicles, and inspired the major automakers to revive their own dormant efforts to sell EVs. However, even amidst the avalanche of media coverage that followed the triumph of the Model S, few have grasped the true significance of what is happening. Tesla has redefined the automobile, sparked a new wave of innovation comparable to the internet and mobile computing revolutions, and unleashed forces that will transform not just the auto industry, but every aspect of society. The Tesla story is one part of an ongoing tide of change driven by the use of information technology to eliminate “friction” such as geographic distance, middlemen and outdated regulations. Tesla is simply applying the new order to the auto industry, but the automobile is such a pervasive influence in our lives that redefining how it is designed, built, driven and sold will have sweeping effects in unexpected areas. Just as Tesla built the Model S as an electric vehicle “from the ground up,” it has taken an outsider’s approach to the way it markets its cars. Its direct sales model has drawn legal challenges from entrenched auto dealers, who fear that their outdated business model will be destroyed. Its systems approach to the software and electronics in its cars has highlighted how far behind the technological times the major automakers are. It’s easy to see why readers find Tesla irresistible. CEO Elon Musk is a superstar entrepreneur, a “nauseatingly pro-US” immigrant and the leader of two other cutting-edge companies. Tesla dares to challenge the establishment behemoths and, so far at least, has handily beaten them at their own game. In this history of the 21st century’s most exciting startup, Charles Morris begins with a brief history of EVs and a biography of Tesla’s driving force, Elon Musk. He then details the history of the company, told in the words of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who made it happen. There are many fascinating stories here: Martin Eberhard’s realization that there were many like himself, who loved fast cars but wanted to help the environment and bring about the post-oil age; the freewheeling first days, reminiscent of the early internet era; the incredible ingenuity of the team who built the Roadster; Tesla’s near-death experience and miraculous resurrection; the spiteful split between the company’s larger-than-life leaders; the gloves-off battles with hostile media such as Top Gear and the New York Times; and the media’s ironic about-face when the magnificent Model S won the industry’s highest honors, and naysayers became cheerleaders overnight. And the story is just beginning: Tesla has breathtakingly ambitious plans for the future.This book was updated May 1, 2015 to include the latest on the Gigafactory and the D package.
Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results
Mike Rother - 2009
Womack, Chairman and Founder, Lean Enterprise Institute. This game-changing book puts you behind the curtain of Toyota, providing new insight into the legendary automaker's management practices and offering practical guidance for leading and developing people in a way that makes the best use of their brainpower. Drawing on six years of research into Toyota's employee-management routines, Toyota Kata examines and elucidates, for the first time, the company's organizational routines--called kata--that power its success with continuous improvement and adaptation. The book also reaches beyond Toyota to explain issues of human behavior in organizations and provide specific answers to questions such as: How can we make improvement and adaptation part of everyday work throughout the organization? How can we develop and utilize the capability of everyone in the organization to repeatedly work toward and achieve new levels of performance? How can we give an organization the power to handle dynamic, unpredictable situations and keep satisfying customers? Mike Rother explains how to improve our prevailing management approach through the use of two kata: Improvement Kata--a repeating routine of establishing challenging target conditions, working step-by-step through obstacles, and always learning from the problems we encounter; and Coaching Kata: a pattern of teaching the improvement kata to employees at every level to ensure it motivates their ways of thinking and acting. With clear detail, an abundance of practical examples, and a cohesive explanation from start to finish, Toyota Kata gives executives and managers at any level actionable routines of thought and behavior that produce superior results and sustained competitive advantage.
Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together
James P. Womack - 2005
Consumers have a greater selection of higher quality goods to choose from and can obtain these items from a growing number of sources. Computers, cars, and even big-box retail sites promise to solve our every need. So why aren't consumers any happier? Because everything surrounding the process of obtaining and using all these products causes us frustration and disappointment. Why is it that, when our computers or our cell phones fail to satisfy our needs, virtually every interaction with help lines, support centers, or any organization providing service is marked with wasted time and extra hassle? And who among us hasn't spent countless hours in the waiting room at the doctor's office, or driven away from the mechanic only to have the "fix engine" light go on? In their bestselling business classic Lean Thinking, James Womack and Daniel Jones introduced the world to the principles of lean production -- principles for eliminating waste during production. Now, in Lean Solutions, the authors establish the groundbreaking principles of lean consumption, showing companies how to eliminate inefficiency during consumption. The problem is neither that companies don't care nor that the people trying to fix our broken products are inept. Rather, it's that few companies today see consumption as a process -- a series of linked goods and services, all of which must occur seamlessly for the consumer to be satisfied. Buying a home computer, for example, involves researching, purchasing, integrating, maintaining, upgrading, and, ultimately, replacing it. Across all industries, companies that apply the principles of lean consumption will learn how to provide the full value consumers desire from products without wasting time or effort -- theirs or the consumers' -- and as a result these companies will be more profitable and competitive. Lean Solutions is full of surprising success stories: Fujitsu, a leading service company for technology, has transformed the way call centers solve problems -- learning how to eliminate the underlying cause of current problems rather than fixing them again and again. An extremely successful car dealership has adopted lean principles to streamline its business, making for dramatically reduced wait time, fewer return trips, and greater satisfaction for customers -- and a far more lucrative enterprise. Lean Solutions will inspire managers to take the first steps toward perfecting their company's process of giving consumers what they really want.
How To Make Money Blogging: How I Replaced My Day-Job With My Blog
Bob Lotich - 2010
Bob Lotich founded ChristianPF.com back in 2007 and after getting laid off in 2008 he took the leap into full-time blogging. Less than a year later he was earning more from his blog than his previous day-job. While his results are not typical, this book covers all the steps he took to make money from his blog over that two-year period. These are some of the topics covered in the book:* 4 Steps to Start Blogging in 10 minutes* Blogging Basics* How to setup a Self-Hosted Blog* The importance of a Customizable Wordpress theme* 3 primary ways I earn from my blog* How long does it take to make money from your blog?* How to get traffic to your blog* SEO Tips for bloggers* How I increased Adsense earnings $1500/m in less than 3 months* 9 online tools that made it all possible
Why Sell Tacos in Africa?: 16 life-changing business strategies you can use anywhere, from the man who turned $400 into $200 million
Paul Oberschneider - 2016
There is no A-to-Z path, and there are no magic beans that will carry you upward overnight. Have you ever wondered how to start, scale up, build teams, and flourish in an uncontested market? I can tell you. I did it. In 1992, I landed in Estonia with $400 in my pocket. There, I discovered a truth that changed my life and the way I conducted business: You can make a lot of money as an entrepreneur by moving decisively in blue-sky markets - markets where you face very little competition and the tide can carry you to riches.Over the next decade and a half, I built a portfolio of businesses worth $200 million. Now, I want to share the paths that led me to success, passing on my knowledge to you. In Why Sell Tacos in Africa? I explain sixteen principles that allowed me to drive such tremendous growth. May you, too, find a blue-market and watch your business soar.
Escape Velocity: Free Your Company's Future from the Pull of the Past
Geoffrey A. Moore - 2011
Moore, author of the marketing masterwork Crossingthe Chasm, teaches twenty-first century enterprises how to overcome thepull of the past and reorient their organizations to meet a new era ofcompetition. The world’s leading high-tech business strategist, Moore connectsthe dots between bold strategies and effective execution, with an action planthat elucidates the link between senior executives and every other branch of acompany. For readers of Larry Bossidy’s Execution,Clay Christensen’s Innovator’s Solution, and Gary Vaynerchuck’sCrush It!, and for anyone aiming for the pinnacle of business success, EscapeVelocity is an irreplaceable roadmap to the top.
Extreme Toyota: Radical Contradictions That Drive Success at the World's Best Manufacturer
Emi Osono - 2008
With unprecedented access to the inner working of Toyota, the authors spent six years researching the company, interviewing hundreds of executives and employees, and discovering the company's secret of success. What they uncovered will surprise you and change the way you think about business. Simultaneously rigidly traditional and seriously innovative, it is precisely those internal contradictions that make the company so successful and admired.
The Feiner Points of Leadership: The 50 Basic Laws That Will Make People Want to Perform Better for You
Michael Feiner - 2004
Feiner's candid leadership guide cuts through rhetoric and theory and gives managers and executives a "hands-on" approach to dealing with problems in business.
The Right Choice: Resolving 10 Career Dilemmas for Extraordinary Success
Shiv Shivakumar - 2021
The author shares his wisdom and experiences from his illustrious career as one of India Inc’s longest-serving CEOs. In his trademark straightforward and lucid style, he shares lessons and learnings on each of the ten dilemmas. The book also contains insights and perspectives from twenty-four highly experienced professionals.A successful career is not a straight line; it has many twists and turns where you are faced with difficult choices. Practical and inspiring, The Right Choice will help you navigate these difficult situations-and win in your career.
Lead to Succeed and You Won't Manage to Fail
Corey W. Grant - 2011
Lead to Succeed and You Won't Manage to Fail gives you an inside look at what it takes to not only become a great manager but a legendary leader. Written with the career focused leader in mind this book is a straight forward look at what successful leaders do to maximize their effectiveness both before and after they become managers. Whether you manage a small community organization or a large Fortune 500 company this book will help you become a more effective leader by providing you with an in depth insight into what great managers think about and consider when building a successful organization. Learn first hand what it takes to lead like a legend, because if you can lead well... you won't manage to fail.
Zombie Economics: A Guide to Personal Finance
Lisa Desjardins - 2011
It's compelling, it's straightforward, and it can change your life. Zombie Economics is for anyone in the midst of financial uncertainty, a place where carelessness and timidity will cost you. From the creeping spread of unpaid bills to the lumbering advance of creditors, Zombie Economics confronts the biggest threats to your personal economy, takes aim, and then takes them down. Specific chapters include: A Basement Full of Ammo Saving yourself by saving money They'll Eat the Fat Ones First Using fitness as a financial asset Shooting Dad in the Head Ending your relationships with the financially infected With simple, easy-to-use techniques for identifying-and eliminating-your financial weak spots, Zombie Economics turns victims into survivors. Watch a Video"
Redefining Success: Still Making Mistakes
W. Brett Wilson - 2012
Brett Wilson, Dragons' Den co-star and Risky Business host, often gets asked about his secrets to success. He became one of Canada's top investment bankers because he was driven, willing to take risks and saw opportunity where others saw roadblocks.But along the path to business success, he tripped over a multitude of misguided priorities. For many years, Wilson pursued business with uncompromising focus, working long hours, seven days a week. In the process, his marriage and his health suffered greatly: he was rarely home as his children were growing up, divorce became inevitable and cancer struck at age forty-three. He truly learned the hard way that one can find financial success and the respect of business peers while almost losing what matters most: health, family and friends.Redefining Success details how Wilson was forced to redefine his life, making health and key relationships his first priorities. Through trial and error, he discovered that these simple virtues are foundational for real, enduring success, both in business and in life. Wilson's compelling insights are the basis for Redefining Success. Not just for entrepreneurs and business people, the book outlines how we can change our lives for the better by re-evaluating our personal definitions of success, then reworking them into a life plan that is feasible, lasting and rewarding.Inspirational and paradigm-changing, Redefining Success will help you implement and sustain lasting, positive change in your life—and make your world a little more meaningful—every day.
How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital: The Four Rules You Must Break to Get Rich
Nathan Latka - 2019
You just need to be willing to break the rules.At nineteen, I founded a software company with $119 in my bank account. Five years later, it was valued at $10.5 million. I don't consider myself exceptionally brilliant. I just realized something few people know: You don't need lots of money or an original idea to get really rich.Now, I make more than $100,000 in passive income every month, while also running my own private equity firm and hosting The Top Entrepreneurs podcast, which has more than 10 million downloads. This book will show you how I went from college dropout to member of the New Rich. And I'm holding nothing back. You'll see my tax returns, my profit and loss statements, my email negotiations when buying and selling companies.It's time to forget your grandfather's advice. I'll teach you how to be a modern opportunist--investor, entrepreneur, or side hustler--by breaking these four golden rules of the old guard:1.Focus on one skill: Wrong. Don't cultivate one great skill to get ahead. In today's business world, success goes to the multitaskers.2.Be unique: Wrong. The way to get rich is not by launching a new idea but by aggressively copying others and then adding your own twist. 3.Focus on one goal: Wrong. Focus instead on creating a system to produce the outcome you want, not just once, but over and over again. 4.Appeal to the masses: Wrong. The masses are broke ($4k average net worth in America?). Let others cut a trail through the jungle so you can peacefully walk in and capitalize on their hard work.By rejecting these defunct rules and following my unconventional path, you can copy other people's ideas shamelessly, bootstrap a start-up with almost no funding, invest in small local businesses for huge payoffs, and reap all the benefits.
Stock Smarts: Stock Investing Made Easy
Marvin Germo - 2013
The heart of Stock Smarts is to break it down to its simplest form and inspire employees, professionals and business people to participate and make money in the market.This book is to encourage every Filipino to profit from stocks and forge their way to financial freedom.