The Lean Startup / Zero to One / 7 Habits of Highly Effective People


Eric Ries
    Description:- The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses The Lean Startup is a new approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.The Lean Startup is about learning what your customers really want. It's about testing your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it's too late. Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. If you are copying these guys, you aren’t learning from them. It’s easier to copy a model than to make something new: doing what we already know how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. Every new creation goes from 0 to 1. This book is about how to get there. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People In THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centred approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty and human dignity - principles that give us the security to adapt to change, and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates. 'Fundamentals are the key to success. Stephen Covey is the master of them. Buy his book, but most importantly, use it!' - Anthony Robbins, author of UNLIMITED POWER.

Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman


Yvon Chouinard - 2005
    From his youth as the son of a French Canadian blacksmith to the thrilling, ambitious climbing expeditions that inspired his innovative designs for the sport's equipment, Let My People Go Surfing is the story of a man who brought doing good and having grand adventures into the heart of his business life-a book that will deeply affect entrepreneurs and outdoor enthusiasts alike.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed--and What to Do About It: Why Public Effort ... Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship)


Josh Lerner - 2009
    Yet, for every public intervention that spurs entrepreneurial activity, there are many failed efforts that waste untold billions in taxpayer dollars. When has governmental sponsorship succeeded in boosting growth, and when has it fallen terribly short? Should the government be involved in such undertakings at all? "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is the first extensive look at the ways governments have supported entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across decades and continents. Josh Lerner, one of the foremost experts in the field, provides valuable insights into why some public initiatives work while others are hobbled by pitfalls, and he offers suggestions for how public ventures should be implemented in the future. Discussing the complex history of Silicon Valley and other pioneering centers of venture capital, Lerner uncovers the extent of government influence in prompting growth. He examines the public strategies used to advance new ventures, points to the challenges of these endeavors, and reveals the common flaws undermining far too many programs - poor design, a lack of understanding for the entrepreneurial process, and implementation problems. Lerner explains why governments cannot dictate how venture markets evolve, and why they must balance their positions as catalysts with an awareness of their limited ability to stimulate the entrepreneurial sector. As governments worldwide seek to spur economic growth in ever more aggressive ways, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" offers an important caution. The book argues for a careful approach to government support of entrepreneurial activities, so that the mistakes of earlier efforts are not repeated.

Freelance to Freedom: The Roadmap for Creating a Side Business to Achieve Financial, Time and Life Freedom


Vincent Pugliese - 2017
    After winning the highest award in his field, Vincent was offered a 3 percent raise. He knew at that moment he needed a monumental change. One month away from their baby being born, Vincent and Elizabeth started a side photography business out of desperation. In less than four years, they grew their business to pay off all of their debt, including their home, and left their jobs for a life of freedom. With the world moving rapidly towards a freelance model, Freelance to Freedom is not only timely and necessary, but it’s also entertaining, engaging and paints a picture for anyone looking for a life of freedom with money, time and location.

Accounting Comes Alive: The Color Accounting Parable


Mark Robilliard - 2010
    As such, I believe that it is of value to anyone who is interested in understanding accounting, from high school students to undergrads to MBAs to business executives." – Professor Paul Healy, Harvard Business SchoolFor anyone who has struggled with accounting comes this quick read like no other. Using a breakthrough visual system called Color Accounting™ this best-seller makes learning accounting easy. The book engages you in the story of an ambitious man being taught accounting and business by his wise grandfather. The parable brilliantly simplifies how accounting and business truly work, in such a way that anyone can really ‘get it’. Color Accounting strips away obscure detail and jargon – leaving you to focus on the essence of what you really need to know.You will literally see how accounting works in the many colorful diagrams that lead you through the setting up and running of a business - clarifying principles that you can apply to your own life and workplace. By reading The Color Accounting Parable you will learn to read and interpret Balance Sheets and Income Statements with confidence. Plus you will learn how to avoid 5 fatal mistakes that business owners often make. The authors are two certified accountants who worked for the largest accounting firm in the world. They draw on their experiences teaching at some of the most reputable universities, corporations, banks, law firms, not-for-profit organizations and government agencies in the United States and around the world.

The Mousedriver Chronicles: The True- Life Adventures Of Two First-time Entrepreneurs


John Lusk - 2002
    To the almost universal disdain of their friends and professors, these two turned down tempting job offers, borrowed money from friends and family, loaded up on credit card debt, and decided to start a single-product company to manufacture and market a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf club. They watched enviously as nearly all of their friends became millionaires in the dot-com boom, but they persevered and forged their own path. To chart their progress and to keep themselves motivated against the odds, they kept a diary that recorded the realities of their everyday life as entrepreneurs. Out of their diary entries grew The MouseDriver Chronicles, an intimate, insightful, and often funny look into the minds of two entrepreneurs and how they brought a simple idea to market. From The MouseDriver Chronicles: "School was just about over, and the wondrous combination of brick-baking heat and relentless high humidity that defines summer in south Philadelphia wasn't too far off. We couldn't afford to wait around for it. We needed to blaze to San Francisco and get rolling. Fine. No problem. Except we didn't yet have an office in San Francisco. Or a place to live. Or MouseDrivers in stock. We had all our plans and ambition, but everything real about running a business was ahead of us. Immediately ahead."

The Alternative: Most of What You Believe About Poverty Is Wrong


Mauricio L Miller - 2017
    B. Heron Foundation: The Alternative, is not only important reading, it's imperative. Miller, a trained engineer, the one-time manager of a top social service organization and most importantly, the son of a remarkable single mother, has both lived and observed the failings embodied in our attitudes toward the poor and, as a result, the flaws in our systems meant to help people in poverty. He merges heart and soul with system thinking to yield a prescription featuring the real math, trust relationships and courage that can change the "us and them," to "upward together" and put American families in the driver's seat to build their futures.

Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide to Money: The Handbook of Financial Peace University


Dave Ramsey - 2011
    If you’re looking for practical information to answer all your “How?” “What?” and “Why?” questions about money, this book is for you. You’ll also learn all about insurance, mortgage options, marketing, bargain hunting and the most important element of all—giving. Now let’s be honest: This is the handbook of Financial Peace University.

Full Circle: A memoir of leaning in too far and the journey back


Erin Callan Montella - 2016
    Erin recounts her path of achievement starting as a promising young student and athlete and, ultimately, how she allowed her career and its demands to become the center of her life. She sacrificed all other priorities and relationships along the way, throwing work-life balance to the wind. The story reveals the subtleties of the everyday decisions that led collectively to a work-centric existence over a twenty-year career. Set against the backdrop of the dramatic circumstances at Lehman Brothers in 2008, Erin discloses her own struggle as events spiraled out of control. Ultimately, her resignation from her executive role prior to the Lehman bankruptcy resulted in a devastating personal crisis as her career crumbled revealing no foundation beneath it. We learn of the journey back to change her life with a semblance of present day peace and happiness. Full Circle provides a unique inside and emotional perspective of the sacrifices Erin made to achieve extreme career success and the self-awareness required to return to being the fundamentally grounded person she was as a child.

Identity Is the New Money


David Birch - 2014
    Because of technological change the two trends are converging so that all that we need for transacting will be our identities captured in the unique record of our online social contacts. Social networks and mobile phones are the key technologies. They will enable the building of an identity infrastructure that can enhance both privacy and security - there is no trade-off. The long-term consequences of these changes are impossible to predict, partly because how they take shape will depend on how companies take advantage of business opportunities to deliver transaction services. But one prediction made here is that cash will soon be redundant - and a good thing too. In its place we will see a proliferation of new digital currencies.

Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy


Jigar Shah - 2013
    Author Jigar Shah, internationally recognized for revolutionizing the now multi-billion-dollar solar energy industry, outlines how entrepreneurs and investors can unlock the massive potential that climate change represents. Shah argues that, while new technical innovation is valuable, deployment of existing technologies are the key to reaching our near-term climate targets. Rather than waiting for yet to be developed technology, business model innovation is the key to attract mainstream capital and unlock transformational change. Shah makes a compelling case for reaching our 2020 climate change goals through 100,000 companies worldwide, each generating $100 million in sales. Unlocking our next economy will be driven by thousands of companies deploying existing clean and resource-efficient technologies in electricity-supply (like solar), transportation, building materials, industry, forestry, waste, and agriculture. Shah is not alone; according to the International Energy Agency, and others, $10 trillion can be invested profitably—today—in the world’s existing technologies, making Shah’s plan of 100,000 companies each generating $100 million in sales a reality in catalyzing a new economy in the process. Creating Climate Wealth is also the personal story of Shah’s journey through the solar industry and the founding of SunEdison, the world’s largest solar energy company. Through business model innovations, SunEdison helped trigger the multi-billion dollar solar energy services industry. Shah’s revolutionary approach has been emulated throughout the solar industry. But perhaps more important, it is also being adapted for other industrial sectors like agriculture and transportation – unlocking incredible new revenue streams, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and positively transforming the planet on a global level. This implementation of business-based solutions to solve complex social problems represents a new economic movement; driven by “Impact Investments.” Impact Investments are changing the world for the better, promoting development and economic growth, and encouraging local entrepreneurship. Unlocking these opportunities represent the largest wealth creation opportunity of our generation. Whether you are interested in climate change, poverty alleviation, or just promoting projects that make financial sense, this book is for you. Jigar Shah provides a proven roadmap to understanding the Impact Economy, and creating the lasting changes that will improve our world for future generations.

The Power of Impact Investing


Judith Rodin - 2014
    While philanthropy continues to be a transformative force for good, global philanthropic funds, even when combined with the development or aid budgets of many national governments, add up to mere billions of dollars. Meanwhile, the cost of solving the world’s problems runs into the trillions.In The Power of Impact Investing, Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin and Margot Brandenburg, two of the foremost experts in the field, explain what impact investing is, how it compares to philanthropy and traditional investments, where opportunities are evolving around the world, and how to get started.By sharing moving stories of impact investors and the exciting social enterprises benefiting from these investments, Rodin and Brandenburg offer a compelling resource for anyone interested in better understanding the power of impact investing—including retail investors, high-net-worth individuals, and heads of family offices, foundations, banks, and pension funds—while also offering experienced impact investors an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and benefit from the perspectives of other investors.

No Exit: Struggling to Survive a Modern Gold Rush


Gideon Lewis-Kraus - 2014
    They're burning through cash, sales have stalled, and investors are nowhere to be found. Welcome to the reality of the new tech boom. Sure, it has produced its glittering share of billion-dollar "exits." But for the vast majority of startups life is nasty, brutish, and short on glamour. NO EXIT explores the feverish world of company founders who are desperately trying to keep their dream afloat. It’s a harrowing and hilarious look at the Silicon Valley no one sees. This is an extended version of a story that appears in the May 2014 issue of WIRED magazine.

The Economics of Just About Everything


Andrew Leigh - 2014
    Economics has things to say about AC/DC and Arthur Boyd, dating and dieting, Grange and Geelong, murder and poverty. Incentives matter, often in surprising ways, and seemingly simple everyday activities can have unexpected outcomes. Insights from behavioural economics can also help us make better decisions.If you like fresh facts and provocative ideas, this is great train and weekend reading. You'll soon see the world and the people around you in a new light.'Essential reading for the 21st century' - Karl Kruszelnicki'Economics isn't the only thing, but Andrew Leigh reminds us that it can explain almost everything.' - George Megalogenis'What do you get when you cross a politician with an economist? A captivating, charming, and nicely-written book. Who knew?' - Annabel CrabbAndrew Leigh is the federal member for Fraser, ACT. He has a PhD from Harvard, was a Professor of Economics at the Australian National University, appears regularly in the media, and is author of several books, including Battlers and Billionaires.