Startup myths and models what you won't learn in business school by
In this witty and wise guide to the dilemmas of entrepreneurship, Rizwan Virk debunks misconceptions about how the world of startups works and offers hard-earned advice for every step of the journey. Startup Myths and Models is an ideal companion for readers from those just embarking on the startup life to those looking for their next adventure.
Startup Accelerators by
The must - read guidebook for entrepreneurs looking to get into accelerator programs and to build and scale their startups with speed Accelerator programs have become one of the most powerful and valuable resources for entrepreneurs seeking to learn rapidly, build powerful networks, raise capital, build their startups and do this at speed and scale. In recent years, the number of accelerator programs around the world has grown at an incredible rate, propelling startups such as AirBnB, Uber, DropBox, Reddit, and others -- many to billion-dollar valuations. The number of accelerators, the differences in accelerator program offerings and the unique benefits and costs of different accelerator locations makes choosing the right accelerator a challenge. Selecting the wrong accelerator, failing to be accepted in the right one, or not fully taking advantage of all the accelerator has to offer can be costly, sometimes fatal. With the stakes so high, entrepreneurs need to understand all their options, choose carefully and do the right things to maximize their chances of success. Startup Accelerators is the go to guide for any entrepreneur, providing a firsthand look into the acceptance criteria and inner workings of different accelerator programs. Written by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, this indispensable resource explains what different accelerator programs offer, how to get accepted, what to do during the program, how to raise money during accelerators, what to do after the program ends, and much more. Packed with real-world case studies and advice from leading experts on startup accelerator programs, this one-stop resource provides step-by-step guidance on the entire accelerator process. Reveals how accelerators help founders navigate different challenges in the startup journey Describes the differences in the benefits and costs of different accelerator programs Explains how to prepare accelerator applications Discloses what actions to take during an accelerator to make the most of it Depicts case studies of entrepreneurs' accelerator applications, experiences and outcomes across different accelerators Features interviews with accelerator program managers, founders who went through accelerators, and investors in companies going through or having gone through accelerators Includes insightful data and reflections from entrepreneurship education researchers and academics Startup Accelerators: A Field Guide will prove to be invaluable for startup founders considering or going through accelerators, as well as aspiring entrepreneurs, educators, and other startup accelerator stakeholders.
Entrepreneurship: Financing
Startup Money Made Easy by
With advice from Daymond John, Bobbi Brown, Mark Cuban, Sallie Krawcheck, Max Levchin, Alexa von Tobel, and other successful early stage startup investors, Inc. magazine shows you how to attract and wisely apply your firm's first precious sources of cash. Bootstrapping, crowdfunding, VCs, payroll, profits--money makes your business boom. But mess up your finances, and the venture can go bust. It's time to get smart. Let the experts at Inc. guide you through every critical step and potential pitfall. Their on-the-ground reporting shows how to locate funding, manage your money, and smart hack your way to a comfortable retirement. Startup Money Made Easy gathers the best advice from the magazine's pages, spotlighting celebrated entrepreneurs and inspiring stories. You'll hear from: FUBU founder Daymond John, who mortgaged his family home for start-up capital--and built a $6 billion empire Makeup artist Bobbi Brown, who turned a modest lipstick line into a profitable 30-store enterprise Alexa von Tobel, who dropped out of Harvard Business School to launch the equity-magnate LearnVest.com Mark Cuban, Sallie Krawcheck, Max Levchin, and other founders who overcame financial obstacles on their way to the top Interwoven with the stories are on-target tips that explain how to: Raise your first $10,000 in capital Power through the lean years Get friends and family to back you up Round up outside investors Go public or sell, while still staying in charge Reward people with great salaries and benefits Eliminate tax season surprises Grow without growing pains And more Cash flow problems are the number-one business killer. Whether you're dreaming up a startup idea or knee deep in the craziness, learn to shore up your finances and safeguard the business.
Entrepreneurial Finance by
Master each step of the complete "life cycle" of a firm with Leach/Melicher's ENTREPRENEURIAL FINANCE, 7E. This edition vividly explains the theories, corporate finance tools and techniques you need to start, build and eventually harvest a successful entrepreneurial venture today. Using an inviting presentation, this book emphasizes sound financial management practices as you learn how to secure financing, use business cash flow models and strategically position your early-stage company. You also learn to interact effectively with financial institutions and regulatory agencies that can impact venture growth and ensure liquidity for investors. Updates throughout this edition feature real examples as well as in-depth capstone cases and mini-cases drawn from actual entrepreneurial ventures and common financial scenarios. Strengthen your entrepreneurial skills as you study key concepts, such as venture capital funds, clean tech, sustainable sales growth, strategic alliances, licensing agreements and exit strategies.
Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs by
The author of Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained analyzes successful startups to show readers how to launch a successful business without outside help. Award-winning professor of entrepreneurship Dileep Rao presents readers with a detailed guide to success through his interviews and analysis of billion-dollar entrepreneurs (those who built a venture from startup to more than $1 billion in sales and valuation) and 100 million-dollar entrepreneurs (startup to $100 million). Rao is here to show entrepreneurs that it is possible to start a business without outside help. He shares how more than ninety percent of America's billion-dollar entrepreneurs in the VC era (since 1946) avoided or delayed VC, and instead used finance-smart expertise?skills that combine business-smart, capital-smart, and leadership-smart strategies. It takes more than one person to grow a business from the bottom up. But that doesn't mean we have to sacrifice control of the venture in the process. Armed with twenty-three years of experience as a financer, Rao shows readers how to optimize internal financing to attract external financing. By keeping control of the venture, entrepreneurs keep more of the wealth, as well. In Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs learn about: Pre-financing, financing and post-financing skills and strategies of finance-smart entrepreneurs The ins and outs of venture finance, applicable to anyone looking to start a business Tips on increasing capital productivity and attaining financially sustainable entrepreneurship Perfect for readers of The Lean Startup, The $100 Startup, or Venture Deals. Praise for Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs "This book delivers clear thinking for entrepreneurs who want to control their own destiny and grow their business without the need for venture capital." --Joel Cannon, co-founder and president of Cannon Technologies "Entrepreneurs and leaders from around the world--including from Fortune 500 companies--can count on Dileep's advice in venture financing and business development." --Yosef Martin, founder and CEO of BoxyCharm "With the voice of an entrepreneur, the insight of a scholar and the wisdom of experience, Rao provides a clear roadmap for how entrepreneurs can grow successful companies while maintaining control of their ventures!" --Dr. Raymond Smilor, Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship, Neeley School of Business, TCU "Must-read material for every business owner looking to build their empire." --Brian Moran, CEO, Small Business Edge
How to Launch Your Side Hustle: Start and Scale a Business with Minimal Capital by
Once you've dug up enough pennies from between the couch cushions to start a new business, you're going to need a plan. How to Launch Your Side Hustle will walk you through the process of crafting your venture. Author Troy R. Underwood, a trained software developer and entrepreneur, emphasizes using low-cost techniques and creative ideas to finance, market, and run your business, even as it gains momentum. Using his previous company as a model of what to do--and sometimes what not do to--Underwood candidly takes you through the steps of building your business, guided by the principle of necessity. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular facet of business, from hiring and training the right people to pricing your product or service, buying the right software and tools, navigating legal issues, and understanding when it's time to sell the business. This book provides you with basic best practices in a quick and simple format, so you can get back to work on turning your aspirations into a reality.
Entrepreneurship: Platform Models
The Business of Platforms by
A trio of experts on high-tech business strategy and innovation reveal the principles that have made platform businesses the most valuable firms in the world and the first trillion-dollar companies. Managers and entrepreneurs in the digital era must learn to live in two worlds--the conventional economy and the platform economy. Platforms that operate for business purposes usually exist at the level of an industry or ecosystem, bringing together individuals and organizations so they can innovate and interact in ways not otherwise possible. Platforms create economic value far beyond what we see in conventional companies. The Business of Platforms is an invaluable, in-depth look at platform strategy and digital innovation. Cusumano, Gawer, and Yoffie address how a small number of companies have come to exert extraordinary influence over every dimension of our personal, professional, and political lives. They explain how these new entities differ from the powerful corporations of the past. They also question whether there are limits to the market dominance and expansion of these digital juggernauts. Finally, they discuss the role governments should play in rethinking data privacy laws, antitrust, and other regulations that could reign in abuses from these powerful businesses. Their goal is to help managers and entrepreneurs build platform businesses that can stand the test of time and win their share of battles with both digital and conventional competitors. As experts who have studied and worked with these firms for some thirty years, this book is the most authoritative and timely investigation yet of the powerful economic and technological forces that make platform businesses, from Amazon and Apple to Microsoft, Facebook, and Google--all dominant players in shaping the global economy, the future of work, and the political world we now face.
Future Tech by
Amazon's Fire phone. Google Glass. Facebook Home. Quikster. New technologies alone don't always cause industry changes. Future Tech explains how the four forces of technology, policy, business models and social dynamics work together to create industry disruption and how this understanding can help to predict what is coming next. Technology is generally viewed as the single force that disrupts markets. However, history is rife with stories of technologies that have failed to meet such hyped expectations. In Future Tech, the author reveals that true change only results from combining the forces of science and technology, policy and regulation, new business models (i.e. sharing economy) and social dynamics (whether or not people adopt it). Whether these four forces align explains why some technologies, such as AI, blockchain, robotics, synthetic biology and 3D printing, stick and why others fail. With an understanding of these four forces, business executives and policymakers can explain what technology is likely to stick and even anticipate what is coming next.By 2030, the global labor force will be led by an elite set of knowledge workers enabled by robotic AI. To help individuals thrive in this workplace, Future Tech advises readers to develop their human capabilities of creativity and adaptation, develop deep expertise in one domain while being well-versed in dozens more, and develop a personalized approach to acquiring and processing information and deliberating decisions.
Entrepreneurship: Business Models
Business Model Shifts by
Shift your business model and transform your organization in the face of disruption Business Model Shifts is co-authored by Patrick van Der Pijl, producer of the global bestseller Business Model Generation, and offers a groundbreaking look at the challenging times in which we live, and the real-world solutions needed to conquer the obstacles organizations must now face. Business Model Shifts is a visually stunning guide that examines six fundamental disruptions happening now and spotlights the opportunities that they present: The Services Shift: the move from products to services The Stakeholder Shift: the move from an exclusive shareholder orientation to creating value for all stakeholders, including employees and society The Digital Shift: the move from traditional business operations to 24/7 connection to customers and their needs The Platform Shift: the move from trying to serve everyone, to connecting people who can exchange value on a proprietary platform The Exponential Shift: the move from seeking incremental growth to an exponential mindset that seeks 10x growth The Circular Shift: the move from take-make-dispose towards restorative, regenerative, and circular value creation Filled with case studies, stories, and in-depth analysis based on the work of hundreds of the world's largest and most intriguing organizations, Business Model Shifts details how these organizations created their own business model shifts in order to create more customer value, and ultimately, a stronger, more competitive business. Whether you're looking for ways to redesign your business due to the latest needs of the marketplace, launching a new product or service, or simply creating more lasting value for your customers, Business Model Shifts is the essential book that will change the way you think about your business and its future.
Sustainable business models innovation, implementation and success by
This book provides a comprehensive exploration into the identification and development of sustainable business models as well as their implementation, management and evaluation. With an ever-increasing pressure on organisations to respond to societal change and improve competition through sustainable business model innovation (SBMI), this book aims to contribute to the knowledge of their design and management. Also providing a framework to evaluate the level of sustainability of business models, this book critically reviews existing literature on the topic to examine the potential of SBMI in research. The author employs a number of case studies to illustrate the integration of sustainable business models throughout the value chain, and their influence on wider social, environmental and business activities.
Reboot by
Shoes of Prey launched in 2009. It allowed people to design their dream shoes online, get them expertly manufactured, and have them shipped to anywhere in the world within two weeks. The startup broke even at two months, hit multi-million dollar revenues in under two years, raised tens of millions in funding from top-tier investors and shipped to more than 100 countries. All the metrics pointed to huge scalability. To a huge business. To a huge success. But it didn't succeed. In 2018 the business failed. And this is that story. Reboot tells the truth of what it is like to be at the helm of a global business. From the high highs of besting Karl Lagerfeld on global awards to the low lows of closing the doors on your dream, join author Jodie Fox on a raw journey as she reveals for the first time the story behind the story of fashion darling Shoes of Prey. This incredible ride will share lessons on raising capital, building a brand, finding suppliers, doing business in China and, most importantly, how to learn and grow from your successes and your mistakes and be ready every day to reboot for the next challenge.
Out-innovate how global entrepreneurs--from Delhi to Detroit--are rewriting the rules of Silicon Valley by
Startups have changed the world. In the United States, many startups, such as Tesla, Apple, and Amazon, have become household names. The economic value of startups has doubled since 1992 and is projected to double again in the next fifteen years.
For decades, the hot center of this phenomenon has been Silicon Valley. This is changing fast. Thanks to technology, startups can now take root anywhere--and they are, from Delhi to Detroit to Nairobi to Sao Paulo.
Entrepreneurship: Technopreneurship
Average Joe by
The book covers numerous tech entrepreneurial founders and software developers, and the exciting brands or products that they created. It goes deep on a handful of them, narrowly divulging exactly how a few software developers and startup founders created breakthrough tech products like Gmail, Dropbox, Ring, Snapchat, Bitcoin, Groupon, and more. It highlights and unpacks the general hero-worship that the media and our own minds practice about tech founders and tech entrepreneurs. This idealization of tech success can create a paradox, preventing average tech professionals from their own successful journeys. This book provides hard evidence that anyone in tech can create, and anyone on the peripheral of tech can break through to the center where innovation, creativity, and opportunity meet. The anecdotes, stories, evidence, facts, arguments, logic, principles, and techniques provided in this book have helped individuals and businesses engage in slow creation cycles, improve the morale of their development teams, and increased their delivery potential of their technology solutions overall. Average Joe covers: Genius - The systematic deconstruction and debunking of the commonly held assumptions in the tech industry around supreme intelligence, and how that intelligence has been worshipped and sought after, despite the facts. Slow Creation - How to force-manufacture creative ideation. How conscious and subconscious cycles of patterns, details, and secrets can lead to breakthrough innovations, and how those P.D.S. cycles, and systematic mental grappling, can be conjured and repeated on a regular basis. Little-C Creativity - The conscious and miniature moments of epiphany that leak into our active P.D.S. cycles of Slow Creation. Flow - Why it's great, but also - why it's completely unreliable and unnecessary. How to perpetually innovate without relying on a flow state. Team Installation - How teams and companies can engage their employees in Slow Creation to unlock dormant ideas, stir up creative endeavors, and jumpstart fragile ideas into working products. User Manipulation - How tech products are super-charged with tricks, secret techniques, and neural transmitters like Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Cortisol; how those products leverage cognitive mechanisms and psychological techniques to force user adoption and user behaviors. Contrarianism - How oppositional and backward-thinking leaders create brand-new categories and the products which dominate those categories. Showmanship - How tech players have presented their ideas to the world, conjured up magic, manufactured mystique, and presented compelling stories that have captured their audiences. Sustainable Mystique Triad - A simple model for capturing audiences consistently without relying on hype and hustle.
Entrepreneurship: Product/Market Development
Sustainable Product Design and Development by
This book outlines the process of sustainable product design and development. It presents design guidelines that help prolong the life of a product and minimize its environmental impact. These guidelines specifically enable product design for end-of-life (EoL) objectives such as reuse, recycling and remanufacturing. Sustainable Product Design and Development also presents mathematical models that will help the designer determine the cost of designing sustainable products. This cost can be computed early during the design stage of a product. Sustainable Product Design and Development presents different ways and means by which a product can address all three pillars of sustainability--environmental conservation, social sustainability, and economic sustainability. Various case studies are incorporated in different chapters. Case studies on designing products for assembly, disassembly and remanufacturing have been presented in their respective chapters. The book also provides an overview of global environmental legislation to help the reader grasp the importance of waste management and sustainable product design. This book is aimed at professionals, engineering students, environmental scientists, and those in the business environment.
Deep Data Analytics for New Product Development by
This book presents and develops the deep data analytics for providing the information needed for successful new product development. Deep Data Analytics for New Product Development has a simple theme: information about what customers need and want must be extracted from data to effectively guide new product decisions regarding concept development, design, pricing, and marketing. The benefits of reading this book are twofold. The first is an understanding of the stages of a new product development process from ideation through launching and tracking, each supported by information about customers. The second benefit is an understanding of the deep data analytics for extracting that information from data. These analytics, drawn from the statistics, econometrics, market research, and machine learning spaces, are developed in detail and illustrated at each stage of the process with simulated data. The stages of new product development and the supporting deep data analytics at each stage are not presented in isolation of each other, but are presented as a synergistic whole. This book is recommended reading for analysts involved in new product development. Readers with an analytical bent or who want to develop analytical expertise would also greatly benefit from reading this book, as well as students in business programs.
The simplicity playbook for innovators creating lovable experiences in a complicated world by
When we focus on simplicity instead of innovation-for-the-sake-of-innovation, customers love the experience. With this illuminating step-by-step guide, you will rediscover how to focus on what really matters for your business, and learn the methods to create experiences that win customers' hearts.
Entrepreneurship: Sustainable Growth
The Customer Catalyst: how to drive sustainable business growth in the customer economy by
How organisations can drive growth in the Customer Economy The Digital Revolution has changed the business landscape in remarkable ways and will continue to do so. Organisations across industries and around the world are being disrupted and digitised at increasing pace - putting far more power in the hands of both customers and end-consumers. The traditional inside-out, functionally-siloed business model, typical of the product and sales-led growth era is over. The Customer Catalyst shows how organisations can put customers truly at the heart of their business and catalyse genuine, sustainable growth. Future business models are no longer about functions - they are beginning to revolve around customers. Customer-led companies will, over time, unpack their static functional activities and transform their structure. Customer advocates already wield massive influence in a customer's buying process, and this is only set to increase. This is already changing the role and nature of business functions and Sales is no longer seen as the only source of growth. The Customer Economy is placing greater demands on businesses and offers greater rewards to the businesses that meet and exceed customer expectations. This invaluable book will enable readers to: Lead their organisations to more profitable and sustainable growth Transform their organisations to become truly customer-centric with the C-change growth engine Explore in-depth stories from leaders of companies such as Zoom, Signify, Starling Bank, Ritz Carlton, Microsoft and Finastra with frank advice and practical steps to achieve success Help their companies adapt to, and profit from, the new realities of the Customer Economy Gain important insights from business leaders on best practice in key customer-centric growth areas The Customer Catalyst shows businesses how to survive the transition to the Customer Economy, transform to align around today's dynamic customer needs, and ultimately, drive sustainable business growth.
Thank You for Disrupting: the disruptive business philosophies of the world's great entrepreneurs by
The business ideas and innovation philosophies of the world's great entrepreneurs--for anyone to implement in any business Steve Jobs. Jeff Bezos. Larry Page. Sergey Brin. Zhang Ruimin. Marc Benioff. Millions of words have been written about the great entrepreneurs of the world. This book is not about describing their achievements. Nor is it about their charisma, personal trials, or their place in popular culture. We have all heard or read about them already. This book is about the entrepreneur, the thinker. It is about the grand ideas, the disruptive thoughts, the innovative underpinnings and business philosophies that gave rise to their achievements. Thank You For Disrupting: The Disruptive Business Philosophies of The World's Great Entrepreneurs examines 20 of the most significant business leaders of our time. Author Jean-Marie Dru, himself a disruptor who coined the term decades ago, explains not only the impact these leaders have had on their own companies, but also their immense influence on the business world as a whole. Each chapter is replete with in-depth analyses, insightful comments, and personal observations from the author, including discussions covering the experimentation and platforms of Jeff Bezos, to the recruitment policies and core values of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, to the complete CSR and company activism of Paul Polman, and many more. Illustrating how the vision of a disruptive innovator can reach far beyond his or her company, this engaging book encourages and inspires readers to become disruptors in in their own businesses. The Disruptive Business Philosophies of The World's Great Entrepreneurs is a must-read for anyone interested in the why and how behind the most significant and influential business achievements of our time.
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