United States Entrepreneurs and the Companies They Built


Book Description

This pioneering work provides an index to over 1,700 biographies of prominent U.S. entrepreneurs, innovators and company executives published in over 120 biographical collected works which are identified, examined, and indexed here. These collected works cover a span of over 100 years and include men and women who shaped the history of American enterprise. In the past, collected works such as these have never been indexed but, finally, this book makes the biographies accessible to the general public. Wahib Nasrallah has created the only book available today that indexes these stories of corporate success as they are documented in collected works of biography. A large number of executive biographies are published in collected works that are rich with stories of American enterprise, male and female entrepreneurs of many ethnic backgrounds. Since these stories have never been indexed before, United States Entrepreneurs and the Companies They Built: An Index to Biographies and Collected Works is a central research tool in both academic and corporate worlds.




Building on Bedrock


Book Description

One of Fast Company’s Best Business Books of the Year: A new foundational guide to entrepreneurial success from the author of Startup Leadership. Here’s an astounding fact: Over half the working population will try their hand at being an entrepreneur during their working career. They may be motivated by a desire for fortune or fame, by a longing for freedom and control over their lives; by the urge to innovate and create jobs. But how can you know whether being an entrepreneur will end as a dream come true or a nightmare from which you cannot wake? Building on Bedrock helps answer that question. Based on research and revealed through the stories of American entrepreneurs Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Estee Lauder, Ray Kroc, and others, Building on Bedrock will help you understand the elements most essential to taking the entrepreneurial leap and making a company last. Was it luck, talent, passion, charm, a rich uncle, or something else that was the key to this person’s success? Which might be the key to your success? What you learn may surprise you. “These days, entrepreneurship is often synonymous with tech startups and venture funding. But that's not the reality for a lot of business owners. CEO, entrepreneur, and business professor Derek Lidow gets into the heart of what it really takes to build a long-lasting business…and how to know whether you are suited to the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship.”—Fast Company, 7 best business books of 2018 “Flat out, the best book on entrepreneurship I have ever read.” —Roger Martin, author of Creating Great Choices




American Entrepreneur


Book Description

Weaving together vivid narrative with economic analysis, "American Entrepreneur" vividly illustrates the history of business in the United States from the point of view of the enterprising men and women who made it happen.




Buy Then Build


Book Description

Entrepreneurs have a problem: startups. Almost all startups either fail or never truly reach a sustainable size. Despite the popularity of entrepreneurship, we haven't engineered a better way to start...until now. What if you could skip the startup phase and generate profitable revenue on day one? In BUY THEN BUILD, acquisition entrepreneur Walker Deibel shows you how to begin with a sustainable, profitable company and grow from there. You'll learn how to: Buy an existing company rather than starting from scratch Use ownership as a path to financial independence Spend a fraction of the time raising capital Find great brokers, generate your own "deal flow," and see new listings early Uncover the best opportunities and biggest risks of any company Navigate the acquisition process Become a successful acquisition entrepreneur And more BUY THEN BUILD is your guide to outsmart the startup game, live the entrepreneurial lifestyle, and reap the financial rewards of ownership now.




Build the Damn Thing


Book Description

The Wall Street Journal Bestseller featured in Bloomberg, Fast Company, Masters of Scale, the Motley Fool, Marketplace and more. An indispensable guide to building a startup and breaking down the barriers for diverse entrepreneurs from the visionary venture capitalist and pioneering entrepreneur Kathryn Finney. Build the Damn Thing is a hard-won, battle-tested guide for every entrepreneur who the establishment has left out. Finney, an investor and startup champion, explains how to build a business from the ground up, from developing a business plan to finding investors, growing a team, and refining a product. Finney empowers entrepreneurs to take advantage of their unique networks and resources; arms readers with responses to investors who say, “great pitch but I just don’t do Black women”; and inspires them to overcome naysayers while remaining “100% That B*tch.” Don’t wait for the system to let you in—break down the door and build your damn thing. For all the Builders striving to build their businesses in a world that has overlooked and underestimated them: this is the essential guide to knowing, breaking, remaking and building your own rules of entrepreneurship in a startup and investing world designed for and by the “Entitleds.”




Built, Not Born


Book Description

Get tested and proven advice on how to navigate risk and succeed in all phases of business ownership from a successful entrepreneur who turned a small startup into a billion-dollar company. Self-made billionaire and Paychex founder Tom Golisano understands the fears, risks, and challenges small-business owners face every day. He has launched and grown his own highly successful business and mentored dozens of entrepreneurs, helping them build their own fruitful companies. Golisano knows how nervous aspiring business owners are about the risks of entrepreneurship. Now, he’s sharing the startup-to-exit secrets to success and how he turned $3,000 into $28 billion dollars. Built, Not Born shows you: How going against the grain can be a great strategy for finding business opportunities and why it pays to question conventional wisdom. Why the pregnant pause can be an effective weapon in negotiations and when interviewing potential employees. Why a prenuptial or even a postnuptial agreement is critical to any business owner. What potential buyers and funding sources look for, and the best way to present a business plan. And finally, the key growth and leadership strategies that have helped Paychex sustain its incredible level of growth and profitability. Built, Not Born provides a direct and practical approach on how to overcome everyday challenges. This essential handbook is a key resource for current and aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start, grow, and operate a successful business.




How I Made It


Book Description

Every year thousands of hopeful entrepreneurs decide to take the plunge. Many fail, but many go on to achieve great success and huge profits. In How I Made It 40 successful entrepreneurs explain how they managed to defy the odds and turn their dreams into reality. Find out how they decided what to do, how they got started and how they found the money they needed. But they also reveal how they had doubts, made stupid mistakes, and encountered overwhelming frustrations along the way. This second edition updates their stories to reveal what happened next and how, in most cases, they finally sold their businesses and made millions. Gutsy, inspiring, and life affirming - if you have ever dreamt of starting up your own business How I Made It is for you.




Guide to Reference in Business and Economics


Book Description

Focusing on print and electronic sources that are key to business and economics reference, this work is a must-have for every reference desk.




Small Giants


Book Description

How maverick companies have passed up the growth treadmill — and focused on greatness instead. It’s an axiom of business that great companies grow their revenues and profits year after year. Yet quietly, under the radar, a small number of companies have rejected the pressure of endless growth to focus on more satisfying business goals. Goals like being great at what they do, creating a great place to work, providing great customer service, making great contributions to their communities, and finding great ways to lead their lives. In Small Giants, veteran journalist Bo Burlingham takes us deep inside fourteen remarkable companies that have chosen to march to their own drummer. They include Anchor Brewing, the original microbrewer; CitiStorage Inc., the premier independent records-storage business; Clif Bar & Co., maker of organic energy bars and other nutrition foods; Righteous Babe Records, the record company founded by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco; Union Square Hospitality Group, the company of restaurateur Danny Meyer; and Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, including the world-famous Zingerman’s Deli of Ann Arbor. Burlingham shows how the leaders of these small giants recognized the full range of choices they had about the type of company they could create. And he shows how we can all benefit by questioning the usual definitions of business success. In his new afterward, Burlingham reflects on the similarities and learning lessons from the small giants he covers in the book.




Smart People Should Build Things


Book Description

Andrew Yang, the founder of Venture for America, offers a unique solution to our country’s economic and social problems—our smart people should be building things. Smart People Should Build Things offers a stark picture of the current culture and a revolutionary model that will redirect a generation of ambitious young people to the critical job of innovating and building new businesses. As the Founder and CEO of Venture for America, Andrew Yang places top college graduates in start-ups for two years in emerging U.S. cities to generate job growth and train the next generation of entrepreneurs. He knows firsthand how our current view of education is broken. Many college graduates aspire to finance, consulting, law school, grad school, or medical school out of a vague desire for additional status and progress rather than from a genuine passion or fit. In Smart People Should Build Things, this self-described “recovering lawyer” and entrepreneur weaves together a compelling narrative of success stories (including his own), offering observations about the flow of talent in the United States and explanations of why current trends are leading to economic distress and cultural decline. He also presents recommendations for both policy makers and job seekers to make entrepreneurship more realistic and achievable.