Startups, like sailing vessels, do not travel in straight lines. The wind and the waves of the real world move the ship, and your startup, in unpredictable ways. This book is designed to give you an analytical set of tools to help you navigate your startup or corporate innovation through the murky waters of real life. Every business has failures. No business succeeds without some change of plan. Navigating Your Way to Startup Success will show you how to create a startup designed to test its assumptions so those that are not worthy fail—often and fast. This book builds on modern startup management techniques like Agile and Lean to bring an analytical and quantitative framework to the most common startup failures. Navigating through those failures means finding your way to startup success. Harlan T Beverly, PhD holds a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, an MBA from UT Austin, and a PhD in Business from Oklahoma State University. Harlan teaches entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also Assistant Director of the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs at UT Austin, the world's first university business accelerator. Harlan has successfully launched five hardware and 15 software products including the Killer NIC, 2007 Network Product of the Year (CPU Magazine). He has raised over $30 million in venture financing in the challenging intersection of entertainment and technology.

This book is about dynamic capabilities (DCs) in the context of the 21st century, in which global challenges seem to come from different quadrants. For instance, an environmental threat to the planet ́s sustainability, or technological advancements disrupting the traditional value chains call for new business models accompanying societal trends. Although the usual approach in dealing with these business models is from a competitiveness perspective, the editors of this book avoid it as the approach seems reductive of what the organizations are required to be aware of and cope with in the modern world only to their organizational ecosystems. The book offers a compilation of studies on dynamic capabilities covering both cognitive and non-cognitive DCs, according to the managerial and leadership aspects of technological capabilities. Each chapter obeys a certain order, within a particular category of DCs, and their reading along the book is telling a story, showing seminal DCs that a company cannot neglect in the current world. Their grouping also is structured in one way that one might be a preparatory reading for another. Researchers working on the dynamic capabilities approach will particularly benefit from the discussions provided within this book.

Practical Skills for Entrepreneurial Success is a true masterpiece that provides insight that goes beyond the entrepreneurial realm into wisdom for life and business. The book merges storytelling, insight, and instructions in such a delicate and masterful manner thus enabling the reader, to not only develop a mental and mindset shift in their approach to life and business but also equips them with practical methods of tackling business challenges both in how they approach them mentally and strategically.

Entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow (Wired, Fast Company, The New Yorker, and cofounder of Contently) analyzes the lives of people and companies that do incredible things in implausibly short time. How do some startups go from zero to billions in mere months? How did Alexander the Great, YouTube tycoon Michelle Phan, and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon climb to the top in less time than it takes most of us to get a promotion? What do high-growth businesses, world-class heart surgeons, and underdog marketers do in common to beat the norm? One way or another, they do it like computer hackers. They employ what psychologists call "lateral thinking: to rethink convention and break "rules" that aren't rules. These are not shortcuts, which produce often dubious short-term gains, but ethical "smartcuts" that eliminate unnecessary effort and yield sustainable momentum. In Smartcuts, Snow shatters common wisdom about success, revealing how conventions like "paying dues" prevent progress, why kids shouldn't learn times tables, and how, paradoxically, it's easier to build a huge business than a small one. From SpaceX to The Cuban Revolution, from Ferrari to Skrillex, Smartcuts is a narrative adventure that busts old myths about success and shows how innovators and icons do the incredible by working smarter—and how perhaps the rest of us can, too.

An exit strategy, if implemented early, is the surprising secret to ultimate startup success. Find out why—and how to develop one—in this comprehensive, practical guide from veteran Silicon Valley dealmaker Touraj Parang. In 2008, Touraj Parang's award-winning startup, Jaxtr, had 10 million users, raised nearly $20 million from top-tier Silicon Valley investors, and seemed poised to sail straight through the Great Recession. But, by January of 2009, Jaxtr’s only hope for survival was to find a buyer—sadly, it was too late for that. In Exit Path, Touraj draws on the lessons learned from that chaotic experience and the extraordinary successes that followed once he (and the entrepreneurs he advises) made creating and executing an exit strategy a top priority. For too long entrepreneurs have been failing to establish the requisite relationships and properly prepare for the most important milestone in their life cycle: a sale to an acquirer. But in today’s hyper competitive and interconnected business world, that is no longer an option. In this first-of-its-kind, comprehensive guide, you'll discover the surprising reasons few startups succeed while many fail—and you’ll learn that implementing an exit strategy early will empower you to take charge of your startup’s ultimate fate, maximizing its potential for success while mitigating the risks of failure. Arranged in four sequential parts, Exit Path walks you through actionable steps to devise and execute an effective exit strategy, starting with a fresh new perspective on the critical importance of creating a viable sale option for your startup. You'll learn why creating your exit strategy is necessary well before you're contemplating an exit, regardless of the stage of your startup. You’ll also discover how to create your own exit plan, how to make your plan a reality through personal and business relationships, and how to approach and negotiate with acquirers for an outcome best aligned with your values and ambitions should the need arise. Whether you are an entrepreneur, investor, or advisor, the expert advice and insights in Exit Path will inspire you to take charge of your startup’s destiny and unlock its strategic potential and options over time.

From a TechCrunch founder and award-winning strategist comes the most comprehensive guide to the newest fundraising options for today’s entrepreneurs. Fundraising for startups has changed dramatically in the past decade. There was a time when VCs were rock stars and a founder with a big idea and a little drive could raise a few hundred thousand dollars to build a business. But those days are gone. In the aftermath of the Great Recession and a massive drop in tech investments, it’s become harder and harder for founders to raise money. The good news? Today’s entrepreneurs have more options than ever before—with greater opportunities to get the ball rolling, get investors excited, and Get Funded! A comprehensive, cutting-edge guide from tech journalist and entrepreneur John Biggs and communication strategist Eric Villines, Get Funded! will enable you to: Create a solid business plan and a powerful story that investors respond to Explore a wide range of funding options—and find the ones that are right for you Understand valuation and dilution Plan, prepare, and deliver the perfect pitch Raise money through grants, micro-loans, micro-donations, and crowdfunding Take advantage of the latest online resources and financial tools Filled with step-by-step strategies, ready-to-use resources, and on-the-ground insights, this is a must-read for every entrepreneur. Even if you’ve started a business before, you’ll discover a whole new funding landscape with exciting tech-driven models―including crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and Patreon, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, IEOs (Initial Exchange Offerings), micro-loans, and micro-donations―as well as more traditional, tried-and-true methods. Beyond a road map to the current world of funding, Get Funded! provides proven strategies for pitching, marketing, bootstrapping, and more. It’s a complete 360-degree tool with easy-to-follow worksheets and online resources that will help you build a sustainable funding strategy that’s right for your business—and crucial to your success. Whether you’re starting a food truck or a biotech startup, Get Funded! has got you covered.

The proven 7-step marketing system for fast and furious business growth Whether you're wondering how to get your startup off the ground or looking for answers to why your business has stalled, Feed the Startup Beast will show you how to feed--and unleash--the beast that is your business. "Williams and Verney have written the operating manual for driving market share and revenue in the twenty-first century." -- Christine Crandell, chief experience innovator, New Business Strategies; Forbes.com and Huffington Post blogger "Customer enthusiasm doesn't magically happen. In this important book, you'll learn how to create the fuel that flies your business like a rocket ship to success." -- David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR "There are a lot of great marketing ideas in this book. If you use just a few of them, you'll be way out ahead of your competitors. If you use all of them, your competitors had better dive for cover." -- Lois Geller, author of Customers for Keeps and Response! and contributor to Forbes.com "Beast is indispensable for the ambitious entrepreneur looking to successfully navigate the treacherous waters of growing a business while running it." -- Leslie Bennett, serial entrepreneur and contributor to Forbes.com

At a time when more people than ever are starting their own ventures, "The Startup Garden" teaches readers how to create their dream job for themselves. Ehrenfeld walks readers through the process of starting and growing an enterprise by matching hopes, dreams and aspirations with individual skills and experience.