Table of Contents
Cover
Contents
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Preface
Setting the Stage
Entrepreneurship and Resonance
Entrepreneurs Create Something New
It Is Compelling
You Can Scale It
You Can Control It
A Ticket to the Game
Nobody Cares About Your Business
What Is a Business?
The Boat
The Employee
The Entrepreneur
Launch Strategies
The Soft Launch
Jumping In
Joining Someone Else’s Party
Different Kinds of Work
The Laborer: Shoveling Dirt
Like a Boss: Have Other People Shovel Dirt for You
The Big Boss: Hire a Team of Managers to Manage the Shovelers
The Impresario: Invent a New Shovel and Sell It to the Shovelers
The Impresario Grande: Invent a Shovel and Sell It to the Big Bosses
Grains of Sand
Intrinsic Motivation
A Vision to Guide You
A Passion for Pizza
The Bootstrap Mentality
Impact to Your Personal Life
Financial Strings Attached
Life on Hold
Time
Impact to Your Health
Resources
Core Lessons
Basics Win Ball Games
No Partial Credit
Diversify
Common Single Points of Failure
Specific Intention
A Waste of Cash, Time, and Energy
Backing Up the Truck
How to Determine the Demand of the Market
Make Yourself Obsolete
The Self-Regulating Business
The Self-Determining Business
You Will Need More Money Than You Think
Active Iteration
Always Get a Contract
Watch Intellectual Property
Control the Money
Hope for the Best but Plan for the Worst
Changing Plans Is Easier When You Change Early
Value and Preserve Your Agility
Mistakes Are Inevitable
Customer Complaints: Treat Them Like Gold
The Dollar Exercise
Marketing
Choose Your Product Well
What You Have to Work With
What Are You Shooting For?
What Is the Opening in the Market?
What Separates a Hobby from a Business?
Will You Be a Whale or an Eskimo?
The Precious Slice
Why You?
The Internet Is Not Magic
Parity Products and the Bozo Factor
The Two Approaches to Differentiation
Positional Differentiation
Structural Differentiation
Know Your Customer
When You Have Multiple Customers
Image Counts
If You Build It, They Will Come
Radicalize
Never Ask Water to Climb a Ladder
A Marketer’s Tale
Climbing the Mountain
Learn to Love Statistics
The Marketing Mix
Product Pricing
Case Study: Meridian World Data and Pricing
Oprah Is Not Your Marketing Plan
If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Control It
Building a Team
Your Network Will Determine Your Success
The Best Employees Would Do the Work Even Without the Job
The Psychological Contract
A Contract for Your Team Members
Manage Different People In Different Ways
Friends as Employees
Friends as Partners
Hire Well or Not at All
Lead by Example
Motivated Employees Are the Key
Your Extended Team
Have a Good Lawyer and Put Him on Speed Dial
Getting the Most from Your CPA
Vendors
Communication
Matters
Repetition
Multiple Layers
Never Assume
“I Don’t Know” Is a Powerful Statement
Case Study: Valerie
The Pen Is …
Communication Frequency and Duration
The Curse of the Expert
Establish Context
Put a Handle on It
Speech Markers
Strategic Thinking
A Human Flaw: Failure to Appreciate the True Complexity of the World
The 80/20 Rule
Always Ask
Ready, Fire, Aim
Tensions
Focus vs. Opportunity
Process vs. Agility
Analysis vs. Quick Decision-Making
Perfection vs. Progress
The Triple Constraint
Speed Plus Features
Speed Plus Quality
Quality Plus Features
Quality Plus Speed Plus Features
The Positive Frame
Potential
Think Big
The Flail
The Bell Curve
A Change in Perspective
Chunking Up
Chunking Down
Systems Thinking
Know That You Don’t Know
Domain Knowledge
Enjoy the Drama
Exiting Your Business
Preparing from Day One
Common Reasons for a Sale
What Makes a Business Attractive for a Sale?
Relationships Count
Choose the Front Man Well
Getting the Right People on Your Side
Due Diligence
Earn-Out Agreements
Giving Up Your Baby
Getting and Evaluating an Offer
Handling Employees During a Transition
Exit or Operate?
Exit, and You Are Just Going to Want to Be In Again—Soon
Index
Symbols and Numbers
A
B
C
D
E
F, G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T, U
V
W, X, Y, Z
