Why do some startups succeed while other do not? In a maturing online market, the cost of product development has fallen as quickly as competition has risen, and building a viable product is no longer enough. In this new reality, entrepreneurs must take a smarter, more strategic approach. In this book we'll discuss: Why some entrepreneurs are luckier than others How to anticipate success or failure before you begin Why timing is everything for a startup Strategic positioning to beat the competition Building a business that cannot be commoditized Methods for Improving user engagement and profits This book was written by Neal Cabage and Sonya Zhang, PhD after years of discussing and studying why some startups succeed. By combining known academic models with personal insights from building and selling two online startups - the authors answer the question of why some startups are more successful than others, in order to help entrepreneurs reduce the risk of starting an online business.

Online startups are exploding and an entire subculture has formed out of this phenomenon. And it shouldn't be a surprise with so much media coverage of billionaire startup founders. Indeed, the dot-com founder is today's rock star, inspiring hundreds of thousands to follow their path. It is now easier to start a business than at any time in history; particularly an online business. The cost and complexity of doing so has fallen precipitously. You no longer need an office, a phone system, a climate controlled room and in many cases, you don’t even need to write a lot of the core software your business will depend upon; just plug into the cloud. And access to capital to grow your business has never been easier; particularly if you’re interested in joining one of the many tech accelerator programs sprouting up across the country. Despite all of these advantages, there are clear challenges that result from this new dynamic. This book addresses these challenges and provides a conceptual framework for solving the problems along the way, helping startup entrepreneurs by smoothing the path and improving their odds of success.

p>Great user experiences (UX) are essential for products today, but designing one can be a lengthy and expensive process. With this practical, hands-on book, you’ll learn how to do it faster and smarter using Lean UX techniques. UX expert Laura Klein shows you what it takes to gather valuable input from customers, build something they’ll truly love, and reduce the time it takes to get your product to market. No prior experience in UX or design is necessary to get started. If you’re an entrepreneur or an innovator, this book puts you right to work with proven tips and tools for researching, identifying, and designing an intuitive, easy-to-use product. Determine whether people will buy your product before you build it Listen to your customers throughout the product’s lifecycle Understand why you should design a test before you design a product Get nine tools that are critical to designing your product Discern the difference between necessary features and nice-to-haves Learn how a Minimum Viable Product affects your UX decisions Use A/B testing in conjunction with good UX practices Speed up your product development process without sacrificing quality

Every day, rising companies stumble because management hired available people, not the right people. Then after making one too many of these mistakes, especially in key positions, the once-promising business that had the world to offer to its consumers is no longer. Because they didn’t learn: Hiring. Is. King.In Hire Smart from the Start, author and entrepreneur Dave Carvajal distills lessons learned from 20 years of both successful and poor hiring decisions as he built and staffed two enormously successful Internet startups and helped firms like Tumblr, Buddy Media, and Shutterstock land the talent they needed to reach their greatest potential.Whether you manage a restaurant, a tech firm, or an Internet startup, the proven formula in this book will help you in every aspect of hiring, training, and keeping the right employees in the right positions. Learn how to find candidates whose values and working style fit your business. Discover the 5 types of applicants you should never, ever hire. Find out how to motivate otherwise-happily-employed-elsewhere applicants to take a chance on your vision. If you hire smart from the start, you will accelerate your business’s success and it will flourish beyond what you thought possible!

“Start and build a high-profit business, choose exactly the right product for you, outsell your competition, and put yourself onto the road to riches” (Brian Tracy, New York Times–bestselling author). The Smart Start Up helps readers start strong and stay strong in the early phases of growing their businesses, providing fundamental strategies for beating the odds. With this information, entrepreneurs will be able to reach the success level of their dreams—whether that’s to create a legacy for generations or to follow the build-and-sell-it road to success. Within these pages, Tom Hopkins and Omar Periu delve deeply into the nuances of business ownership both on the practical and emotional side of things. They will help readers avoid some of the most common pitfalls entrepreneurs face. Readers will learn how to establish a compass they and the rest of their teams can rely on to guide business decisions going forward. Topics covered include: self-analysis as an entrepreneur; how to evaluate a business idea; how to choose the best structure for a business, including working with legal and accounting professionals; business communication skills; hiring and managing team members; prioritization; selling skills; marketing strategies; negotiation skills; and how to keep clients happy long term. “Own this book and you’ll have the opportunity to be guided to your own success by two of the best and proven teachers in the business.” —Bob Burg, bestselling coauthor of The Go-Giver and The Go-Giver Influencer “Inside the pages of this masterpiece, you’ll get the formula for success that gives you the winning edge in the hyper-competitive marketplace.” —Jeb Blount, CEO of Sales Gravy and author of Fanatical Prospecting

Starting Up Smarter: Why Founders Over 50 Build Better Companies delivers a counter-intuitive message about entrepreneurship and startup success. Contrary to the widespread belief that youth is a startup advantage, research shows that older entrepreneurs are far more likely to create socially valuable, profitable, and high-growth companies. Founders over 50 manage more than half of the new businesses launched in the US during the past 5 years. Their stories provide inspiration and insights for entrepreneurs of all ages, and for everyone seeking to change the world for the better. This book analyzes how and why older founders so consistently outperform their younger counterparts by embodying 21st century entrepreneurial imperatives such as positive social impact, shared stakeholder value, and regenerative sustainability. In Starting Up Smarter, entrepreneurs who have built profitable, socially valuable businesses share their experiences and reflections about launching companies with social purpose in healthcare consulting, sustainability and solar energy solutions, home care franchise ownership, restaurants, publishing, water filtration, and more.

If Owen Chase can't find a way to turn his company around in the next nine days, he'll be forced to shut it down and lay off all of his employees. He has incurred substantial debt and his marriage is on shaky ground. Through pure happenstance, Owen finds himself pondering this problem while advancing steadily as a contestant at the World Series of Poker. His Las Vegas path quickly introduces him to Samantha, a beautiful and mysterious mentor with a revolutionary approach to entrepreneurship. Sam is a fountain of knowledge that may save his company, but her sexual advances might prove too much for Owen's struggling marriage. All In Startup is more than just a novel about eschewing temptation and fighting to save a company. It is a lifeline for entrepreneurs who are thinking about launching a new idea or for those who have already started but can't seem to generate the traction they were expecting. Entrepreneurs who achieve success in the new economy do so using a new "scientific method" of innovation. All In Startup demonstrates why four counterintuitive principles separate successful entrepreneurs from the wanna-preneurs who bounce from idea to idea, unable to generate real revenue. You will likely get only one opportunity in your life to go "all in" in on an idea: to quit your job, talk your spouse into letting you drain the savings account, and follow your dream. All In Startup will prepare you for that "all in" moment and make sure that you push your chips into the middle only when the odds are in your favor. This book holds the keys to significantly de-risking your idea so that your success appears almost lucky. Join Owen and Sam for this one-of-a-kind journey that will set you on the right path for when it's your turn to put everything on the line.