Download or read book Why Startups Fail written by Tom Eisenmann and published by Currency. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you want your startup to succeed, you need to understand why startups fail. “Whether you’re a first-time founder or looking to bring innovation into a corporate environment, Why Startups Fail is essential reading.”—Eric Ries, founder and CEO, LTSE, and New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Way Why do startups fail? That question caught Harvard Business School professor Tom Eisenmann by surprise when he realized he couldn’t answer it. So he launched a multiyear research project to find out. In Why Startups Fail, Eisenmann reveals his findings: six distinct patterns that account for the vast majority of startup failures. • Bad Bedfellows. Startup success is thought to rest largely on the founder’s talents and instincts. But the wrong team, investors, or partners can sink a venture just as quickly. • False Starts. In following the oft-cited advice to “fail fast” and to “launch before you’re ready,” founders risk wasting time and capital on the wrong solutions. • False Promises. Success with early adopters can be misleading and give founders unwarranted confidence to expand. • Speed Traps. Despite the pressure to “get big fast,” hypergrowth can spell disaster for even the most promising ventures. • Help Wanted. Rapidly scaling startups need lots of capital and talent, but they can make mistakes that leave them suddenly in short supply of both. • Cascading Miracles. Silicon Valley exhorts entrepreneurs to dream big. But the bigger the vision, the more things that can go wrong. Drawing on fascinating stories of ventures that failed to fulfill their early promise—from a home-furnishings retailer to a concierge dog-walking service, from a dating app to the inventor of a sophisticated social robot, from a fashion brand to a startup deploying a vast network of charging stations for electric vehicles—Eisenmann offers frameworks for detecting when a venture is vulnerable to these patterns, along with a wealth of strategies and tactics for avoiding them. A must-read for founders at any stage of their entrepreneurial journey, Why Startups Fail is not merely a guide to preventing failure but also a roadmap charting the path to startup success.

Download or read book Business Failure and Entrepreneurship written by Grace S. Walsh and published by . This book was released on 2016-07-20 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Business failure research has been the focus of renewed interest in the entrepreneurship field. It is complex, being both a sign of economic vibrancy and the source of great individual trauma. An understanding of these complexities is important to academics, practitioners and regulators. This monograph provides a review of the literature to date. It charts the emergence of business failure research in the finance literature through to its recent development within the contemporary entrepreneurship field. The multidiscipline nature of business failure research is explored through incorporation of studies from accountancy, information systems, social psychology, general management, economics and entrepreneurship. Research on the topic is diverse; the lack of a universally accepted definition of failure coupled with the absence of an underpinning theory has resulted in an expansive range of studies. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive and critical review of business failure research, bridge the gap between the various perspectives, and develop a cohesive understanding of the phenomena, upon which future studies can be based.

Download or read book A Tale of a Business Failure written by John D. Davis (CPA/ABV.) and published by Danbury Publishing Company, Limited. This book was released on 2009 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Tale of a Business Failure is a story of how a highly successful company quickly eroded and failed. The impact of the company on the shareholders' lives modified behavior and decision-making to the point that the company was directly affected. The tale captures the intensity of a struggling business through a shareholder's direct perspective. Although this story is about one company, the lessons are deep and far reaching. Anyone the currently owns a business; is contemplating owning a business; is involved with a business as a consultant, banker, lawyer or advisor, is a business educator; or is a student of business will benefit from reading this story.

Download or read book Leading Change written by John P. Kotter and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the ill-fated dot-com bubble to unprecedented merger and acquisition activity to scandal, greed, and, ultimately, recession -- we've learned that widespread and difficult change is no longer the exception. By outlining the process organizations have used to achieve transformational goals and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work.

Download or read book The Ten Commandments for Business Failure written by Don Keough and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2008-07-31 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “After a lifetime in business, I’ve never been able to develop a set of rules or a step-by-step formula that will guarantee success in anything, much less in a field as dynamic and changing as business. What I can do, however, is talk about how to lose. I guarantee that anyone who follows my formula will be a highly successful loser.” The Ten Commandments for Business Failure is a lighthearted cautionary bible for leaders from a hugely admired elder statesman who is sought out for advice by a wide circle of luminaries. Plenty of speakers and writers are happy to dispense advice on how to succeed in business. From football coaches to ex-CEOs to psychologists to preachers, success gurus are everywhere. But none of them can offer any guarantees; the true path to success can’t be laid out as a simple step-by-step plan. The same cannot be said of failure, however. Failure is easy. In fact, there are ten serious blunders companies and individuals make over and over again, leading to failure so consistently that the list ought to be written in stone. Don Keough, who has seen and heard a lot in his six decade career, calls them his Ten Commandments for Business Failure. They include such reliable bad advice as Quit Taking Risks, Be Inflexible, Assume Infallibility, Put All Your Faith in Experts, and Be Afraid of the Future.

Download or read book Breaking Failure written by Alexander Edsel and published by FT Press. This book was released on 2015-10-05 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TIME-PROVEN TECHNIQUES FOR REDUCING RISK AND IMPROVING PERFORMANCE IN MISSION-CRITICAL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Proven in high-stakes, high-risk environments–from defense to healthcare For business functions ranging from marketing to HR, R&D to M&A Indispensable for all executives, entrepreneurs, strategists, and product managers This guide brings together simple, risk-free, and low-cost ways to break cycles of business failure and underperformance. These techniques aren’t new or trendy: they’ve repeatedly proven themselves in mission-critical disciplines ranging from manufacturing to space exploration, with lives and billions of dollars on the line. They work. And they’ll work for you, too. First, you’ll learn how to use well-proven Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) techniques to anticipate potential failure points before you introduce products, implement strategy, or launch marketing campaigns. Next, utilizing Root Cause Analysis (RCA), you’ll learn to uncover the root cause of business problems, so you can solve them once and for all. Third, you’ll discover how to use an Early Warning System (EWS) to identify “driver” variables in your business, gaining timely and actionable insights without complex predictive modeling. Whatever your role in decision-making, leadership, strategy, or product management, Breaking Failure will help you mitigate risk more effectively, achieve better results–and move forward in your career When lives are on the line, when billions of dollars are at risk, failure is not an option. That’s why industries such as aerospace, chemical engineering, and healthcare have pioneered world-class methods for identifying, anticipating, and mitigating failure. In Breaking Failure, Alexander D. Edsel helps you adapt these proven techniques to the realities of your business. You’ll discover how to plan more effectively for contingencies, and how to uncover and address the root causes of poor performance in business functions ranging from marketing to hiring. Equally valuable, you’ll learn how to systematically improve your situational awareness, so you can uncover problems before they damage relationships, brand reputation, or business performance. Adapted to be 100% practical and actionable, these techniques will help companies of all sizes, in all markets. As you move towards greater speed and agility, they will become even more indispensable. A practical, systematic approach to “Breaking Failure” in your company Use Problem Framing to overcome the human bias towards thoughtless action Use Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA) to anticipate problems, prioritize risks,and plan corrective actions Use Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to identify true causes of failure in any process, product, or project Use an Early Warning System (EWS) to quickly recognize signs of underperformance Use Pre-Planned Exit Strategies and Exit Triggers to end failure and underperformance issues you can’t fix

Download or read book Inside Drucker s Brain written by Jeffrey A. Krames and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In late 2003, 94-year-old Peter Drucker invited Jeffrey Krames to his home for an unprecedented day-long interview. He spoke candidly about his seminal management principles, his enormous body of work (38 books over six decades) and the leaders he had advised throughout the years. Krames used the insights he gained to create this book - a compact guide to the great man's wisdom. It showcases Drucker's most important ideas and strategies and explains why they are just as useful today as they were decades ago.

Download or read book Billion Dollar Lessons written by Paul B. Carroll and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-09-11 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ”This book is your chance to learn from others’ mistakes.”-- Entrepreneur In the 1960s, IBM CEO Tom Watson called an executive into his office after his venture lost $10 million. The man assumed he was being fired. Watson told him, “Fired? Hell, I spent $10 million educating you. I just want to be sure you learned the right lessons.” There are thousands of books about successful companies but virtually none about the lessons to be learned from those that crash and burn. Now Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui draw on research into more than 750 flameouts to reveal the seven biggest reasons for business failure.

Download or read book Multicriteria Decision Aid Methods for the Prediction of Business Failure written by Constantin Zopounidis and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1998-01-31 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a new point of view on the subject of business failure prediction, through the application of multicriteria analysis methods. The aim of the book is to provide a review of the research in the area and to explore the adequacy of these methods to one of the most complex problems in the area of financial management. In addition, the book explores the applications of the methods so that it can become a very useful tool for researchers and practitioners. The analysis of the modeling and the results in these applications provides the background for further employment of the methods.

Download or read book Risk Factors and Business Models written by D. Anthony Miles and published by Universal-Publishers. This book was released on 2011-04 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an in-depth investigation on SMEs and risk factors that influence and cause failure. Using key concepts derived from accounting, economics, marketing, management, finance, and entrepreneurship literature, Miles identifies five key risk factors that are critical to the success or failure of a business enterprise: (a) personal characteristics, (b) intangible operations, (c) enterprise operations, (d) market climate, and (e) business environment.

Download or read book Business as Usual written by Paul Mattick and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2011-05-15 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The recent global economic downturn has affected nearly everyone in every corner of the globe. Its vast reach and lingering effects have made it difficult to pinpoint its exact cause, and while some economists point to the risks inherent in the modern financial system, others blame long-term imbalances in the world economy. Into this debate steps Paul Mattick, who, in Business as Usual, explains the global economic downturn in relation to the development of the world economy since World War II, but also as a fundamental example of the cycle of crisis and recovery that has characterized capitalism since the early nineteenth century. Mattick explains that today’s recession is not the result of a singular financial event but instead is a manifestation of long-term processes within the world economy. Mattick argues that the economic downturn can best be understood within the context of business cycles, which are unavoidable in a free-market economy. He uses this explanation as a springboard for exploring the nature of our capitalist society and its prospects for the future. Although Business as Usual engages with many economic theories, both mainstream and left-wing, Mattick’s accessible writing opens the subject up in order for non-specialists to understand the current economic climate not as the effect of a financial crisis, but as a manifestation of a truth about the social and economic system in which we live. As a result the book is ideal for anyone who wants to gain a succinct and jargon-free understanding of recent economic events, and, just as important, the overall dynamics of the capitalist system itself.

Download or read book Poor Leadership Leading to Organizational Failures written by Kabilen Sornum and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2010-05 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, James Cook University, language: English, abstract: Poor leadership is undoubtedly one of the main potential factor that can lead an organization to fail. In this paper, the causes of poor leadership are discussed. The resulting impact on employees and the organization itself is also evaluated. Three case studies of great startup companies, namely Atari, Commodore and Motorola are used as examples to describe how poor leadership has been the leading factor to their organizational failures.

Download or read book Nothing Succeeds Like Failure written by Steven Conn and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do business schools actually make good on their promises of "innovative," "outside-the-box" thinking to train business leaders who will put society ahead of money-making? Do they help society by making better business leaders? No, they don't, Steven Conn asserts, and what's more they never have. In throwing down a gauntlet on the business of business schools, Conn's Nothing Succeeds Like Failure examines the frictions, conflicts, and contradictions at the heart of these enterprises and details the way business schools have failed to resolve them. Beginning with founding of the Wharton School in 1881, Conn measures these schools' aspirations against their actual accomplishments and tells the full and disappointing history of missed opportunities, unmet aspirations, and educational mistakes. Conn then poses a set of crucial questions about the role and function of American business schools. The results aren't pretty. Posing a set of crucial questions about the function of American business schools, Nothing Succeeds Like Failure is pugnacious and controversial. Deeply researched and fun to read, Nothing Succeeds Like Failure argues that the impressive façades of business school buildings resemble nothing so much as collegiate versions of Oz. Conn pulls back the curtain to reveal a story of failure to meet the expectations of the public, their missions, their graduates, and their own lofty aspirations of producing moral and ethical business leaders.

Download or read book The Fearless Organization written by Amy C. Edmondson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-11-14 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent—but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing. This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation. Explore the link between psychological safety and high performance Create a culture where it’s “safe” to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes Nurture the level of engagement and candor required in today’s knowledge economy Follow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization Shed the "yes-men" approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. The Fearless Organization helps you bring about this most critical transformation.

Download or read book HBR s 10 Must Reads on Entrepreneurship and Startups featuring Bonus Article Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything by Steve Blank written by Harvard Business Review and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2018-01-23 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best entrepreneurs balance brilliant business ideas with a rigorous commitment to serving their customers' needs. If you read nothing else on entrepreneurship and startups, read these 10 articles by experts in the field. We've combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you build your company for enduring success. Leading experts and practitioners such as Clayton Christensen, Marc Andreessen, and Reid Hoffman provide the insights and advice that will inspire you to: Understand what makes entrepreneurial leaders tick Know what matters in a great business plan Adopt lean startup practices such as business model experimentation Be prepared for the race for scale in Silicon Valley Better understand the world of venture capital--and know what you'll get along with VC funding Take an alternative approach to entrepreneurship: buy an existing business and run it as CEO This collection of articles includes "Hiring an Entrepreneurial Leader," by Timothy Butler; "How to Write a Great Business Plan," by William A. Sahlman; "Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything," by Steve Blank; "The President of SRI Ventures on Bringing Siri to Life," by Norman Winarsky; "In Search of the Next Big Thing," an interview with Marc Andreessen by Adi Ignatius; "Six Myths About Venture Capitalists," by Diane Mulcahy; "Chobani's Founder on Growing a Start-Up Without Outside Investors," by Hamdi Ulukaya; "Network Effects Aren’t Enough," by Andrei Hagiu and Simon Rothman; "Blitzscaling," an interview with Reid Hoffman by Tim Sullivan; "Buying Your Way into Entrepreneurship," by Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff; and "The Founder's Dilemma," by Noam Wasserman.

Download or read book Designing Solutions for Your Business Problems written by Betty Vandenbosch and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2003-10-27 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designing Solutions for Your Business Problems is an essential resource for managers and consultants who help organizations resolve ambiguous problems and develop new opportunities. Taking a hands-on, practical approach, Betty Vandenbosch—a leading management consultant and educator—outlines the details on how to conduct a proven process for designing solutions. Designing Solutions for Your Business Problems will teach you how to curtail investigation and generate and justify ideas without sacrificing thoroughness, creativity, persuasiveness, and fit. You will be able to capitalize on more opportunities, and your problem-solving skills will become more efficient and your solutions more compelling. This book will help you design better solutions and design them faster. Betty Vandenbosch offers a variety of useful techniques such as the "scooping diagram," which provides a framework for action, and the "logic diagram," which tests the validity of a potential solution. In addition, the book contains illustrative real-life examples of the Designing Solutions approach from a variety of organizations.

Download or read book We Never Expected That written by Avner Barnea and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-08-30 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The disciplines of strategic intelligence at the governmental level and competitive business intelligence constitute accepted methods of decision-supporting to prevent mistakes and strategic surprise. This research discovered that many researchers in the intelligence field feel that intelligence methodology in both contexts has reached a “glass ceiling.” Thus far, research has focused separately on national intelligence and intelligence in business, without any attempt to benchmark from one field to the other. This book shows that it is possible to use experience gained in the business field to improve intelligence practices in national security, and vice versa through mutual learning. The book’s main innovation is its proposition that mutual learning can be employed in the context of a model distinguishes between concentrated and diffused surprises to provide a breakthrough in the intelligence field, thereby facilitating better prediction of the surprise development. We Never Expected That: A Comparative Study of Failures in National and Business Intelligence focuses on a comparison between how states, through their intelligence organizations, cope with strategic surprises and how business organizations deal with unexpected movement in their field. Based on this comparison, the author proposes a new model which can better address the challenge of avoiding strategic surprises. This book can contribute significantly to the study of intelligence, which will become more influential in the coming years.