What business BOOK are you reading right now that inspires you? Causes you to think?

[chris]

Writing an article for a national newspaper on books that entrepreneurs and new small business owners should read.

Personally, I'm re-reading a classic:

The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business.

Clayton's book changed my viewpoint on start-ups: Better to launch a company in a unknown, leading edge technology industry niche; than endeavor to create a new company in a mature industry where majority market share is owned by big elephants....even if you have decades of knowledge in that mature industry.

Unless you have bring a disruptive technology or service to that mature industry; you usually are unable to take market share away from the established firms and will get squashed.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovator%27s_dilemma

[Bane]

http://i56.tinypic.com/4kzk95.gif

[teedubya]

I'm reading Engage by Brian Solis... and I'm reading 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, right now.

[chris]

I'm reading Engage by Brian Solis... and I'm reading 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, right now.

What do you think of Engage? Read the Amazon overview. Would you recommend to others......or do you have have a better SM branding book fav?

Thanks

[Fire Me Boy!]

http://www.amazon.com/Questions-That-Work-Business-Situation/dp/0814473296/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1292718147&sr=8-2

Author was a VP for Fox Chicago, now is a consultant. Very sharp dude.

Also reading Helter Skelter.

[teedubya]

What do you think of Engage? Read the Amazon overview. Would you recommend to others......or do you have have a better SM branding book fav?

Thanks

Brian Solis is one of the brightest minds in PR and Social Media. So, I'd recommend to anyone wishing to learn more about interactive marketing.

[chris]

Brian Solis is one of the brightest minds in PR and Social Media. So, I'd recommend to anyone wishing to learn more about interactive marketing.

Will order Kindle version tonight. Thanks!

[Rain Man]

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I can't read business books. The ones I've gutted my way through always seem to have one or two key points that can be (and are) summarized in the first few pages, and then they spend 200 more telling you those points over and over and over, with example and anecdotes and statistics and every chapter ends up summarizing the same point that they initially laid out in Chapter One.

[chiefzilla1501]

Blue Ocean Strategy is one of my favorites. Definitely worth the read.

When you say "business", what are you talking about? Leadership? Finance? Marketing?

[chiefzilla1501]

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I can't read business books. The ones I've gutted my way through always seem to have one or two key points that can be (and are) summarized in the first few pages, and then they spend 200 more telling you those points over and over and over, with example and anecdotes and statistics and every chapter ends up summarizing the same point that they initially laid out in Chapter One.

I would say you're spot on. I've made an effort to make sure books I read now have technical components. Not into leadership fluff.

[pr_capone]

Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie

[chiefzilla1501]

Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie
Not as good as Commander Salamander and 'er SingleHander Bellylander.

Good god, did I just pull that from memory?

[Ming the Merciless]

http://www.privateinvestigator.cc/images/Care%20and%20Feeding%20of%20Tenants.jpg

Best book ever if you are a property manager or own rental properties or would like to.

[chris]

Blue Ocean Strategy is one of my favorites. Definitely worth the read.

When you say "business", what are you talking about? Leadership? Finance? Marketing?


Looks for books that beginning entrepreneurs and new business owners should read for advice and tips.



Just ordered Blue Ocean. Look like a good read.

[googlegoogle]

Hamilton's Curse.

[Reaper16]

Every fucking book I read causes me to think. That's the point.

[Ming the Merciless]

Every ****ing book I read causes me to think. That's the point.

Wow you are so awesome.....Did you not notice this was about business books? Or are you just trying to make yourself look like an even bigger douche than everyone already knows you are.

http://vivalastu.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/douche_bag.jpg

[Reaper16]

Wow you are so awesome.....Did you not notice this was about business books? Or are you just trying to make yourself look like an even bigger douche than everyone already knows you are.

http://vivalastu.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/douche_bag.jpg
Clip-art smack. Huh.

The existence of this thread implies that being compelled to think while reading a business book is something so special as to warrant recommendation in an article whenever a book manages to cause thinking. I hope that isn't the case.

[chiefzilla1501]

Clip-art smack. Huh.

The existence of this thread implies that being compelled to think while reading a business book is something so special as to warrant recommendation in an article whenever a book manages to cause thinking. I hope that isn't the case.

There are a bajillion business books that devote 200+ pages to fill material that should only take 3 pages to communicate. So finding a good business book is very hard to find.

[Ming the Merciless]

Clip-art smack. Huh.

The existence of this thread implies that being compelled to think while reading a business book is something so special as to warrant recommendation in an article whenever a book manages to cause thinking. I hope that isn't the case.

Your and idiot...It also asks what INSPIRES you. Youre just trying to act more intelligent than you are. As in the majority of these cases, you fail miserably.

[Buehler445]

Writing an article for a national newspaper on books that entrepreneurs and new small business owners should read.

Personally, I'm re-reading a classic:

The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business.

Clayton's book changed my viewpoint on start-ups: Better to launch a company in a unknown, leading edge technology industry niche; than endeavor to create a new company in a mature industry where majority market share is owned by big elephants....even if you have decades of knowledge in that mature industry.

Unless you have bring a disruptive technology or service to that mature industry; you usually are unable to take market share away from the established firms and will get squashed.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovator%27s_dilemma

Meh. That's standard Business 101 stuff.

http://itleaders.com.au/images/MarketMaturityvsMarginsvsProfit.GIF

Small businesses that cannot become tremendously efficient get bled out in the growth stage. After that, a small business has to START tremendously efficient to compete, much less take market share. That's tough. There can be some inefficiencies in the market that can be served, but if a guy is looking to take over the world, he'd better have something new to bring to market.

http://www.amazon.com/Questions-That-Work-Business-Situation/dp/0814473296/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1292718147&sr=8-2

Author was a VP for Fox Chicago, now is a consultant. Very sharp dude.

Also reading Helter Skelter.

Shit. I will be reading this.

My recommendations are:

Good To Great By Jim Collins. It's a research project to identify what good companies do to become great. Really interesting. It is kind of tough to draw any kind of out-of-the-box applicable concepts, but it is a pretty comprehensive look at why great companies are great. One meaningful quote for me was, "the purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incomptence and lack of discipline".
The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen. All about discipline, but pretty good. It does have a little problem of reiterating the same points in different ways, but still a pretty important read if you want to be successful in life in general and carries over to business.

[chiefzilla1501]

Meh. That's standard Business 101 stuff.

http://itleaders.com.au/images/MarketMaturityvsMarginsvsProfit.GIF

Small businesses that cannot become tremendously efficient get bled out in the growth stage. After that, a small business has to START tremendously efficient to compete, much less take market share. That's tough. There can be some inefficiencies in the market that can be served, but if a guy is looking to take over the world, he'd better have something new to bring to market.
If you are interested in a different angle, you should read "Crossing the Chasm". Has a completely different take on the product life cycle. I apologize, I haven't read the whole thing--only excerpts. But it's interesting the way he suggests that each stage in the life cycle for high tech products consists of a chasm that can't be crossed.

[chiefzilla1501]

Apologize, haven't read either of these....

But I know in the Marketing world Jack Trout is one of the most well respected authors and I believe Differentiate or Die is considered a groundbreaking book. On the social media side, I believe I've heard that Groundswell is good, but again, have not read it.

[Shaid]

Eat That Frog - it's about getting rid of your tendencies towards procrastination. I think I'll take a break from it and finish it later. :D

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

"How to Dismantle an organization in 30 Days" by Josh McDaniels

[mesmith31]

Here are some of the favorites:

The World is Flat: Thomas Friedman
Freakonomics: Steven Levitt
Getting Organized in the Google Era: Douglas Merrill
The End of Money and the Future of Civilization: Thomas Greco
Tipping Point: Malcom Gladwell
The Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World: Liaquat Ahamed
The 48 Laws of Power: Robert Greene
Ready, Fire, Aim: Michael Masterson
Fooled by Randomness: Nassim Taleb
The EMyth: Michael Gerber
The 4 hour Work Week: Tim Ferris
Changing the Channel: Michael Masterson
Good to Great: Jim Collins

Of these Good to Great and the Emyth are probably the most important books for any business owner or entrepreneur to read.

[grandllama]

Rework

by the guys at 37 signals.

I read it again every time this new biz endeavor seems to be getting to complex

http://www.amazon.com/Rework-Jason-Fried/dp/0307463745/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292780782&sr=8-1

not an affiliate link

[Bane]

"How to Dismantle an organization in 30 Days" by Josh McDaniels

How to be Al Davis Jr for idiots?ROFL