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Lessons From the Edge: Survival Skills for Starting and Growing a Company by [Jana Matthews, Jeff Dennis, Peter Economy]

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Jana B. Matthews

Jeff Dennis

Lessons From the Edge: Survival Skills for Starting and Growing a Company 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Jana Matthews (Author), Jeff Dennis (Author), Peter Economy (Contributor) Format: Kindle Edition

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Entrepreneurs often struggle with many aspects of business: planning and financing company growth, creating a company vision, recruiting, leading, and managing people, as well as personal costs. In Lessons from the Edge, more than 50 business owners and entrepreneurs offer a wealth of real-life stories--in their own words--that provide rare insights about keeping a company healthy and growing.
Here is a unique collection of first-person accounts by entrepreneurs who describe their mistakes in business and the lessons they have learned as a result. The stories cover a wide range of experiences from the trials and tribulations of partnerships, to the loss of key customers, theft, finding and retaining employees, and the personal cost of living on the edge. The authors have drawn on interviews with more than 50 entrepreneurs, all of whom are under 45 years of age and are founders or presidents of companies with revenues over $1 million and growing rapidly. They volunteered to share their stories, describing why they lost or almost lost their companies, what they did wrong, and the lessons they have learned. Their narratives are full of mistakes, failure, courage, moments of realization, and timely moves that saved the day. Every company owner will find these accounts insightful, compelling, and occasionally gut wrenching, especially because most face similar challenges and live with the reality that they too could fall off the edge.
This instructive and inspiring book brims with lessons for all business owners about courage, persistence, and survival. Lessons from the Edge is an essential read for both established and prospective entrepreneurs.

ISBN-13

978-0195168259
Edition

1st
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

Sept. 4 2003
Language

English
File size

695 KB
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Review

"Successes inspire us, but we learn and grow from failure. Lessons From the Edge is a wonderful opportunity to walk in the shoes of entrepreneurs who learned from their mistakes so they could help us avoid them!"―Kathleen Allen, Entrepreneur, and Director, USC Technology Commercialization Alliance

"As an entrepreneur, at times I thought I was reading about myself. At other times, I learned something new and what not to do. And in the end it reinvigorates me about entrepreneurship the risks, rewards and ability to come back. A must read!"―Keith Alper, Founder & CEO, Creative Producers Group and Companies, and Past Intl President, YEO International

"No one said it would be easy. Matthews, Dennis, and Economy share the lessons learned through difficult experience so that other entrepreneurs can avoid disaster or survive it."―Rob Johnston, President, Leader to Leader Institute

"This book captures the spirit, vision, and tenacity of the entrepreneur. Lessons worth noting and using!"―Paul and Sarah Edwards, authors of the best-selling Working From Home

"Lessons from the Edge, told by real entrepreneurs who have faced disaster, provides powerful insights for navigating the edges and increasing the probability of success."―Mark P. Rice, Murata Dean, F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Jana Matthews, an international expert on company growth, founded Boulder Quantum Ventures to help CEOs, entrepreneurs, and their top teams unlock their growth potential. She frequently works with the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, Babson College, the Kauffman Center and the Edward Lowe Foundation. She is the co-author of Leading at the Speed of Growth, Building the Awesome Organization, and five other books. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. Jeff Dennis is a life-long entrepreneur. As the co-founder of Flagship Capital Partners, he has been involved in start-ups, acquisitions and financings for a variety of businesses. His current entrepreneurial project is Secutor Capital Management Corporation. Through his association with YEO and the Kauffman Center, he has created a series of "Lessons from the Edge" seminars. He lives in Toronto. Peter Economy is Associate Editor of Leader to Leader magazine and co-author of Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World's Only Conductorless Orchestra and the best-selling Managing For Dummies among others. He lives in La Jolla, California. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00VQVNEI2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (Sept. 4 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 695 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 287 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #798,251 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #448 in Starting a Business eBooks
- #719 in Business Development Textbooks
- #774 in Enterpeneurship Textbooks

Customer Reviews:
12 ratings

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Jana B. Matthews
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Jeff Dennis
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Peter Economy
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Peter Economy is a Wall Street Journal best-selling business author, ghostwriter, developmental editor, and publishing consultant with more than 125 books to his credit (and more than 3 million copies sold).
Peter’s latest book is Wait, I’m Working With Who?!? published by Career Press. He also helped create Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results; Everything I Learned About Life I Learned in Dance Class; The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness (a Wall Street Journal bestseller); Managing For Dummies; User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product; The Management Bible; Peter Isler’s Little Blue Book of Sailing Secrets; and many more.
He is the Leadership Guy on Inc.com and for more than a decade served as Associate Editor for Leader to Leader magazine—published by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum in New York City. Peter taught MGT 453: Creativity and Innovation as a lecturer at San Diego State University, is on the National Advisory Council of The Art of Science Learning, and is a founding member of the board of SPORTS for Exceptional Athletes.
A graduate of Stanford University (with majors in Economics and Human Biology), Peter has worked closely with some of the nation’s top business, leadership, and technology thinkers, including Jim Collins, Frances Hesselbein, Barry O’Reilly, Peter Senge, Kellie McElhaney, Jeff Patton, Marshall Goldsmith, Marty Cagan, Lolly Daskal, Guy Kawasaki, Emma Seppala, William Taylor, Jim Kilts, Jean Lipman-Blumen, Stephen Orban, Ken Blanchard, and many others.
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Top reviews from Canada

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Brad Feld

Great collection of entrepreneur stories

Reviewed in Canada on September 8, 2003

Jana Matthews and Jeff Dennis do a great job of writing a series of short vignettes about a number of key entrepreneurial themes. In addition to some riveting stories, they do a great job of synthesizing the lessons in short, digestible chunks. Unlike other books of entrepreneurs' stories, Jana and Jeff keep it short, sweet, and to the point, delivering a book that is simultaneously rich in content and easy to get through.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

From a contributor, this is a good read for those that dare

Reviewed in Canada on August 15, 2003

If you dare to start a business, then I cannot reccomend this book highly enough. (preface, I'm one of the 50 contributors to this book who's business experience was discussed). I finally read the book after presenting my story with 7 other of the contributors at YEO university in Vancouver. This book does a good job of presenting entrepreneur lessons out of suspenseful business "lessons from the edge." Even more importantly, the authors effectively critique and "boil down" the core lessons for the reader in a well structured, plain english manner.
As far as rating the book, I give it 5 stars, the book is well done, but the fact that it is the first of its genre: honest details about really painful business experiences from a cross section of young entrepreneurs - it earns a must read distinction in my mind.
If you are a business owner or want to be - read this book to realize just how risky it can be - and also to realize that going over the edge is NOT the end of the world. That being said, if you want to stay away from the edge and grow a business, you MUST read this book.

Helpful

John

Lessons from the Edge Review

Reviewed in Canada on April 1, 2004

Having read many business books, Lessons from the Edge offers a different prospective for entrepreneurs. It is not so much a "how to" book but rather one that highlights the negative consequences of bad decisions. These are life lessons that can be learned from others rather than yourself. I've heard it said that good men learn from their own mistakes but great men learn from the mistakes of others. This is a perfect opportunity to do that kind of learning.
Each chapter is a fast read. At the end of each section, there is a summary of important lessons learned.
In running my own business, I found some that some chapters were too familiar from my own experience. This is a great book to help you stay away from the "Edge".

Helpful

K. Daum

There's nothing like learning from the mistakes of others

Reviewed in Canada on September 10, 2003

Jana, Jeff and Peter have done an amazing job of compiling real business mistakes and difficulties into an easy to read, must have reference for the entrepreneur. I for one would much rather learn from the challenges of others before forcing myself to learn the hard way out of ignorance. This book provided over 40 opportunities to do just that. This book goes a long way in filling the gaps in my experience and I would suggest it to every would be and current entrepreneur

Helpful

Jonathan Mara

Valuable Learning at the Edge!

Reviewed in Canada on August 15, 2003

It was great to read the numerous and varied stories that real life entrepreneurs face on an ongoing basis. It is from these stories that the fabric of what it means to be an entrepreneur is woven - and for myself as the reader to be able to learn valuable lessons from the experiences of others. I now have the opportunity to take that value, apply it to my own business, personal and entrepreneurial life and realize a more rewarding and rich destiny - without going over the Edge!

Helpful

Craig F.

Fantastic Entrepreneurial Stories

Reviewed in Canada on August 14, 2003

"Lessons from the Edge" is one of the best business books I have ever read. Not only does the book contain poignant and true stories of how entrepreneurs overcame huge personal and business obstacles, it provides a summary business lesson after each story and section that enables the reader to draw their own lessons from the book. The prose is tight and a surprisingly quick read.

Helpful

Greg

Lessons From the Edge

Reviewed in Canada on March 26, 2004

I enjoyed reading it and would like to share a few things that came to mind as I read. My relationship with God is first and foremost followed by family. I have made several of the mistakes in varing degrees and it's good to see that I am not alone. It was afirming to see that I am on track with several things that I am working on in my business and have been working on for some time. It will stay on my shelf as a referance.

Helpful

Sean Magennis

Finally-Real Life Stories

Reviewed in Canada on August 14, 2003

Congratulations on a great compilation of real life stories. I have been waiting for the book since hearing about it several years ago. I know several of the entrepreneurs you have profiled and each page has some nugget of learning I can apply to my own business and life. This will be a great reference book and part of my library of "keepers". Thank you!

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Conor Nicholson

Must read for entrepreneur's starting their own business

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2011

Verified Purchase

I read this book about a year ago, right before I left a consulting position and decided to pursue my dream of running my own business. I read it a second time recently and learned even more the second time around. This book is clear, concise and very insightful when it comes to the various pitfalls of running an organization. Whether you want to learn about how to find the right employees, find the right partner or get the right type of financing, this is a great read.

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