Annotation Craig ranks the best and worst business deals of all time and shows how the outcome of mega-deals can depend on clear thinking and the adherence to simple guidelines.

Thousands of business books are published every year— Here are the best of the best After years of reading, evaluating, and selling business books, Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten are among the most respected experts on the category. Now they have chosen and reviewed the one hundred best business titles of all time—the ones that deliver the biggest payoff for today’s busy readers. The 100 Best Business Books of All Time puts each book in context so that readers can quickly find solutions to the problems they face, such as how best to spend The First 90 Days in a new job or how to take their company from Good to Great. Many of the choices are surprising—you’ll find reviews of Moneyball and Orbiting the Giant Hairball, but not Jack Welch’s memoir. At the end of each review, Jack and Todd direct readers to other books both inside and outside The 100 Best. And sprinkled throughout are sidebars taking the reader beyond business books, suggesting movies, novels, and even children’s books that offer equally relevant insights. This guide will appeal to anyone, from entry-level to CEO, who wants to cut through the clutter and discover the brilliant books that are truly worth their investment of time and money.

With The Executioner, Artie McFerrin has taken personal leadership development to a new level. Dr. Richard Cummins, director, Corps of Cadets Leadership Excellence Program at Texas A&M University Being able to learn from someone who has proven his exceptional entrepreneurship and leadership has made me more comfortable in making executive decisions. It is a must-read for any CEO. Nancy Gaudet, owner and CEO of Gaudet Solutions A very powerful self-help book that outlines exactly how to become successful at your own dreams. Chuck Royston, mission evaluation room engineer, NASA This is a fascinating and extremely valuable trip inside the mindand the success-building habitsof one of Americas most successful entrepreneurs. . . . Like a positive mental attitude coupled with a creative plan, Arties book will change lives. Bill Moore, partner, Enoch Kever Law Firm; former general counsel, TXU Energy In his earthy and understandable style built from his own learning and experience, Artie has captured in The Executioner a great roadmap for being successful in business whether it is as the CEO of a start-up company, or as the leader of an established operation looking to grow and improve. Dennis J. Seith, CEO INEOS Olefins and Polymers USA The Executioner is a comprehensive modernized update of the 1937 success classic, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill with the more effective nonconventional thinking, execution, and business practices since developed. Hill was unsurpassed in getting right the improved thinking, goals, and action needed for obtaining excellence. However, these near -invisible intangible success principles have remained very elusive to implement. The best business practices in most of the best books available today are also very elusive for most to implement well but for a different reason. These great practices identified dont work until you develop your thinking, habits, and ability to execute them like Hill promoted. The Executioner is a guide to excellence in developing your thinking, goals, positive mental attitude, courage, will-power, people, business, and mastery, and over-coming self-doubt.

At the heart of John C. Maxwell's brilliant and inspiring book is a simple premise: To do well in life, we must first think well. But can we actually learn new mental habits? Thinking for a Change answers that with a resounding "yes" -- and shows how changing your thinking can indeed change your life. Drawing on the words and deeds of many of the world's greatest leaders and using interactive quizzes, this empowering book helps you assess your thinking style, guides you to new ones, and step by step teaches you the secrets of: Big-Picture Thinking -- seeing the world beyond your own needs and how that leads to great ideas. Focused Thinking -- removing mental clutter and distractions to realize your full potential. Creative Thinking -- stepping out of the "box" and making breakthroughs. Shared Thinking -- working with others to compound results. - Reflective Thinking -- looking at the past to gain a better understanding of the future ...and much more. Here America's most trusted and admired motivational teacher examines the very foundation of success and self-transformation. Illuminating and life-changing, Thinking for a Change is a unique primer not on what to think, but how to best use one of your most precious possessions: your mind.

50 Best Business Ideas takes a look back at the business world over the past 50 years. Revealing the ideas and innovations that have changed how we do business. From the humble post-it note that we still use and love today, to the revolutionary fax machine that changed business for the better and formed the beginnings of the speedier, fast moving business world as we know it. 50 Best Business Ideas takes a look at the ideas, inventions and innovative practices that made an impact in the business world. Selected by a panel of top business leaders, entrepreneurs, journalists and inventors, this book is the definitive history of the ideas and inventions that shaped the business world over the past 50 years. Inspiring profiles include: The mobile phone, Flexitime, Hot-desking, Tetrapak cartons, Product Placement, The ergonomic office chair, Microwave ovens, Overnight couriers, The BlackBerry and many more. Profiling how the inspirational concept came about, its development, the hurdles it faced, to its ultimate impact the innovative idea had on the business and consumer world at the time plus where it sits today in the business arena and its future in the ever changing and developing landscape of business. Where would we be without email? How did a different approach to copywriting shape business and the advertising industry? When did we all start sitting comfortably in ergonomic office chairs? And how did celebrity endorsement become THE essential selling tool? Discover the journey of the business world from the past 50 years and its fascinating development through the best 50 innovative ideas that became the fabric of business today. Also includes profiles on Contact lenses, Satellite television, Video conferencing, The plastic bag, Budget airlines, The computer game, The electronic spreadsheet, The barcode and many more iconic business inventions...

What do Bill Gates, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, Mary Kay Ash, and Walt Disney all have in common? Uncompromising vision, a willingness to take risks, and exceptional business acumen. Not only did these individuals amass great fortunes, they revolutionized the business world and helped shape society as we know it. Theirs are just a few of the stories collected in this anthology of commercial ingenuity. Drawing on a wealth of sources, this priceless collection brings to life extraordinary achievements, many of them forgotten or little known: how Robert Morris, the preeminent merchant of the eighteenth century, financed the American Revolution with his personal credit; how Ray Kroc used a shrewd real estate strategy to turn a faltering hamburger franchise operation into the McDonald's fast food empire; and how Mary Kay Ash built a billion-dollar direct sales cosmetics company by preaching a message of economic empowerment to women. Enlightening and fascinating, Forbes(r) Greatest Business Stories of All Time celebrates larger-than-life ambition, inspired leadership, wheeling and dealing, and hard work. Forbes is a registered trademark of Forbes Inc. Its use is pursuant to a license agreement with Forbes Inc.

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.