James Vena is an innovative and strategic thinker who has influenced key decision-makers globally in business development and revenue growth strategies. For more than thirty years, James has built a resume that encompasses a wide range of industries and expertise in sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, merger arbitrage, technology and executive management. He has successfully developed innovative, high growth businesses and restructured companies that immediately demonstrated accelerated sales and profit growth. His 30 year career has been marked by success across many countries and industries. This track record has established James's credentials as both a seasoned internationally astute executive and a disruptive innovator with a quick and fearless mind to seize opportunities along with the ability to articulate the mission needed to achieve specific goals. Mr. Vena's career started as a China trader of commodities in the early 1980's for a large US firm. After 5 years, he founded his own trading company at 26 and over the next 20 years developed that company into an internationally recognized brand with offices in 24 locations in some 15 countries. After retiring as CEO and Founder of his global trading company to take a 5-year sabbatical in order to care for his cancer stricken wife and help raise the couple's young children, the always energetic James unretired and re-entered the world of international business. However, this time focusing on his past experiences, leadership skills and entrepreneurial mind-set to help develop and grow small businesses and early stage ventures. James's entrepreneurial mind-set and dynamic personality combined with high energy, passion and purposeful manner, makes him an effective inspirational and motivational communicator. James has been mentoring entrepreneurs, lecturing students and publicly speaking to corporate leaders on the importance of cultural awareness, social responsibility, entrepreneurship, benevo

These days, the word entrepreneur has become the most over used word in social media. The self descriptive title ‘"entrepreneur” is used too often, mostly without much merit or credibility. Whether you're fantasizing about leaving the daily grind of "employee-dom" or dropping out of school for what you think is the freedom and independence of "business ownership utopia", you may want to take a moment to first understand your "inner entrepreneur." Knowing yourself and understanding the "Inner Entrepreneur" (or lack of), may be more important than your vision and even the business model itself. Doing something entrepreneurial, doesn't necessarily make one an entrepreneur. Simply put, it's my opinion that true entrepreneurship is a journey and a lifestyle, rather than merely a single act or destination. It is powered by passion, creativity, purpose, instinct, courage (aka grace under pressure) and a unique charismatic confidence (sans arrogance) to go along with a never give up attitude. This book will also help you better understand how tho innovate to raise hell and articulate to raise capital in its capital raise section. Also covered in this book is effective leadership, the power of optimism and tips to help you become more successful in everything you do by following 15 simple daily actions! James Vena is an innovative and strategic thinker who has influenced key decision-makers globally in business development and revenue growth strategies. For more than thirty years, James has built a resume that encompasses a wide range of industries and expertise in sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, merger arbitrage, technology and executive management. He has successfully developed innovative, high growth businesses and restructured companies that immediately demonstrated accelerated sales and profit growth. His 30 year career has been marked by success across many countries and industries. This track record has established James’s credentials as both a seasoned internationally astute executive and a disruptive innovator with a quick and fearless mind to seize opportunities along with the ability to articulate the mission needed to achieve specific goals. Mr. Vena’s career started as a China trader of commodities in the early 1980’s for a large US firm. After 5 years, he founded his own trading company at 26 and over the next 20 years developed that company into an internationally recognized brand with offices in 24 locations in some 15 countries. After retiring as CEO and Founder of his global trading company to take a 5-year sabbatical in order to care for his cancer stricken wife and help raise the couple’s young children, the always energetic James unretired and re-entered the world of international business. However, this time focusing on his past experiences, leadership skills and entrepreneurial mind-set to help develop and grow small businesses and early stage ventures. James’s entrepreneurial mind-set and dynamic personality combined with high energy, passion and purposeful manner, makes him an effective inspirational and motivational communicator. James has been mentoring entrepreneurs, lecturing students and publicly speaking to corporate leaders on the importance of cultural awareness, social responsibility, entrepreneurship, benevolent capitalism, organizational ethics and his brand of ‘intellectual humility’ in the workplace.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The Sustainable Edge: Fifteen Minutes a Week to a Richer Entrepreneurial Life was written for business owners who are seeking a fuller, more rewarding work-life balance. In this easy-to-reference, practical guide authors and entrepreneurs Ron Carson and Scott Ford share personal anecdotes to their own career successes. Each chapter is designed to inspire entrepreneurs to define and sustain a competitive edge in the complex, fast-changing world of business. Relying on insights and proprietary tools based on decades of experience, the authors teach you how to achieve your goals across four key areas: your business, your teams, your clients, and your personal lives. In this book you will learn the authors’ trademarked Business Implementation Quotient (IQ) Grower process that appears in the form of end-of-chapter exercises. These easy-to-perform exercises can be completed in as little as 15 minutes per week to help your company boost its own Business IQ. This work is an important read for entrepreneurs in search of achieving the sustainable edge in their careers and their lives.

This book explores the connections between the Jungian concept of time-space relations and how today's business leaders can be aware of sychronistic situations to use them ethically in the workplace. It bridges the Jungian concepts of synchronicity with grounded business applications. It is written in a straightforward accessible style and includes examples from real life business situations. It explores synchronicity and explains how it can be recognized and used in business situations. This book takes the sayings ''timing is everything' and being "at the right place at the right time" and establishes that synchronistic events do occur in the lives of entrepreneurs and others with surprisingly regularity.

It seems like these days, whenever you look at a newsstand, at least one major business magazine has a cover story about a wildly successful entrepreneur in his or her 20s or 30s. That's not surprising when one considers that one out of every five small-business owners in America is under 35, and that more young people are starting businesses than ever before. Right now, in college dorm rooms and their parents' garages, the next generation of Sam Waltons, Bill Gateses, and Michael Dells are hard at work. "If you are ever going to take risks in exploring your career options, this is the absolute best time to do it," says 26-year-old entrepreneurial expert Jennifer Kushell. "Why wait until you have a semi-stable corporate job and major financial obligations to discover that you hate your career and need to make a big change?" Kushell is the ideal mentor for young people thinking about taking the plunge. Her very successful Young Entrepreneurs Network educates teens and twentysomethings in 40 countries about forming their own companies. A born entrepreneur -- her father and aunt are leading experts on franchising and trademark licensing, respectively -- Kushell presided over her own company's growth while attending college full-time. Her book draws on her invaluable hands-on experience: "It's not so much a how-to-start-a-business book as it is a how-to-cope-with-life-while-starting-and-succeeding-in-your-own-business book," the author says. "All I can say is that this is the real deal, the real story." With wit, candor and exuberance for her subject, Kushell gives practical and personal insight from a young entrepreneur's point of view to help new business owners get through their first few years. The book "also teaches you tricks of the trade that you can rely on to compete successfully in a business world with people twice your age and companies God-knows-how-many-times-as big," she adds. The Young Entrepreneur's Edge addresses key topics such as trying to obtain capital and writing a business plan, which, the author says, are among the biggest obstacles for young entrepreneurs. But the book also tackles critical areas that other business books rarely address: how to get older people to take you seriously; how not to starve when you're broke; how to win your family's approval; how to get out and meet important people; how not to get carded when entertaining clients; and other unique situations faced by young business people. Praise for The Young Entrepreneur's Edge "Fresh college graduates frustrated by the job search should pick up a copy of [this book]." --"Los Angeles Times" "Can help both job-seekers and job-holders rethink their idea of gainful employment." --"Mademoiselle" "Entertaining, fast-reading, and immensely sensible. Kushell is a human dynamo." --"Sacramento Bee" "Every young entrepreneur needs good ideas, and this book is full of them." --Fred Deluca, founder and president of Subway(R) Restaurants "It is a must-read for my students." --Kathleen R. Allen, Ph.D., The Entrepreneur Program, University of Southern California

Looks at Silicon Valley's business environment, and what features have made it a fertile ground for start-up companies who develop radical and disruptive technologies.

There are many reasons for business failure, chief among which is management. Invariably, entrepreneurs / business owners usually blame outside forces for their shortcomings or ill luck. Often the very traits that lead them to launch an entrepreneurial enterprise are the traits that lead to the final demise of their dreams. The internal locus of control and if its going to be its up to me attitude that entrepreneurs possess and acknowledge as a factor of success is rejected as a contributing factor of failure. The reason for trouble and a resultant failure is most often attributed to the lack of capital and the lack of the ability, knowledge, and capacity to obtain capital both in the form of debt and equity and, most prevalent, the lack of positive cash flow. This book will help the entrepreneur who may be well versed in a given field, expertise, or industry to fill the ever-present task of constantly seeking required capital. In addition to the increasing management, communication, and people skills that the perhaps technically talented enterpriser must soon master is the realization that he/she must also always seek capital if the business is to survive and grow. Capital, working capital, positive cash flow is the lifeblood of the business. Without it, there is no growth, no survival, and no life. In the entrepreneurs enthusiasm, the zeal to achieve the vision, the exhilaration and activity of the moment, the need for money, and a timely positive cash flow are often overlooked. They are the very life force of the business, the oxygen for the venture, without which it will die. The Entrepreneurs Edge ll will assist the planning necessary in finding the money, raising the money, making the money, and keeping the money. It, along with the accompanying books in the series (The Entrepreneurs Edge: Finding the Money, The Entrepreneur Manager: The Business Mans Business Plan, The Entrepreneurs Guide to Start, Grow, and Manage a Profitable Business, and Economics Entrepreneurship Ethics : The Es of Business), helps to fill the toolbox necessary for every entrepreneur and business manager.