In every industry, there are companies that take off. They effortlessly hire talented people, attract loyal customers, create cool products and make lots of money. These companies seem to stand out and scale up quickly with support from investors, partners and the media. Sadly, most companies don't perform this way. Most entrepreneurs aren't building anything of value. They work hard, make sacrifices, struggle, dream, plan and strive, but in the end, it doesn't pay off. This book sets out a method for building a business that becomes a valuable asset. It focuses you on transforming your organisation into something scalable, digital, fun and capable of making an impact. It's time to, stand out, scale up and build a business that has a life of its own. Start now by reading this book.

Iceland truly lived the boom and bust. Once a tiny country on the edge of Europe, in less than two decades it became a global financial powerhouse. This is the story of how one man, one bank and one country experienced and affected the course of world economic history. Armann Thorvaldsson, a former CEO at Kaupthing in the UK, tells the story of how his company was transformed into a £6 billion international bank, by far the largest in his country’s history. Helping to build the biggest names in Icelandic business, Thorvaldsson represented the money behind such household names as easyJet, Matalan, Iceland and Karen Millen. As the boom got bigger, the Icelandic bankers worked and played hard with their international clients, including Gordon Ramsay, the Candy brothers, Mike Ashley and Robert Tchenguiz. Moving from Reykjavik to London, Monte Carlo and St Tropez, they seemed unstoppable. Yet, when the bust came, even the most frantic attempts to save the bank were fruitless, leading to the total collapse of the Icelandic economy. Thorvaldsson’s reflections on exactly what happened and why, make compelling reading.

Praise for Intangible Assets "In Intangible Assets, Jeffrey Cohen presents an informative, thought-provoking and practical look at an increasingly important component of every business's worth. He describes the art and science of identifying assets that have clear economic benefit, but are typically not found on the balance sheet, and he provides an invaluable framework within which the reader can value these assets, despite their elusive nature." --Rick Westervelt, President, Skylist, Inc. "Jeffrey Cohen's integrative approach to conceptual issues of intangible assets is creative and a refreshing contribution. He brings law, economics, finance, and accounting to the same table, which results in a comprehensive framework for understanding how value is created and sustained. His construct of 'proto-assets' and 'portfolio of intangible economic benefits' is key. Written in an easy-to-read style with many practical examples, this book will be useful for both novice and experienced professionals." --W. Dana Northcut, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Accounting Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago Principal, Chicago Partners, LLC "This volume is the perfect resource for newcomers to IP valuation. Through lucid explanations and well-chosen illustrations, it does for the reader exactly what a valuation expert should do for a client--it makes the abstract concrete. But this volume is not just for the novice; it holds insights that will be useful to IP experts in law, accounting, and economics." --Edward F. Malone, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP

Every industry revolves around Key People of Influence. People think it takes decades of hard work, academic qualifications and good luck to become a Key Person of Influence. This book shows that there is a strategy for fast-tracking your way to the inner circle of the industry you love. Your ability to succeed depends on your ability to influence.

“Read this page turner to know what to do and—as importantly—what not to do in M&A. You will be glad you did.” —Mark Victor Hansen, coauthor and co-creator of The One Minute Millionaire and Chicken Soup for the Soul Every year, more than fifty thousand deserving entrepreneurs and executives attempt to sell a company they’ve worked tirelessly to build—yet more than 70 percent fail. Why? Because most deals are derailed by hidden dangers that leave both buyers and sellers blindsided. Broken Handoff: Saving Your Assets is a breakthrough book with rare and remarkably transparent insights into owning, buying, and selling a business. Exposing unexpected pitfalls and revealing hands-on solutions for the mergers and acquisitions process, Broken Handoff delivers tools to beat the odds and broker the deal you want. This definitive guide to business-ownership transactions is required reading for founders, CEOs, venture capitalists, mentors, and moguls. “Losses from M&A transactions that fall short of expectations represent an opportunity of $3 trillion a year. Broken Handoff clearly addresses the vulnerabilities and shortcomings that cause these failures—and, more importantly, advances viable solutions. This book should be read by everyone anticipating an M&A transaction, funding, or liquidity event.” —James Keyes, former CEO of 7-Eleven and Blockbuster, Horatio Alger recipient “Smashes through the financial and theoretical rhetoric of M&A success and failures. Filled with insights and lessons learned from the school of hard knocks, this book should be required reading for all parties in the M&A dance—especially those seeking to avoid a postmerger cultural collision and declining productivity.” —Michael Schornstein, startup founder, CMO, advisory board member of CommandHound

It is now widely recognized that the effective management of knowledge assets is a key requirement for securing competitive advantage in the emerging information economy. Yet the physical and institutional differences between tangible assets and knowledge assets remain poorly understood. In the case of knowledge, the ownership and control of assets are becoming ever more separate, a phenomenon that is actually exacerbated by the phenomenon of learning. If we are to meet the challenges of the information economy, then we need a new approach to property rights based on a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge assets. Max Boisot writes clearly and in accessible language providing some of the key building blocks which are needed for a theory of knowledge assets. He develops a powerful conceptual framework, the Information-Space or I-Space, for exploring the way knowledge flows within and between organizations. This framework will enable managers and students to explore and understand how knowledge and information assets differ from physical assets, and how to deal with them at a strategic level within their organizations.

Tucker Sinclair's life has returned to normal after her first misadventure with murder in FALSE PROFITS. But that's about to change when her old college flame, Evan Brice, strolls back into her life after a 10-year estrangement that began when he dumped Tucker to marry her closest friend. Evan is now a successful Hollywood agent who has acquired many mistresses and a love affair with drugs. When Evan is found brutally murdered, the police quickly close in on the victim's widow, who turns to ex-best friend Tucker for help. Soon, Tucker runs afoul of the detective in charge of the case and finds herself at odds with a biker gang and a narcissistic soap opera star in a race to sort the innocent from the guilty.