A funny and moving memoir from the actor who played Kevin Costner's father for five minutes at the end of the movie Field of Dreams.

Know if you'll hit your targets before pulling the trigger on any marketing plan More than sixty five percent of new products are commercial failures, and if you compound this with a recession, now more than ever you can't afford to be wrong. In If You Build It Will They Come, business professor and strategy consultant Rob Adams shows you how to make sure you hit your target market before you spend a lot of money. He shows you the fast, systematic and proven approach of performing Market Validation in advance of making a large product investment. Adams outlines a simple and effective market validation and testing strategy that is proven, giving entrepreneurs and managers the ability to dramatically improve the prospect of product success. He explains how to quickly gather information on competitors, directly interview members of your target market, and figure out what the market really wants to buy, versus what customers say they want. The steps to quickly understanding the viability of your market Where to go to gather the information needed to hit the market requirements How to follow through with the right product launched in the right way Adams cuts through the fancy terms and expensive market research that gives lots of data but no real product oriented information about usage, pricing, features and competitive forces. In the end you'll produce results on your first release of a far more mature product, shipped in a faster timeframe with features customers will actually use. This book is for anyone involved with designing, developing and launching new products. Its examples and advice cover everything from the fledgling start-up that needs their first product to work just to survive to the successful Fortune Class company establishing new worldwide markets. Examples cut across all major industrial sectors including consumer, retail, manufacturing, technology, life sciences and services. This book offers the step-based guidance you need to make sure failure is not an option.

Help lay the foundation for the future of scholarly communication with these informative chapters on new information technologies and predictions for developments in the publishing industry. If We Build It, the proceedings from the 7th annual conference of the North American Serials Interest Group, stresses that the time to prepare for the revolution and phenomenal growth in electronic technology is now.This groundbreaking book addresses important questions about the future that libraries need to answer today such as: What will change for serials librarians, vendors, and publishers as ink and paper become the oddity and electronic transmitters and receivers become the norm? What services will be in demand and who will provide them? Which economic models will keep them afloat? Most importantly, can the disparate groups currently active in scholarly communication work together to build the physical, social, and economic backbone of a new model?If We Build It is an invaluable guide to the future of serials librarianship. It describes new technologies, predicts how the publishing industry will develop in the near future, and explores how the library may evolve within a new system of scholarly communication. Just a few of the exciting topics covered in these proceedings include the development of standards for networking technologies, the shift from ownership to access in libraries as a result of electronic information, the history of scholarly communication, copyright of electronic data, higher education in the 1990?s, marketing in libraries. A unique perspective on issues of cooperation between librarians, scholars, and publishers is provided by the inclusion of a joint conference day with the Society for Scholarly Publishing. If We Build It is an energizing look at the new possibilities for libraries and a call to strengthen structures and work together to build a solid future for libraries within the future of scholarly communication.

The much-anticipated follow-up to the E. B. White Award-winning picture book If I Built a Car In If I Built a Car, imaginative Jack dreamed up a whimsical fantasy ride that could do just about anything. Now he's back and ready to build the house of his dreams, complete with a racetrack, flying room, and gigantic slide. Jack's limitless creativity and infectious enthusiasm will inspire budding young inventors to imagine their own fantastical designs. Chris Van Dusen's vibrant illustrations marry retro appeal with futuristic style as he, once again, gives readers a delightfully rhyming text that absolutely begs to be read aloud.

This book, first published in 1993, addresses important questions about the future that libraries need to answer today such as: What will change for serials librarians, vendors, and publishers as ink and paper become the oddity and electronic transmitters and receivers become the norm? What services will be in demand and who will provide them? Which economic models will keep them afloat? Most importantly, can the disparate groups currently active in scholarly communication work together to build the physical, social, and economic backbone of a new model? This book is an invaluable guide to the future of serials librarianship. It describes new technologies, predicts how the publishing industry will develop in the near future, and explores how the library may evolve within a new system of scholarly communication. Just a few of the exciting topics covered include the development of standards for networking technologies; the shift from ownership to access in libraries as a result of electronic information; the history of scholarly communication; copyright of electronic data; higher education in the 1990s; and marketing in libraries.

The Wall Street Journal Bestseller featured in Bloomberg, Fast Company, Masters of Scale, the Motley Fool, Marketplace and more. An indispensable guide to building a startup and breaking down the barriers for diverse entrepreneurs from the visionary venture capitalist and pioneering entrepreneur Kathryn Finney. Build the Damn Thing is a hard-won, battle-tested guide for every entrepreneur who the establishment has left out. Finney, an investor and startup champion, explains how to build a business from the ground up, from developing a business plan to finding investors, growing a team, and refining a product. Finney empowers entrepreneurs to take advantage of their unique networks and resources; arms readers with responses to investors who say, “great pitch but I just don’t do Black women”; and inspires them to overcome naysayers while remaining “100% That B*tch.” Don’t wait for the system to let you in—break down the door and build your damn thing. For all the Builders striving to build their businesses in a world that has overlooked and underestimated them: this is the essential guide to knowing, breaking, remaking and building your own rules of entrepreneurship in a startup and investing world designed for and by the “Entitleds.”

A must have book for anyone has ever wanted to make a difference in the world. ________________________________________________ Service is the rent we pay for living" says preeminent children's advocate Marian Wright Edelman and this is the motto by which Malaak Compton Rock, dedicated humanitarian and wife of comedian Chris Rock, lives her life. From a childhood grounded in the importance of giving back to her work in public relations at The U.S. Fund for UNICEF to becoming a full-time mother and humanitarian, Malaak's life has fully embodied this sentiment. Part memoir, part practical guide, If It Takes a Village, Build One offers readers insightful advice on everything from how to find just the right volunteer opportunity, how to get kids involved in a life of service, how to research charities, and even how to start a nonprofit, as Malaak did several years ago. All of this practical wisdom is grounded in inspirational anecdotes about her own experience with service, including her work with Katrina rebuilding and her recent brainchild, Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, a program for at-risk kids from Bushwick, Brooklyn, which takes teens on a two week service mission to South Africa to volunteer and experience the world. The book also features interviews with other well known humanitarians, like PR powerhouse Terrie M. Williams, activist Bobby Shriver, and journalist Soledad O'Brien and engaging sidebars with interesting facts about service and nuggets of advice. At the end of the narrative readers will find a compendium of information including Malaak's favorite charities, unique service ideas, and suggested reading and web resources, which will make this a book to be visited time and time again. Far from being preachy or sanctimonious, Malaak's warm voice reminds us all that giving back is ultimately easier and infinitely more fulfilling than we thought it could be. Warm, honest, and accessible, If it Takes a Village, Build One will be the must-have book (and perfect gift!) for aspiring do-gooders.