BizBooks

Mike Paton on Identifying Core Processes For Your Business

This deep-dive into the revolutionary EOS method to strengthen a company's process component will help leaders at all companies run better businesses and live better lives. If you own, run, or lead in a fast-moving business, you're likely driven by passion and a desire to be free.
Many leaders mistakenly believe instilling rigor and discipline for process throughout your organizations will inhibit freedom. They couldn't be more wrong. It's when you're stuck in the day-to-day, putting out fires and cleaning up messes, that passion turns to frustration. Freedom seems somewhere between elusive and impossible. The secret to getting unstuck is process. This inspiring, informative field guide will prove it's possible to establish rigor and discipline for process while also increasing creativity, flexibility, and innovation.
Process!, written by Mike Paton and Lisa Gonzales, will help you identify a handful of core processes that make your business uniquely valuable. You'll learn how to document and simplify the major steps in those processes so they can be done the right and best way, every time. Finally, you'll execute a simple, step-by-step plan that is helping entrepreneurs around the world consistently get the results they want.
Mike Paton has spent every working day of the last 15 years helping thousands of leaders around the globe run better businesses and live better lives. An EOS Implementer and sought-after speaker, Paton succeeded Gino Wickman and spent five years as EOS Worldwide’s Visionary, is the host of the top-rated podcast The EOS Leader, and co-authored two books in the Traction Library – Get A Grip and Process!
He’s grateful to be living his ideal life – helping others master the timeless disciplines and practical tools of the Entrepreneurial Operating System.
Topics in this episode include:
01:08 - About Mike Paton
09:07 - Process doesn't destroy freedom, it creates freedom
19:35 - Documenting the process
23:33 - Communication and training as part of the process
31:03 - Keeping the system simple
36:20 - Leading to help employees manage themselves
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Process-Discipline-Consistency-Will-Business/dp/B0BHLGY2R7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DVM9E6GI3XTQ&keywords=mike+paton+process&qid=1680740005&s=books&sprefix=mike+paton+process%2Cstripbooks%2C74&sr=1-1
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10-person company financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Gary Rivlin on Running a Business During COVID Times

Saving Main Street is an unfiltered, up-close examination of a small group of business owners and their employees, their struggles, and their strategies to survive. It is an eye-opening tale of grit, perseverance, and entrepreneurial spirit that follows three businesses: a restaurant owner and his rambunctious staff, an immigrant running her own hair salon, and the owner of a “non-life sustaining” gift shop—alongside a larger cast of vividly drawn characters.
Gary Rivlin focuses on the first days of the Covid lockdown and the ensuing eighteen months of chaos, including the personal and financial risks, a contentious presidential election, and contradictory governmental guidelines—all which compounded the everyday challenges of running an independent business trying to attract and retain customers who expect low prices, convenience, and endless choice.
Rivlin keenly observes small businesses from all angles, examining commonly held “myths”; contradictions in government policy; enormous racial and class fissures; a national self-identity intrinsically connected to the ideal of small business, and how the decline of this American way of retail impacts our notions of American exceptionalism, community, and civic duty.
As Rivlin reveals, there’s something enduring about small business in the American psyche. Life will have changed in unprecedented ways on the other side of this pandemic, yet hard times will also create opportunities, offering hope and survival.
Topics in this episode include:
00:53 - About Gary
06:55 - Gary's thoughts on the COVID lockdowns and mandates
19:41 - The Federal Reserve and Treasury's role during COVID
23:58 - Paycheck Protection Program
27:40 - Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program
40:20 - The role of politicians during COVID
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Main-Street-Business-COVID-19/dp/0063065967
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10-person company financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Andrew Freedman on Building a High-Performance Culture

A #1 Amazon Best-Seller, Thrive provides leaders with a clear blueprint for building a high-performance culture. Drawing on extensive experience in change management, organizational development, and performance consulting, Andrew Freedman and Paul Elliott share their systematic approach, known as the Exemplary Performance System (EPS), in a way that enables leaders to take immediate action to shift workforce engagement and performance.
Thrive teaches leaders how to create clarity and alignment around what high performance looks like and how to replicate it at scale, identify and eliminate barriers to performance excellence, effectively align individual and team priorities with those of the company, and build organizational systems and processes that accelerate business and financial results.
Purchasing Thrive also gives readers access to more than twenty accelerators—downloadable tools, templates, and artifacts to help leaders implement the processes and practices that Andrew and Paul share throughout the book.
Andrew Freedman is a lifelong advocate for maximizing human potential and creating positive change, both personally and professionally. For more than twenty-five years, he’s been a driving force in designing strategies that provide leaders with a foundation to translate individual, team, and organizational talent into tangible business growth.
As Managing Partner of SHIFT Consulting, he’s helped countless companies across diverse industries flourish through vibrant company cultures and a high-performance mindset. Additionally, through his work as an affiliate faculty member of the University of Baltimore, Andrew’s continued goal is to use his insatiable passion for human performance to inspire new generations of business leaders with the art and science of creating and executing successful, people-focused business strategies.
Topics in this episode include:
00:48 - About Andrew and Paul
07:25 - Defining success
17:18 - What to do when previous high-performers are not performing well
25:13 - Identifying whether somebody will do well in their jobs
28:55 - Motivating your team
38:26 - Using a balance score card to amplify results
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Leaders-Building-High-Performance-Culture/dp/154451607X/ref=asc_df_154451607X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475795130774&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16484615843778310309&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007481&hvtargid=pla-1164642357513&psc=1
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10-person financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Herman Simon and Adam Echter on Beating Inflation

Is unabated inflation the new normal? Inflation is back and here to stay. For companies, this means that the world in which they do business has fundamentally changed.
This book examines inflation from multiple perspectives and offers actions and strategies for companies to cope with and manage it to ensure their survival. For businesses and consumers, it is not a question of eliminating inflation, but how to cope with it in order to suffer as little damage as possible. This includes not just price management, but also sales, finance, purchasing, cost management along with digitalization and innovation activities in equal measure. It also requires corporate cultural change, which if managed fast and successfully, the prospects of defeating inflation and thus ensuring the survival of the company are good.
Hermann Simon is the Founder and Honorary Chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners. He is an expert in strategy, marketing and pricing. He is the only German in the “Thinkers50 Hall of Fame” of the most important management thinkers in the world. In German-speaking countries he has been continuously voted the most influential living management thinker since 2005. The magazine Cicero ranks him in the top 100 of the 500 most important intellectuals.
Adam Echter is a Partner and Head of the Silicon Valley office at Simon-Kucher. For 17 years, Adam’s career has focused on value-based sales. He gained 12 months of focused sales training at The Timken Company and then worked in outside industrial sales for the next five years. During his time in industry, Adam developed his sales skills from outside sales to restructuring, engaging, and empowering sales teams for industrial companies of various sizes, ranging from 100 million dollars to several billion. He has helped design pricing and sales organizations on three continents, installed enterprise-level pricing software for several Fortune 100 companies, and supported sales engagement for thousands of sales professionals around the World.
Topics in this episode include:
01:00 - About Hermann and Adam
10:55 - Using data to beat inflation
18:28 - Communicating price increases with your customers
25:35 - Why you shouldn’t fully pass on 100% of your cost increases to customers
36:25 - Utilizing price escalators to beat inflation
40:29 - Dynamic pricing vs. multi-dimensional pricing and other pricing systems
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Beating-Inflation-Concrete-Effective-Corporate/dp/3031200926/ref=asc_df_3031200926/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598359424988&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8086719900228207612&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007481&hvtargid=pla-1817689984547&psc=1
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10-person financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Phil Simon on Project Management in the Hybrid Workplace

For decades, organizations of all sizes and in all industries have struggled at project management. Even though employees primarily worked together in physical offices, rare was the project that came in on time and on budget and delivered what stakeholders expected.
The M-F/9-5 in-person world of work is gone forever. Depending on the country, more than nine in ten people would rather quit their jobs than return to the office five days per week. Brass tacks: Remote and hybrid workplaces are here to stay, and they pose formidable obstacles that complicate managing projects and launching new products.
Against this backdrop arrives Project Management in the Hybrid Workplace, Phil Simon's timely and highly anticipated follow-up to his award-winning book Reimagining Collaboration. In his inimitable style, Simon adeptly fuses critical research and concepts from a slew of diverse and seemingly unrelated fields, including Agile software development, human resources, supply chain management, organizational behavior, cognitive psychology, and labor economics.
Brimming with detailed case studies, penetrating insights, and practical advice, Simon's twelfth book is a tour de force. Product owners, new and seasoned PMs, service providers, freelancers, small business owners, and students taking PM classes will benefit from Project Management in the Hybrid Workplace.
Phil Simon is a frequent keynote speaker and recognized authority. He is the award-winning author of thirteen books, most recently Low-Code/No-Code: Citizen Developers and the Surprising Future of Business Applications. He helps organizations communicate, collaborate, and use technology better. Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, Wired, NBC, CNBC, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and The New York Times have featured his contributions. He also hosts the podcast Conversations About Collaboration.
Topics in this episode include:
00:56 - About Phil
07:06 - How many people want to work in the office?
14:03 - Downsides to efficiency
19:50 - The Waterfall Method
26:25 - What is Social Capital?
32:34 - Adopting a good project management platform Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Project-Management-Hybrid-Workplace-Simon/dp/B0B199PYNQ
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10-person financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Chris Voss on Negotiating in Business and Life

Whether negotiating in business or your personal affairs, life is a series of negotiations you should be prepared for: buying a car, negotiating a salary, buying a home, renegotiating rent, and deliberating with your partner. Taking emotional intelligence and intuition to the next level, Never Split the Difference gives you the competitive edge in any discussion.
After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles―counterintuitive tactics and strategies―you too can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life.
Topics in this episode include:
01:13: About Chris
07:15: What is cognitive bias?
16:29: Demonstrating empathy
20:53: De-contemplation
26:00: Overcoming barriers
32:30: Accusation audits
39:10: Breaking down the word 'fair'
Get his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10-person company financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Kavita Ganeson on the artificial intelligence strategies and best practices

Artificial intelligence is much more than a sexy marketing gimmick. At its core, it’s a powerful business tool that can make operations and decision-making more efficient, employees more productive, and customers delighted.
Unfortunately, leaders who want to take advantage of artificial intelligence often don’t know where to start. The process can feel overwhelming—from analyzing existing processes and software systems and choosing where to apply AI automation, to preparing every tier of the organization for the transition.
In this practical guide for business leaders, Kavita Ganesan takes the mystery out of implementing AI, showing you how to launch AI initiatives that get results. With real-world AI examples to spark your own ideas, you’ll learn how to identify high-impact AI opportunities, prepare for AI transitions, and measure your AI performance.
Simple and compelling, The Business Case for AI gives leaders the information and resources they need without statistics, data science, or technical jargon. Whether you want to jumpstart your AI strategy, manage your AI initiatives for better outcomes, or simply find inspiration for your own AI and machine learning applications, The Business Case for AI is your blueprint for AI success.
Kavita Ganesan is an AI subject matter expert, advisor, speaker, educator, and founder of Opinosis Analytics, an AI consulting and training company. With a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and over fifteen years of experience in the field, Kavita has delivered more than two dozen successful AI initiatives for a wide range of organizations, from midsize operations to Fortune 500s. An educator and collaborator at heart, she helps thousands of leaders and AI practitioners around the world through her blog articles, coaching and training sessions, and open-source tools. Learn more at kavita-ganesan.com.
Topics in this episode include:
00:58 - About Kavita
10:00 - Deep Learning
16:16 - Robotics and AI in warehouses and factories
19:40 - Addressing foundational gaps when it comes to AI
26:00 - How AI can improve business processes
33:44 - How to leverage machine learning to improve processes
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Business-Case-Strategies-Real-World-Applications-ebook/dp/B09TRS55K8
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10 company financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Julia Boorstin on How We Can Learn From Women in Business

In When Women Lead, Julia Boorstin brings together the stories of over sixty of those female CEOs and leaders, and dozens of new studies. Her combination of narrative and research reveals how once-underestimated characteristics, from vulnerability and gratitude to divergent thinking, can be vital superpowers—and that anyone can work these approaches to their advantage.
Featuring new interviews with Katrina Lake, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jenn Hyman, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Lena Waithe, Shivani Siroya, Julia Collins, and more, When Women Lead is a radical blueprint for the future of business, and our world at large.
Julia Boorstin is CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech Correspondent and has been an on-air reporter for the network since 2006. She also plays a central role on CNBC’s bicoastal tech-focused program “TechCheck” delivering reporting, analysis, and CEO interviews with a focus on social media and the intersection of media and technology.
Topics in this episode include:
00:55 - About Julia
07:30 - Women and the Metaverse
12:00 - Addressing unconscious bias vs. Pattern Matching
25:25 - How men and women differ when it comes to taking risks
29:55 - What is the "confirmatory standard?"
38:13 - What to consider when joining networking support groups
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/When-Women-Lead-Achieve-Succeed/dp/1982168218
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10 company financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Mark Achler on Selling Your Startup

Exit Right delivers the hard-earned lessons about selling your startup and decisions that lead to successful exits. From negotiation to valuation to breaking down a term sheet, managing legal costs, and handling emotional turbulence—this unparalleled guide covers every critical aspect of a technology startup sale. Learn where deals get into trouble, how to create alignment between negotiating parties, and what terms you should care about most. Above all, learn how to win in both the short and the long term, maximizing your price while positioning your company for a legacy you can be proud of.
Mark Achler is Managing Director of MATH Venture Partners. Additionally, Mark teaches Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business. Prior to MATH, Mark was the Senior Vice President of New Business, Strategy and Innovation for Redbox. He is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded four companies as well being a partner in an earlier venture fund called Kettle Partners.
Mark has an undergraduate degree in Social Studies Education from Purdue University and is a frequent speaker, resource and ardent champion for the entrepreneurial community.
Topics in this episode include:
01:10 - About Mark Achler
10:25 - What is the F.A.I.R Framework?
22:50 - Examples of companies buying other companies
29:44 - Why you need to have an annual exit talk
36:30 - Why Cap Table Management is one of the most important decisions you need to make
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Exit-Right-Startup-Maximize-Return/dp/1544525990/ref=asc_df_1544525990/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564670366290&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2492043758215391607&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007481&hvtargid=pla-1629054639578&psc=1
About Gene: About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10 company financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.

Robert Chalfin on Buying a Business

A Practical Guide to Buying a Business: Locating a Business, Performing Due Diligence, Valuing the Enterprise, Raising Funds, and Closing the Deal provides a comprehensive overview of the acquisition process-from locating a business a business to the final contract. The information is presented sequentially with sample forms, checklists, and agreements.
Robert J. Chalfin is the CEO of The Chalfin Group Inc., a Metuchen, New Jersey-based firm that offers advisory services in connection with the purchase and sale of closely held businesses, strategic planning, and valuation. Mr. Chalfin is an owner/investor, corporate board member, and consultant to several businesses, many of which are in the information technology sector. He has invested in, operated, and developed real estate. For eight years he served on the Board of Directors of Raritan Bay Medical Center and Raritan Bay Health Service Corporation. ​
Mr. Chalfin is an attorney, CPA, and a Lecturer in Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He teaches graduate-level courses on acquiring closely-held businesses and real estate entrepreneurship to MBA candidates. Mr. Chalfin has presented seminars to numerous professional organizations on a variety of topics including buying and selling businesses, strategic planning, and business valuation.
Topics in the Episode Include:
00:43 - About Robert
03:58 - The Strategic Buyer
09:30 - Why it's important to understand why somebody is selling their business
20:38 - Differentiating a good Seller's Memo vs. a bad one
31:55 - How Robert approaches helping a buyer of a business
39:47 - Valuing a business
48:11 - How often does a seller stay involved in the business?
Get the Book Here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
About Gene: Gene Marks is a former columnist for The New York Times and The Washington Post and now writes weekly on political, economic, management and technology issues affecting small and mid-sized businesses for The Guardian, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, Forbes and Entrepreneur. He runs a 10 company financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.