First Business

If business is so bad, why does it remain so integral to the basic functioning of America? Economist and best-selling author Tyler Cowen says our biggest problem is that we don’t love business enough. In Big Business, Cowen puts forth an impassioned defense of corporations and their essential role in a balanced, productive, and progressive society. He dismantles common misconceptions and untangles conflicting intuitions.

Twenty years before the publication of his magnum opus Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill was an instructor, philosopher, and writer at the George Washington Institute in Chicago, where he taught courses in advertising and sales. These rare, never-before-seen lectures were thought to be lost to history. Until now. Given exclusive access to the archives of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, Jeffrey Gitomer has unearthed Hill’s original course notes containing the fundamental beliefs in hard work and personal development that established Hill as a global leader of success and positive attitude.

With a more connected society, due to the pandemic, and online shopping taking over so much retail space, shipping is becoming more central to daily life. There is almost no getting around it. How many of you shop Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc.? How many of you have your groceries delivered? Probably a lot more of you now than a few years ago. This means that freight brokers, and the freight industry as a whole, are more needed than ever before.

Business partnerships are wonderfully complex entities. As with all relationships, they are vulnerable and subject to fallibility. If you think the fact that one in every two marriages in the United States ends in divorce (that's one every 36 seconds!) is unbelievable, then consider this: The number is significantly higher for business partnerships; about 70 percent of them fail. As a business partnership relationship coach, my mission is to help flip this fail/succeed ratio.

Things are going badly for the Clan in this new SF novel of the Merchant Princes, the immensely popular series by Charles Stross. Locked in a vicious civil war for control over the kingdom of Niejwein, their army is bottled up inside a fortress under siege in two parallel universes at once. Duke Angbard, the Clan's leader, has been laid low by a stroke: plotters are already conspiring in readiness for the deadly dance to come.

In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team's Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. By quantifying the game's intangibles, they were able to deliver to Tampa Bay an American League pennant. This is an informative and entertaining case study for any organization that wants to go from worst to first.

In The Road to Your First Million, entrepreneur and motivational speaker shares a deeply personal journey filled with struggle, growth, and the pursuit of purpose. This book isn't just about making money—it's about unlocking your potential, building a life on your own terms, and redefining what success means to you.

In Building Relationships That Last a Lifetime, Ron Rice reveals the secrets he has learned in his fascinating, entrepreneurial journey to success. He examines the key strategies he used to identify, develop, and maintain both professional and personal relationships over the course of his career. Beginning as a traveling salesman, Rice navigated up through business opportunities and relationships to obtain the American dream for himself and his family.

Are you ready to take the next step in your construction career and become a licensed contractor? Passing the contractor’s license exam can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Contractor’s License Exam Prep is your roadmap to success, giving aspiring contractors the confidence, knowledge, and strategies to pass the exam and thrive in the construction industry. This all-in-one study guide covers every key topic on contractor licensing exams, including business management, estimating, contracts, project management, construction law, taxation, safety, building codes, and materials.

In the 30 years after the Civil War, the United States blew by Great Britain to become the greatest economic power in world history. That is a well-known period in history, when titans like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan walked the earth. But as Charles R. Morris shows us, the platform for that spectacular growth spurt was built in the first half of the century. By the 1820s, America was already the world's most productive manufacturer and the most intensely commercialized society in history.

"Do the Hard Things First: Defeating Shiny Object Syndrome" is your essential guide to conquering distractions and achieving your goals. This book dives deep into the root causes of Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS), offering practical strategies and real-life applications to help you stay focused and productive.

A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2024 A Library Journal Selection for Best Nonfiction of 2024 A Next Big Idea Book Club Must-Read for April “Aarathi Prasad’s Silk: A World History is a love song to this protean material. . . . Beautiful [and] fascinating.” —Wall Street Journal...

You don’t have to have an MBA to understand the basics of accounting and finance, although it helps. This short book is a primer that will give you and those in your organization some basic tools for making smarter business decisions. Like many of my senior team colleagues at the time, many people believe that finance is the responsibility of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and perhaps a few staff accountants. Over the years, I have learned that we all need to understand some of the principles of accounting and finance, as well as some best practices.

Selling technology to businesses can be one of the most rewarding careers, but getting started can be hard. Most knowledge is gained through word of mouth, and it can take years to learn how to perform well and consistently hit your target. In this how-to guide, you'll be introduced to the "sales flywheel", where Charlie Cowan will share his 20 years of technology sales experience and walk you through the external and internal tasks that combine to deliver a successful sales process.

In this honest, practical and empowering guide, seasoned entrepreneur and investor Garry Mansell shows first-time founders how to master B2B sales – even if they’ve never sold a thing in their lives. Whether you’re building a SaaS product, a consultancy or a complex solution, you’ll learn how to approach sales with structure, confidence and integrity. No sleaze. No jargon. Just a clear, step-by-step approach to turning conversations into customers.

What makes a Million Dollar Host? Ask Julie George. In 2016, curiosity led her to list her first property on Airbnb. What began as a simple way to make some “holiday money” quickly revealed its true potential. Julie transformed a side hustle into a thriving business—earning $1.43 million in her first year, with the second year poised to double that figure. In Million Dollar Host, Julie shares how she built a multi-million-dollar Airbnb management business—without owning any property.

Change Is Good, You Go First by Tom Feltenstien and Mac Anderson is not your typical business book on implementing change. The 21 stories will inspire you and your team to stop conducting business as usual! This creative audiobook will help you embrace change and realize change can be good!

In Leadership is a Relationship, accomplished founders and authors Michael S. Erwin and Willys DeVoll deliver an insightful collection of interviews with leaders who have succeeded by prioritizing the wellbeing of other people. Perfect for anyone who wants lead both morally and effectively, Leadership is a Relationship provides a concise and convincing argument that leaders who put people first have the best chance of succeeding in the twenty-first century.

Transform your life and your career with the four steps to adapt effectively to change: Engage, Accept, Activate, Release. ‘A powerful playbook to lead change.’ Dominic Price, Atlassian After the global pause in 2020, we returned to a world that feels faster, looser, and less structured –...

This audiobook highlights a little-known fact that took me a long time to understand, namely that all development is done in the same way, it conforms to the same pattern. I learned this from the aircraft factory, and it is logical because a single complex product like an aircraft comprises so many different technologies that are all developed as part of the main development project–the airframe, avionics, electrics, software systems, to name just a few.