Book Summaries

Ben Horowitz tells it straight as he shares insights gained from developing, managing, selling, buying investing in and supervising technology companies. He offers techniques for navigating the struggle of being a leader and explains why you should take care of the people, the products and the profits, in that order.

A Soundview Featured Book Review
A number of small businesses stay small but not always by choice. Only one tenth of 1 percent is persistent enough to break through to sales above $250 million a year. McFarland points out in The Breakthrough Company that it doesn’t take luck to make your “everyday” company “extraordinary.” Instead, for a company to make it big it takes a specific set of skills and strategies that can be used by anyone, from a startup to major company.

From the author of the best selling Bag the Elephant, Kaplan shows entrepreneurs and small business owners how to grow big enough to make an impact, remain financially healthy and be smart enough to dodge the “five killer mistakes.”

Entrepreneur: Be prepared. Never Bet the Farm celebrates entrepreneurship in its entirety, presenting a framework that can help entrepreneurs reduce risks and simplify decision-making. It is at once both encouraging and cautionary, but neither a textbook how-to nor an inspirational tome lacking substance. “We’re living in a world with unimaginable adversity and invisible threats,” writes Iaquinto. “Why should entrepreneurs be any different from a sailor who stows a well-stocked ...