Entrepreneurship Memoir

In early 2012, Jim Tselikis visited LA and met up with his cousin Sabin Lomac. Over a few drinks they waxed nostalgic about their childhood in Maine, surrounded by family, often elbow deep in delicious lobster while gathered around the picnic table. From this strong memory was born the very first Cousins Maine Lobster food truck. Smart, authentic marketing, and sustainable, delicious ingredients helped turn that one food truck into an overnight sensation.

Many think that a start-up needs to raise millions of dollars from investors to create a big and successful business. Or that a business owner needs to hire employees as fast as they can. That’s just simply not true. In Bootstrapped to Millions, you’ll explore numerous ways to build a business that continues to grow year after year without needing to hire employees or pour your hard-earned profit back into the business. Starting a business today has never been easier, but it takes focus, determination, and a clear vision to create a successful business.

Risk and Return is the story of one man’s return to Africa - a journey that begins with a search for self-fulfillment, which then evolves into an entrepreneurial adventure filled with tribulations, triumphs, and many life lessons that will keep listeners engaged from start to finish. In a casual conversational voice, the author, Yomi Jemibewon, gives an honest, often hilarious and sometimes sobering account of what it feels like to chase a dream under highly uncertain circumstances.

From the small country town of Abbotsford to the skyscrapers of New York, this book shares the hard-learned lessons and captivating story of the start-up of Naked Boxer Briefs, a Nasdaq publicly-traded company that had A-list celebrity endorsements, raised over 17 million dollars, and sold its product in department stores around the world, including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.

The Pursuit of Purpose is an honest, poignant, and emotionally powerful book. It's a story about struggle, finding a purpose in life, striving to build a fairer society, and discovering who you are along the way.

In 1962, Stephanie 'Steve' Shirley created a software company when the concept of software barely existed. Freelance Programmers employed women to work on complex projects such as Concorde's black box recorder from the comfort of their own homes. Shirley empowered a generation of women in technology, giving them unheard of freedom to choose their own hours and manage their own workloads. The business thrived, and Shirley gradually transferred ownership to her staff, creating 70 millionaires in the process.

We Took the Risk dives into the personal journeys of 25 executives who, through their own combination of traits, took on the challenges of an early US renewable energy industry. Far from being a self-improvement book or a glorified “who’s who” run down, this book provides a backdrop by which to juxtaposition your own career journey. Author Tom Weirich lets you view the beginnings of the industry as if you were there, lock in step with these entrepreneurial leaders, as they sift through decisions that would forever impact the trajectory of renewables in the US.

Richard Branson, one of the world's most famous and admired business leaders, argues that it's time to turn capitalism upside down - to shift our values from an exclusive focus on profit to also caring for people, communities, and the planet as he writes: "People often associate me with challenges, with trying to break records while sailing the Atlantic or flying in a jet stream in a balloon or going into space with Virgin Galactic. But this audiobook isn't just about fun and adventure and exceeding one's wildest dreams."

Unwritten is a book about becoming more of you. A book of unconventional wisdom for growing into your best self. A book of untold principles that shed light on how to live a life that aligns with your purpose. A book of unwritten stories that show you how to shape the world around you. Unwritten is a book about making your life an example for those who want to do the same. The future is unwritten. Reinvent tomorrow.

As one of six children of British medical missionaries, John Hoyte grew up in China till age 13. During World War ll, he and his siblings, separated from their parents, were interned by the Japanese for nearly four years. In his 20s, he led a British expedition over the Alps with an elephant to investigate which way Hannibal and his army of 30,000 men and 37 elephants had taken in 218 BC. Later, he founded a start-up corporation in Silicon Valley and was an inventor and entrepreneur. With each surprising twist and turn of his journey, John has built a fulfilling life, infused with purpose and creativity.

There is only one CEO in recent times who has faced ¿ and succeeded at ¿ the extraordinary challenges of leading three major companies ¿ Gillette, Nabisco, and Kraft ¿ into prosperous futures by doing what matters on the fundamentals. That CEO is Jim Kilts. In this vivid first-person account he reveals his system for success that is both cutting-edge and back-to-basics.

The road to success is rarely linear and never easy. But with courage, hard work, perseverance, and dedication to duty, Jim Ovia, founder and chairman of Zenith Bank, proves we can achieve the unthinkable. Jim has been called the Godfather of Banking by Forbes Africa. And this should be no surprise. In a time of tension between military and civilian regimes, periods of incredible economic instability, and a decaying infrastructure, Jim founded Zenith Bank in Nigeria.

CEO Lisa Messenger shares an insightful account of her rollercoaster ride as the creator and founder of the globally popular Collective Hub, the hip magazine of inspiration for disrupters and innovators of all stripes - with bold ideas on how you can stay on track and remain true to whatever your passion may be. Speaking to the new generation of innovators, this book is a personal and honest chronicle of Lisa Messenger's various business endeavors. Exuding honesty and energy, Lisa blends these wonderfully insightful stories with important business lessons.

Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z lifted themselves from childhood adversity into tycoon territory, amassing levels of fame and wealth that not only outshone all other contemporary hip-hop artists, but with a combined net worth of well over two billion dollars made them the three richest American musicians, period. Yet their fortunes have little to do with selling their own albums: between Diddy's Ciroc vodka, Dre's three billion dollar sale of his Beats headphones to Apple, and Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service and other assets, these artists have transcended pop music fame to become moguls.

Obroni and the Chocolate Factory is Steven's chaotic, fascinating, and bemusing journey to create a successful international business that aspired do a bit of good in the world. This book is at once a penetrating business memoir and a story about imagining globalism done right. Wallace's picaresque journey takes him to Ghana's residence for the head of state, to the Amsterdam offices of a secretive international cocoa conglomerate, and face-to-face with key figures in the sharp-elbowed world of global trade and geopolitics.

From GQ's "Nerd of the Year" to one of Time's most influential people in the world, Biz Stone represents different things to different people. But he is known to all as the creative, effervescent, funny, charmingly positive and remarkably savvy co-founder of Twitter - the social media platform that singlehandedly changed the way the world works. Now, Biz tells fascinating, pivotal, and personal stories from his early life and his careers at Google and Twitter, sharing his knowledge about the nature and importance of ingenuity today.

Tom Bulleit stood on a stage before a thousand people inside a tent the size of a big-top. It was both his 30th wedding anniversary and his birthday. But there was another thing to celebrate: the dedication of the new Bulleit Distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky. His great-great-grandfather, Augustus, created his first batch of Bulleit Bourbon around 1830. A century and a half later, Tom fulfilled his lifelong dream, revived the old family bourbon recipe, and started Bulleit Distilling Company.

He started his life out in the shadows of the steel mills in Gary, Indiana. Instead of home or school being his safe places to learn and grow, Tom Pado found his own ways of learning. All the adventures led him into a life of excitement and success as he pioneered the offshore remotely operated vehicle (ROV) industry for deep-sea oil drilling. His ideas powered the industry that powers the world. In Damn the Pressure, Full Speed Ahead, Pado shares the story of how he made his way across the globe and built a multimillion-dollar company that has truly altered the world.

Today's heads of big companies are as recognizable to us as the most popular entertainers or sports stars, but the heart and soul of every organization are those leaders below the CEO. Today's celebrity CEO has become either a figurehead or an egomaniac, and often too public a personality to get the real work done. That work is done instead by teams of leaders - exceptional deputies who forge great partnerships to maximize both organizational and personal success.

John recounts his dramatic life story and his entrepreneurial journey. The book details the eight personal and business qualities that entrepreneurs must develop in order to achieve their highest goals. John’s focus is especially on explaining the significant advantages of being a parallel entrepreneur—benefits that solo and serial entrepreneurs lose out on, limiting your potential.