The Benevolent Dictator Empower Your Employees, Build Your Business, and Outwit the Competition

Author’s Note.

Phase One Start-Up.

1. Lesson #1: To Successfully Launch a Start-Up, There Must Be a Benevolent Dictator.

2. Lesson #2: The Best Ideas Can Come from What’s Right in Front of Your Nose.

3. Lesson #3: How to Find the Money to Make Big Money.

4. Lesson #4: Once an Entrepreneur, Always an Entrepreneur.

5. Lesson #5: It’s Better to Be Lucky Than Just Good.

6. Lesson #6: ‘‘GOYA’’—The Only Way to Really Test an Idea.

7. Lesson #7: Don’t Underestimate the Power of Focus, Discipline, and Follow-Up.

8. Lesson #8: Competition Stinks.

Phase Two Build Out and Put the Idea to the Test.

9. Lesson #9: Business Is a Series of ‘‘Go’’ and ‘‘No-Go’’ Decisions.

10. Lesson #10: Treat an Idea Like Clay.

11. Lesson #11: Always Be Prepared with Plan B . . . And Sometimes C and D.

12. Lesson #12: You’ll Never Reach Critical Goals without a Definitive Timetable.

13. Lesson #13: Never Be as Weak as Your Weakest Link.

14. Lesson #14: Raising Additional Capital Requires Creating Demand.

15. Lesson #15: Everything You Wanted to Know about the ‘‘D’’ Word but Were Afraid to Ask.

16. Lesson #16: Managing People Is about Achieving Objectives through Others.

17. Lesson #17: Good Intentions Will Get You Only So Far.

18. Lesson #18: Don’t Open the Doors until the Start-Up Passes the Smell Test—And Don’t Be Afraid to Call Time-Out Just to Be Sure.

Phase Three Constant Reinvention.

19. Lesson #19: Pot Stirring 101—The Key to Continuous Reinvention.

20. Lesson #20: Is Perception Reality? How to Manage Risk, Take Chances, and Remain Standing.

21. Lesson #21: How to Keep Lethargy at Bay . . . Or Why Time Is Your Most Precious Resource.

22. Lesson #22: How to Avoid Analysis Paralysis by Learning When to Make ‘‘Battlefield’’ Decisions.

23. Lesson #23: Don’t Drink Your Own Bathwater—You Could Choke.

24. Lesson #24: When the Wolf’s at the Door, What You Do Can Make the Difference between Living to Fight Another Day and Going Down for the Count.

25. Lesson #25: Using the ‘‘Mother Rule’’ Can Help You Avoid Costly Hiring Mistakes.

26. Lesson #26: When Communicating, Cut to the Chase.

27. Lesson #27: Survival Math—Business Is Not a Zero-Sum Game.

28. Lesson #28: Manage by the Three Ps—Persistence, Perspiration, and Performance.

29. Lesson #29: You Can’t Live with ’Em—How to Manage Prima Donnas, Employees Who Think ‘‘It’s Not Their Job,’’ and the Perfectionists.

30. Lesson #30: The Golden Rule of Trust and Respect: You’ve Got to Give to Get.

31. Lesson #31: Why You Must Look at Business through the Customer’s Eyes, Not Just from an Operator’s Perspective.

32. Lesson #32: When It’s Time to Pull the Trigger and Fire a Customer or a Vendor.

33. Lesson #33: Spurring Growth—How to Eat an Elephant One Bite at a Time.

34. Lesson #34: If You Don’t Like the Competition . . . Buy Them If You Can.

35. Lesson #35: The Easiest Path to Hypergrowth Is with Other People’s Money.

36. Lesson #36: Beating the Competition Requires That You Know More about Their Vulnerabilities Than They Know about Themselves . . . And Knowing Yourself Better Than They Know You.

37. Lesson #37: If You Negotiate with Yourself, You Have a Fool for an Opponent.

Phase Four The Payday.

38. Lesson #38: Payday . . . And Lessons from the IPO Road Show.

39. Lesson #39: If the Flame Starts Flickering: How to Tell If the Fat Lady Is About to Sing.

40. Lesson #40: How to Put Lightning Back in the Bottle Again and Again—Many Entrepreneurs Are Serial Entrepreneurs.

Epilogue.

Index.