Derek Lidow

From Startup Leadership author, global CEO, and entrepreneurship expert Derek Lidow comes the new, foundational guide to entrepreneurial success. Here’s an astounding fact: Over half the working population will try their hand at being an entrepreneur during their working career.We all dream about achieving some combination of the fortune, fame, and control over our lives we associate with successful entrepreneurs. Those are admirable aspirations in a society that counts on entrepreneurs to innovate and create new jobs. Our work-driven culture encourages us to take the entrepreneurial bait, but how can you know whether being an entrepreneur will end as a dream come true or a nightmare from which you cannot wake?Building on Bedrock helps answer that question. Based upon research, but told through the stories of American entrepreneurs Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Estée Lauder, Ray Kroc, and others, Building on Bedrock will help you understand the elements most essential to taking the entrepreneurial leap. Was it luck, talent, passion, charm, a rich uncle, or something else that was the key to this person’s success? Which might be the key to your success? What you learn may surprise you.

Anyone can start a business. But only leaders can succeed.Most entrepreneurs know the long only a fraction of them will lead their enterprises through the rocky stages of growth to launch self-sustaining companies. Very few know how to outflank the failures that await them at every turn, including the most painful being abandoned by key members of their team or getting pushed out by their board just as their business starts to generate real value.Derek Lidow is on a mission to improve these odds and change these outcomes. Throughout his long career as CEO, innovator, and entrepreneur he has tested virtually every aspect of launching a business. Lidow now argues that success is far less dependent upon a firm s idea or any grand strategy than it is upon something more leadership. Emerging companies have specific leadership requirements, stage by fast-moving stage. Few founders have been able to leverage the tremendous power of this underrecognized reality until now.Startup Leadership demonstrates how founders can adopt the skills that are required at each stage of their journey. Whether you are at the idea stage or managing a more mature enterprise, you can start to recognize the fundamental how to balance your selfish drives with the more selfless leadership required by the organization at any given time. The book shows you how to achieve this balance Assessing your unique motivations, traits, and skills Creating a personal leadership strategy that leverages your strengths and mitigates your weaknesses Mastering how to lead teams, including boards Understanding the five prerequisites for driving change Taking control of your inevitable crises, thereby strengthening your team and your leadership With Lidow s help, you will learn how to become the startup leader your business needs, and you ll move forward with your plans with greater confidence and success."

Finalist, 2023 George R. Terry Book Award, Academy of ManagementEntrepreneurs are among the primary shapers of our culture, yet their role in driving progress and influencing society has often been overlooked. As far back as we can trace human history, there have been entrepreneurs. Almost five millennia ago, copper tool manufacturers set up a factory in what today is southwest Spain, profiting for hundreds of years from trade around the Mediterranean. Papyri document the diverse investments of an ancient Egyptian businessperson, from grain-yielding land to flax for linen cloth. What do these figures have in common with renowned modern entrepreneurs, and how do their similarities help us achieve a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship as well as the potential for a healthier, wealthier, and more equitable and sustainable future?Derek Lidow delves into the deep history of innovation to deliver essential new insights into how entrepreneurs create value and bring about change. Telling the captivating stories of people from many different cultures over thousands of years, he shows how entrepreneurs transform the world through relentless innovation. Lidow demonstrates that far from being heroic lone individuals, they copy and then add to the inventions of others. The cumulative innovations of swarms of entrepreneurs expand the scale, scope, and range of products and services. Lidow emphasizes how entrepreneurship can harm society as well as benefit it, and he underscores ways to mitigate its harmful side and harness its positive effects. By highlighting the fundamental qualities of innovation throughout history, this book provides indispensable new perspective on how it is shaping our present and future.

Todos soñamos con lograr en nuestra vida esa combinación perfecta entre fortuna, fama y control que tanto asociamos con los empresarios exitosos. Este es un anhelo admirable en medio de una sociedad en que los emprendedores luchan a diario para innovar y crear cada vez más empleos. Nuestra cultura impulsada por el trabajo nos alienta a escoger el camino del emprendimiento, pero ¿cómo saber si convertirte en un emprendedor terminará siendo una pesadilla de la que te arrepentirás o un sueño que disfrutarás y transformarás en realidad? Construyendo sobre cimientos firmes te ayuda a responder esa y muchas otras preguntas que te harás como futuro emprendedor. Basado en una investigación extensa, y contado a través de las historias de los empresarios estadounidenses Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Estée Lauder, Ray Kroc y otros, Construyendo sobre cimientos firmes te muestra cuáles son aquellos aspectos más esenciales a tener en cuenta antes de dar el salto empresarial. ¿Fueron la suerte, el talento, la pasión, el encanto, un tío rico o algún otro ingrediente desconocido la clave del éxito de los triunfadores más reconocidos? ¿Cuál pudo haber sido la clave de su éxito? Lo descubrirás a lo largo de esta lectura y te sorprenderá.

Here's an astounding Over half the working population will try their hand at being an entrepreneur during their working career.We all dream to some extent about achieving some combination of the fortune, fame, and control over our lives we associate with successful entrepreneurs. Those are admirable aspirations in a society that counts on entrepreneurs to innovate, create new jobs, and to grow our economy. Our work-driven culture encourages us to take the entrepreneurial bait, but how can you know whether being an entrepreneur will end as a dream come true or a nightmare from which you cannot awake?Building on Bedrock will help answer that question. This book focuses on when you should take the leap and whether entrepreneurship is even the right thing for you - as a founder, co-founder, or investor. Based upon research, but told through the stories of American businessman and entrepreneur Sam Walton and others, Building on Bedrock discusses the who, what, when, where, how, how much, and why of successful entrepreneurs. Was it luck, talent, passion, charm, a rich uncle, or something else that was the key to this person's success? Which might be the key to your success? What you learn will surprise you.