My buddy John Anderson send me this artile By DANA MATTIOLI...it's a great guide for individuals looking to empower themselves.
"Overcoming obstacles and keeping on track are nearly always part of starting a successful business. Drawing inspiration from great leaders can help a company founder stay focused and persevere, says Nitzan Shaer, an entrepreneur-in-residence with IDG Ventures Boston, a venture-capital fund with $280 million under management focused on health-care and information technology.
"Sometimes entrepreneurs have to take a leap of faith. Without inspiration, that's very hard to do," he says. Mr. Shaer, 34, managed the mobile-phone group at the Internet-telephony network Skype, now owned by eBay Inc., and worked in Microsoft Corp.'s mobile division.
As an entrepreneur-in-residence, Mr. Shaer is identifying businesses for his fund to invest in and plans to join one eventually. IDG Ventures Boston is one of five funds of IDG Ventures, a unit of International Data Group, a technology media, events and research company. Below, he recommends books, movies and a Web site that have helped inspire him.
"Long Walk to Freedom," by Nelson Mandela
This is an incredible story of how you hold onto your set of beliefs through a hostile environment. Mandela describes how he held onto hope and inspiration and adapted to the times, seeing the potential in human beings to elevate themselves. An entrepreneur may pass through trying times, and it's very easy to lose sight of the final goal, and the people who are with you. Holding both of those near and dear is critical for any entrepreneur.
"The Lessons of History," by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
The Durants take you through a journey of lessons learned from humanity over the past 5,000 years. It gives an entrepreneur a perspective on time, belief in human ingenuity and the ability to overcome challenges, no matter how big they are. There were always civilizations that could pick up from the rubble, move forward, inspire others and create change when the times seemed dire.
"The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business," by Clayton M. Christensen
This book describes the fundamental tools needed for a start-up company to overcome an incumbent with deep resources. It talks about how large companies are many times paralyzed when it comes adapting to and dealing with disruptive technologies and disruptive products. The most important thing for an entrepreneur to learn from this book is how to plot a course to overcome competition from within much larger organizations.
"Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers," by Geoffrey A. Moore
This book is about identifying how to scale the adoption of a small-company product into the mass market. Geoffrey describes the challenges that face the gap between early adopters and mass-market adoption and how to overcome those challenges.
"The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone: 1932-1940," by William Manchester
This biography takes us through the difficult times between the two World Wars and how Mr. Churchill held onto his beliefs, grounded in the information and insights that he had collected about where the world was headed and the extent of the threat emerging in Nazi Germany. The most inspiring part is about holding onto your convictions and not succumbing to the common views of the time.
"Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer," by Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell [Ms. Capparell is an editor at The Wall Street Journal, publisher of this Web site]
This is a tale of endurance and how people overcome unparalleled challenges. The story is about being shipwrecked in the Antarctic at the turn of the 20th century and how leadership inspires others to go far beyond where they would otherwise think they could reach. Someone who is starting a business should understand the traits needed to lead other people to leverage resources that are not necessarily under his or her control.
"Mao's Last Dancer," by Li Cunxin
This book is about a young Chinese boy who grew up in rural China and became one of the prima ballerinas in Chinese and world ballet. He later becomes an investment banker in Australia. No matter where you come from, the opportunity is yours to achieve through hard work.
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is a blog that has up-to-date information about recent developments with tech companies, specifically start-ups, and the inside scoop. It's a must-have for technology entrepreneurs to be current on the most recent developments.
"Apollo 13"
This movie tells the story of the life-threatening challenge that the team of astronauts faced and how a large team of creative people work together to solve what seems to be an impossible mission. It encourages entrepreneurs to think outside of the box and may inspire them to not give up on problems that seem impossible.
"An Inconvenient Truth"
The ability of one man to tell a story about the threat of global warming in an extremely compelling way and to help create a world-wide movement was very inspiring. It may instill the importance of social consciousness in entrepreneurs. "
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