Introduction
I have read a couple of business biographies and this is one of the most enjoyable ones. Written by the founders of the healthy food company, Innocent, it is all about the business,how it started, grew and what it stands for. And no, you won’t learn about their mum, dad, how much sport they played or their dog called Andy. More to the point this book is all about Innocent as a business and perhaps you will learn one or two lessons about starting a business. If I were to recommend books about learning to start a business, this one would definitely make the list. The book itself is an easy one to read because it is very attractive and easy on the eyes, littered with very interesting images and pictures. Also it’s not a bulky book with just 201 pages. It is structured into ten chapters, each one focusing on a key aspect of the company. I checked Amazon uk for views about the book. After 25 reviews it had a 4.5 rating, not bad. Some criticism aimed at the book is it does not contain enough details about the operations of the business. Others also felt the book was just a marketing spin. But all that in no way takes away from the quality of the book.
Following is a review of each chapter in the book. Continue reading
If you follow the technology startup scene or you are part of a company that is always looking out for the latest thing around innovation then you should have heard of the term lean startup. The Lean Startup written by Eric Ries in 2011 helped popularize the concept and explain the principles involved in developing businesses, products and services the lean startup way. Eric Ries is an entrepreneur who had been involved in starting companies that failed and succeeded, but his learning for lean startup came from his success rather than failure.
Frugal innovation according to Radjou and Prabhu is the ability to do more with less, they define it as – to create significantly more business and social value while minimising the use of diminishing resources such as energy, capital and time. This book based on research carried out by the two authors across the US, Europe and Japan is based on the premise that in a world that is becoming more and more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) organisations can no more do business as usual because while the resources available to deliver high quality services and products are diminishing, the rate at which things change is so rapid that no more can organisations spend inordinate amount of time bringing new products and services to market.