Books and Courses

24 Nov 2011

You Can’t Do That!

By |2017-04-04T15:10:30-06:00November 24th, 2011|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

I received my copies of “The 10x Rule” and “If You’re Not First, You’re Last” by Grant Cardone. I randomly flipped open a few pages in each (what I normally do when I get a new book) and stumbled on something worth sharing. I haven’t read the books yet but based on my last post, I feel compelled to share this message from Grant.

Be Deaf when Someone Says You Can’t
Grant Cardone

Be deaf when someone says you cannot do it!
Be deaf when someone says it is impossible!
Be deaf when anyone tries to put […]

4 Nov 2011

Employees: Getting Them Thinking Like an Owner

By |2017-04-03T11:43:03-06:00November 4th, 2011|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Are you a business owner wondering how you can engage your employees and get them to think like you would when making decisions?

I recently read "Ownership Thinking: How to End Entitlement and Create a Culture of Accountability, Purpose, and Profit" by Brad Hams.

Brad talks a lot about entitlement and how it is "destroying companies, our economy, and crushing potential". Entitlement is basically the idea that you should get paid just for showing up at work; no matter what your actual impact is.

Brad's personal mission is "to eradicate entitlement".

Basically it starts with the idea that given a choice, people actually want their […]

17 Oct 2011

Lean Startup 2 – Growing and Staying Lean

By |2017-04-04T14:55:04-06:00October 17th, 2011|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

I’ve finished reading “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries that I discussed on my last post.

Part 3 of the book talks about:

  • Batch – Continuing to work in small batches. Avoid the large batch “death spiral” and other lessons applied from Lean manufacturing.
  • Grow – The three primary engines of growth and the importance to pick one and focus on it until success (and eventual market saturation) or you prove it won’t work (pivot). Essentially the reason is that the expertise is vastly different for each and it is hard enough to measure and grow one at a time.
  • […]

5 Oct 2011

The Lean Startup – Measure, Learn and Adapt

By |2017-04-03T11:44:01-06:00October 5th, 2011|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

I am about two thirds of the way finished reading "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries. I was already coming to some of the same conclusions as part of my thinking and reading on entrepreneurship; his book helped me solidify things and fleshed in more of the details of implementation.

Essentially, starting a business (especially a high tech one) is a crapshoot. You come up with a brilliant idea. Then you make a business plan or strategy that incorporates some large (leaps of faith) and small assumptions about your product, your customers, the market uptake, revenue and profits. When you are […]

1 Apr 2011

Science Proves It – Calgarians Are More “Manly”

By |2017-04-03T11:46:37-06:00April 1st, 2011|Categories: Books and Courses, Current Events, Doug's Blog|

Fishing 20921941_m
I was recently reading an article in the Okotoks Western Wheel titled "Alberta's fish are on drugs". When put together with other information I have come across I came to a startling realization.

Calgarians (actually western Albertans) are manlier for a scientific reason; and it has nothing to do with the Calgary Stampede.

The Facts About Fish

People take birth control pills and other medications in large quantities. Our kidneys are very efficient at removing these chemicals from our bodies. People then use the um, ah, well facilities and […]

15 Dec 2010

Driving Corporate Change – Made Easier

By |2017-04-04T14:40:43-06:00December 15th, 2010|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

If you’ve been reading my blog posts over the last few years, it should come as no surprise that I have been putting a lot of focus into what makes companies and people succeed. I’ve been reading books, attending seminars, reading blogs, etc.

Our mission is

“Help people achieve their full potential; including living a fulfilling life.”

We are building a software product to do just that for entrepreneurs and business coaches.

We are at an amazing point in history; so much of the knowledge that people have amassed is readily available and openly shared for our taking. This blog is […]

11 Aug 2010

Mid-Life Crisis?

By |2017-04-03T11:52:21-06:00August 11th, 2010|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation, Software Development|

What exactly causes a mid-life crisis?

A mid-life crisis can apply equally to your personal life and relationships, your business (normally after 5-10 years), your career, your spiritual life, etc.

Why do some people do drastic things and others weather the storm with just a minor blow-up?

You start out as a young adult with wide open possibilities and few obligations. You have the potential to write your own story.

As you go through life (or business) you can acquire obligations. A spouse, pets, kids, loan, a mortgage are some of the obvious ones. You require growing income to pay for all the obligations […]

18 Jun 2010

More from the Great Game of Business

By |2017-04-03T11:53:53-06:00June 18th, 2010|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Software Development|

I've included a few more quotes and my thoughts on the book, "The Great Game of Business" and how it applies to what we do.

Cost/Value

"… to stay in business you have to be the least cost producer or have something nobody else has."

Being the least cost producer would give you some advantages, but I think being in the same range is probably strong enough for most companies in the commodity world. Of course having a unique or perceived value proposition is always better. But don't forget those costs, you don't want to be throwing money away; chances are, […]

4 Jun 2010

The Great Game of Business

By |2017-04-03T11:54:26-06:00June 4th, 2010|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

As I have mentioned numerous times, I have been spending a lot of time studying what make some businesses succeed and what makes some people great. Our company builds a lot of tools that measure, forecast and analyze personal and business information to make better decisions.

So far if anyone has a magic formula for wealth, I haven't found it. Lots of great ideas for increasing your chances though.

Every once in a while it is good to go back and read some of the classics instead of just the "new" ideas found in more recent publications.

The Great Game of […]

5 May 2010

Presentation Zen

By |2017-04-03T11:55:12-06:00May 5th, 2010|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

A number of years ago, a coworker and I were working on a project in Edmonton. We got hungry and hopped in the rental car to find a place to eat. We had no idea what food we wanted or where in town we needed to go.

So we just started driving. No map allowed. When you approach an intersection, you make a best guess as to which direction you might want to head. This approach started working well for us. As time went on, we would find places where there were amazing specials and we never had to eat the […]