Rework: Sell Your By-Products

front-coverI recently read Rework, the book written by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the owners of the company 37signals.

It throws a lot of conventional wisdom about business out the window, and embraces that scrappy, “get things done” attitude that I admire.

One important idea in the book is to “sell your by-products.”  I loved this chapter and, if you have a new or growing business, is a critical principle to leveraging the most out of your business.

The basic idea is this: every business has a by-product, and one can leverage these into sellable items.  In fact, Rework itself is a by-product from the authors’ experience in running their company, 37 Signals.

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Interview: Les McKeown

Les McKeown, author of Predictable Success, is interviewed about his book and the knowledge he gained in starting over 42 companies during his career. Les tells us why startups of 3-4 people are most likely to succeed, the potential pitfalls to “following your passion” and why you should triple the initial expectations of your new business.

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‘Atlas’ Shrugs Because of Bad Reviews?

Atlas Shrugged movie producer John Aglialoro said recently, according to an article in the LA Times, that it’s now unlikely he’ll make parts 2 and 3 of Ayn Rand’s epic novel.  And, even though Aglialoro expects the picture to make a profit, the main reason he cites for abandoning the project is because of poor reviews.

The LA Times pieces reads like his motivations for making the picture were mainly to get good reviews by the press.  But why should that matter?  Sure, the picture isn’t great, but given its low budget and rushed production schedule, I highly doubt a cinematic masterpiece was thought possible. Continue reading →