About this item
Many business books fuel unrealistic notions about what a good idea looks like, how fast a founder should attract investment, and how quickly growth will take off. The problem with this mythology is that it can sometimes end with entrepreneurs abandoning their dreams too soon if they don't see immediate results. In "The Hockey Stick Principles, "author Bobby Martin shifts his focus away from all the hype about rapid growth and the pursuit of funding and instead takes a look at the real process behind getting a good idea off the ground. Using a hockey stick as a metaphor and highlighting four key phases, Martin shows the healthy way a business should grow and uses entertaining stories and interviews with successful entrepreneurs like the founders of LendingTree, Under Armour, and iContact, woven throughout the book to not only share a wealth of advice, but to chronicle the ins and outs of these different phases: -The Tinkering Period: The tip of the stick, or the time when you first develop and hone your idea. -The Blade Years: The formative years when growth can be flat and navigating the unpredictable process of creating a company can be rocky. -The Inflection Point: The crucial point in time right before your business takes off when it's important for entrepreneurs to prepare and make decisions to properly manage rapid growth. -Surging Growth: Once your company proves that they have potential, you need to optimize that growth and scale up in a sensible way. Innovation almost always involves a number of challenges, misdirections, and uncertainty and can take several years of struggle. But "The Hockey Stick Principles "gives aspiring entrepreneurs and those in the midst of the messy process a realistic, human, and inspiring understanding of what starting an innovative business is like, while teaching you what to look out for along the way as you shepherd your business through to success.
About the Author
Bobby is a 46-year-old entrepreneur and supporter of innovative entrepreneurship. He is president and co-founder of Vertical IQ, a leading provider of sales research insight for banks. Martin also co-founded and served as president of First Research, a leader in sales intelligence.
In 2007, First Research was sold to D&B Corporation. Today Martin is an active angel investor and serves as an active board member with innovative start-ups Local Eye Site, Boardroom Insiders, LifeSite Logics, and etailinsights.. In 2006, he was a recipient of the Triangle Business Journal's "40 Under 40" Award in Raleigh.
Before founding First Research with Ingo Winzer in 1998, Martin spent more than six years with Bank of America managing a large commercial banking pool of customers in Wilmington, North Carolina. Martin graduated magna cum laude, earning an economics and banking degree from Appalachian State University, in Boone, North Carolina. Today he serves on the Center for Entrepreneurship at the university.
