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12 min read

The Take: Deck the Halls and Download This

Dec 14, 2021 2:15:00 PM

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This year, gift yourself something that keeps giving. We're rounding up the best podcasts, books, and courses to take with you into the slow season. No bulky box or knotted ribbon necessary, just a quick download away!

PODCASTS

Whether you’re on your daily commute or off on a road trip, these motivating podcasts will help renew your perspective and your enthusiasm for success in entrepreneurship. With practical advice and tales of successful business people, these podcasts inspire action.

#1 Do It Scared with Ruth Soukup

Entrepreneurship demands we embrace our fears. Do It Scared is about moving forward through adversity and into a life you love. Although the podcast is currently on hiatus, over one-hundred hour-long episodes of interviews with daring guests will leave you wanting to jump in with both feet.

Episode Highlights

#2 Business Movers by Wondery

An estate attorney or tax advisor can be extremely valuable in crafting an airtight estate plan, particularly if you’re dealing with complicated instructions or a high volume of assets. They can help you navigate all the complexities and make sure your family is appropriately cared for.

Episode Highlights:

#3 Think Fast, Talk Smart by Stanford GSB

Hosted by a lecturer of Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Matt Abrahams takes us from theoretical classroom know-how to real-world challenges with the people who have been there. Think Fast, Talk Smart is full of practical knowledge that will elevate your communications tactics in entrepreneurship and beyond.

Episode Highlights:

#4 How I Built This with Guy Raz

From NPR, How I Built This profiles some of the world’s most interesting and successful entrepreneurs — from Stacy of Stacy’s Pita Chips and Casper’s Philip Krim to Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev and filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. Personal interviews twine together with insightful statistics and a narrative background that makes these stories of success and resilience come alive.

Episode Highlights:

#5 Founder’s Journal by Morning Brew

Alex Lieberman, co-founder and executive chairman of Morning Brew, brings us a personal audio diary that offers would-be entrepreneurs and experienced professionals alike experience-based advice to help you build better teams, better businesses, and a better future.

Episode Highlights:

#6 Entrepreneurs on Fire by John Lee Dumas

With over 3,000 episodes, you’ll never run out of content from Entrepreneurs on Fire. This podcast brings us interviews and advice from entrepreneurs who have faced the biggest challenges in the business. From getting funded when the bank says no and avoiding mistakes in buying and selling sponsorships to cultivating long-term marketing relationships and innovating in stagnant industries, JLD has crafted a wellspring of firsthand experience right at your entrepreneurial fingertips.

Episode Highlights:

#7 The HBR IdeaCast by Harvard Business Review

The IdeaCast is among the longest-running podcasts out there. With fifteen years of episodes under its belt, you know you’re getting a quality product. The IdeaCast doesn’t just offer insightful strategies for entrepreneurs — they warn against pitfalls, interview a variety of industry professionals for a holistic approach to business, and keep entrepreneurs in the know about the world and how to find their place in it.

Episode Highlights:

 

BOOKS

Who has time to read anymore? Well, statistically, quite a few people. 2021 was a "banner year" for books, and now it's estimated that one in five Americans is an audiobook aficionado. Make it a point this season to use your down time to invest in yourself with these top reads.

#1 Scale for Success by Jan Cavale

Not all of us entrepreneurs are cut out for international fame and fortune, but we still have a great idea to bring to the table. In this book, thirty successful—but not famous—entrepreneurs shed light on how to make it without venture capital or SPAC backing. If they can do it, why not you?

Standout Quote: "The choice of your first investor is always the most important."

#2 Atomic Habits by James Clear

The foundation of any personal or professional win is in the details, the small, almost insignificant moments. Clear breaks down healthy and unhealthy habits at this near-microscopic level, helping you focus your efforts on the building blocks that will get you where you want to go.

Standout Quote: "You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”

#3 Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

From its very subtitle, this book takes no prisoners in its approach to mortality. If you're lucky, you get about four thousand weeks—that's it! But why shy away from that fact? Why overload ourselves because of never-ending FOMO? Burkeman introduces a holistic way of "embracing finitude" and making life richer because of it.

Standout Quote: "Any finite life — even the best one you could possibly imagine — is therefore a matter of ceaselessly waving goodbye to possibility.”

#4 Anthro-Vision by Gillian Tett

Anthropology: the class we all had to take in college, but barely remember, right? Tett gives us a refresher not only on the more interesting bits, but also how they can be applied to everyday creator-consumer relationships. Humans are humans, after all.

Standout Quote: "The best journalism is done when reporters have the space, time, training, and incentives to ask questions like ‘What am I not seeing in these headlines?’

#5 Reset by Johnny C. Taylor Jr.

Growth will happen in your venture when you reward innovation and risk-taking, especially when building the team around you. Taylor pushes business leaders to break their idea of the "right" teams or the "right" business models, and embrace a new level of diversity of ideas and experiences.

Standout Quote: "Upheaval brings about opportunities to rethink, reset, and restructure your organization.”

#6 Be Where Your Feet Are by Scott O'Neill

O'Neill knows a thing or two about success, and has stacked up quite a few impressive titles. However, in this new book he cautions the entrepreneur not to get too far ahead of themselves. Looking around the corner will drain you before you ever get there!

Standout Quote: "How you live is truly a choice."

 

ONLINE COURSES

For the entrepreneur, education is more accessible than ever. With free and affordable courses online, you have the flexibility to work with your schedule while taking your grind to the next level. Take advantage of these great opportunities!

#1 Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators

University System of Georgia | Coursera | Free

This project-centered course teaches entrepreneurs how to tackle both challenges and opportunities on personal and professional levels. It’s all about best practices in innovation. This course only takes about 12 hours to complete, but 36% of participants said they received tangible career benefits from the course. If you’re a hands-on learner, this course is worth looking into.

#2 Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies

Harvard University | edX | Free

This course is about creative solutions to complex entrepreneurial problems. With an inter-disciplinary approach, you’ll learn how to develop your own solutions to tough problems — particularly in emerging markets. There’s content related to finance, business scaling, branding, and developing appropriate, valuable metrics of success. It’s a free 6-week course with optional upgrades.

#3 MBA in a Box: Business Lessons from a CEO

Udemy | $129.99 (without discount)

Want MBA know-how without the time and cost? This course is for you. With over 11 hours of content, the instructors of MBA in a Box equip students with all of the foundational skills for running a successful business. You’ll learn how to get a competitive edge, how to curate, manage, and develop employees, use best practices for market research, calculate cash flow, and manage financials. With a discount, this course can cost you as little as $22 to take. Plus, Udemy provides lifetime access to purchased course content.

#4 Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies

Case Western Reserve University | Coursera | Free

We often look to Silicon Valley as the Mecca of entrepreneurship. In reality, few markets are like Silicon Valley. Without existing entrepreneurial supports and structures, how do we succeed? This course teaches entrepreneurs how to succeed without the financial and professional resources available in larger, more established entrepreneurial markets. The goal is to learn how to implement a variety of strategies and business models to succeed in any market. This 17-hour course has 50% of learners saying they started a new career after completion.

#5 Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship

University of Maryland | Coursera | Free

This course is one of four in the Entrepreneurship: Launching an Innovative Business Specialization series. It’s all about taking you from great ideas to incredible businesses. It’s the launchpad you need to take your entrepreneurship from ambition to reality. You’ll learn how to identify business opportunities, improve critical decision-making skills, build great business models, and enhance your entrepreneurial mindset.

If the idea of the startup is intimidating, this course helps demystify the process that takes ideas to real action. Half of those who completed the series say that they received a pay raise after completion. That’s well worth the time you’ll spend on a flexible, all-online course like this one.

#6 The Essential Guide to Entrepreneurship by Guy Kawasaki

Udemy | $94.99 (without discount)

If you don’t know Guy Kawasaki, he is an accomplished Silicon Valley venture capitalist, marketing expert, and author. He’s known for being one of the Apple employees responsible for the marketing of the Macintosh computer in 1984.

This course is designed for the people looking to drive change and decision-making in their professional lives, whether in a business or on their own. In this 4-hour course, Guy covers everything from launching and pitching a business to fundraising and brand evangelism. It truly is a great course for new entrepreneurs, not just for its quality content, but for its digestible structure that fits into the busiest of schedules.

Udemy discounts can bring the price of this course under $20. That’s a win.

 

Looking for more educational content for entrepreneurs? Check out Skillshare.

These courses tend to be much shorter than an online, college-level course while providing valuable lessons from real creators and entrepreneurs. There’s a free trial, and then it only costs $99 per year (or $19 a month if paying month-by-month) for unlimited access to thousands of courses for innovators, creatives, and entrepreneurs.

 

Download your copy of Deck the Halls & Download This Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3

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