Entrepreneurial Bullets; 4 Best Books for 2011; Year in Provence; Summer in Barcelona

HEADLINES: 

Happy Global Entrepreneurship Week! Here's a link to activities in your region.

Entrepreneurial Bullets – Lead vs. Silver — Ben Horowitz has penned another brilliant blog post – please take 3 minutes and read. In essence, many companies think the best way to deal with a strong competitor is with a silver bullet, some creative twist that leapfrogs them. Instead of trying to be clever, maybe what you really need to do is hunker down and get the fundamental product you're offering right in the first place – what he's calling lead bullets. Notes Horowitz, "there comes a time in every company's life where it must fight for its life. If you find yourself running when you should be fighting, you need to ask yourself: "If our company isn't good enough to win, then do we need to exist at all?"

Turbulence Ahead: 4 Must Read Books for 2011 — here's a link to my latest "Growth Guy" column. As I note in the opening paragraph "Looking for the perfect holiday gift to keep you and your company from becoming irrelevant? Here are four must-read books that will help you thrive, no matter what the economy throws at you in 2012 and beyond." See how many of these latest books you've read.

7 More Books for Entrepreneurs — The Wall Street Journal, this week, highlighted seven books that can actually help entrepreneurs – based on interviewing real, live entrepreneurs! I was happy to see that Mastering the Rockefeller Habits made the list (Barrett Ersek, thanks for the support). Here's a link listing the other six – again, see how many of these classics you have already read

An Entrepreneurs' Life — John Warrillow's latest blog highlights his family's year in Provence, France. Author of Built to Sell, which I highlighted as one of the five must read books for 2011, Warrillow shares 6 hints for making the move with his wife and two young sons (4 and 6). He concludes, "Recently I got a note from an Italian-American entrepreneur who, at age 44, is considering taking his family to live in Italy for a year. I told him that it was a "game changer," which is the best way I can describe the decision. I think I now come at business problems with a broader perspective; but the real dividends have been on the home front, where our sabbatical has brought us closer as a family and given us some amazing memories and a larger world view than we had before we left. Bon Courage!"

Ben Franklin International School — here's my annual unabashed appeal to get you to move to Barcelona for a year and come hang with my family (four children 15, 13, 8, and 4) in one of the most beautiful cities in the world with one of the best international schools (just named #1 in the region), Ben Franklin International School. Now's the time to plan for the fall of 2012.

Visit Barcelona Next Summer — and if you want to just visit for a few weeks, our 5-bedroom flat with housekeeper/cook is available next summer. June 24 – July 14 is already pre-booked; July 15 – August 26 is available. Let me know if you're interested.