We Publish Ebooks

If you’ve followed this blog, then you know that we have published a handful of Ebooks over the past year.

In each case, we have leveraged a set of the content from Naturally Caffeinated contributors, in association with a key content collaborator.

These have ranged from the Crunchbase/TechCrunch media group to IGNITE book authors David Neff and Randal Moss.

What enables us to produce these quickly and cost-effectively is that we have unique content ownership and a disciplined process.

This process enables us to provide a meaningful project to high school and college interns, letting them earn a small stipend while they learn valuable writing, proofreading, production and project management skills.

If you are interested in publishing an Ebook, please Contact us through the website.

BookPeople Is the Best!

BookPeople in Austin is the best!

During the 2016 holiday season, they offered us some shelf space in the business and management books section.

This isn’t normally an option, as Naturally Caffeinated was published using a new self-publishing, on-demand platform from our publisher, Weeva.

We only stocked a handful of copies as a test. But, it was a nice gesture and great visibility.

BookPeople: you’re awesome! Thank you Michael and crew!!

#buylocal #buyBookPeople !!

IGNITE Book Signing

In late November, we were pleased to support author and collaborator, David Neff, at a book signing reception for his latest book IGNITE.

Good food, drink, and friends, brought together by the great staff at the University of Texas Coop store on Guadalupe.

I have a copy of the IGNITE and, as you can see from my bookmarks, I’ve found it full of useful tips, quotable lessons, and practical advice on the topic of corporate innovation.

Get a copy: it will save you hours of consulting time (and the associated fees!) all for the cost of an equivalent 10 billable minutes from a McKinsey & Co. junior associate.

Buy your copy at the IGNITE website!

Innovation Ebook: An IGNITE Collaboration

We’re thrilled to announce Corporate Innovation: Best Practices for Leveraging Startup Ecosystems & Igniting New Ideas, available immediately for download!

It is the third Ebook from the Naturally Caffeinated series. (The other two being Women In Tech and The Digest.)

It is also a unique collaboration with David Neff and Randal Moss, the authors of the great new book: IGNITE: Setting Your Culture on Fire with Innovation.

The Ebook is roughly divided into three sections:

1. changes in corporate innovation, brought on by the disruptive force of early-stage startups
2. best practices in corporate innovation
3. the new role of startup ecosystems — like Capital Factory in Austin, Texas — as corporate innovation partners.

These startups ecosystems are a new form of R&D network, increasingly essential to corporate innovation initiatives. Perhaps the best example of such a network is the Startup Federation, formalized earlier this year.

Please download the Ebook and share it. A big “Thanks!” to Capital Factory for supporting the effort. We look forward to hearing from you!

Hernholm Hits the MBC. And So Does NC!

In October, we were pleased to have a role if bringing Sarah, CEO of WIT, to Austin to speak to the Metropolitan Breakfast Club.

The MBC, as its known to most, is among the longest-running weekly breakfast clubs in Austin.

Spirited, welcoming, sharp-witted, and always enjoyable, the members of the MBC are ever a delight to breakfast with and present to…even with a start time before dawn, during half the year!

Sarah brought her “A” game and spoke, as she always does, passionately about the value and importance of developing our youth, which is WIT’s mission through its entrepreneurship programs.

At the close, the MBC leaders allowed us an extra moment for a public ceremony to give Sarah a “big check” for $1,000 for WIT scholarships, from proceeds of The Digest sales from Naturally Caffeinated.

Thank you MBC. Thank you Sarah. And thank you to everyone who has supported the charitable giving from Naturally Caffeinated series, by purchasing a copy of any of the books.

The WIT Rosetta Stone

As some may already know, profits from the paperback Digest edition of Naturally Caffeinated go to supporting Whatever It Takes (WIT).

Based in San Diego, with locations in St. Louis, Austin, and New York City, WIT is the only 6-unit college credit social entrepreneur and leadership program in the country. So, please spend $10 to buy a copy of The Digest, if you haven’t yet!

When you do, one of the things you will notice is how nicely the core principles of WIT and The Digest dovetail. At WIT, these principles are communicated as Tips, of which there are 11.

For The Digest, these principles are communicated through the lessons learned and first-person stories, across 7 chapters.

For WIT students, alumni, or others curious, the following list is a Rosetta Stone of sorts, mapping each of WIT’s tips with a couple of lessons from The Digest.

It provides a pathway moving from learning about entrepreneurship in high school, to putting in action in the workplace as a young professional

Tip #1 – It’s a Choice

• There Is Only One Reason Why, pp. 1
• Advisors Inform. You Decide, pp. 55

Tip #2 – 10-10-10

• Sleep On It, pp. 51
• Work Quickly, pp. 52

Tip #3 – Can’t Want It More than You

• When You Fail, Do More than Learn from It, pp. 54
• There’s One More Thing We Can Try…, pp. 56

Tip #4 – Showing Up

• Know the Lean DIET, pp. 4
• Know Your Percentages When Negotiating, pp. 29

Tip #5 – Own It

• Honesty. Don’t Fool Yourself, pp. 50
• Don’t Lie, pp. 53

Tip #6 – Live in Alignment

• When You Hire, Hire More for Resilience Than Skill, pp. 40
• You Can Change Attitudes, pp. 42

Tip #7 – Step Into Your Greatness

• Fit, pp. 8
• Accept Criticism, pp. 41

Tip #8 – Set Yourself Up for Success

• Connect to Value, pp. 7
• Go Deep and Wide with Relationships, pp. 37

Tip #9 – KISS

• Business Models Don’t Have to Be Complex, pp. 3
• Always Take a Backup, pp. 36

Tip #10 – Make an Impression

• Proofread, pp. 33
• Write Smart, pp. 35

Tip #11 – Finish Strong

• Anything Measured Improves, pp. 49
• Always Be Pitching, pp. 67

One more thing, if you prefer Ebooks, then you can download a FREE, digital copy of The Digest.

We hope you enjoy!

Download Women in Tech Report

The Women in Tech Entrepreneurship Report is a 60-page Ebook presenting the ground-breaking research and reporting by TechCrunch and its companion database CrunchBase, interlaced with additional personal reflections by more than half-a-dozen women entrepreneur and investors profiled in Naturally Caffeinated: The Community Edition.

You may download a copy of the Report at this link.

The Report is the result of a non-commercial effort to provide the current information about the participation of women in tech in an easy-to-read, consolidated Ebook format to the widest audience.

Thank you to brightly Interactive for cover and book design and Jennifer Wilson for interior layout and design.

Announcing The Digest and WIT Sponsorship

We’re thrilled to announce to important items of news today.

First, we’re introducing a new edition in the series. Naturally Caffeinated: The Digest is a compact, 90-page book, available in two versions:

• a PDF Ebook, and
• a soft-back, print book

The Digest (for short) is the smaller cousin to the comprehensive, hard-back book, published by Weeva: The Community Edition.

The Digest is available immediately, in digital form, with pre-order requests for the printed version of the book requested through our Contact page, for now.

Second, we’re announcing a partnership with the teen entrepreneurship nonprofit, WIT (short for “Whatever It Takes”).

WIT is the only 6-unit college credit social entrepreneur and leadership course in the country for high school teens.

Founded and led by CEO Sarah Hernholm, Sarah and WIT, which is headquartered in Southern California, were recently profiled in Inc. Magazine.

Proceeds from sales of Naturally Caffeinated: The Digest will be donated in support of the launch of a WIT program in Austin this Fall.

For more information, please read the news release on PRWeb.

And, if are interested in supporting entrepreneurship or have a teen that you think may be interested in the WIT program in Austin, please join a kick-off event Saturday, April 30, at the Impact Hub.

 

Austin: not just for music festivals

19 days 17 hours 49 min and counting until  one of the top five entrepreneur conferences, according to Inc. Magazine, hits Austin next month: the Small Business Festival.

Austin will be the host city for the inaugural festival, May 2-6, 2016, during National Small Business Week. Billed as the conference designed for  “helping small businesses grow big,” the organizers intend to prove that entrepreneurship in Austin is much more than just tech.

Several of Naturally Caffeinated’s  contributors will be featured speakers during the Festival…

Starting on Wednesday May 4, Brett Hurt, co-founder of Bazaarvoice, will keynote the day’s program.

Following Brett’s address, Naturally Caffeinated’s author and book editor, Steve Guengerich, will lead a panel discussion on “Lessons Learned” in new ventures.

Two of the panelists joining Steve are also contributors to NC, including Andrew Chen, co-founder of Iris Plans and small business legend, Gary Hoover, founder of The Spark museum.

Continuing on Thursday, May 5, NC contributor Kevin Koym will be leading a “Campfire Interactive Activity,” made famous at Tech Ranch Austin, the incubator he founded.

Finally, capping the day, professor David Altounian, MBA program director and entrepreneurship professor at St. Edward’s University, will deliver an afternoon keynote, highlighting his research into financial capital for new ventures, across key centers in the US.

In addition to all of the planned activities throughout the week, the Festival will also be a great networking opportunity for entrepreneurs and small business owners to learn from others in their industry or just those in similar stages of their business.

To register for any of the events open to the public or to register for the Premium Access program, go to: https://smallbusinessfestival2016a.sched.org/tickets.

We hope to see you there!!

Wrap-Up of TEDxYouth@Austin: In the Name of Innovation

Thanks to the devoted passion of its student and volunteer leaders, paired with the drive for innovation from its sponsors, the fourth annual TEDxYouth@Austin experience was a resounding success this past Saturday, February 13, 2016.

Speakers, entrepreneurs, performers, and energized students alike, all gathered at the Westlake High School Performing Arts Center with one goal in mind: to share ideas.

The annual, local, self-organized, youth-driven event is just one out of more than 11,000 TEDx events held worldwide. This year, more than 1,000 passionate attendees from 85 Central Texas schools came together to share and learn what they love.

Sarah Hernholm, entrepreneur, teen coach, speaker, and founder of Doing Whatever It Takes and 360 Self Inc., reminded the many creative minds in the audience that when they are inventing, “The journey, and the space in between, is just as valuable as the answers.”

In the beautiful chaos of creation, one can often become too immersed in the goal of success, losing sight of the importance that is the process to attain it.

This idea is something that lead author, Steve Guengerich, and the various successful entrepreneurs, featured in  Naturally Caffeinated, know all too well. That is why we were thrilled to donate a portion of the proceeds from the book to sponsor this year’s TEDxYouth@Austin 2016 program.

Our sponsorship, along with that of lead sponsor Entrepreneur’s Foundation and many others, gave curious students one-of-a-kind opportunities, like the interactive xLab. The xLab installations were designed to give students a hands- on experience with new technologies and concepts; perhaps even igniting an idea or two.

Rick Tumlinson’s stories of asteroid mining and space were another highlight moment of the many talks, stressing the importance of creative thinking and idea generation. As Rick said, describing a better tomorrow: “The future we give everybody can be incredible. It can be magnificent. And you can make it happen.”

In conclusion, we are honored and humbled to have played a small role in an event that does so much for the personal and global development of Austin’s teenagers, all the while encouraging active thinking on current topics that affect people and the community.

Thank you to everyone who attended, organized, contributed, and participated in TEDxYouth@Austin 2016! From all of us here in Austin, we hope you will join us next year in the grand spirit of TED’s “Ideas worth sharing.”