Winner
From Founder to Future: A Business Roadmap to Impact, Longevity, and Employee Ownership
John Abrams
From Founder to Future is helping small business owners to make succession plans that include less well-known options: the various forms of employee ownership. There are approximately three million American small businesses with employees whose founder(s) are over 55. In each of these, a transition will occur as owners age out during the coming years. Those who advise small business owners – accountants, attorneys, financial planners, business brokers, and succession consultants – are mostly unaware of the different employee ownership options. From Founder to Future brings these into focus. As well as nuts-and-bolts information, the book provides stories of exemplary companies to help owners visualize and internalize the benefits of conversion to employee ownership.
Winner
Beyond Solo
Sara Howard
Beyond Solo helps small business owners and solopreneurs who feel stuck or overwhelmed take back control of their business – and their life. My practical frameworks make it easy to explore alternative paths to growth, and I go behind the scenes in real businesses to unpack what works – and what doesn't. Through reviews, emails and conversations, readers tell me my book has given them permission to make bold changes in their work and business – and it has resonated with both employees and entrepreneurs.
The sustainable approach of growing better (not just bigger) is timely in a disrupted market.
My readers say it best:
“I devoured it over the weekend, feeling quite the gamut of emotions as it caused me to reflect on what I’d really like to do for the remainder of my working years.”
“Her five growth models gave me real clarity.”
“Like having the business coach you’ve always wanted on speed dial.”
Winner
Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story About The Entrepreneur’s Messy Path To Success
Kass Lazerow
Mike Lazerow
Entrepreneurship is brutally hard. Instead of swimming in seas of cash, many founders find themselves buried under mountains of crap. In Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story, Kass and Mike Lazerow share hard-learned lessons from decades of shoveling as co-founders and early investors in startups that have generated more than $10 billion in realized gains. As the co-founders of GOLF.com and Buddy Media, which Salesforce bought for $745 million, they’ve lived the “Imbalanced Life” and have the scars and gains to prove it. Whether you’re deciding to leap or have already lept, their book will teach you to embrace the beauty of the struggle and use the tools and entrepreneur’s mindset to overcome the misery and uncertainty that awaits. Their raw, deeply personal stories are universal strategies for choosing cofounders, greenlighting and funding ideas, building high-performing teams, creating the right culture, and pivoting businesses before it’s too late.
Finalist
Unlikely to Unstoppable: Stories from Everyday Entrepreneurs
Jennifer Collins
Elizabeth Clark
Unlikely to Unstoppable is a compilation of stories from thirteen everyday entrepreneurs who found their way to rewarding paths through determination and steadfast commitment. Readers describe it as a celebration of unconventional journeys told with humor, insight, and heart. Enlightening tidbits from these first-person stories have helped fledgling entrepreneurs at critical turning points believe that, like those featured in the book, success is within their reach.
Each mini-memoir profiles learning experiences that are accessible, motivating, and uplifting. Whether the tale involves failure, disappointment, triumph, or success, the men and women interviewed are relatable and inspiring. The authors eloquently analyze the themes that emerged from dozens of experiences to weave together a collection of perspectives that champion people who continue to work toward their dreams despite the inevitable rough roads along any journey. Readers find themselves feeling unstoppable!
Finalist
Startup Different: The Myth-Busting Blueprint for Your Multi-Million Dollar Business
David Sinkinson
Chris Sinkinson
Startups are sexy. From revolutions to disruptions to pivots, running your own startup is an appealing but unfortunately overdramatized endeavor. The problem is that startup-land is full of myths and misnomers. Will early funding actually help your business in the longer term? Do you need a bunch of staff? Making the wrong call on questions like these can actually crush your dream rather than getting you closer to it.
And it’s not just business decisions. Entrepreneurs also feel constant challenges to their legitimacy—doubts from family, friends, their employees, mentors, the market. That insecurity causes many founders to follow a pop-culture approach to decision-making that doesn’t move their business forward.
Our book proves that you can create a legitimate startup without all the nonsense and mythology. It provides readers a chronological framework for building your business—everything from idea generation to selling for millions and moving on—that dispels the common "myths"