John H. Vanston - Minitrends: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends

Praise for

MINITRENDS

How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends

An Eric Hoffer Business Book Award Winner. The ability to capitalize on newly emerging business trends is the premise of this book. There are Minitrends all around us, defined as those that promise to become significantly important within the next two to five years. By reading this book, you will learn how to take hold of these opportunities, overcome common obstacles, and ultimately profit from Minitrends.

The Eric Hoffer Project

ForeWord Reviews Business Book of the Year Finalist. Vanston has the ability to discuss minitrends conceptually, as well as describe specifically how the reader can discover and potentially profit from them. The authors enthusiasm for the subject is infectious, and readers looking for new business opportunities are likely to share that enthusiasm. This is a book that should inspire many readers to take action.

ForeWord Reviews

A Dan Poynters Global Business eBook Award Finalist.

Global eBook Awards

Vanstons company, Technology Futures, has been making predictions about technology and business trends since 1978. Here, he describes how individual entrepreneurs, as well as companies, can find and exploit minitrends small trends (not yet recognized by the public) that have the potential to grow. This title offers a new take on possible product development and investment avenues.

Library Journal

In MINITRENDS, Technology Futures Inc. chairman John Vanston has distilled insights and techniques developed over a highly successful 40-year career in technology forecasting into a 189-page do-it-yourself guide to the early identification of those emerging developments that eventually become the next big things.

The Futurist

This book spotlights specific minitrends and trains people how to recognize them and take advantage of related job opportunities.

Yahoo News

MINITRENDS should quickly become aif not thestandard work for the futurists search for business opportunities, and therefore for a wide range of social, economic, and business applications. Readers who should not be without it include professors of futures studies and their students; all working futurists, whether employed by organizations or as consultants to them; and those responsible for planning and general direction in all business institutions.

Joseph Coates, Foresight Networks Futurist of the Year

I first heard John Vanston speak in 1994. His insights into the emerging Internet technologies were pivotal in shaping my own view and interest in pursuing their application to the larger challenges we now face globally. MINITRENDS continues this work, with insights, lessons, and cases that are relevant and provocative. I highly recommend this book.

Dave Evans, Author, Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day

I think MINITRENDS is a good book that's definitely worth reading by anyone who wants to understand where things are going and what they have to do to get there.

Michael Lamoureux, aka the doctor, Sourcing Innovation

MINITRENDS is a first-class piece of futures work. The book presents a set of practical-but-powerful tools and mindsets, offers the reader a rich array of accessible, authoritative information sources, and spells out purposeful processes by which a variety of practitioners can use the resulting foresight. AND, as a bonus, it introduces a new and useful futures concept, Minitrends. All in under 200 pages. HEROIC!

David Pearce Snyder, Strategic Forecaster and Contributing Editor, The Futurist

The most successful people in business are the innovators. MINITRENDS is a guide for businesses looking for the next trend in business and how it doesnt need to be the next big thing to be a major growth point for industry. MINITRENDS is filled with useful information and advice on the concept, a vitally important addition to business collections.

Midwest Book Review

MINITRENDS leads list of Six Science Books for the Holiday Season!

David Bradley, ScienceBase

For the individual who wants to improve their personal finances, this volume proceeds from the process of searching for a Minitrend to developing an exploitation scheme. In between is an exploration of nine attractive Minitrends, including ones that could be taken advantage of by larger companies, with the employee playing a key role in their pursuit.

Book News (Annotation 2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

MINITRENDS is one of the most important books for technology entrepreneurs written in the last decade. With diligent attention to processes and trends, it provides a specific set of factors that entrepreneurs should consider in order to maximize the opportunity for success in the marketplace.

August E. Grant, Ph.D., Professor University of South Carolina

Id recommend this book to anyone looking to find a niche to call their own when it comes to business opportunities.

Thomas Duffbert Duff, Duffberts Random Musings

MINITRENDS is short, unpretentious, and easy to read. Minitrend-spotting is an interesting idea, and I believe a valuable one.

John Peters, Management Decision

As I go deeper into the chapters, the more I like the book! You have managed to hit the sweet spot of this fascinating concept of Minitrends. The book itself is a precious gem.

Guy deManuel, President, Sigma Dataserv Informtica (Brazil)

This book is packed with usable how to information and real life examples about how to find Minitrends and take action to prosper from them. Delivered with a little humor, it goes beyond a reference book, pointing readers toward their own inner thoughts and frustrations and on to countless information sources. Im very excited about this book. MINITRENDS will definitely be used as a conversation piece, but that will only be the beginning.

Terry B. Newman, Assistant Vice President, Graduate School, The University of Texas at Austin

I have read a lot of business books, but MINITRENDS is definitely unique, which is refreshing. Its also very timely given the state of the economy and the fact that businesses are having to redefine themselves if they are to stay afloat. It is clear that Dr. Vanston has a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

Laura Alter, Search Engine Optimization Expert, All Web Leads, Inc .

In MINITRENDS Dr. Vanston brings a systematic and analytical approach to the identification and exploitation of technological breakthroughs. He uses a wealth of real-world examples to show the advantages, both personal and professional, of such an approach.

Richard Drury, BGen, USAF (ret), Sr. Lecturer & Associate Chairman (ret), Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin

Attempting to predict the future is always a dicey proposition, but John Vanston has used his powerful, common-sense approach to identify what can only be described as the inevitable. The book stimulated me to think of a few Minitrends of my own.

Howard Smallowitz, Project Manager, IBM

Starting with the advantages of high education in engineering and personal work in technology, John Vanston has over the years led seminar sessions with thousands of experienced and well-supported managers and technical staffers in exploring and exchanging views and experiences on how to discover and exploit fresh new business opportunities. With the Minitrends Concept he shares what he has learned from this extraordinarily rich input. This makes