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Praise For Street Smart Disciplines
If you read only one business book this year make it this one.
Dan Weil, Partner-Cofounder, Village Associates Real Estate
This is the book I wish I had when I first started my travel business, which became one of the largest internet companies in Asia. Following the disciplines in this practical, street savvy guide will help you work smart, save time and money and most importantly achieve success in business. Keep this book close by. You will want to refer to it time and again.
Michael Kenny, Founder/CEO, Agoda.com, subsidiary of Priceline.com
A smart, valuable and much needed business book. Douglas Mo, Attorney at Law
It captures the essence of good business practices and distills the most important disciplines. These pages are packed with clear thinking, sound advice and lots of street smart common sense that success demands.
Frank Caufield, Cofounder, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers
A must read for anyone who wants to experience breakout success in business. Kuhn and Mullins share the lessons of their exceptional thirty-plus years of experience in a step-by-step tutorial of habits, skills, and critical knowledge (real from the street) that the reader can immediately put into practice. Their enthusiastic style reflects their own drive, focus, and strategic success in business. Each chapter provides valuable put into practice strategies for success, accessible and to the point.
Judy Lamb, Sr. Lecturer of Education, Washington University, St. Louis
Our company has successfully integrated the Street Smart Disciplines into our daily operations and have seen a profound effect. Were dramatically more effective; our sales efforts are more focused, our communication incredibly more productive. In the last 2 years, revenue has doubled and our profit has increased by over 15 percent. This book changed the way we do business, and we will never go back to our old methods. We have been in business over 20 years, but by integrating these disciplines, we have seen results beyond our wildest expectations.
Jerry Koch, President, Chemtron/River Bend Labs
We have taken a leadership position in our industry by executing the Street Smart Disciplines. John and Mark have provided the go-to reference for every situation! The disciplines helped shape our mission statement, strategy, what we do, and how we do it. The results have been outstanding. We increased our revenue over 100 percent in one year, and profits are going through the roof.
Tony Genovese, President & CEO, Enhance Medical Systems
A Word from John and Mark
Why do you need this book? How is it different? Why do people like it? Whats all the buzz about? And what are street smarts, anyway?
Street smarts are what you get from doing it, not from reading about it. Yes, we had college educations so were reasonably book smart but were also street smart. Our success was much more a result of what we learned on the street creating and running businesses. Way more important. Way more useful. And, were two guys who actually did it.
We started one of our first companies with $1,000 and a good idea, nothing brilliant it was in the magazine publishing business. Youll learn more about that experience as the book unfolds. We think youll enjoy it because were regular guys you can relate to.
Very soon we realized that this business could be big if we played it right. We then had to figure out how to not screw it up and how to make it as successful as we could, hoping to sell it eventually and make some serious money.
Which is exactly what we did.
We built the company into a multi-million dollar business and then sold it debt-free to the Meredith Corporation, a large media company. But thats not the point.
The point is we identified and followed seven specific disciplines to get there. Our success in this business and the continuing success in our lives have been the result of the flawless execution of every discipline in this book.
This is the first book that explains the how and why of disciplines.
We knew that our next career would be to pass on this knowledge and experience to people like you who have the ideas and ambition but maybe not all the tools and techniques to succeed. In simple, straight talk we give you an honest look at how things really get done and what it really takes to succeed in business and, yes, life.
So, this is the book we have to give you, and its priceless. We share it with those who have a burning desire to realize their dreams of success and everything it represents: independence, security, freedom, wealth, happiness, and maybe even fame.
When we finalized the manuscript we sent it to a bunch of people MBAs, academics, corporate executives, and successful street smart guys like us who just tell it like it is. They all said essentially the same thing: this is the book that has been missing all these years a distillation of indispensable business disciplines for success.
The good news is that all the stuff we share with you works. The bad news is that its not easy. There are no short-cuts, no overnight successes. It took us years to figure out exactly what the disciplines are and to isolate and distill the seven most vital ones that true success demands.
With this book you can succeed pretty fast because you wont waste any time learning how. We know it works and were going to show you, step-by-step. All you have to do is follow these seven disciplines all the time, no matter what. We still do.
Remember, lots of obstacles will be thrown in your way so you need real world weapons to break through. Youre going to war. Understand these disciplines, and most important, apply and master them, and youll be ready.
Successfully yours,
John and Mark
Foreword by Frank Caufield
Its very clear that the current business environment is rapidly and constantly changing. Speed, flexibility, creativity, and constant adaptation are the mantras of this new playing field. Successful business people work smart and stand ready to reinvent their business strategies, or, if necessary, themselves. Regardless of your age, education, or skill set, reinvention can be achieved with the right attitude and commitment to practice certain disciplines.