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Level Up
- Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back
- Narrated by: Lara Hodgson, Heather Cabot, Stacey Abrams
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
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Publisher's summary
An inspiring and revelatory guide to starting and scaling a small business, from powerhouse duo Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson
Like many business owners, renowned politician and activist Stacey Abrams didn’t start a business because she dreamed of calling herself an entrepreneur. Her part-time post (and its $17,310 annual salary) as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives necessitated striking out on her own as a consultant—her first small business. Then, Stacey and her friend Lara Hodgson launched an infrastructure advisory firm—named Insomnia Consulting because they did their best thinking at 3:00 a.m.—and then another business, and then another.
Fifteen years into their entrepreneurial journey together, they have tackled the obstacles that many business owners face: how to grow sustainably, hire thoughtfully, and keep up with the Goliaths in your industry.
Now, for the first time, Stacey and Lara share their inspiring and relatable personal story and lessons learned the hard way to show how every business owner can confront the forces that conspire to keep small businesses small. Lauded for her “resilient, visionary leadership” (Barack Obama) and celebrated as a “passionate advocate of democracy” (Madeleine Albright), Stacey now brings her fierce sense of justice to the challenges that America’s business owners face. Level Up arms listeners with the confidence, know-how, and savvy to overcome the obstacles that hold their businesses back.
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Critic reviews
“A fresh take on entrepreneurial endeavors and a love letter to small businesses everywhere… packed with insight and inspiration from two successful entrepreneurs.” -- Kirkus (starred review)
"A practical, how-to manual with examples and actionable principles for founders looking to innovate, break free and move forward.” -- Financial Times
“Beyond the great wealth of business experience, expertise, and advice they bring to the table, the greatest example Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson offer may be in the partnership they have formed and sustained while building three companies together.” -- Porchlight Books
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The Reinventors
- How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change
- By: Jason Jennings
- Narrated by: Jason Jennings
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Eventually every job and every business will become irrelevant. According to Jason Jennings, the past few decades have seen unprecedented shifts: former third-world nations have transformed themselves into high-tech manufacturing powerhouses; technology has democratized business and increased competition in ways never before seen; and customers, used to getting exactly what they want when they want it, are no longer beholden to the corporate giants.
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Good advice
- By Myers on 07-28-18
By: Jason Jennings
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The Intelligent Entrepreneur
- By: Bill Murphy Jr.
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, L. J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1998, three Harvard Business School graduates - two men and one woman - turned down six-figure salaries at big corporations, bet on themselves, and launched their own new companies. By their 10-year reunion, their audacity had paid huge dividends. They'd made many millions of dollars, created hundreds of jobs and left their mark on the world. The Intelligent Entrepreneur tells the compelling and instructive story of how these three young founders did it.
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Terrible waste $ and a lot of time
- By David on 01-23-11
By: Bill Murphy Jr.
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Street Smarts
- An All-Purpose Tool Kit for Entrepreneurs
- By: Norm Brodsky, Bo Burlingham
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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People starting out in business tend to seek step-by-step formulas or rules, but in reality there are no magic bullets. Rather, says veteran company-builder Norm Brodsky, there's a mentality that helps street- smart entrepreneurs solve problems and pursue opportunities as they arise. Brodsky shares his hard-earned wisdom every month in Inc. magazine, in the hugely popular "Street Smarts" column he cowrites with Bo Burlingham. Now they've adapted their best advice into a comprehensive guide for anyone running a small business.
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This great audio was originally called The Knack!
- By morton on 12-16-11
By: Norm Brodsky, and others
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Shark Tank Jump Start Your Business
- How to Launch and Grow a Business from Concept to Cash
- By: Michael Parrish DuDell, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Parrish DuDell
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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From the ABC hit show Shark Tank, this book - filled with practical advice and introductions from the Sharks themselves - will be the ultimate resource for anyone thinking about starting a business or growing the one they have. Full of tips for navigating the confusing world of entrepreneurship, the book will intersperse words of wisdom with inspirational stories from the show.
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Middle School material. Vague, no depth.
- By nate on 12-22-13
By: Michael Parrish DuDell, and others
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The Self-Made Billionaire Effect
- How Extreme Producers Create Massive Value
- By: John Sviokla, Mitch Cohen
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Imagine what Atari might have achieved if Steve Jobs had stayed there to develop the first massmarket personal computer. Or what Steve Case might have done for PepsiCo if he hadn't left for a gaming start-up that eventually became AOL. What if Salomon Brothers had kept Michael Bloomberg, or Bear Stearns had exploited the inventive ideas of Stephen Ross? Scores of top-tier entrepreneurs worked for established corporations before they struck out on their own and became self-made billionaires.
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Waste of time!
- By Anonymous User on 05-30-20
By: John Sviokla, and others
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Alibaba's World
- How a Remarkable Chinese Company Is Changing the Face of Global Business
- By: Porter Erisman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In September 2014, a Chinese company that most Americans had never heard of held the largest IPO in history - bigger than Google, Facebook, and Twitter combined. Alibaba, now the world's largest ecommerce company, mostly escaped Western notice for over 10 years, while building a customer base larger than Amazon's and handling the bulk of ecommerce transactions in China. How did it happen? And what was it like to be along for such a revolutionary ride?
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Not bad
- By Daniel on 09-12-15
By: Porter Erisman
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Ahead of the Curve
- Two Years at Harvard Business School
- By: Philip Delves Broughton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2004 Philip Delves Broughton abandoned a post as Paris bureau chief of the London Daily Telegraph to join 900 other would-be tycoons on the Harvard Business School's plush campus. With acute and often uproarious candor, he assesses the school's success at teaching the traits it extols as most important in business: leadership, decisiveness, ethical behavior, and work/life balance.
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On one breath.
- By Atkins on 05-17-22
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The Entrepreneur's Playbook
- More Than 100 Proven Strategies, Tips, and Techniques to Build a Radically Successful Business
- By: Leonard C. Green, Paul B. Brown
- Narrated by: Leonard C. Green, Tim Andres Pabon
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Big new ideas rarely make great businesses. Laboring on a business plan can be a waste of time. You are going to need dramatically more start-up money than you think you do. Counterintuitive concepts like these have helped the world's best entrepreneurs succeed. Yet most of us only learn them the hard way. Len Green, an experienced investor, entrepreneur, and business professor, shares inside secrets and proven tactics for launching a business.
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Need a narrator who is not phlegmy
- By Leo on 01-19-18
By: Leonard C. Green, and others
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Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole
- How Entrepreneurs Turn Failure into Success
- By: Anthony Scaramucci
- Narrated by: Anthony Scaramucci
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole chronicles the rise, fall, and resurgence of SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, giving you a primer on how to thrive in an unpredictable business environment. The sheer number of American success stories has created a false impression that becoming an entrepreneur is a can't-miss endeavor - but nothing could be further from the truth. Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole gives you the skills, insight, and mindset you need to be one of the winners.
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Scaramucci is Key to Making America Great Again
- By Cynthia on 07-24-17
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American Icon
- Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company
- By: Bryce G. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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At the end of 2008, Ford Motor Company was just months away from running out of cash. With the auto industry careening toward ruin, Congress offered all three Detroit automakers a bailout. General Motors and Chrysler grabbed the taxpayer lifeline, but Ford decided to save itself. Under the leadership of charismatic CEO Alan Mulally, Ford had already put together a bold plan to unify its divided global operations, transform its lackluster product lineup, and overcome a dysfunctional culture of infighting, backstabbing, and excuses.
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The best business book I ever read
- By Michael on 10-07-12
By: Bryce G. Hoffman
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Alibaba
- The House That Jack Ma Built
- By: Duncan Clark
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the world's largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China's booming private sector.
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Strange: Best part of story happens "off-screen"
- By Tristan on 09-02-16
By: Duncan Clark
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Midas Touch
- Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich - and Why Most Don't
- By: Robert T. Kiyosaki, Donald J. Trump
- Narrated by: John Dossett, Skipp Sudduth
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In the tradition of their number-one blockbuster Why We Want You to Be Rich, the all-star team of best-selling authors Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki reunites to teach listeners what it takes to be successful and influential entrepreneurs in Midas Touch. What makes some business owners wildly successful? What separates the entrepreneurs who build businesses from ones who just seem to create more work for themselves? Here are answers.
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Nothing New - But Great Motivational Speakers
- By Chad on 07-02-12
By: Robert T. Kiyosaki, and others
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Good for the Money
- My Fight to Pay Back America
- By: Bob Benmosche
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2009, at the peak of the financial crisis, AIG - the American insurance behemoth - was sinking fast. It was the peg upon which the nation hung its ire and resentment during the financial crisis: the pinnacle of Wall Street arrogance and greed. When Bob Benmosche climbed aboard as CEO, it was widely assumed that he would go down with his ship. In mere months, he turned things around, pulling AIG from the brink of financial collapse and restoring its profitability.
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Worthwhile, informative, and just short of inspiring
- By Preston on 11-17-21
By: Bob Benmosche
What listeners say about Level Up
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Elizabeth Walsh
- 12-07-22
Great book!
I am not a small business owner. This is one of the best books I’ve listen to in a long time. I would imagine it would be super helpful to a business owner but it doubles as a self-help book.
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- Julia Holly
- 10-03-23
Loved it!
As a women entrepreneur and daughter of immigrant entrepreneurs I related to the struggles of starting and running a business. My parents lost their business in 2009 as they were victims to what Now corp aims to solve (owed receivables that never were paid in time). What took over a decade my parents built to multimillion was lost in a matter of days. It was refreshing to be assured from a woman to woman that failure is just part of the journey. Thank you Lara and Stacey for sharing your story and for providing an actual solution to the problem!
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- mechelle padgett
- 05-16-22
Amazing and informative
The narration was perfect and easy to listen to. I loved the recap at the end of each chapter and it reinvigorated my want to start a business with all the ups and downs they went through, they persevered! It was perfect.. and shout out to Dr Bombays underwater tea party! One of our favorite spots in Atlanta! :)
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2 people found this helpful
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- Dorsanne
- 09-15-22
Awesome
Loved this real account of what it takes to launch a small business. Even if you are not starting or maintaining a business the story is great.
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- ChristyM
- 05-04-22
Very Helpful
As a serial entrepreneur myself, this book gave me some insight into how others deal with the daily challenges they face, and it helped to inspire creative ideas about how to find solutions. There is a great outline of how the funding/financial system works, and which pitfalls to avoid if seeking investors or capital. This book is easy to understand with real life examples that most can relate to. Valuable content.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Tiffany Hicks
- 10-05-24
Disappointing & Shallow
I was super excited to listen to this book.However It was lackluster and honestly downright uninteresting.
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