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Failing To Win: Hard-Earned Lessons from a Purpose-Driven Startup
In 2009, Canadian entrepreneur Mike Quinn packed his backpack and moved to Lusaka, Zambia on a mission to find African entrepreneurs building scalable, high-impact businesses. There he stumbled across two South African brothers who had founded a business to help unbanked smallholder farmers receive mobile payments in a market where cash was king. After convincing his retired parents to mortgage their house and lend him $100,000, Mike joined as a co-founder of Zoona and became CEO for nine of the next ten years.
With his partners, Mike built a network of more than 3,000 entrepreneur agents across Zambia and Malawi that enabled millions of unbanked consumers to send and receive $2.5-billion in money transfers and remittances. Headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, Zoona raised over $35-million of venture investment and operated on the leading edge of Africa’s emerging fintech ecosystem.
Mike’s remarkable story gives a rare and honest glimpse into the workings of a pioneering African startup through the lens of a purpose-driven entrepreneur who went “all in”. Zoona faced tremendous adversity along the way: currency crises, investment round collapses, ruthless pushback from the major mobile network operators, and a continuous internal struggle to discover and execute a growth strategy that matched the company’s billion-dollar ambition. It was by failing to win that Mike learned what entrepreneurship is all about, and it was what motivated him to double down and try again.
“This raw, honest account is a must-read for anyone thinking about starting a company and for every entrepreneur who feels alone in the journey.” — Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder & General Partner of Hustle Fund
“Startups are hard. Most people understand this. However, most people don’t understand why. Mike’s story is a rare glimpse into how challenges present themselves — and ultimately how to overcome.” — Matt Flannery, Co-Founder of Kiva & Branch
“In a rare look behind the scenes, Mike shares a vivid picture of the other side of leadership we don’t talk about enough. As he aptly describes ‘founding, failing and winning’, this book highlights the risk of taking that all-important first step, embracing failure and ensuring you learn the transformative lessons critical to success as an entrepreneurial leader.” — Fred Swaniker, Founder of African Leadership Group
“This story is a gift for entrepreneurs and indeed anyone wanting to learn about the first generation of African fintechs that paved the way for future companies to thrive.” — Katlego Maphai, Co-Founder & CEO of Yoco
“Mike’s humility, resilience and depth of knowledge of how to build a pan-African business are unique, and his testimony of experience is an important short history of the fintech boom on the continent.” — Elizabeth Rossiello, Founder & CEO of AZA
“Failing To Win is a captivating account of an incredibly talented and unusually forthright entrepreneur who built an ambitious purpose-led company that started in Zambia. At Oxford I have taught the Zoona case study to countless MBA students to show how fundamental principles of entrepreneurship can be meaningfully applied in a novel context. It just takes courageous and smart individuals who are not afraid of failing (in order) to win.” — Thomas Hellmann, DP World Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Oxford’s Saïd Business School
“Innovation has gone global, and is transforming people’s lives around the world. But startups are risky. Sometimes they scale and sometimes they fail. In Failing To Win, Mike shares insightful lessons from his journey at Zoona about what it takes to operate with integrity, impact and inspiration in the new Frontier of Innovation.” — Alex Lazarow, Author of Out-Innovate: How global entrepreneurs – from Delhi to Detroit – are rewriting the rules of Silicon Valley
₵145.00 – ₵160.00Failing To Win: Hard-Earned Lessons from a Purpose-Driven Startup
₵145.00 – ₵160.00 -
Unwrapped: The Story of a Shepherd Boy
Unwrapped is a deep and sincere account of how one can not only live well but also carve out a very impressive career that contributes to a better world. Abraham Mnzava’s account of his life demonstrates how one can contribute to improving health and eventually alleviating poverty by hard work. Moreover, Unwrapped reminds us that the basis for success relies not only on skills and determination but on partnerships that bridge systems and cultures, though this should be coupled with a deep respect for ones’ roots.
“If we do not know where we come from, we will not know where we are going to.”
However, if we are too attached to the past, we cannot be open to the future. The insight into the life of Abraham Mnzava provided by Unwrapped offers hope for the future for many of us across the globe.
₵125.00 -
Faith of Our Fathers: A Call to Contend for the Christian Faith
A glance through the Bible reveals a call for God’s people not only to believe and live the gospel but also to safeguard the gospel and ensure that it is passed on to the next generation without distortion or contamination. Indeed, the fiercest battle of the Christian faith has been the battle against error and false teachers. It is against this background that God wants you to contend for the faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints. This book will help you do that effectively.
₵10.00 -
How To Start Small: Financial Skills For Business Success
How To Start Small reveals gripping real-life entrepreneurial strategies, lessons and insight which continue to elude business start-ups the world over. It presents an easy step by step approach to guide readers of all ages on well-tailored proven success methods on access to capital, human resource management, marketing and sales, business growth strategies as well as top business management practices.
Are you interested in starting your own business? Are you a business owner looking for new ways to expand your business? Do you want to take a jump from employee to business owner? This book is as easy as reading the alphabets.
₵35.00 -
If We Must THRIVE: A Survival & Growth Guide for the Young African Entrepreneur
THRIVE is for the young African entrepreneur hoping to persevere in the face of failures, setbacks and rejection. Anyone can start a business but not everyone can make a business survive and grow. Familiar success stories may blur the entrepreneurial path making young Africans wish for overnight success without equivalent effort.
This book will guide you to redefine your core personal and entrepreneurial goals in order to avoid duplicating unfeasible business models; to properly define your target market toward optimized sales; and to manage your cashflow without accumulating excessive short-term debts.
Practical reference to the Author’s experiences will shape your perspective towards a thriving state beyond just survival of your business or yourself. The young African entrepreneur must dream bigger and have faith, if, we must THRIVE!
₵60.00 -
The UT Story: Humble Beginnings – Vol 1 (Hardcover)
How does an Army Captain who failed to obtain a ₵20 million (about $20,000) loan from the banks, set up a successful finance house and cause such a monumental paradigm shift to the lending culture of a country?
Capt. Prince Kofi Amoabeng(Rtd) defied the odds to found Unique Trust Financial Services Limited, which was later rebranded to UT Financial Services Limited and metamorphosed into a Bank (UT Bank) under the UT Holdings Umbrella together with subsidiaries in Germany, South Africa and Nigeria.
In this first instalment of a series of memoirs, PK, as he was affectionately called by his fiercely loyal and dedicated team, shares an inspiring, in-depth, no-holds-barred, behind the scenes, unabashed account of how and what made UT a household name and impacted so many lives.
Written with George Bentum Essiaw, a tenacious, talented writer and filmmaker, The UT Story: Humble Beginnings is replete with profound lessons in entrepreneurship and leadership, employing an effective mixture of orthodox and unorthodox methods grounded firmly in time-tested military principles.
Whatever your background or occupation, this book will fascinate and inspire you to dare.
₵200.00 -
General Acheampong: The Life and Times of Ghana’s Head of State (Hardcover)
A magnificent book…brilliant in shedding light on some of the most important but little known dark passages in our national history…worth reading by anybody who truly seeks knowledge about our recent past.
₵200.00 -
Inside Out: Autobiographical Memoirs
The author recounts a journey that starts in a small town in Ghana, through an academic and professional career in finance in Canada and the United States, culminating at the Ministry of Finance in Ghana where he served as Technical Advisor to three different Ministers of Finance from different political parties.
The memoirs depict the complexities of decision-making that combine technical know-how with political reality using several instances of policymaking and financial transactions that he led at the Ministry. For the technical reader, the author recounts a 25-year history of his involvement in many key initiatives of financial market development in Ghana.
The sweetener in Inside Out is an interesting case study of how to navigate political transitions and maintain relevance as a senior advisor to Ministers in a “winner-takes-all” political environment.
₵150.00 -
In Pursuit: Journeys in African Entrepreneurship
In Pursuit – Journeys in African Entrepreneurship chronicles the journeys of two friends whose experiences in America shaped their approach to starting their own businesses in Nigeria. Drawing on their experiences of working, building and supporting business, and exposure to multimillion-dollar projects around the world, they uncover what it takes to own, run, and grow a profitable business.
Through their personal insights, they relay information relevant not only to entrepreneurs and investors seeking to do business in Nigeria, but anywhere on the globe―after all, the heart of business is human interaction. Their conversational banter-jab style, for which they’re known in person and on social media, invites readers into their circle where they can share the wisdom gained through continuous pursuits to fulfill their dreams.
Business and life intersect. No matter your goal, you’re not crazy, and no, you’re not alone! Through In Pursuit, two Bendel boys invite you to laugh, yell, and reflect, as they converse from head and heart.
₵100.00 -
The Path of an Eagle – Despair, Hope and Glory: Autobiography of Daniel McKorley (McDan)
Daniel McKorley’s autobiography offers a powerful yet gripping insight into the life of the author and, for the first time, enables a window into his total life experiences, the summation of which the public knows.
Having taken his time to detail his life story, the book offers a step-by-step account of his life and how the various experiences of his upbringing have shaped his current station and situation in life. His is a life of contrasts in which his successes in business and professional life sharply contrast with his life of poverty growing up.
The overall structure of the book and the sequencing of the chapters makes for easy and enjoyable reading, and the everyday realities recounted in his words should both evoke empathy and identity in the reader. If the title of the book insinuates comparisons with the eagle and its ways, it is because the author mimics the bird in its tendencies and has charted his life to reflect the fortunes of an eagle – a fitting simile given that the author’s name means “an eagle” in his native Ga tribe of Ghana.
This book is an enchanting piece worth every reader’s time.
₵140.00 -
Perseverance Conquers All: The Autobiography of Kantinka Kwame Donkor Fordwor
As a very poor boy, Kantinka sustained himself in school by selling firewood. He walked four miles every day from village, Breman, to Kumasi to attend school. He recounts how by dint of hard work, he sailed through elementary and secondary school to the Graduate School of Wharton even though fate had prevented him from doing sixth form studies. He recollects how at St. Augustine’s College, Cape Coast, he was cured of a strange disease by a traditional priest. His beloved wife had to discontinue her studies to help him complete his. Kantinka thus passed through a darkness of life which continued in his working life.
His decision to provide a house for the Executive Chairman of the Capital Investments Board, in order to save the Board huge sums of money in rent payments, was so maliciously interpreted that he was editorially castigated and lambasted. His ingenious polices that eventually helped to raise the capital of the African Development Bank from US $200 million to US $100 billion was rewarded with his dismissal as the President of the Bank.
He incurred the ire of his enemies for the appreciation he received from three Kings of Asante Kingdom.
Perseverance Conquers All portrays these midnight sides of Kantinka’s life to let his sun shine brightly. His wife gave him six children any father could wish for, whom he educated as a very responsible father. Providence made him help Ghana in its financial difficulties when he became the virtual Minister of Finance during the reign of Colonel Acheampong. His input to the progress of the Catholic Church has even been more monumental as explained beautifully in the book. Kantinka is indeed the sun at midnight.
Reliance on God, patriotism, philanthropy, hard work, good family life, good parenthood, honesty, and magnanimity is what this life story portrays. This is a book that all must have and read: the student as well as the teacher; the Christian, husband and patriot.
₵90.00 -
International Marketing and Export Management (5th Edition)
“Albaum, Duerr and Strandskov offer a unique focus on export management. The comprehensive coverage provides a wealth of examples and cases with a good spread of academic and non-academic sources. The balance between theory and practice is just right. I highly recommend this text.” – Geraldine Cohen, Lecturer, School of Business and Marketing, Brunel University
Looking to learn about marketing decisions and management processes needed to develop export operations either in a small to medium size business or in a global corporation? With changing opportunities and challenges in the global environment, International Marketing and Export Management 5th edition provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage on the topic.
“In my opinion Albaum, Duerr and Strandskov have written an excellent text book on the subject of International Marketing and students will find it both readable and extremely informative.” – David Demick, Senior Lecturer, School of Marketing, Enrepreneurship and Strategy, University of Ulster
Geared to both undergraduate and postgraduate courses on International Marketing or Export Marketing/International Trade, this book can also be used as a supplementary text on International Business courses and as a useful source of reference to even the most experienced of practitioners.
New to this edition!
In response to recent global developments, the authors have increased emphasis on the following:
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- the impact of the Internet, World Wide Web, and e-commerce
- the increasing use of specialized software to assist in managing marketing functions, increasing efficiency in logistics, and coordinating and controlling enterprises
- the impact of technological advances on international marketing
- the changes resulting from China’s rapid, export-led growth and from its entry into the World Trade Organization
- the growing concerns with respect to social responsibility, and the costs of failure to meet societal expectations.
Visit www.booksites.net/albaum to access valuable teaching tools, including an Instructor¿s Manual and Power Point Slides.
Gerald Albaum is Research Professor at the Robert O. Anderson Schools of Management, University of New Mexico and Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the University of Oregon, USA. He is also Senior Research Fellow at the IC2 Institute, University of Texas, Austin, USA. He has been a visiting professor and scholar at universities in Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, France, Finland and Hong Kong.
Edwin Duerr is a Professor Emeritus of International Business at San Francisco State University, USA. He has been a visiting professor at universities in Japan, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands and has extensive consulting business around the globe. Duerr is also Senior Editor of The Journal of International Business and Economy.
Jesper Strandskov is a Professor of International Business at Aarhus School of Business, Denmark. He has been visiting professor at universities in the USA and Australia. He also acts as an international business consultant to several business companies and public institutions.
₵75.00 -
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Mine for the Value – Introduction to Product Management for Retail/Consumer Banking
The ultimate aim of the book is to reinforce the business management orientation required in product management and also strongly underscore the fact that business is won at the frontlines. The win is convincing when every player in the front-line team has a deepened understanding of the products and services that represent the main arsenal of the business.
As demonstrated in the book, it is only when team approach is adopted for most key product and service initiatives that impactful results get achieved.
This book is highly recommended for customer service officers, branch managers, product managers, branch operation managers, call center staff, the analytics team, operational risk team members and IT support crew.
₵85.00 -
A Memoir of a Pragmatic Ghanaian Diplomat
A Memoir of a Pragmatic Ghanaian Diplomat has fulfilled one of the author’s dreams since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Accra, in October 1974.
The book gives brief historical analyses of the Ga Adangme ethnic group of Ghana and Ghana as a former colony under British rule, 1844-1957. It traces the author’s early years and schooling, his undergraduate and post-graduate studies at the University of Ghana, Legon (1982-86 & 1989-90), as well as his studies at the University of Sierra-Leone (IPAM), Freetown (1992) and the China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing (2010).
The book touches on the author’s diplomatic career in Japan, the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Great Socialist Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, where he served in various capacities, the last position being Minister, in Tripoli. It also depicts the author’s private life as a Chorister and Member of the Ghana Red Cross Society.
The book further deals with the author’s assignments as Deputy Director of Passports, Deputy Director of State Protocol Office and his attachment to the office of His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama (of blessed memory), former Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana. The book chronicles other duties the author performed at the Foreign Ministry, Accra, namely, in Administration, Finance and Accounts, Inspectorate and Audit, Americas, Europe, Africa & Regional Integration, International Organisations and Conferences, Information and Linguistics, as well as Middle East and Asia Bureaux.
The book reviews risks, uncertainties and pressures in the Diplomatic Service and how to deal with them. It chronicles the rights, responsibilities and obligations of Diplomats, as well as the essence of doing things befitting the status of Diplomats.
In the penultimate chapter, the author makes a proposal for the establishment of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Practical Training Institute in Acera to deal exclusively with practical diplomacy, diplomatic orientation and preparation of ambassadors-designate and officers for postings to Ghana Missions abroad, to ensure effectiveness, efficiency, professionalism and sense of curiosity in diplomatic assignments abroad and at home.
The author retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in February 2011, having worked for almost 36 years – his last post in Accra being Director of the Middle East and Asia Bureau of the Foreign Ministry.
The author was married to Mrs. Dorothy Nana Ama Allotey (of blessed memory) and has four children: David, Mavis, Deborah and Ruth. Mr. Allotey’s book, Ghana’s Foreign Policy in Comparison with That of Japan and Russia Since 1960 is a good textbook for students of International Relations and Diplomacy and all who desire to understand the intricate workings of foreign policy and their effects on our daily lives.
₵75.00 -
Against the Odds: A Book about Struggles, Failures and Success
Against the Odds presents the story and realities entrepreneurs in Africa face. It highlights on the critical role of technical and vocational education to create jobs , reduce unemployment and provide a facelift for each country. As an entrepreneur you learn through the successes and challenges of the author and appreciate his philosophical perspectives in augmenting a significant progress in your endeavors.
₵75.00