Books

Market Research on a Shoestring!: Get a Reality check on your big idea for under $100

By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Format: eBook, 128 pages

Price: $29.00

Entrepreneurs don’t like to do market research. Whether they find it unnecessary, think it takes too much time and money, or are simply terrified by the idea, they often start up their businesses without the necessary preparation or understanding of exactly what they are getting into.

But market research doesn’t have to be an expensive, unbearably time-consuming nightmare. It is an essential aspect of starting a new business that can be conducted quickly and easily if you know what to look for and where to look. Market Research on a Shoestring is full of techniques, tricks, and secrets that will help you ask the right questions and find the answers you need to better understand your business and the market it faces. If you want to raise funds for your startup or simply maximize your chances of success, you need this book!

Click on the book image to read more (you can also browse through portions of the book).

Few entrepreneurs love to do market research, but they need to have a basic understanding of who their customers are, why those customers buy what they do, and how their companies will make money. These questions formulate the bulk of the business plan that you will need if you want to raise funds for or attract talent to your startup.

Naeem Zafar’s new book, Market Research on a Shoestring, is a startup owner’s indispensable guide to finding answers not only to the questions all entrepreneurs must ask but also to the questions they will be asked by their investors.

In this easy-to-read eBook, Zafar distills all of these questions into four simple diagrams and provides a step-by-step method for discovering their answers. The book is also filled with screenshots from relevant websites that provide examples of specific questions you should be asking in order to learn what people want and where to find the target audience to ask these questions.

Written by a seasoned entrepreneur who has already advised several hundred other entrepreneurs, this nuts-and-bolts guide to market research is a necessity for those starting their own businesses. READ MORE

Get Funded!: A Definitive Guide to Seeking the right funding at the right time and from the right source

By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Format: eBook

Price: $29.00

Entrepreneurs need funding at various stages of their companies’ growth. This to-the-point book is your essential guide to the funding process. Organized into three sections, this book outlines the likely sources of funding and how they operate, how to approach investors, and the 12-step process of getting funded.

As a valuable bonus, Get Funded! includes the names of several hundred angel investors and venture capital firms.

If you are serious about seeking funding for your startup or simply want to know your options, you need this book! Click on the book’s image to read more (you can also browse through portions of the book).

This book is the complete guide to seeking and getting funding that all entrepreneurs look for and seldom find.

Get Funded! is your roadmap to finding the funding you need to succeed, equipping you with the knowledge you need to attract potential investors. This no-nonsense volume is a must-read for any entrepreneur, whether you’re starting a new venture or already have an established business. You will need funding as your company grows—and you must know how to find funding at each growth stage.

Get Funded! is a tremendous value. No other entrepreneurial guidebook on the market covers all the topics addressed in this 122-page manual. Read More

The Entrepreneur’s Legal Guide to Starting Up: 35 Little-known facts, secrets, techniques, and tricks to making sure you get every penny’s worth of value

By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Format: eBook

Price: $29.00

A simple, to-the-point guide that outlines the decisions all entrepreneurs must make when setting up a legal entity. This eBook is packed with practical, time-tested tips and suggestions about incorporation, hiring the right lawyer, registering patents, and minimizing your legal bill. The eBook includes a step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the right lawyer for your company and offers proven strategies that will save you thousands on your legal bill. There’s also an easy-to-understand chart explaining the differences between the various corporate structures and offering a quick guide to the most common legal issues plaguing entrepreneurs, as well as effective methods for overcoming them.

Knowing the ins and outs of setting up a startup and picking the right lawyer isn’t a matter of intelligence—it’s about experience and expertise. You may have a great deal of both when it comes to your industry, but most entrepreneurs don’t know much about the law. Your strengths lie elsewhere. As a result, you may find yourself intimidated by the idea of selecting legal counsel.

Containing nearly three dozen money-saving, angst-minimizing tips, The Entrepreneur’s Legal Guide to Starting Up is a go-to resource for the entrepreneur who wants to streamline the budget while leveraging the most effective legal services available. Read More

Finance Essentials for entrepreneurs: A Simple Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Statements for Your Business

By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley—Haas School of Business

Format: eBook

Price: $29.00

Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs is a startup owner’s indispensable guide to basic finance. Zafar draws on two decades of entrepreneurial experience to create an eBook that offers a simple, proven method for understanding the most important elements of financial management for businesses. Zafar understands what entrepreneurs need to know about business finance. He also knows that their time is precious. In Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs, he delivers that knowledge in practical, to-the-point language free of technical jargon and longwinded discourses. Spreadsheet examples are clear and relevant.

New entrepreneurs aren’t always finance experts, but they need to have a basic understanding of finance to run their businesses. No investor will give them money unless they can demonstrate some ability to comprehend a financial model.

Such a financial model answers several key questions: Does my business idea make financial sense? How long will it take to break even? What will my run rate be when my business breaks even? How much money will I burn before turning a profit? These are some of the most important questions on every entrepreneur’s mind

Naeem Zafar’s new book, Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs, is a startup owner’s indispensable guide to basic finance. Zafar draws on two decades of entrepreneurial experience to create an eBook that offers a simple, proven method for understanding the most important elements of financial management for businesses.

Written by a seasoned entrepreneur with no formal education in finance, this nuts-and-bolts guide to business finance is crucial to succeeding as an entrepreneur. You don’t need a graduate-level course to understand the concepts laid out in this easy-to-read eBook. Read More

The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers: 35 Little-known facts, secrets, techniques, and tricks to making sure you get every penny’s worth of value from your lawyer

By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Format: eBook

Price: $49.00

Containing nearly three dozen money-saving, angst-minimizing tips, The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers is a go-to resource for the entrepreneur who wants to streamline the budget while leveraging the most effective legal services available. The guide includes a step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the right lawyer for your company, an easy-to-understand chart explaining the differences between the various corporate structures, proven communication strategies that will slash your legal bill by half each month, and a quick guide to the most common legal issues plaguing entrepreneurs, as well as effective methods for overcoming them.

Knowing the ins and outs of picking the right lawyer isn’t a matter of intelligence—it’s about experience and expertise. You may have a great deal of both when it comes to your industry, but most entrepreneurs don’t know much about the law. Your strengths lie elsewhere. As a result, you may find yourself intimidated by the idea of selecting legal counsel.

Containing nearly three dozen moneysaving, angst-minimizing tips, The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers is a go-to resource for the entrepreneur who wants to streamline the budget while leveraging the most effective legal services available.

Testimonials

"A Must Read"

"Naeem has done an outstanding job of outlining the critical "must dos" and relating them to his own real life events. This is a must read for anyone aspiring to become the 'employee number one."

- Dr. Atul Kumar VP of SaaS Operations Serena Software California

"...The bootcamp last night was great - I learned alot!"

- Christel Tappin American Airlines

"This Information is Value Added"

"…. I have never been so wide awake, engaged and excited during a business information download in my life! Every entrepreneur needs to take the time to learn from him. I gained a new perspective from the outside in, instead of the inside out. This information is value add. It helps us to make the right choices; understand what it really takes to start a company; and saves valuable resources. I only wish I had taken the Start Up Bootcamp years ago and that it had been a week long, instead of one day!"

- Teresa Lopez EQS Inc. Dallas TX

"Sharing"

"Thank you so much for sharing with us, your experiences, and knowledge, in business entrepreneurship. I took so many notes, on Friday."

- Alana Binh Tran Asia World Media, Dallas TX

"Truely Helpful"

"The event was truly helpful. Naeem Zafar has a brilliant talent at being able to cut through the fog and focusing the entrepreneur's attention on what is relevant. An absolute 'must attend' before you start your next venture"

- Moyez Thanawalla US Logix

Testimonials

"..Invaluable, on-the-money advice..."

"Succinct, compelling, profound - this book is invaluable with full on-the-money advice that would have been priceless when I was starting my last company. It could take a lifetime to learn what Naeem lucidly summed up in just a few dozen pages. It's a must read for any entrepreneur!"

-Slavik Zorin Founder and CEO Synchrony Systems, New York

"Clear guidance based on knowledge gained by experience"

"Many of us believe that one day we will start our own companies. But what do you need to know before you take that irreversible step of quitting your job? Naeem Zafar's 7 Steps to a Successful Startup is just what the new entrepreneur needs. Providing clear guidance based on knowledge gained by experience! I commend this book to all who consider launching themselves on this exciting journey."

- Jerome S. Engel Executive Director Lester Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, UC Berkeley

"Insightful and practical"

"I have been with five startups in my career mostly as VP of engineering and I clearly see that having followed Naeem's advice would have changed the fate of these companies that I was involved with - very insightful and practical. Excellent!"

- Dr. Bulent Erbilgin VP of Engineering, SS8 Networks, California