Good Fail - by Richard Keith Latman (Hardcover)

About the Book

"An inside look at how companies and executives rise and fall, with important lessons for all aspiring entrepreneurs, The Good Fail is part business story, part guilty pleasure, exploring Richard Keith Latman's very public missteps and the painful lessons he learned as a result, presented to fellow entrepreneurs, in his own words, for the first time. Written in a lively, conversational style, the book answers questions many computer industry veterans have been asking for more than a decade about what went wrong at Microworkz, the failed former free PC enterprise. Chronicling Latman's long roller-coaster journey back and offering pointed advice about effective business development, negotiating, human resource management, and leadership, which Latman has successfully applied at his latest ventures, iMagicLab and Latman Interactive, the book is an important set of insights for entrepreneurs everywhere. Offers 19 practical lessons learned, which can help put other entrepreneurs on the path to success faster Includes invaluable insight into how to overcome even the worst public business failures Provides a behind-the-scenes look from the ultimate insider at an important time in computer industry history Presents a case study of how personal and business lives can negatively impact each other Microworkz's failure can be your success. The Good Fail provides both important insights into how to start a business that will reap rewards, and warnings about how to avoid going astray"--

Book Synopsis

An inside look at how companies and executives rise and fall, with important lessons for all aspiring entrepreneurs

The Good Fail is part business story, part guilty pleasure, exploring Richard Keith Latman's very public missteps and the painful lessons he learned as a result, presented to fellow entrepreneurs, in his own words, for the first time. Written in a lively, conversational style, the book answers questions many computer industry veterans have been asking for more than a decade about what went wrong at Microworkz, the failed former free PC enterprise.

Chronicling Latman's long roller-coaster journey back and offering pointed advice about effective business development, negotiating, human resource management, and leadership, which Latman has successfully applied at his latest ventures, iMagicLab and Latman Interactive, the book is an important set of insights for entrepreneurs everywhere.

• Offers 19 practical lessons learned, which can help put other entrepreneurs on the path to success faster
• Includes invaluable insight into how to overcome even the worst public business failures
• Provides a behind-the-scenes look from the ultimate insider at an important time in computer industry history
• Presents a case study of how personal and business lives can negatively impact each other

Microworkz's failure can be your success. The Good Fail provides both important insights into how to start a business that will reap rewards, and warnings about how to avoid going astray.

From the Back Cover

Few people have felt the thrill of success and the sting of failure as much as Richard Keith Latman, the founder of the beleaguered budget PC manufacturer Microworkz. The company's fall from grace has been well documented, but just like every other challenge Latman has encountered during the course of his roller coaster career, it was another opportunity to learn, improve, and come back stronger than ever. In The Good Fail: Entrepreneurial Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Microworkz, Latman shares the incredible true story of a life that has embraced the high-stakes risks inherent in the pursuit of fame and fortune so that you, too, can learn--and even profit--from his mistakes.

From being declared the next Internet billionaire to losing eleven jobs in twelve months, Latman has experienced the peaks and valleys of all-or-nothing entrepreneurship over and over again. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself, but Latman understands that out of error comes experience. That's why he embraces the idea of the "Good Fail"--a mistake from which you learn more than you lose. Such missteps hurt in the short term but offer long-term benefits, and there's no better example than Latman's own.

Now, for the first time, Latman describes his experiences as an entrepreneur who has used his failures to hone his managerial and business acumen, illustrating the importance of learning from your missteps first hand. In The Good Fail, he outlines nineteen practical lessons that will help you succeed faster--from building and sticking to a business plan to maintaining a positive attitude--so that you can build a better, stronger business with less heartache.

Part autobiography, part how-to guide for entrepreneurs everywhere, The Good Fail is one incredible case study on the value of mistakes, from a man who's made a career from learning things the hard way.

About the Author

RICHARD KEITH LATMAN Is Chief Executive Officer, cofounder of iMagicLab and the Founder of Latman Interactive. Latman drives product development, technology, sales, marketing, and architecture decisions across all iMagicLab/Latman products to ensure the product direction is consistent with the overall strategy of the company and the needs of the marketplace. Over the past nine years, he has trained tens of thousands of salespeople, written over 275 articles, and spoken at major events and seminars nationwide.

Latman has broad experience in the sales, hardware, software, and services sectors, having spent more than 20 years in senior management roles in the IT industry. Prior to founding iMagicLab, Latman helped start many innovative companies including RetailTRAC (sold to Minow LLC), MicroPOS (sold to Micros), and Microworkz.com.