Author:Eric Collins
Highly Commended for the Diversity, Inclusion and Equality Award at the Business Book Awards
A powerful 10 step guide to transformative entrepreneurship for under-represented people from Eric Collins, host of the award-winning Channel 4 reality business show The Money Maker.
'Eric Collins is one of the most powerful business people in Britain.' The Times
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Step 1: Embrace the unexpected
Step 2: Engage in consistent and continuous acts of disruption
Step 3: Let go of small - think bigger, think global and prepare for pitfalls
Step 4: Take risks using data to mitigate the downside
Step 5: Put your money where your mouth is, make your resources matter
Step 6: Leverage what you know
Step 7: Become a convener by making your mission bigger than yourself
Step 8: Invest in women to create Alpha
Step 9: Sell your vision, make time-appropriate asks and don't forget to recruit allies
Step 10: Always bet on Black
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At a time when half of Black households in the UK live in persistent poverty - over twice as many as their white counterparts - We Don't Need Permission argues that investing in Black and under-represented entrepreneurs in order to create successful businesses is the surest, fastest socio-economic game-changer there is.
Long-lasting economic empowerment - from education to health outcomes - is key to solving the multiple problems that result from systemic racism and sexism. And it is the best way to close the inequality gaps that have hampered and continue to hinder Black people and all women too. To address this problem head on, Eric Collins co-founded venture capital firm Impact X Capital to invest in under-represented entrepreneurs in the UK and Europe.
In We Don't Need Permission, Collins identifies ten key principles of successful entrepreneurship, and reveals how it's possible to change a system that has helped some, while holding others back. The book not only aims to inspire and motivate under-represented people to take their future and economic destiny into their own hands, but will demand of current business leaders and organizations that they do business better.
It's time to stop waiting for someone else to give permission and start boldly making the world we want to see.
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Eric's advice will help change all our futures for good.
—— Sir Lenny HenryDo business better. It is incumbent on business leaders to use our advantage and our power for positive impact and Eric explains brilliantly the difference that we can make. It turns out it is easy to do - so the choice of whether to make that difference is ours.
—— Alex Mahon, Chief Executive, Channel 4Whether you're already working in the world of business or a beginner starting out with a good idea, We Don't Need Permission is invaluable. It's a disruptive, solution-driven path toward a level playing field and Black empowerment. The book removes the first obstacle with its title. An important read.
—— Adrian LesterWith one in two Black British families living below the poverty line today, Eric's book is the generational game-changer we need.
—— David Harewood, author of Maybe I Don’t Belong HereThis book is a manifesto for much needed radical and overdue change. It provides timely and necessary perspectives from one of today's most important voices in the ongoing fight for social justice. Collins's book is a must-read for all those inside and outside our community wishing to understand a Black British perspective as well as the imperative for change.
—— Ric Lewis, founder and Chairman of Tristan Capital PartnersDiverse entrepreneurs worldwide have the great privilege of tapping into Eric Collins' VC, tech, business, and media prowess with We Don't Need Permission. As someone who has faced the very system that Collins breaks down in the book, I can say with confidence that his razor-sharp lessons for under-represented entrepreneurs paired with his burning passion for advancing communities of colour, manifest in a recipe for unapologetic success.
—— Kathryn Finney, author of Build the Damn ThingEric expands our vision to see how Black innovators, entrepreneurs, and business owners have changed the world, and gives us a powerful plan to realize a better future for everyone.
—— Greg Hoffman, author of Emotion by Design and former Nike CMOFinally, there is an author who is emphatically saying that we don't need permission to succeed. This book demonstrates that there are no limits. Collins' writing concisely breaks down what are often regarded as insurmountable barriers to contributing to, and positively impacting, our world. Collins convincingly argues that we possess all the aptitude, experience and resources needed to leverage business tools to achieve equality. The book's lessons are applicable to everyone in a big rush to change the world or themselves. Having worked with Eric on Channel 4's The Money Maker, I know he is the right person at the right time to write this book.
—— Rob Pierre, CEO and founder of JellyfishEric Collins set himself on a unique career path to become one of the most influential figures in Britain's Black and minority community. We Don't Need Permission turns Collins' wonderful story, and a good bit of hard-nosed realism, into a programme for collective empowerment and racial change.
—— Professor Kenneth Mack, Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law, HarvardSaving Time is about what it means to be on the clock, personally, politically and existentially. The book's writing glows. Reading this book is like being in the company of a particularly thoughtful friend: Odell shows you the truths of the structures you inhabit and then, warmly, attempts to protect you from your own nihilism
—— Alissa Quart, author of BootstrappedFrom the vast sweep of geological time to incremental seasonal changes observed on a single branch in a local park, this potently mysterious book explores the ways in which we might begin to challenge the cramped temporal confines of our modern lives
—— Helen Gordon, author of LandfallBy now a legend thanks to the simple but impactful wisdom of her first book, How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell furthers her argument for escaping the so-called attention economy. ... This follow-up promises to be as satisfying, optimistic, and enrapturing as Odell's original bestseller
—— ElleAn intriguing look into our attitudes to time ... striking
—— GuardianA scintillating and important meditation on the notion of time
—— Times Literary SupplementA powerful critique of the way we conceive of time in the modern, industrial world ... striking ... Odell calls for a way of living that is less extractive, less dependent on domination, and less about the human self
—— GuardianThe bestselling author of How to Do Nothing ... returns with another urgent examination of modern life
—— i-DA moving and provocative game changer
—— Publishers WeeklyIn a work both magisterial and elliptical, Odell takes on the concept of 'time' from every conceivable angle ... This is both an irresistible big-idea book an a guide to rethinking a burning world
—— LA TimesA penetrating, provocative investigation into the subject of time - how to understand and live with it - on both an individual and societal level ... impressive
—— Shelf AwarenessTemporal structure has its comforts, particularly following a tumultuous three years ... That yo-you effect [of the last few years] drew me to Saving Time, Jenny Odell's sharp book tracing the cultural forces that shape our conception of time
—— Laura Regensdorf, Vanity FairOdell fights to provide us with an alternative way to experience the time we have
—— i PaperAmbitious ... a pleasure to read ... thought-provoking
—— New ScientistA sweeping yet personal challenge to assumptions Western society makes about the relationships between individuals and the finite hours in a given day
—— Time MagazineOdell argues convincingly that our daily experience is dominated by the corporate clock that so many of us contort ourselves to fit inside
—— Irish IndependentThe best beach read of the year ... Read it, and then think deeply about how you are reading your own time
—— The Media LeaderOdell's latest book, Saving Time, is great at analysing where a lot of our notions about how to use our time came from (hint: capitalism).
—— RTE IrelandOne of President Barack Obama's 'Favourite books of 2019'
—— President Barack Obama on How To Do Nothing