The Good Fail: Entrepreneurial Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Microworkz

A firsthand look at the life of a remarkable entrepreneur and the lessons he learned the hard way so you don′t have to

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. No one has taken that old adage and run with it like Richard Keith Latman, the visionary entrepreneur who′s seen more than his share of ups and downs as founder of the failed budget PC company, Microworkz. In The Good Fail, he shares his decades of experience making the most of his failures, treating each setback as an opportunity to evolve into a more savvy business professional. Bringing together a lifetime of personal case studies with invaluable information on what to watch out for when building a business as well as a list of the nineteen practical lessons you need to know to build a successful company the book is a behind–the–scenes look at the enterprising life of a committed entrepreneur that teaches the value of learning from experience.

Preface ix

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Against All Odds 1

Chapter 2 Out of My League 13

Chapter 3 From Brides to BeOS 27

Chapter 4 Catching the Wave 39

Chapter 5 Too Much Too Soon 55

Chapter 6 The Fall 61

Chapter 7 iToaster 79

Chapter 8 Moving On 87

Chapter 9 Redemption 101

Epilogue Nineteen Ways to Avoid a Good Fail 119

Appendix Forty–Seven Success Stories 139

About the Author 153

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.