Blueprint Seven Six

The Technologist's Guide to Transforming Early-Stage Companies and Building Enterprise Value with Product-Quality Software

By: Leo Reiter

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Ever wondered what It takes to transform an early-stage technology startup or nascent organization into an effective software product enterprise? The kind that attracts significant market traction, investment, and ultimately, valuation?

It’s not all about genius or luck, but rather, focused execution of good practices over time. The trick is to iterate pragmatically on a path that continuously builds value and results while avoiding costly distractions.

If you’re a technology or product leader in one of these firms, or considering a move into the startup world, you’ll find this book to be practical and its anecdotes easily applicable to your own unique circumstances. Far from a reference or academic text, it delivers sensible, by-example advice with plenty of room to adapt and adjust, along a logical, common-sense roadmap -- or blueprint -- that maximizes return on investment at every stage – regardless of how limited your resources may be. It’s based on over two decades of early and growth stage startup experience through key involvement in everything from fundraising, to go-to-market pivot strategies, to global partnerships and licensing agreements, and ultimately, to due diligence and liquidity events. All the while it challenges technology leaders to follow the path of true north when it comes to transformation through product evolution, highlighting how to identify what’s critical, somewhat important, or just plain noise. You’ll likely relate to many of these mechanisms right away, as it deals with popular industry processes such as Agile and Scrum, but you’ll also find the practical format to be a nice departure from traditional canon and dogma. Additionally, the book covers key topics such as:

• Recruiting and retaining talented software developers.
• Driving high-impact company culture.
• Improving cross-functional collaboration and “buy-in” from company and customer stakeholders.
• Building technical credibility with the market even in the face of well-funded and/or entrenched competition.

If you're more in a sales or communications role, or if you’re merely curious about how to evolve startups effectively from a product perspective, you’ll find the book easy to read and digest. Deep technical details are kept to a minimum, focusing instead on their high-level meaning and significance in a broader business context. You’ll get a straightforward, demystifying overview of how to:

• Build innovative, but mature, software products.
• Understand and communicate effectively with developers.
• Clearly and accurately evaluate and formulate value propositions that resonate with customers and the market at large.

Blueprint Seven Six, by Leo Reiter, incorporates a balanced mix of popular culture, sports, and general life metaphors to illustrate key points. You’ll gain beneficial knowledge of topics you may have previously considered too technical to understand, with a quick, easy-to-follow, and engaging narrative.

Finally, Reiter frequently relates important and insightful lessons from his mentors, historical figures, and broad industry experts, to further humanize the book. Blueprint Seven Six is an anecdotal guide to transforming technology organizations into valuable assets through quality software, based on decades of hands-on experience doing it, and facilitating strategic partnerships and acquisitions.