Business model book follows its own advice

Business models are at the core of what we write about every day here at Springwise, so we were naturally interested to see a new book launch on the topic recently. What’s particularly compelling about “Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers,” however, is that it was co-authored and independently published by no fewer than 470 practitioners of the model it espouses. The market for business and management books is a crowded one, to put it mildly, but it’s not often one sees a book created through the very innovation processes it recommends. Led by Swiss business model guru Alexander Osterwalder, however, a team of users of Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas methodology in 45 countries together created the 280-page book on business model design and innovation. Design was done by The Movement; co-creation took place via the online Business Model Hub community, and publication was partially financed through participants’ access fees to that community. Pre-sales through the Issuu-powered Business Model Generation website, meanwhile, helped finance the first print run. A 72-page pdf preview of Business Model Generation is available for free. Ultimately, the full book will be available through Amazon. In the meantime, however, it can be ordered directly at a price of EUR 43 in Europe, USD 62 in the US and Canada, or USD 96 everywhere else; shipping costs (which the book’s creators say will soon come down) are included. One to apply to the creation of *your* next big thing…? Spotted by: Simon Maurer