Top 4 Life and Business Resources of Richard Laermer and Tony Grass

We’re pleased to present a dual installment for this week’s top influencers. Face-Off participants Richard Laermer and Tony Grass offer their takes on business growth on this week’s episode. (If you missed the Face-Off, go back and listen here.) Here are the influencers Richard and Tony credit in helping them achieve their own growth in business:

1. Doc Searls – Richard

Doc is one of the authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto. Much of what he says makes pure sense and is logical. Every businessperson would benefit from giving his ideas a once-over.

2. Tim Sanders – Richard

Love Is The Killer App, while old now, at the time made me look at my own biz in a different way. Sanders is also quite accessible, which early on taught me to be charming to all comers.

3. Sun Tzu – Tony

‘Know your enemy / attack where he is weak’: the ancient teachings on the elements of combat still ring true today in the modern business world, where strategy and cunning are just as important as in battle if we want to survive.

4. IIT School of Design – Tony

‘Form follows function.’ My alma mater has had some great things to say about working backward from what it is you want to achieve. We must consider what something does first, be they businesses or products, before we can pass judgment on their aesthetic.