I was granted a copy of this audiobook by Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Has someone that is interested in creating their own business I felt inclined to give this a try.
It’s motivating, useful I can see myself coming back once in a wile a listen to it again something’s where hard to imagine with a audiobook. Other than that I recommend it. We always learn something.

There's something warped about a world where advertisers and business moguls are the moral arbiters of society. They sit in judgement, in ivory towers built from crass commercialism, and look down on writers and artists because they're bad for business. This is why we can't have nice things, people.

I'm sick of hearing about how I need to niche down, explore my niche, or decide my niche. Especially from people who mispronounce niche as nitch. What's my niche? My niche is writing whatever I want because I don't want to do anything else. How about that? Is that not a thing?

Whenever I read anything by internet marketing douchebags I mentally make constipated noises like I'm gurning and straining whilst I take a dump. That's what they sound like to me. "Crush it!" "Niche down!" "No pain no gain!" "To the max!" Drink some tea. You'll feel much better.

It turned out this book didn't quite address my personal circumstances.
I loved the narrator's voice and reading style and made which had me halfway through the book until I gave up.

First time entrepreneurs and folks looking to up-level themselves and their position would get tremendous guidelines from Outsizing. The book is a good summary of how the mindset of a leader focused on outsizing themselves and their missions. The book was easy to follow and listen quickly. I listened to it and even as an experienced leader I was able to gain additional insights and guidelines to further refine my approach. The book's focus on customer experience (CX) is a key takeaway.

I would recommend this book as an introduction for new MBA students and even as potential book to include in the curriculum. The author focuses on key values that companies are looking for and can help any company.

This is my first audio-book review here on Netgalley and I loved listening to this book, it felt like a lecture, a session to learn about leadership, management and what it means to want to thrive in the digital era.
Thanks for the eARC.

The book provided some helpful insights and strategies for being successful in business. The author sounds very knowledgeable and provided concrete analogies and personal testimonies.

A very comprehensive look at business and how it works. Great insights into marketing, it’s full of good information. I’m afraid I didn’t love the style of the narrator. Nothing wrong with his voice, I just felt it lacked passion or depth.

This book provides great insights and well structured explanation of different parts of commercial organizations. It also explains throughly and concisely how strategies should be approached by leaders. I listened to the audio version of this book and it was well narrated.

“Outsizing” is a great business and marketing book. If you read a lot on the topics of customer experience and value, it might not tell you anything you haven’t heard before. Yet it serves as a great reminder. I’d recommend it for executives as well as those who head departments, such as HR, sales, marketing and finance. And of course anyone responsible for strategic planning.

This is mostly about creating smart business strategies. The main focus is on maximizing teams, customers, value proposition and technology. Corporate case studies featured include Chick-Fil-A, Uber, Southwest Airlines, Hammer Nutrition and Amazon.

The author, Steve Coughran, is a former CFO and current management consultant. Because he’s a big picture thinker, his content is understandable and in an easy to digest format.

The narrator, James Conlan, has a very professional voice. Unfortunately, I found his delivery a wee bit boring (for me). Perhaps this is a book that would be best delivered by the author who likely has a bit more passion on the topic?

These are my takeaways from “Outsizing”:

• Apply neuroscience research to your strategic planning.
• Understand customer types with shared values and motivations (vs. customer personas).
• Increase repeat business and encourage employee engagement.
• Understand consumer behavior and why it’s changing in the modern economy in the age of information.
• Apply pricing strategies that align with your strategic value.
• Conduct research and understand the top 5 macro trends that will impact your customers’ buying behavior.
• Give customers what they want before they know it (ex: Amazon uses data to focus on customer-centricity, which fuels progress).
• Secure positional advantage to capture greater value (outdated SWOTs framework focus on long-term planning, how can you act more quickly and improve the CX?).
• Maximize financial value via effective price positioning strategies (be a “first mover”).
• Unlock the potential of your talent (great employers attract great employees and the results they deserve).
• Foster cultural ingenuity (if a cultural isn’t positive it has negative impacts).
• Create a strategy team (S-Team) comprised of 5-10 value maximizers with different skillsets and experience.
• Conduct a process audit and implement relevant technology to drive greater productivity.
• Enable your teams by providing the right tools and insights, structure and freedom they need to succeed.
• Use an IAR Framework (this stands for Initiatives, Actions and Results)

“Successful strategists dream then plan, measure progress, and adjust.”
“Think big, start small, and act quickly.”
-Steve Coughran



Special thanks to Greenleaf Audiobooks, via NetGalley, for a gifted copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Easy to understand business book on how firms (small businesses) may be able to grow and thrive in their line of trade using some ready principles applicable to their size.