Verne Harnish is the Founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the Founder and CEO of Gazelle’s. He has written three books including Mastering the Rockefeller Habits and The Greatest BUSINESS DECISIONS of All Time and Scaling Up. He also has to be one of the best presenters that I have ever heard. He is a great guy, and I’m excited to have him on the show today. Verne lives in Barcelona, Spain with his wife and four children, and besides being a businessman and private investor, he also makes time for hobbies like piano, tennis, and even magic. We dive into why Verne based his book on the habits of Rockefeller, and how Verne went from a traditional book style to more of a textbook on steroids style in Scaling Up. He also shares a trick to finding a good ghost writer and his interaction with the Rockefeller family. Verne writes on Thursdays for thoughts and research. Then when it is time to write the book he sits down and writes for 6 to 8 hours a day for 2 to 3 months. We even talk about his morning routine and the time advantages of being in Barcelona to how he scales from books to major business investing.   You can find Verne here: Scaling Up Website Gazelles Verne Harnish on LinkedIn Verne Harnish on Twitter @agilescaleup Scaling Up Mastering the Rockefeller Habits The Greatest BUSINESS DECISIONS of All Time      Show Notes   [02:27] Verne wished he had written his first book earlier. [02:49] He launched an executive program for EO and he featured the Rockefeller habits which started out as a series of articles [03:59] If you need a writer find someone who has written about you. [04:31] All of the articles about the Rockefeller habits became his first book. [04:56] How Verne decided on the Rockefeller habits. [05:08] How Rockefeller had put in place habits critical to scaling a business. [05:56] How the Rockefellers didn't seem to have a problem with the book. Although, he changed his name to Scaling Up. [07:34] How the book made sense for everyone in the company to read not just the CEO. [08:49] The importance of having a great title and a great cover and a book can make a great business card. [11:53] How Scaling Up is like a textbook on steroids. [12:12] The process of going from the first book which was a traditional style book to the Scaling Up textbook format. [13:32] Scaling Up references 40 books because nobody has all of the answers. [14:01] Verne writes every Thursday and he also has writing partners. [16:16] It takes 10,000 hours to find your voice and become an expert at something. [19:39] Verne's morning routine includes a breathing meditation and exercises then he works on his biggest thing. [22:06] Educating and not selling is how we market now. A book is a great way to do this. [24:17] How having the books have helped impact Verne's business. He gives books away with his speeches which leads to more book sales and coaching clients. [29:28] Harne also invests in the companies that he helps to scale up. This is a big way to monetize. [32:57] The sales of Scaling Up have been very consistent since the beginning. [34:40] How a lot of the information is open source and having a mentality to give information away. [35:39] Being able to update your book is another advantage of self-publishing. [36:10] If you don't have time to write your own book, have it written for you. [38:11] The multiplier effect of having books published.   Links and Resources: self-publishingschool.com Spsfreetraining.com Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. The Art of Living Entrepreneurs’ Organization Build Direct Barcelona Housing Systems Rackspace Great by Choice by Jim Collins Adam Witty Advantage Media Direct from Dell by Michael Dell Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates Scaling Up Website Gazelles Verne Harnish on LinkedIn Verne Harnish on Twitter @agilescaleup Scaling Up Mastering the Rockefeller Habits The Greatest BUSINESS DECISIONS of All Time