Guerrillapreneur: Small Business Strategy For Davids Wanting To Defeat Goliaths

by Mark Anthony Peterson

“Guerrillapreneur” is a combination of the words “Guerrilla” and “Entrepreneur,” and it is the name given by the author to enterprising, cash, and environment-conserving small business executives who are dedicated to defeating corporate Goliaths. David used a slingshot and pouch of rocks to defeat Goliath. The author profiles past “Davids” like Wal-Mart, Apple, and Turner Enterprises, and derives from their garage-to-Goliath transformations the ultimate small business “slingshot” strategy and “marketfighting” tactics. Guerrillapreneur is a MUST READ for every entrepreneur! 1 Samuel 17 of the King James Bible details the battle between David, an undersized Israeli teenager, and Goliath, a nine foot tall Philistine warrior. As the Israeli and Philistine armies prepared for war in nearby camps, Goliath taunted the Israeli army and challenged any man brave enough to head-to-head battle. David, armed with slingshot and a pouch of rocks, accepted Goliath’s challenge. As Goliath charged with spear in hand, David released a rock from the slingshot and struck the giant in the forehead knocking him down. David took Goliath’s sword and removed the Philistine’s head. The sight of David holding Goliath’s decapitated head sent the Philistine army into retreat. The moral of the small players with good strategies can defeat even the biggest giant.

Genres: Business

216 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2012

About the author

Mark A. Peterson is the author of the small business strategy book, GuerrillapreneurTM. Guerrillapreneur is the combination of the words “Guerrilla” and “Entrepreneur,” and is the name given to enterprising, cash, and environment-conserving small business executives.

Mark A. Peterson has over twenty-five years of entrepreneurial and strategic consulting experience. Peterson is the co-founder and former CEO of PrideRock Holding Company, Inc., a leading biometric and criminal history screening company. Along with his business partner, Mitch Duitz, Peterson launched PrideRock in 2002 from their respective garages and grew the business to over $10 million in annual revenues. In 2011, Peterson and Duitz completed the sale of the business to Corelogic, a spin-off from First American.

Prior to co-founding PrideRock Holding Company, Inc., Peterson worked as the Vice President of Emerging Markets at ChoicePoint, Inc. where he was in charge of the company’s small business incubator.

Prior to working at ChoicePoint, Peterson spent six years as a strategy consultant with Andersen Consulting’s (now Accenture) Strategic Services practice. During his tenure as a consultant, Peterson specialized in strategy development, including eCommerce and eProcurement, for U.S. Fortune 500 companies including investor-owned electric utilities, financial services, and packaged goods companies.

Prior to joining Accenture, Peterson interned with, and then later worked as, an independent marketing and brand management consultant to a major packaged goods company. During his time at Dartmouth College, Peterson launched two entrepreneurial ventures: Le Noir Style, a company that sold health and beauty-aid products for African Americans to New England Area colleges; and ENform Magazine, a political and social magazine.

Peterson is a 1987 graduate of Selma High School (Selma, Alabama) where he was named the city’s first African-American Paul M. Grist “Boy of the Year”. Peterson has a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth.

Reviews

[Shiloh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title Guerrillapreneur: Small Business Strategy For Davids Wanting To Defeat Goliaths says it all. This is the voice of experience in making a success of niche markets. With formulas and succinct wisdom about staying nimble this is a must for the small business owner. His examples from other Guerrillapreneurs of all sizes, stages, and success/failures give the reader a firm understanding of the principles he presents. This book also holds tremendous power of possibility for established companies wondering how they can keep their edge and stay a leader.

[Allegra Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew Mark Peterson from high school where he was on the state debate championship team, president of his class, and one of the funniest people I had ever met. He is also a born leader and a highly ethical one at that. If you ever have a challenge, you want Mark to be there with you. I bought the book to learn what he is thinking now. It was delightful, practical, concrete wisdom for the person who wants to actually run a company. I loved it! If you are thinking about hiring McKinsey for seven figures, drop that thought and read Peterson's book. As a seasoned business executive, I found it fun, wise, and helpful in so many ways to remember what's real about life and business. This book is a real treasure!

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of practical wisdom on entrepreneurship from someone who knows exactly how the game is played. Full of personal experience, humor, useful charts, strategies, and plenty of well-researched data, this book weaves an engaging and entertaining story while giving the reader perspective on how to strategically plan a business. Peterson's book is a well-written primer on positioning your business to compete with some of the giants in today's world, and he does it with flair.

I kept this book in my backpack and read it on the bus between work, classes, and stopping by my apartment. It's so organized and easy to read that it was easy to pick up in ~15 minute increments.

[Bill Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lessons are rarely learned from successes but instead the tough times and failures. In this exceptional book Mr. Peterson reviews his entrepreneurship since his teens and shares the lessons he learned along the way. He also examines other major corporations, that we all know, and helps us to analyze their mistakes along the way for lessons learned. This is a MUST READ book for starting (and experienced) entrepreneurs wishing to get ahead from Mr. Peterson's successful entrepreneur experience and analysis. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to Mr. Peterson continuing his business insight in his next book.