The shortlist for the Business Book Awards 2021 has just been announced, celebrating the titles that should be on every business leader’s bookshelf. Here we have picked out the top six books in the ‘Startup / Scaleup’ category, packed with advice to help you start and grow a successful business.

Forget remote working, it’s all about asynchronous working thanks to an increase in global teams becoming the norm and changing the traditional workplace. Departing from the classic in-office, same-country model, global teams are creating a robust new workforce, global teams create asynchronous working styles that go against conventional practices.

Unplanned machine breakdowns cost time and money. Elara Digital now offers the right solutions for reduced down-times and increased machine availability. Relevant information such as work orders, checklists, machine documentation or guides for trouble shooting can be created in an easy and intuitive way and can be accessed at any time: a knowledge data base for maintenance teams.

Challenges such as increasing traffic, rising emissions and limited space are affecting Metropolitan regions around the world, and these developments call for innovative approaches. The City of Hamburg aims to support smart solutions for the city of tomorrow, with the Future Hamburg Award. 

Thirteen companies who are helping the UK’s healthcare, manufacturing and resource sectors recover from the impact of COVID-19 have been chosen to join Microsoft’s AI for Social Impact 2021 programme.

A new report from The Entrepreneurs Network think tank by former Office for AI Adviser Séb Krier sets out eight key recommendations to make the UK the best place in the world for AI innovation.

Rishi Sunak has predicted a rise in hybrid or flexible working in local hubs once the pandemic is over. Speaking on the Politico Westminster Insider podcast this month, he cited the rise of 'neighbourhood' serviced offices springing up across New York, and thinks these small local hubs for people who want to avoid the commute but don't want to work at home is something that should be picked up in the UK. 

In recent years, the trend toward self-quantification has shaped a market rich with tech to track everything from sleep and fitness to food and screen-time. Monitoring and logging personal data to help improve health and well-being has put control into the hands of the people like you and me, giving us the power to work towards our personal goals.

A London-based software development company has launched a new initiative offering the country’s startups the opportunity to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as part of an economy-boosting scheme in the wake of the pandemic.

Bubo.AI is an AI solution for customer value-based pricing. Cloud technology and advanced analytics allow clients to determine the path to more profitability based on optimised prices. Founded and based in the UK, Bubo.AI won the ‘Best Emerging Technology in AI’ award in 2020.

Plymouth Startup Weekend is back this spring with a big question for business brains and creative thinkers everywhere: How can our cities rejuvenate culture and tourism post-pandemic? For Britain’s Ocean City, which was picked as one of the top ten places to travel in 2020 by Condé Nast Traveller magazine, this is an even bigger question. 

Now that we find ourselves several months into the year, digital innovation projects that were touted for early 2021 should now be well and truly underway.

Ihqlak Hussain’s new book, SUCCEED!: An Inspirational Toolkit for the Serious Entrepreneur, dives into the author’s own personal experience, coming from a tough background, working hard and successfully achieving his goals. This book offers easy to understand and must-read advice for budding entrepreneurs designed to highlight how to plan, develop and execute a new business venture.

COVID-19 has materially impacted the way investors are looking at prospective companies to put their money into.

Figures collected by insurance broker PolicyBee show a large increase in sales of cyber insurance since the UK went into lockdown in March 2020.

For any startup, time to market, knowledge, confidence, and expertise are all vital to the success of the entrepreneurial journey. With extensive experience in all these key elements, we speak to John Bowman, Marketing Director, and David Pearson, Technical Director at Anglia, the UK-based authorised distributor of semiconductors, optoelectronics, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components, about what the company can offer to new businesses.

In this month’s Founder Focus feature, Startups Magazine speaks to serial entrepreneur, investor and star of the Canadian Dragons’ Den, Michele Romanow.

As the world strives to decarbonise the way we live, travel, and work, there is an urgent need to rapidly increase the generation and use of electricity from renewable power. Today we can successfully capture energy from the sun, wind and even tides, but we have not yet succeeded commercially in harnessing one of the largest green energy sources on earth – our ocean waves.

Quirk’s goal is to empower people to take control of their money, feel secure about the decisions they’re making, and make use of data and intelligence to help humanise the world of money and finance.