Covers succession planning, family conflicts, business valuation, ownership transfer, shareholder agreements, security devices, and estate planning

Passing the Torch: Succession, Retirement, and Estate Planning in Family-Owned Businesses

Cohn, Mike

McGraw=Hill

Passing the Torch: Transfer Strategies for Your Family Business

Business & Money

Business Development & Entrepreneurship

McGraw-Hill Companies

Praise for Agile Estimating and Planning 
"Traditional, deterministic approaches to planning and estimating simply don't cut it on the slippery slopes of today's dynamic, change-driven projects. Mike Cohn's breakthrough book gives us not only the philosophy, but also the guidelines and a proven set of tools that we need to succeed in planning, estimating, and scheduling projects with a high uncertainty factor. At the same time, the author never loses sight of the need to deliver business value to the customer each step of the way." —Doug DeCarlo, author of eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility (Jossey-Bass, 2004) "We know how to build predictive plans and manage them. But building plans that only estimate the future and then embrace change, challenge most of our training and skills. In Agile Estimating and Planning , Mike Cohn once again fills a hole in the Agile practices, this time by showing us a workable approach to Agile estimating and planning. Mike delves into the nooks and crannies of the subject and anticipates many of the questions and nuances of this topic. Students of Agile processes will recognize that this book is truly about agility, bridging many of the practices between Scrum and ExtremeProgramming." —Ken Schwaber, Scrum evangelist, Agile Alliance cofounder, and signatory to the Agile Manifesto "In Agile Estimating and Planning , Mike Cohn has, for the first time, brought together most everything that the Agile community has learned about the subject. The book is clear, well organized, and a pleasant and valuable read. It goes into all the necessary detail, and at the same time keeps the reader's burden low. We can dig in as deeply as we need to, without too much detail before we need it. The book really brings together everything we have learned about Agile estimation and planning over the past decade. It will serve its readers well." —Ron Jeffries, www.XProgramming.com, author of Extreme Programming Installed (Addison-Wesley, 2001) and Extreme Programming Adventures in C# (Microsoft Press, 2004) " Agile Estimating and Planning provides a view of planning that's balanced between theory and practice, and it is supported by enough concrete experiences to lend it credibility. I particularly like the quote 'planning is a quest for value.' It points to a new, more positive attitude toward planning that goes beyond the 'necessary evil' view that I sometimes hold." —Kent Beck, author of Extreme Programming Explained, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2005) "Up-front planning is still the most critical part of software development. Agile software development requires Agile planning techniques. This book shows you how to employ Agile planning in a succinct, practical, and easy-to-follow manner." —Adam Rogers, Ultimate Software "Mike does a great follow-up to User Stories Applied by continuing to provide Agile teams with the practical approaches and techniques to increase agility. In this book, Mike provides time-proven and well-tested methods for being successful with the multiple levels of planning and estimating required by Agile. This book is the first to detail the disciplines of Agile estimating and planning, in ways that rival my 1980 civil engineering texts on CPM Planning and Estimating." —Ryan Martens, President and Founder, Rally Software Development Corporation "With insight and clarity, Mike Cohn shows how to effectively produce software of high business value. With Agile estimation and planning, you focus effort where it really counts, and continue to do so as circumstances change." —Rick Mugridge, Rimu Research Ltd., and lead author, Fit for Developing Software (Prentice Hall, 2005) "Finally! The groundbreaking book my clients have been clamoring for! Agile Estimating and Planning demystifies the process of defining, driving, and delivering great software that matters to the business. Mike's clarity, insight, and experience leap out through every page of this book, offering an approach that is relevant and immediately useful to all members of an Agile project." —Kert D. Peterson, President, Enterprise Agile Group, LLC "This isn't yet another generic book on Agile software development. Agile Estimating and Planning fills a gap left by most of the other books and gives you important, practical, down-to-earth techniques needed to be successful on Agile development projects." —Steve Tockey, Principal Consultant, Construx Software "Estimation, planning, and tracking is a trinity. If you don't do one of them, you don't need the other two. This book provides very practical knowledge for estimation, planning, prioritizing, and tracking. It should be compulsory subject matter for project managers and their teams, even if they hesitate to call themselves Agile." —Niels Malotaux, Project Coach "Effective planning is an important, but often misunderstood, part of any successful Agile project. With Agile Estimating and Planning , Mike Cohn has given us a definitive guide to a wide range of Agile estimating and planning practices. With his clear and practical style, Mike not only explains how to successfully get started planning an Agile project, but also provides a wealth of tips and advice for improving any team's Agile planning process. This book is a must-read for managers, coaches, and members of Agile teams." —Paul Hodgetts, Agile coach and CEO, Agile Logic "Mike's writing style captures the essence of agility-just the right amount of information to bring clarity to the reader. This book provides an excellent guide for all Agile practitioners, both seasoned and novice." —Robert Holler, President and CEO, VersionOne, LLC "It is as if Mike took the distilled knowledge regarding planning and estimation of a great Agile developer (which he is) and laid out all he knows in an easily understandable manner. More importantly, he has a great mix of concepts with real-world examples finished off with a case study so the reader can relate the information to their own situation. Unless you are already an expert Agile planner and estimator, this book is for you." —Alan Shalloway, CEO, Senior Consultant, Net Objectives, and coauthor of Design Patterns Explained, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2005) "Although I had plenty of XP experience before trying out Mike Cohn's Agile planning practices, the effectiveness of the practical and proven techniques in this book blew me away! The book recognizes that people, not tools or processes, produce great software, and that teams benefit most by learning about their project and their product as they go. The examples in the book are concrete, easily grasped, and simply reek of common sense. This book will help teams (whether Agile or not) deliver more value, more often, and have fun doing it! Whether you're a manager or a programmer, a tester or a CEO, part of an Agile team, or just looking for a way to stamp out chaos and death marches, this book will guide you." —Lisa Crispin, coauthor of Testing Extreme Programming (Addison-Wesley, 2003) "Mike Cohn does an excellent job demonstrating how an Agile approach can address issues of risk and uncertainty in order to provide more meaningful estimates and plans for software projects." —Todd Little, Senior Development Manager, Landmark Graphics "Mike Cohn explains his approach to Agile planning, and shows how 'critical chain' thinking can be used to effectively buffer both schedule and features. As with User Stories Applied, this book is easy to read and grounded in real-world experience." —Bill Wake, author of Refactoring Workbook (Addison-Wesley, 2003) "Mike brings this book to life with real-world examples that help reveal how and why an Agile approach works for planning software development projects. This book has great breadth, ranging from the fundamentals of release planning to advanced topics such as financial aspects of prioritization. I can see this book becoming an invaluable aid to Agile project managers, as it provides a wealth of practical tips such as how to set iteration length and boot-strap velocity, and communicate progress." —Rachel Davies, Independent Consultant "There has been a need for a solid, pragmatic book on the long-term vision of an Agile Project for project managers. Agile Estimating and Planning addresses this need. It's not theory—this book contains project-tested practices that have been used on Agile projects. As Mike's test subjects, we applied these practices to the development of video games (one of the most unpredictable project environments you can imagine) with success." —Clinton Keith, Chief Technical Officer, High Moon Studios "When I first heard Mike Cohn speak, I was impressed by a rare combination of qualities: deep experience and understanding in modern iterative and Agile methods; a drive to find and validate easy, high-impact solutions beyond the status quo of traditional (usually ineffective) methods; and the passion and clarity of a natural coach. These qualities are evident in this wonderful, practical guide. I estimate you won't be disappointed in studying and applying his advice." —Craig Larman, Chief Scientist, Valtech, and author of Applying UML and Patterns, Third Edition (Prentice Hall, 2005) and Agile and Iterative Development (Addison-Wesley, 2004) " Agile Estimating and Planning is a critical guide on how to successfully provide value to customers of IT services. This book is filled with clear examples that are essential—from project team members to the executive level." —Lou Thomas, Director, Applications Development, Farm Credit Services of America "This work is deeply significant in that it articulates and details structured techniques to realize a simple, but profound insight—planning is an iterative quest for value, rather than a perfunctory scheduling of activities. Mike presents processes to converge on this value while reducing risk and uncertainty, supporting decision making, establishing trust, and conveying information. Agile methodologies have shifted the emphasis from plans to planning, but have glossed over many of the finer details of Agile planning. Now, very simply and accessibly, Mike demonstrates how it can be done." —Sanjiv Augustine, Practice Director, Lean-Agile Consulting at CC Pace, and author of Managing Agile Projects (Prentice Hall, 2005) "The techniques described in Agile Estimating and Planning have helped us tremendously with planning and managing our projects. It provides all you have ever wanted to know about Agile project management." —Roman Pichler, Engineering Manager, Siemens Communications "Mike Cohn presents a highly pragmatic and logical approach to making projects successful in a world beset by uncertainty and change. With his trademark clarity and directness, Mike cuts through the management mumbo jumbo to present practical techniques that can be put into use immediately. Put the odds squarely in your favor by making Mike Cohn the planning guru on your next big project." —Pete Deemer, Vice President, Product Development, Yahoo! "This book distills the fundamental ideas behind Agile estimating and planning, presenting them in a thoughtful and approachable manner. This is a 'must-have' book that presents clear, unambiguous, and practical advice for anyone who wants to successfully manage modern software development projects." —Scott W. Ambler, President, Ambysoft Inc. "How do your projects go? Frustrating changes? Uncertainty? Product missing both the mark and the deadline? With insight and clarity, Mike Cohn shows how to effectively produce software that is of high business value. With agile estimation and planning, you focus effort where it really counts, and continue to do so as circumstances change." —Rick Mugridge, Rimu Research Ltd., and lead author of Fit for Developing Software "We are true believers in the agile methods described in this book, and have experienced a substantially positive impact from their implementation and continued use. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in making their software development more practical and effective." —Mark M. Gutrich, President and CEO, Fast 401k, Inc. Detailed, Proven Techniques for Estimating and Planning Any Agile Project Agile Estimating and Planning is the definitive, practical guide to estimating and planning agile projects. In this book, Agile Alliance cofounder Mike Cohn discusses the philosophy of agile estimating and planning and shows you exactly how to get the job done, with real-world examples and case studies. Concepts are clearly illustrated and readers are guided, step by step, toward how to answer the following questions: What will we build? How big will it be? When must it be done? How much can I really complete by then? You will first learn what makes a good plan-and then what makes it agile. Using the techniques in Agile Estimating and Planning , you can stay agile from start to finish, saving time, conserving resources, and accomplishing more. Highlights include: <ul>
<li>Why conventional prescriptive planning fails and why agile planning works</li> </ul>
<ul>
<li>How to estimate feature size using story points and ideal days—and when to use each</li> </ul>
<ul>
<li>How and when to re-estimate</li> </ul>
<ul>
<li>How to prioritize features using both financial and nonfinancial approaches</li> </ul>
<ul>
<li>How to split large features into smaller, more manageable ones</li> </ul>
<ul>
<li>How to plan iterations and predict your team's initial rate of progress</li> </ul>
<ul>
<li>How to schedule projects that have unusually high uncertainty or schedule-related risk</li> </ul>
<ul>
<li>How to estimate projects that will be worked on by multiple teams</li> </ul>
 Agile Estimating and Planning supports any agile, semiagile, or iterative process, including Scrum, XP, Feature-Driven Development, Crystal, Adaptive Software Development, DSDM, Unified Process, and many more. It will be an indispensable resource for every development manager, team leader, and team member.

Agile Estimating and Planning

Computers & Technology

Programming

Pearson

Thoroughly reviewed and eagerly anticipated by the agile community, User Stories Applied offers a requirements process that saves time, eliminates rework, and leads directly to better software. The best way to build software that meets users' needs is to begin with "user stories": simple, clear, brief descriptions of functionality that will be valuable to real users. In User Stories Applied, Mike Cohn provides you with a front-to-back blueprint for writing these user stories and weaving them into your development lifecycle. You'll learn what makes a great user story, and what makes a bad one. You'll discover practical ways to gather user stories, even when you can't speak with your users. Then, once you've compiled your user stories, Cohn shows how to organize them, prioritize them, and use them for planning, management, and testing. <ul>
<li>User role modeling: understanding what users have in common, and where they differ </li> <li>Gathering stories: user interviewing, questionnaires, observation, and workshops</li> <li>Working with managers, trainers, salespeople and other "proxies"</li> <li>Writing user stories for acceptance testing </li> <li>Using stories to prioritize, set schedules, and estimate release costs</li> <li>Includes end-of-chapter practice questions and exercises </li> </ul>
User Stories Applied will be invaluable to every software developer, tester, analyst, and manager working with any agile method: XP, Scrum... or even your own home-grown approach.

User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development

Addison-Wesley Professional

Proven, 100% Practical Guidance for Making Scrum and Agile Work in Any Organization This is the definitive, realistic, actionable guide to starting fast with Scrum and agile–and then succeeding over the long haul. Leading agile consultant and practitioner Mike Cohn presents detailed recommendations, powerful tips, and real-world case studies drawn from his unparalleled experience helping hundreds of software organizations make Scrum and agile work. Succeeding with Agile is for pragmatic software professionals who want real answers to the most difficult challenges they face in implementing Scrum. Cohn covers every facet of the transition: getting started, helping individuals transition to new roles, structuring teams, scaling up, working with a distributed team, and finally, implementing effective metrics and continuous improvement. Throughout, Cohn presents “Things to Try Now” sections based on his most successful advice. Complementary “Objection” sections reproduce typical conversations with those resisting change and offer practical guidance for addressing their concerns. Coverage includes <ul>
<li> Practical ways to get started immediately–and “get good” fast </li> <li> Overcoming individual resistance to the changes Scrum requires </li> <li> Staffing Scrum projects and building effective teams </li> <li> Establishing “improvement communities” of people who are passionate about driving change </li> <li> Choosing which agile technical practices to use or experiment with </li> <li> Leading self-organizing teams </li> <li> Making the most of Scrum sprints, planning, and quality techniques </li> <li> Scaling Scrum to distributed, multiteam projects </li> <li> Using Scrum on projects with complex sequential processes or challenging compliance and governance requirements </li> <li> Understanding Scrum’s impact on HR, facilities, and project management </li> </ul>
Whether you've completed a few sprints or multiple agile projects and whatever your role–manager, developer, coach, ScrumMaster, product owner, analyst, team lead, or project lead–this book will help you succeed with your very next project. Then, it will help you go much further: It will help you transform your entire development organization.

Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum

Rules & Procedures

Liberty Hall Pr

Keep or Sell Your Business: How to Make the Decision Every Private Company Faces

The financial windfalls and market opportunities for selling your company are huge. But how do you know if that’s the right choice for you? To find out, you need to understand both the practical and personal repercussions of your decision—as Mike Cohn and Jayne Pearl demonstrate in their insightful new book, Keep or Sell Your Business. Cohn and Pearl provide detailed steps for analyzing the state of your company, examining the opportunities to sell, weighing the benefits of keeping your company, and managing your wealth after the business is sold.

Pearl, Jayne

Kaplan Publishing

Java Professional Developer's Reference contains cross references and jump tables to help the reader locate the Java function. The reader is given a complete reference to the Java language installation, other language migrations and integration, the Java compiler, Java application development, the Java interpreter and applet viewer, HTML browers and more.

Java Developer's Reference

Morrison, Michael

Nygard, Michael T.

MORGAN, Bryan

Trinko, Tom

Joshi, Dan

Programming Languages

Sams.

Latte is Borland's Windows version of Java, complete with a full GUI, IDE, and debugging tools. This book fully details how to develop feature-rich applications for the Web with Latte, including advanced features such as the Just-In-Time compiler. Web Programming with Latte addresses the needs of intermediate to advanced Java/Latte programmers and developers.

Web Programming With Visual J++

Rutten, Jay

Jory, James

Networking & Cloud Computing

Turn off the phone, stock up the fridge, and prepare for an intensive four weeks, because although this guide doesn't assume any specialized programming knowledge, it does demand self-discipline. Topics include creating Java forms and menus directly on the screen; using Visual Cafe's native compiler to build Java programs; using wizards; generating skeleton applets and applications with AppExpress; using the debugger; advanced uses for object-programming tools; and developing and maintaining applications with project management tools. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Teach Yourself Visual Cafe 2 in 21 Days

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cohn, Mike. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cohn, Mike