We Don't Need Permission

Highly Commended for the Diversity, Inclusion and Equality Award at the Business Book Awards A powerful 10 step guide to transformative entrepreneurship for under-represented people from Eric Collins, host of the award-winning Channel 4 reality business show The Money Maker. 'Eric Collins is one of the most powerful business people in Britain.' The Times __________ Step 1: Embrace the unexpected Step 2: Engage in consistent and continuous acts of disruption Step 3: Let go of small - think bigger, think global and prepare for pitfalls Step 4: Take risks using data to mitigate the downside Step 5: Put your money where your mouth is, make your resources matter Step 6: Leverage what you know Step 7: Become a convener by making your mission bigger than yourself Step 8: Invest in women to create Alpha Step 9: Sell your vision, make time-appropriate asks and don't forget to recruit allies Step 10: Always bet on Black ________________________ At a time when half of Black households in the UK live in persistent poverty - over twice as many as their white counterparts - We Don't Need Permission argues that investing in Black and under-represented entrepreneurs in order to create successful businesses is the surest, fastest socio-economic game-changer there is. Long-lasting economic empowerment - from education to health outcomes - is key to solving the multiple problems that result from systemic racism and sexism. And it is the best way to close the inequality gaps that have hampered and continue to hinder Black people and all women too. To address this problem head on, Eric Collins co-founded venture capital firm Impact X Capital to invest in under-represented entrepreneurs in the UK and Europe. In We Don't Need Permission, Collins identifies ten key principles of successful entrepreneurship, and reveals how it's possible to change a system that has helped some, while holding others back. The book not only aims to inspire and motivate under-represented people to take their future and economic destiny into their own hands, but will demand of current business leaders and organizations that they do business better. It's time to stop waiting for someone else to give permission and start boldly making the world we want to see. __________

Eric Collins is the co-founder and CEO of Impact X Capital Partners, a venture capital firm investing in under-represented entrepreneurs in the UK and Europe. Eric is also a serial entrepreneur and technology executive who has worked with numerous innovative companies and invests in fast-growth businesses helping Black and female entrepreneurs get the jump start they need. In 2011, shortly before making London his home, Eric was appointed by President Obama to the Small Business Administration's Council on Underserved Communities. Since then, the FT has placed Eric among the UK's top 100 BAME leaders in technology and he has been included in The Power List as one of the most influential Black people in Britain. Eric has also appeared on Radio 4 and Sky News and in the FT, Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg, Guardian, The Times and Sunday Times and hosts Channel 4's award-winning business reality series, The Money Maker.