Start-Up City

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

There has been a revolution in urban transportation over the past five years--set off by start-ups across the US and internationally. Sleek, legible mobility platforms are connecting people to cars, trains, buses, and bikes as never before, opening up a range of new transportation options while improving existing ones. While many large city governments, such as Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., have begun to embrace creative forms and processes of government, most still operate under the weight of an unwieldy, risk-averse bureaucracy.
With the advent of self-driving vehicles and other technological shifts upon us, Gabe Klein asks how we can close the gap between the energized, aggressive world of start-ups and the complex bureaucracies struggling to change beyond a geologic time scale. From his experience as a food-truck entrepreneur to a ZipCar executive and a city transportation commissioner, Klein's career has focused on bridging the public-private divide, finding and celebrating shared goals, and forging better cities with more nimble, consumer-oriented bureaucracies.
In Start-Up City , Klein, with David Vega-Barachowitz, demonstrates how to affect big, directional change in cities--and how to do it fast. Klein's objective is to inspire what he calls "public entrepreneurship," a start-up-pace energy within the public sector, brought about by leveraging the immense resources at its disposal. Klein offers guidance for cutting through the morass, and a roadmap for getting real, meaningful projects done quickly and having fun while doing it.
This book is for anyone who wants to change the way we live in cities without waiting for the glacial pace of change in government.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Introduction
• Why Should You Care About Getting S*it Done in Cities?
• Chapter 1 Lesson #1: Don't Be Afraid to Screw Up and Learn
• It is necessary to make mistakes. Just make them as quickly as possible, learn from them, and try not to repeat.
• Chapter 2 Lesson #2: Manage S.M.A.R.T.
• On managing others, empowering your team, and shamelessly promoting their accomplishments
• Chapter 3 Lesson #3: Where there's a will, there's a way
• On how to evaluate your budget quickly, assess and align your stakeholders, and build beautiful cities (in no time)
• Chapter 4 Lesson #4: Sell Your City
• On marketing your projects, communicating with the public, and celebrating the dastardly
• Chapter 5 Lesson #5: Fund Creatively
• On how to find funding where none seemingly exists, making the most of a slim budget, and getting creative with the basics
• Chapter 6 Lesson #6: Bridge the Public-Private Divide
• On forging a proactive bureaucracy, and making life better for everyone in the process
• Chapter 7 Lesson #7: Prepare for Disruption
• On the present and anticipated technological shifts and business models that are transforming urban life and challenging the status quo
• Chapter 8 Lesson #8: Drive Change
• Understanding the implications of autonomous, connected mobility, what it means for cities, and how government can make sure they are driving change, rather than reacting to it
• Conclusion: The Big Picture and You