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  • Published: 1 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9780552178648
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $35.00

We Don't Need Permission

How black business can change our world



A powerful guide to transformative entrepreneurship for under-represented people from Eric Collins, host of the award-winning Channel 4 reality business show The Money Maker.

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 to create successful businesses is the surest, fastest socio-economic game-changer.

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 Partners 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 to start boldly making the world we want to see.

  • Published: 1 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9780552178648
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $35.00

About the author

Eric Collins

Eric Collins is a technology executive and serial entrepreneur. In 2011 President Obama appointed him to the Small Business Administration's Council on Underserved Communities. In 2018, Eric became part of a prominent group of Black European and US founders of Impact X Capital Partners. The FT named him among the UK's top 100 BAME leaders in technology. Since 2019 he has been voted one of the most influential Black people in Britain on The Power List. Eric has appeared on Radio 4 and Sky News, and has been featured in the FT, Guardian, Times and Sunday Times. Eric hosts Channel 4's award-winning business reality series The Money Maker.

Praise for We Don't Need Permission

Eric expands our vision to see how Black innovators, entrepreneurs, and business owners have changed the world, and gives us a powerful plan to realize a better future for everyone.

Greg Hoffman, author of Emotion by Design and former Nike CMO

Diverse entrepreneurs worldwide have the great privilege of tapping into Eric Collins' VC, tech, business, and media prowess with We Don't Need Permission. As someone who has faced the very system that Collins breaks down in the book, I can say with confidence that his razor-sharp lessons for under-represented entrepreneurs paired with his burning passion for advancing communities of colour, manifest in a recipe for unapologetic success.

Kathryn Finney, author of Build the Damn Thing

This book is a manifesto for much needed radical and overdue change. It provides timely and necessary perspectives from one of today's most important voices in the ongoing fight for social justice. Collins's book is a must-read for all those inside and outside our community wishing to understand a Black British perspective as well as the imperative for change.

Ric Lewis, founder and Chairman of Tristan Capital Partners

Finally, there is an author who is emphatically saying that we don't need permission to succeed. This book demonstrates that there are no limits. Collins' writing concisely breaks down what are often regarded as insurmountable barriers to contributing to, and positively impacting, our world. Collins convincingly argues that we possess all the aptitude, experience and resources needed to leverage business tools to achieve equality. The book's lessons are applicable to everyone in a big rush to change the world or themselves. Having worked with Eric on Channel 4's The Money Maker, I know he is the right person at the right time to write this book.

Rob Pierre, CEO and founder of Jellyfish

Eric Collins set himself on a unique career path to become one of the most influential figures in Britain's Black and minority community. We Don't Need Permission turns Collins' wonderful story, and a good bit of hard-nosed realism, into a programme for collective empowerment and racial change.

Professor Kenneth Mack, Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law, Harvard

Eric's advice will help change all our futures for good.

Sir Lenny Henry

With one in two Black British families living below the poverty line today, Eric's book is the generational game-changer we need.

David Harewood, author of Maybe I Don’t Belong Here

Do business better. It is incumbent on business leaders to use our advantage and our power for positive impact and Eric explains brilliantly the difference that we can make. It turns out it is easy to do - so the choice of whether to make that difference is ours.

Alex Mahon, Chief Executive, Channel 4

Whether you're already working in the world of business or a beginner starting out with a good idea, We Don't Need Permission is invaluable. It's a disruptive, solution-driven path toward a level playing field and Black empowerment. The book removes the first obstacle with its title. An important read.

Adrian Lester