Transworld signs 'catalyst for change' by entrepreneur Eric Collins

Transworld has landed We Don’t Need Permission! by Eric Collins, venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur and host of a new Channel 4 reality business series.

Andrea Henry, editorial director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Natalie Jerome at Aevitas Creative Management. The book will be published by Bantam Press in hardback on 7th April 2022.

Collins, whose TV series will be broadcast this May, co-founded venture capital firm Impact X Capital along with high-profile figures including Sir Lenny Henry, Ursula Burns, Ric Lewis and Adrian Lester to invest £100m specifically in underrepresented entrepreneurs in the UK and Europe. His book argues that investing in Black and underrepresented entrepreneurs is “the surest, fastest socio-economic game changer there is”.

The synopsis explains: “In We Don’t Need Permission! Collins identifies 12 key principles of successful, transformative entrepreneurship in a dynamic guide to how it’s possible to change a system that has helped some, while holding others back. These core principles will resonate with anyone interested in doing business differently. The book aims not only to inspire and motivate underrepresented people to take their future and economic destiny into their own hands but will demand of current business leaders and organisations that they do business better.

Henry said: “The whole team at Transworld responded incredibly strongly to Eric’s clear and powerful proposition that underrepresented groups – Black people, primarily, but also women generally – can be most successful economically by taking ownership of their own businesses. The financial backing that Eric and his team at Impact X Capital can offer is crucial to making that happen, as is the invaluable advice offered by this inspiring book. It’s a really exciting project to be a part of."

Collins added: “In my 30-year career I have been on the both sides of the venture capital equation – as an investor and an entrepreneur – and practically nothing has changed for Black and underrepresented founders. They still receive, by far, the lowest amount of funding from VCs – for Black people in the UK it’s 0.2%, for women it’s 2.9%. We can only close the inequality gap when Black people plan and act deliberately with their money, and in We Don’t Need Permission!, I want to show how that can be done. I’m delighted to be partnering with Andrea, the team at Transworld, Natalie Jerome, and Eva Simpson of ESPR, on a book which I sincerely hope will be a catalyst for positive and permanent change."