Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days (Recipes: a Problem-Solution Ap) by Jessica Livingston Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days (Recipes: a Problem-Solution Ap)
Book Review: Good startup book; HIGH on economics
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall good book. I obviously enjoyed certain interviews more than others (almost slept through the Lotus and co. ones), I enjoyed and learned a lot from their stories. I wish there was more focus on peer relations and less on VC's business, but I'd be an ignorant if I overlooked the fact that these companies didn't grow as big as they are on good will alone.
Very inspiring book. I'd recommend it to anyone interest in starting up any kind of business.
Book Review: Great book for "Tech-ies," Entrepreneurs and anyone who as aspirations to become one themselves!
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this book for a college course to use instead of traditional text book. Enjoyed the insight given from founders of start-up's (favorite was Steve Wozniak) who gave advice from the trials and tribulations of beginning a start-up and either becoming successful, going under, being CEO of the company or selling it for mucho dinero!
Pros:
easy read if you know IT language.
inexpensive (if you are an upcoming entrepreneur, money is everything as this book points out to it's readers).
Entertaining read - know how a company went from nothing to something, info on the founder behind the company, laugh out loud points from from CEO founders (particularly when speaking about VCs).
Covers a lot of material, i.e. early Apple to Web 2.0, dynamic websites, etc.
Historical representation of how companies began instead of a how-to-book. It's better to let people think of things on their own rather than let others do the same thing (avoid cookie-cutter industries).
Cons:
Many of the founders were successful so it is hard to remain objective if you were to start a company.
Advice from the founders all seemed the same, aka obvious truths. Book needed more substance from the founders rather than them repeating one another
Many of the founders in the book are men; would have loved to see a book with more women.
Not sure if the interviewer cut and paste quite a bit. Sometimes, the book didn't make much sense (why the interviewer didn't ask more questions and/or different questions of the interviewee)
What I took from the book:
Know the user/audience to which you cater
Have the passion to commit yourself wholly to the project, even if you go crazy and/or broke doing it
Brainstorm! Ideas come and go; it's a good way to stay fresh and on top of your market.
Take a chance and try new things. Even if it doesn't work out, it was a learning experience.
Never stop doing.
You can have a notion of what to do, but if you can't do it, there is always someone else that can. (I take this in both good and bad ways. Interesting to use the concept in all walks of life.)
Save your pennies. Each one is important.
Although you may be working toward one goal, another goal may lead you in a different direction.
Do not sacrifice ethics to make a buck.
Now, I am not an IT person; however, I am a person who wants to move forward and make a dent in society. Regardless of how a person makes their dent, this book can give you ideas on how to do so while maintaining focus and integrity.
Book Review: Great book to get motivated
Summary: 5 Stars
The best thing I got from this book was that every successful entrepreneur mentioned dealt with obstacles and struggled before making it big. What made me pick it up was the names of companies listed on the cover. I have used most of these products and still use some today.
A few entrepreneurs mentioned in this book even had side gigs while they were working on their product. I think the main thing an entrepreneur needs is passion for the product and helping people with their product as #1 goal - before making money. IT startups definitely changed the way venture capital firms operate. It may turn out you don't want or need venture capital. For some entrepreneurs in this book VC funding made the process more complicated.
Thanks for this great book!
Book Review: Great book. This is where we came from
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't do any better than the reviews that came before so I won't even try. This is a great book. It provides insight and a sense of history for anyone who works in the technology industries, especially those involved in startups.Book Review: Great insights
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very well written book, full with interesting details about startup culture, and experiences.