Life Is a Startup

The Founder's Dilemmas

Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup

Noam Wasserman

A guide to the early decisions that can make or break startup ventures Often downplayed in the excitement of starting up a new business venture is one of the most important decisions entrepreneurs will face: should they go it alone, or bring in cofounders, hires, and investors to help build the business? More than just financial rewards are at stake. Friendships and relationships can suffer. Bad decisions at the inception of a promising venture lay the foundations for its eventual ruin. The Founder's Dilemmas is the first book to examine the early decisions by entrepreneurs that can make or break a startup and its team. Drawing on a decade of research, Noam Wasserman reveals the common pitfalls founders face and how to avoid them. He looks at whether it is a good idea to cofound with friends or relatives, how and when to split the equity within the founding team, and how to recognize when a successful founder-CEO should exit or be fired. Wasserman explains how to anticipate, avoid, or recover from disastrous mistakes that can splinter a founding team, strip founders of control, and leave founders without a financial payoff for their hard work and innovative ideas. He highlights the need at each step to strike a careful balance between controlling the startup and attracting the best resources to grow it, and demonstrates why the easy short-term choice is often the most perilous in the long term. The Founder's Dilemmas draws on the inside stories of founders like Evan Williams of Twitter and Tim Westergren of Pandora, while mining quantitative data on almost ten thousand founders. People problems are the leading cause of failure in startups. This book offers solutions.

十年後，你想成為怎樣的自己？哈佛商學院最振奮人心的人生經營課

諾姆．華瑟曼Noam Wasserman

讓未來的你， 感謝現在做出的每一個選擇 毅然放棄哈佛光環的頂尖教授，用親身經歷帶給你面對改變的智慧 「你的創業課徹底改變我的婚姻！」 曾在哈佛商學院教授創業學的諾姆．華瑟曼（Noam Wasserman）， 某天竟然遇到一個學生難掩興奮地衝來告訴他， 這句話宛如一記警鐘，敲醒了華瑟曼── 原來成功創業家的經營智慧， 也能助人解決婚姻問題、人際關係、甚至生涯抉擇的難題嗎？ ◤我們每做錯一個抉擇，都有可能妨礙下一次的改變 明明想離職，卻不知道下一個會不會更好？ 想接受全新挑戰，卻一直遲遲無法開始？ 是否要為了夢寐以求的工作舉家搬遷？ 再生一胎，是否會改變工作與家庭現有的平衡？…… 每一天，我們都需要處理各種選擇的難題， 也經常在每一個抉擇時刻，走向當下看似合理的方向， 卻無形中為自己戴上了手銬，加重未來每一次改變的成本── 任教哈佛將近二十年的諾姆．華瑟曼（Noam Wasserman）， 發現許多資深同事囿於哈佛光環帶來的強大吸引力， 放棄了不少來自其他地方、可能更具開創性的機會； 也因此促使他警醒與反思，利用本書中的改變守則， 成功卸下名校的枷鎖，告別了曾讓他享譽世界的哈佛。 ◤人生即創業，我們都是自己人生的創辦人 人生就像創業，需要衡量風險與機會成本，還要克服內心的諸多顧慮， 在衡量新的「投資」機會時， 我們常常只糾結於失去──失去的金錢、名聲、時間等， 如果能放眼於獲得──更多的成長、成就感、關係品質等， 就可能規劃更無懈可擊的經營計畫，創造更令人滿意的投資績效， 讓人生成為一間完美發跡、持續壯大的新創公司。 無論你想在職涯上做出更積極的挑戰、在人生安排中跨出不一樣的旅程， 或只是苦於沉重的家庭負擔或關係瓶頸， 本書都提供了切身且關鍵的建議，適用於職涯決策、婚姻維持甚至親子教養之上，例如： ＃別為你的生活戴上手銬 思考每一個行動的長期後果，例如現在為了離公司近而買的小套房，是否可能成為日後的負擔？ ＃脫離要求完美的枷鎖 有些人因為減重計畫荒廢了一兩天，就乾脆全盤放棄，這種必須一次到位的完美枷鎖，會讓人永遠無法真正開始改變。 ＃一次只改變一個要素 明星股權分析師跳槽到新投資銀行，績效也可能會大幅下滑，更不用說跨到更陌生的領域！控制改變的幅度，就是控制風險的界線。 ＃先和潛在機會「交往」看看 一邊醞釀新創事業，一邊保留原本的工作，可以減少33％的失敗率！追求成功不怕騎驢找馬，只怕破釜沉舟最後無路可退！ ＃與其追求短期的公平，不如追求長期的成果 夫妻很難平均家事，合夥人很難平均股權，與其追求表象的公平，不如追求現在這樣看似不公平的分配，會為兩人的未來帶來什麼更好的成果。 未能行動的遺憾，永遠超過展開行動而生的懊悔， 為了追尋十年後更好的自己，現在就挺身面對改變吧！

Thế lưỡng nan của các nhà sáng lập doanh nghiệp

Noam Wasserman

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Thế lưỡng nan của các nhà sáng lập doanh nghiệp

Những bí quyết nhận diện và vượt qua cạm bẫy khởi nghiệp

Noam Wasserman

Giới thiệu những câu chuyện nội tại về các nhà sáng lập, những cạm bẫy mà các nhà khởi nghiệp thường gặp.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

The long-awaited work by "one of the most influential psychologists in history and certainly the most important psychologist alive today" (Steven Pinker).

Problem Solving 101

A simple book for smart people

Ken Watanabe

Problem Solving 101 started out as a simple guide to teach Japanese schoolchildren critical thinking skills. But it quickly became an international bestseller for readers of all ages, thanks to the powerful effectiveness of Ken Watanabe's unique methods. Full of useful diagrams and quirky drawings, Problem Solving 101 is packed with practical tools and brain training techniques that will improve your problem-solving and decision-making ability, and enable you to find better solutions faster. Simple enough for a high school student to understand but sophisticated enough for CEOs to apply to their most challenging problems, Problem Solving 101 has helped millions of people around the world to find successful solutions to even the toughest of problems. Once you've mastered the problem-solving skills in this book, you'll wonder how you ever got by without them.

Make Time

How to Focus on What Matters Every Day

Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky

From the New York Times bestselling authors of Sprint comes “a unique and engaging read about a proven habit framework [that] readers can apply to each day” (Insider, Best Books to Form New Habits). “If you want to achieve more (without going nuts), read this book.”—Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit Nobody ever looked at an empty calendar and said, "The best way to spend this time is by cramming it full of meetings!" or got to work in the morning and thought, Today I'll spend hours on Facebook! Yet that's exactly what we do. Why? In a world where information refreshes endlessly and the workday feels like a race to react to other people's priorities faster, frazzled and distracted has become our default position. But what if the exhaustion of constant busyness wasn't mandatory? What if you could step off the hamster wheel and start taking control of your time and attention? That's what this book is about. As creators of Google Ventures' renowned "design sprint," Jake and John have helped hundreds of teams solve important problems by changing how they work. Building on the success of these sprints and their experience designing ubiquitous tech products from Gmail to YouTube, they spent years experimenting with their own habits and routines, looking for ways to help people optimize their energy, focus, and time. Now they've packaged the most effective tactics into a four-step daily framework that anyone can use to systematically design their days. Make Time is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, it offers a customizable menu of bite-size tips and strategies that can be tailored to individual habits and lifestyles. Make Time isn't about productivity, or checking off more to-dos. Nor does it propose unrealistic solutions like throwing out your smartphone or swearing off social media. Making time isn't about radically overhauling your lifestyle; it's about making small shifts in your environment to liberate yourself from constant busyness and distraction. A must-read for anyone who has ever thought, If only there were more hours in the day..., Make Time will help you stop passively reacting to the demands of the modern world and start intentionally making time for the things that matter.

Nudge

Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein

Now available: Nudge: The Final Edition The original edition of the multimillion-copy New York Times bestseller by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Richard H. Thaler, and Cass R. Sunstein: a revelatory look at how we make decisions—for fans of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, James Clear’s Atomic Habits, and Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist and the Financial Times Every day we make choices—about what to buy or eat, about financial investments or our children’s health and education, even about the causes we champion or the planet itself. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. Nudge is about how we make these choices and how we can make better ones. Using dozens of eye-opening examples and drawing on decades of behavioral science research, Nobel Prize winner Richard H. Thaler and Harvard Law School professor Cass R. Sunstein show that no choice is ever presented to us in a neutral way, and that we are all susceptible to biases that can lead us to make bad decisions. But by knowing how people think, we can use sensible “choice architecture” to nudge people toward the best decisions for ourselves, our families, and our society, without restricting our freedom of choice.

Blink

The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

From the #1 bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia, the landmark book that has revolutionized the way we understand leadership and decision making. In his breakthrough bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant--in the blink of an eye--that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work--in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others? In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing"--filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, offers essential advice on building and running a startup—practical wisdom for managing the toughest problems business school doesn’t cover, based on his popular ben’s blog. While many people talk about how great it is to start a business, very few are honest about how difficult it is to run one. Ben Horowitz analyzes the problems that confront leaders every day, sharing the insights he’s gained developing, managing, selling, buying, investing in, and supervising technology companies. A lifelong rap fanatic, he amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs, telling it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in. Filled with his trademark humor and straight talk, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures, drawing from Horowitz's personal and often humbling experiences.

Fintech Founders

Inspiring Tales from the Entrepreneurs that are Changing Finance

Agustín Rubini

Over 70 in-depth interviews of Fintech Founders provide lessons from some of the most successful fintech entrepreneurs that will help you understand the challenges and opportunities of applying technology and collaboration to solve some key problems of the financial services industry. This book is for entrepreneurs, for people working inside of large organizations and everyone in between who is interested to learn the secrets of successful entrepreneurs. In this advice-filled resource, Rubini gathers advice that comes from a diverse range of financial services niches including financing, banking, payments, wealth management, insurance, and cryptocurrencies, to help you harness the insights of thought leaders. Those working inside the financial services industry and those interested in working in or starting up businesses in financial services will learn valuable lessons on how to take an idea forward, how to find the right business founders, how to seek funding, how to learn from initial mistakes, and how to define and reposition your business model. Rubini also inquires into the future of fintech and uncovers provoking and insightful predictions.

Silicon Valley: Planet Startup

Disruptive Innovation, Passionate Entrepreneurship & High-tech Startups

Peter Ester, Arne Maas

For decades now, Silicon Valley has been the home of the future. It's the birthplace of the world's most successful high-tech companies-including Apple, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. So what's the secret? What is it about Silicon Valley that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation? With Silicon Valley, Planet Startup, Peter Ester and Arne Maas argue that the answer lies in Silicon Valley's culture-a corporate culture that values risk-taking, creativity, invention, and sharing. Through extensive interviews with Dutch entrepreneurs working in the area, Ester and Maas show that Silicon Valley is above all a mind-set: a belief in thinking, with passion and ambition, far beyond the here and now. Scholars and business people and budding entrepreneurs alike are sure to find both inspiration and illumination in the stories and analyses Ester and Maas have assembled here.

A Startup Founder's Guide to the Art of War

Ravi Warrier

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” - Michael Porter, What?Is?Strategy? “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” - Warren Buffett Startups operate under pressure, with limited time, money, and energy. Founders face choices that feel urgent and uncertain every single day. That’s why The Art of War remains one of the most powerful guides to navigating early-stage chaos. But most versions of Sun Tz?’s classic read like they were written for emperors and generals - not entrepreneurs. This book changes that. A Startup Founder’s Guide to the Art of War reinterprets the original text for the real battles founders face. It’s not about armies or empires. It’s about startup battles: entering markets, handling pressure, avoiding self-inflicted wounds, and surviving with limited resources. You don’t need an MBA or military background to understand this book. You just need to be a founder who wants to survive, learn faster, and win smarter.

Founder's Pocket Guide Convertible Debt

Stephen R. Poland

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Valuation vs. Profitability: The Startup Dilemma

13 Things Every Startup Founder Must Keep in Mind

Vikas Devnani

Should startups chase skyhigh valuations or build solid, sustainable profits? In today’s highstakes startup ecosystem, founders are constantly faced with a critical question: Should I build for scale, or should I build to last? In Valuation vs. Profitability: The Startup Dilemma, author and business strategist Vikas Devnani dives deep into the heart of this debate, dissecting realworld case studies and drawing lessons from some of the most iconic startup journeys across the globe. From unicorns that skyrocketed and collapsed, to bootstrapped businesses that thrived in silence, this book presents a balanced, insightful exploration of what truly drives longterm success. Whether you're an aspiring founder, an investor, or a corporate innovator, you’ll gain a fresh perspective on how strategic focus—on valuation or profitability—can define the future of any startup. What you’ll discover inside: i) The mindset differences between valuationdriven and profitabilityfocused founders ii) Case studies of startups like WeWork, Zoho, Airbnb, and more iii) Insights from global investors, advisors, and entrepreneurs iv) A framework to evaluate what your startup should prioritize—based on your stage, market, and ambition v) How to make investor relationships work, no matter your strategy vi) Exit strategy planning and founder legacy building vii) Smart growth isn’t about one path—it’s about making the right choices. Let this book be your guide through one of the most important decisions in your startup journey.

The Sociopolitical Dimension of Entrepreneurship. Founding Motivation of Engineers in Germany

Cedric Crecelius

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 1,3, Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar (Chair of Innovation and Organization), language: English, abstract: This Bachelor Thesis investigates the reasons why German engineers are apparently not engaged enough in startups. As the core research question, the thesis seeks to determine the universal founding motivators and evaluates these factors in regard to their impact on the job decision of engineers. The first section is devoted to clarify relevant terms and to prove the general importance of the research approach. After defining the boundaries, the second chapter prepares possible hypotheses on the founding motivation supported by professional literature. These motivators are further discussed in the third section with reference to personal expertise of engineering students, politicians, guiders and founders. This part is dedicated to analyze the actual importance of each motivator for engineers and to develop first recommendations. The conclusion summarizes the findings and outlines a short ‘action-plan’ for political decision-makers to enhance the founding motivation of German engineers. At last, a personal reflection reviews the thesis and sets the research question into a broader context. Apart from that, the thesis concentrates on sociopolitical motivators of founding and mainly excludes financial aspects, since they are not of major significance for the topic and have been sufficiently discussed in other literature.