How to Think Like An Entrepreneur: The School of Life by The School of Life
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The self-help-like title of the book makes a disservice for this tiny read, as it doesn't tell anyone anything about how to think (thank goodness). It is a rather random set of case studies of failure and success varying from Nicola Tesla (the person) to Elon Musk's Tesla (the brand).
Though at some point it gets a bit tiring to read about legends of Silicon Valley in every book on entrepreneurship, but at least this one attempts to get something out of those stories by drawing parallels between them and not telling how great the failure is (it's hard, it's painful, and only a few of somewhat successful entrepreneurs have enough resilience to keep on going after they meet their first brick wall).
The author also cleverly deconstructs the cult of youth in this startup environment, expands the meaning of entrepreneur from technology gurus to chefs & artists and tries to open a few fresh perspectives on using entrepreneurial instincts beyond the technological startup bubble, though, unfortunately, still fails to mention things like social responsibility, the option of not growing into a billion-worth business, life and work balance, and other measurements of success beyond lots and lots of American dollars in the finish line. On a more positive note, the book hints to other authors and titles and is a good starting point to anyone daydreaming of Palo Alto.
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