A refreshing and informative startup manual that offers an abundance of professional wisdom.
Venture capitalist Dovey offers a no-nonsense guide for entrepreneurs who want to honestly confront the challenges they might face before starting a business.
Would-be business owners take note: Your million-dollar idea matters much less than the practical application of a solid business plan. So says the author, a longtime venture capitalist who doesn’t shy away from telling it like it is in this posthumously published work. He was a Harvard Business School graduate with decades of experience who served on the boards of more than 35 companies, and in these pages, he plainly lays out various challenges that first-time business owners tend to overlook. He also supplies the "Five Criteria of Great Startup Ideas,” including whether they truly fulfill an unmet need, or whether they have advantages that will prevent others from simply copying the idea. He points out that certain companies succeed through true innovation (such as Google), but most “integrate previously existing ideas in new ways rather than inventing something utterly original.” Dovey then walks readers through a range of topics, such as the notion that a good business founder shouldn’t be excessively focused on making money, common myths about good startup ideas, and how to write a pitch deck and supporting proposal. He also offers an insider’s view of what a venture capitalist looks for in a pitch, along with advice on how to navigate offers to find the right fit for one’s company. A section on studying the competition investigates what strategies they might use to take a new business down. A “Questions To Ponder” section at the end of each chapter invites critical thinking and a chance for further reflection with queries such as “Which two or three factors will make your startup distinctive and deliver the most value to your customers?”
Dovey’s approach to potentially complicated topics is consistently calm, clear, and encouraging. Even as he warns of potential pitfalls, such as discounting the power of existing brand loyalty, he does so in the warm tone of someone who wants his readers to succeed. He emphasizes that there’s not just one path to success; for instance, he provides examples of successful business founders who were high school or college dropouts, such as Walt Disney, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, and Nintendo’s Hiroshi Yamauchi. For visual learners, there are occasional diagrams and charts, such as one comparing the perception and reality of entrepreneur characteristics. The guide’s most appealing aspect is the author’s unwavering honesty, and his disclosure that there’s no foolproof strategy for business success—not even his own: “You might ignore every suggestion I’ve made in the preceding chapters and wind up richer and more famous than you ever dreamed. Or else you might follow every guideline and watch your startup die a painful death.” Readers interested in possible worst-case startup scenarios—and the concrete steps to take to help avoid them—will learn a lot from this accessible labor of love. A refreshing and informative startup manual that offers an abundance of professional wisdom.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781637744048
Page Count: 240
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A straightforward, if rather basic, understanding of income considerations in one’s later years.
Financial planner Lynch provides a plan for people contemplating retirement in this financial how-to book.
“Your gut tells you that you have enough money to retire, but your head is not quite sure,” the author writes, and his book aims to help readers make up their minds. He begins with the story of a fictional potential retiree named Maria who had a sizable savings account that generated enough interest to supplement her Social Security income. But with the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, she lost most of that supplemental income. Lynch uses this example to examine earlier financial truisms that no longer work in today’s market: “It’s time for a new formula and a new definition of safety,” he says. The book aims to help readers find ways to generate wealth that aren’t subject to economic swings that are out of readers’ control. Using real-life examples, Lynch analyzes how much each family needs in various “buckets” to generate income, outlining three basic parts to any retirement plan: principal, which is a “U.S. government-denominated asset that will never decline in nominal value”; reliable income; and growth that outpaces inflation. Over the course of the book, Lynch explains these three aspects of generating retirement income in simple, clear terms, and with each example, he includes easy-to-understand charts and illustrations to clarify his points. Those who are familiar with retirement literature are likely to find it rather generic, though, with few new insights. That said, many readers will appreciate the takeaway that not considering inflation when planning for retirement can be a costly oversight: “Inflation: The carbon monoxide of retirement—the slow, silent killer that turns a dollar into fifty cents.”
A straightforward, if rather basic, understanding of income considerations in one’s later years.Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5445-3026-0
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A compelling and practical book on modern mindful leadership.
Executive coach and debut author Haddad offers a novel about personal and professional transformation.
Aidan Perez is haunted by dreams of an eagle, which appears to be a symbol of his own desire to soar. He’s built a career as a tech-company CEO but hopes to craft a new identity as an executive coach and find inspiration and renewal in the empowerment of others. However, he finds that the allure of the familiar is strong, threatening to pull him back into the mire of old labels and limiting beliefs. Determined to break free from this cycle of conformity, Aidan relies on the guidance of his mentors in his own life, learning to be vulnerable, to put aside his ego, and to face his innermost fears. Along the way, he discovers a wellspring of hope in a pamphlet, “5 Steps to Joyful Wisdom,” inspired by Hindu philosophy. The work awakens Aidan’s hunger for change and sparks a desire to know the identity of its anonymous author. As he investigates, Aidan uncovers a powerful coincidence and gains insight he needs to embrace the future. Serendipity, according to the author, is “the heart’s way of finding what the mind doesn’t know it wants.” This interweaving of heart and mind is a recurring element of Haddad’s powerful work, which compellingly fuses elements of a novel, a spiritual guide, and a leadership manual. The book offers self-help exercises, real-world examples, and parables to help readers to also seek their best selves. To this end, the book effectively outlines five crucial steps for change, including a desire for transformation and relinquishing a desire for control. These elements are clearly depicted in the main character’s growth, but they can be readily incorporated into readers’ lives, as well.
A compelling and practical book on modern mindful leadership.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2022
ISBN: 979-8846371620
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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