This September at the CorePurpose Business Blog, I am highlighting some great business books we grown ups can take advantage of as the kids head back to school. At the beginning of the month I shared a peek into Amilya Antonetti’s The Recipe: A fable for leaders and teams and Professor Robert Sutton’s Good Boss, Bad Boss two books that share great stories about leadership in their own unique way.
Now it’s time to change classes and move into the study of entrepreneurship with a look at a new book by my good friend Marty Zwilling, who just happens to be a friend to hundreds of thousands as @startuppro on Twitter. Every day – yes EVERY day, Marty posts a new blog post for entrepreneurs at his very popular Startup Professionals Musings blog. He even finds time to share wisdom at the Huffington Post, Business Insider, Harvard Business Review, Forbes.com and many other sites. It’s amazing that he can find the time in between his activities as an angel investor, executive in residence at Callaman Ventures, chief knowledge officer at Cayenne Consulting and as a very active participant in our local start up community here in AZ. If you have not gotten the message – I am very impressed with the sheer volume of what Marty gets done.
Earlier this Spring over lunch, Marty shared with me that he was thinking about taking his most popular posts for start ups and weaving them into a book. We brainstormed some ideas and I shared a little bit of my past experiences in the world of publishing. By Summer, Marty’s idea had moved from concept to reality. One day the postman delivered a beautiful hardcover book Do You have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur by Martin Zwilling along with a really kind inscription. (Like I said, when it comes to getting it done, my hat is off to Marty! He even has a great little video that explains why he wrote the book that highlights some of the ideas he shared with me over lunch last Spring. Take a minute to watch the video and then I will share a few of my own take-aways.
Bridging the Gap
Obviously Marty’s book was not around in 2002 when I made my own leap from the Fortune 500 to the land of the entrepreneur. I wish it had been. Back then I had all the big business experience, a relatively fresh MBA, and lots of ideas. What I did not have was ANY experience as an entrepreneur. And, Marty is sooo right. What you need to know is not taught in your average class room or in a Fortune 500 board room. Lucky for me, a number of experienced entrepreneurs including Ed Nusbaum and Francine Hardaway from Stealthmode Partners took pity on me and gave me some tips so that I did not blunder too badly, but as an avid reader, Marty’s book would have been REALLY helpful. Actually it still is. Even 8 years later, I still have lots to learn.
Building the Bridge
If you had the time to hunt through literally hundreds of Marty’s blogs, you could find this information, but as entrepreneurs who can spare the time. That is the great part about this book. From the forward by best selling author Sharon Lechter (co-author of Think and Grow Rich, Three Feet from Gold, and Rich Dad Poor Dad) through sections ranging from “Why Entrepreneurs are Special” to “How Social Media Is Changing the Landscape” all of the information is in well organized, easily actionable, easy to read form. When my college freshman son told me he wants to study entrepreneurship, I handed him my copy of Do You have What It Takes to Be and Entrepreneur and told him to read it. You could say this book is kid tested and Mom approved.
So if you are an entrepreneur, or considering making the leap, check out Marty’s book. You’ll be glad you did.
Thanks for reading along this September. Next up in this series will be a brand new book releasing September 14th – Defy Gravity by Rebel Brown. You won’t want to miss it.
Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned…
Joan Koerber-Walker