This book was referred to me by Josh DeFonzo, one of the Vice President from my work (Auris Health). I had asked him which books from his bookshelf I should read, and of course his response was all of them. So to narrow down, I asked which one would be the best for me to read first. I didn't know if it was a book about investing, entrepreneurship or personal growth but I decided to take a shot and read it. After all, if he thought it was the best book on his shelf, it was probably worth it.
The first thing I noticed was that it was a short book, which was a good thing since I was concurrently reading two longer books (Good to Great and Sapiens) and I had wanted to write a post soon. I know Josh is a people person, so my initial guess was that the book would probably talk about that, and I was right. However, more than that, it's a book about the world of Venture Capitalism (VC) in Silicon Valley and how everything here is: "Go Big or Go Home". The author, Randy Komisar, tells us one of his stories about Lenny who was trying to get funding from Silicon Valley VC. The best part about this story is the position that Randy plays. He is not a VC and prefers to be seen as a Virtual CEO. As a Virtual CEO, Randy plays the role of a mentor for the founder more so than an investor. As a result, he doesn't have any conflict of interest regarding decisions that the company makes because he is not driven by short term financial gain as a normal VC would .
Here is a list of 7 things to remember from this book. They are all excellent to know for every entrepreneur.
1. You should be driven by something other than money when starting a business
Money should not be the reward. The impact that the company could potentially have should be the reward. This may seem cheesy, but here how Randy explains it:
There must be something more, a purpose that will sustain you when things look bleakest. Something worthy of the immense time and energy you will spend on this, even if it fails.
2. The Deferred Life Plan
Most of us follow this plan.
Step one: Do what you have to do. Then, eventually Step two: Do what you want to do.
The society makes you believe that this is the best plan, but when you take the time to evaluate it, you realize that this plan doesn't make sense at all. What if you never make it to step two? When you do something with passion, you do it 10 times better.
3. Business is about people
Business...is about nothing if not people. First, the people you serve, your market. Then the team you build, your employees. Finally, your many business partners and associates.
Every good entrepreneur will tell you that. Here is a quote from Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group. "Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients"
4. Passion and drive are not the same at all
Drive makes you do the step one of the Deferred plan and your passion make you do the step two. Be passionate and you will have the energy to drive.
Passion pulls you toward something you cannot resist. Drive pushes you toward something you feel compelled or obligated to do.
5. It requires self-knowledge to understand your passion
This concept is related to the previous one but is as much as important. You need to know what your passion is, and this is probably the hardest thing to know. Take time to think about what pulls you forward. If what you are doing is not pulling you, then start looking somewhere else. You may be driven but you are not passionate.
6. Management is a Science but Leadership is an Art
Managing people is something you can learn with technique and experience. But being a leader is far more difficult to master. At every company, there are typically a lot of managers, but not a lot of leaders. A manager will make sure that the wheels spin. A leader will make sure that the well is was we need and is going in the right direction.
7. Value time, not money
We all work hard to make sure we will eventually be able to enjoy things at a later time, but why are we planning for the future if we don't know where we will be. We should all have a budget for time. This is also in the FIRE thinking. When you look to buy something, think about how many hours you will have to work for it.
ReadVesting Rating
Investing
Even if this book doesn't talk about investment from a money perspective, I do like the time investment thinking. Furthermore, It was probably not the goal of the author to talk about investment. Therefore, I give a 50% rating for investment.
Entrepreneurship
This book is a must read for any entrepreneur or future entrepreneur. The knowledge that Randy share with Lenny is invaluable. There are multiple good tips about how VC investor see business and what they want to see in them. I give a 100% rating for entrepreneurship.
Personal Growth
A lot of people in our society try to copy others to be successful but this technique never really work. You can get inspired by others habits but copying an idea will never work. This book teaches you to pursue your passion and to budget your time because money will not make you happy. These two tips are, from my point of view, crucial to a happy life. I give a 80% rating for personal growth for all these reasons.
ReadVesting Rate
For all the advice that this book gives and the way it teaches you the behind the scenes of the VC system, this is a must-read. It is simple, short but powerful. For all these reasons, I give this book the rate of 9.
