Book Review: Talent

Reading Time: 3 minutesTyler Cowen and Daniel Gross Talent ISBN: 978-1-250-27581-3 How do you find the right people to hire? It’s been an interesting time for those looking to hire people since the peak of the pandemic. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t been in the market to hire anyone just yet for Cider Finder, but I’m hoping … [Read more…]

Book Review: The Mom Test

Reading Time: 2 minutesRob Fitzpatrick The Mom Test ISBN: 978-1-492-18074-6 People lie to you for different reasons. Most of the time, it’s because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Very few people will tell you negative things to your face – this is how a polite society works. However, this is incredibly unhelpful for those who are … [Read more…]

Book Review: Million Dollar Weekend

Reading Time: 3 minutesNoah Kagan Million Dollar Weekend ISBN: 978-0-593-53977-4 When you attend a conference, there are usually one or two sessions that stick out in your memory as the best session you attended. Usually these sessions are a bit outside the norm – either there is some sort of interactive component or something unusual about the way … [Read more…]

Book Review: Unstuckable

Reading Time: 2 minutesHeather Kernahan Unstuckable ISBN: 978-1-77458-418-7 Many of the books I have reviewed over the years are vanity projects for CEOs in the middle of their careers. Put yourself in that position – maybe you’ve started a couple of companies, held C-suite positions at one or two more, and have over two decades of knowledge in … [Read more…]

Book Review: Read Write Own

Reading Time: 3 minutesChris Dixon Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet ISBN: 978-0-593-73138-3 As we approach thirty years of popular use of the Internet, we’re at a good point to look back at the history of the modern Internet. I started using it in 1995 on the one computer in the junior high library … [Read more…]

Book Review: The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality

Reading Time: 3 minutesLudwig von Mises The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality ISBN: 978-1-57878-798-9 Anyone who pays attention to politics or is just terminally online should be familiar with the Mises Caucus in the Libertarian Party – a group of people who follow the Austrian school of economics and hold a strict, laissez-faire attitude toward capitalism. I’ve also found them to … [Read more…]

Book Review: Startup Program Design

Reading Time: 3 minutesPaolo Lombardi and Adam Berk Startup Program Design ISBN: 978-1-260-46325-5 One thing I enjoy doing when I travel to conferences and conventions around the country and around the world is to attend book-related talks, in an effort to snag a copy of the author’s latest work. At the Rally convention in Indianapolis this past August, … [Read more…]

Book Review: Build the Fort

Reading Time: 3 minutesChris Heivly Build the Fort: The Startup Community Builder’s Field Guide ISBN: 978-1-5445-4259-1 Through my work with Techstars Startup Weekend, I’d had a chance to attend online talks by Chris Heivly, author of Build the Fort: The Startup Community Builder’s Field Guide, during the pandemic period of 2020 through 2022. I’d never had an opportunity … [Read more…]

Book Review: Great by Choice

Reading Time: 3 minutesJim Collins and Morten T. Hansen Great by Choice ISBN: 978-0-06-212099-1 In his first three books, Jim Collins has discussed companies that are built to last forever, companies that are great rather than just good, and has discussed why once mighty companies fell into irrelevancy or shut down completely. In his final book of the … [Read more…]

Book Review: How the Mighty Fall

Reading Time: 3 minutesJim Collins How the Mighty Fall ISBN: 978-1-8479-4042-1 We talk a great deal in the business and startup world about success and how to get there. We don’t talk nearly enough about failure or the things that can lead a formerly successful company into the dustbin of history. In the third book in his series, … [Read more…]