Reviews and Comments

phildini, while reading

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Basil Peters: Early Exits (Hardcover, 2009, MeteorBytes) 4 stars

Exits are the least understood part of investing and entrepreneurship. Very little has been written …

Changed my thinking on how to run a company

4 stars

I'm so so glad I read this book before getting serious about starting a company. The advice within is solid, and makes the best possible case for taking angel investment and exiting early, rather than taking VC.

The only reason this isn't a 5-star review is due to the author obviously needing an editor, and having some structural issues such that some sections felt irrelevant. But it's a business book, the bar is low and this clears it handily.

Do recommend!

Guy Kawasaki: The Art of the Start (Hardcover, 2004, Penguin Books) 3 stars

Great advice wrapped in mediocre memes

3 stars

Look, the thing you have to understand about this book is that the guy who wrote it comes from a time where Silicon Valley venture capital was even more explicitly a boy's club. I'm not saying it's not today, I'm saying there are at least some signs of progress along equity and equality lines.

If you can get past the Hawaiian dude-bro attitude that is authentic to Guy Kawasaki, what you'll find is a pretty concise, easy-reading volume of intensely practical startup advice. It's written for a startup scene circa 2004, but it still feels shockingly relevant today.

If you have no desire to run a startup, don't read this book. If you want just the best advice from the book, here's my take on it: phildini.dev/key-insights-from-the-art-of-the-start

If you do want to start a startup, then, with a sigh, I encourage you to think about reading this book.