All In Startup: Launching a New Idea When Everything Is on the Line

Introduction

This book is unlike any business book you have ever read. It’s sexy and suspenseful and designed to “show you”—rather than “tell you”—how to turn an idea into a profitable business.

If you are thinking about starting a business or you’re having trouble getting one off the ground, this book was written for you.

As an entrepreneur, an investor, and, most recently, a senior fellow for the Kauffman Foundation, I’ve spent thousands of hours working with entrepreneurs, only to find that the vast majority of people starting businesses are doing it wrong.

The statistics are scary. The overwhelming majority of startups fail. Even startups funded by outside investors, the cream of the startup crop, fail a staggering 75 percent of the time.

What causes all this failure? First, let me tell you what does not cause startups to fail. They don’t fail because the founders lack passion or a willingness to work hard. They don’t fail because the founders refuse to risk their life savings or because no one is willing to invest. Startups don’t fail because the founders couldn’t build the software or product necessary.

Truthfully, most failing entrepreneurs are passionate, hardworking dreamers who will risk everything, and try anything, to make their startup a success. They are great people. Great people pushing flawed concepts for which no one was ever going to become a paying customer. Startups fail because by the time the founders figure out that their idea isn’t good enough, it’s ...