The Bootstrapper's Bible: How to Start and Build a Business With a Great Idea and (Almost) No Money [Paperback]

Seth Godin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998

Seth Godin offers inspiration, ideas, and roadmaps to those starting their own business. To encourage bootstrappers, he shares his own story and covers other bootstrappers (from Dell Computer to Haagen Dazs) who have parlayed a great idea into a sizable fortune, using the smart strategies and cash-stretching tactics revealed in this book.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Starting out in 1986 with practically nothing, book packager and cyberentrepreneur Seth Godin has created a new- and old-media business that now employs 40 and generates around $5 million in annual revenue. In The Bootstrapper's Bible: How to Start and Build a Business with a Great Idea and (Almost) No Money, Godin shows precisely how his own venture, and a slew of others like Dell Computer, Burton Snowboards, Bose Corporation, Starbucks, and many lesser-known companies, ultimately managed to turn that nothing into something quite substantial. "Bootstrappers built this country, and they continue to make it great," he writes. "Virtually every business--from IBM to the local dry-cleaner--was bootstrapped, usually by people with far less smarts, less money, fewer connections, and less vision than you have right now." He elaborates on specific practices that he believes are critical to entrepreneurs who may have great ideas and boundless enthusiasm but lack the financial resources to launch their businesses in the traditional way. Writing in a clear and straightforward manner, he lays out Nine Magical Rules (such as "Find people who care about cash less than you do"), Ten Commandments (including "Don't forget where you came from"), and lots of other helpful tips. --Howard Rothman

From the Back Cover

"Seth Godin may be the ultimate entrepreneur for the information age." ("Business Week")

Getting ready to start a small business especially with little or no money on hand is an adventure, to say the least. Plenty of books offer inspiration, ideas, and roadmaps, but "The Bootstrapper's Bible" is the first to combine them all.

Author Seth Godin, a successful bootstrapper in his own right, tells in fascinating detail his own story of how he built a multi-million-dollar business with almost nothing. Godin also shares the inspirational stories of dozens of others companies (from Dell Computer to Eddie Bauer) to encourage budding bootstrappers to parlay a great idea into a profitable business.

Readers will want to soak up every one of Godin's "Nine Magic Rules of Successful Bootstrapping," which include details on:

* Finding start-up funds and mentors

* Avoiding or surviving every small business pitfall

* Balancing work and home

* Being successful in the bootstrap phase and beyond

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Upstart Pub Co (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157410103X
• ISBN-13: 978-1574101034
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Seth Godin is the author of fourteen international bestsellers that have been translated into over 35 languages, and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. His Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.

His book, Tribes, was a nationwide bestseller, appearing on the Amazon, New York Times, BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. It's about the most powerful form of marketing--leadership--and how anyone can now become a leader, creating movements that matter.

His book Linchpin, and was the fastest selling book of his career. Linchpin challenges you to stand up, do work that matters and race to the top instead of the bottom. More than that, though, the book outlines a massive change in our economy, a fundamental shift in what it means to have a job.

Since Linchpin, Godin has published two more books, Poke the Box and We Are All Weird, through his Domino Project.

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth is founder and CEO of Squidoo.com, a fast growing recommendation website. His blog (find it by typing "seth" into Google) is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne.

You can find every single possible detail that anyone could ever want to know at squidoo.com/seth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bootstrapper gives this book the big thumbs up., December 6, 1999

By 

R. Blumenthal "Roy Blumenthal" (Johannesburg, South Africa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bootstrapper's Bible: How to Start and Build a Business With a Great Idea and (Almost) No Money (Paperback)

As an experienced bootstrapper myself -- having tried it twice and failed, and then another twice and succeeded -- I give Godin's book a massive vote of confidence.

I had several jolts of recognition seeing things to avoid, and a whole lot of smiles at things I've been doing right in my latest venture. But more than that, I was given practical advice and strategies to use and use again.

It's clear that Godin knows what he's talking about, and the book offers clear and helpful advice, with templates for success (such as the employee handbook), and to-do lists that really do mean business.

I'm presently consulting the book for tips on getting my product ready to take to market.

I'm glad I bought the book, and I have strong suspicions that the naysayers among us are sour graping our good man Godin.

Blue skies love Roy

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book if your looking for some re-motivation., February 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bootstrapper's Bible: How to Start and Build a Business With a Great Idea and (Almost) No Money (Paperback)

This book is a great book if you are interested in the not so black and white aspects of starting a business with little money. It also can kick start some of that fresh desire you had back when you first came up with your business idea. I finished reading the book the other day and I am still running off the boost of refreshing ideas it has given me. Try it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a "How to start a business in 7 easy steps" book..., April 29, 2002

By 

Hilary Baumann (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bootstrapper's Bible: How to Start and Build a Business With a Great Idea and (Almost) No Money (Paperback)

I read this book a few years ago and once again I reread it recently (ok, some areas I grazed over but I reread most of it.) Not only does this book cover a wide variety of issues about starting a business on little money, it also provides you with examples of how other businesses started (including some of the big brands that exist today.) From stretching your existing cash to finding your niche, this book is not a black and white "how to start a business in x number of easy steps" but instead a book that can be applied to whatever business you want to start. Or if you have already started and want to go back over some of the fine points it can also be helpful.