Customer Reviews

THE FIRST 10 YARDS - The 5 Dynamics of Entrepreneurship and how they made a difference at DHL and other successful startups

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"The First 10 Yards" has had a profound impact on the success of NewsCertified Exchange (NCE). The founders of NCE purchased "The First 10 Yards" as soon as it was available. NCE's culture is based on the wisdom presented throughout the book. It is mandatory reading for our new hires. If an entrepreneur only has time to read one book this is it.

I really like this book for its fresh take on entrepreneurship and its balanced approach in delivering the message. It helps that the authors are seasoned practitioners in the field and their writing style is easy to read.

Unlike most entrepreneurship books which are either oversimplified or overly academic, this book offers exceptionally well-articulated ideas with plenty of examples; many of them are the authors' personal experience.

The authors put togeter a great practical framework which I can relate with my own experience during the last 3 years of starting my own entrepreneurial venture. The focus on personal qualities of the entrepreneur is definitely not something that is taught in business schools (I have been there myself).

The chapter on sales skills is very well-written. It distills the art and science of sales into few short pages. It will save you time reading many other books on sales (remember that time is a luxury to entrepreneurs).

All in all, a must-read for entrepreneurs, be them wannabes or veterans.

This book changed the way I look at sales and changed the way I look into starting a small business.

I read a lot of books for small business and entrepreneur and I can tell you the best starting point is to start with this book.

While other books for entrepreneur talked about marketing strategies and accounting principles. The first different you can find in this book is it is able to distinguish between sales and marketing. While a lot of people is able to recognize they are two different departments in a company, few are able to understand their difference, especially when a lot of entrepreneur and small business use marketing as a starting point. This book put emphasis on sales and how to make successful sales and is truly required in the first 10 yards of your business. (start in your business)

The examples illustrated are also very useful especially when it comes to a story that Saimond Ip cutting features of a software development in order to start making cash in the shortest possible time. One of the reason that I found it especially useful is because I am also working for a software house. I believe there are many other amazing examples that suit other readers, a wonderful job was done in researching materials to write this book.

Top of my list for small business and entrepreneurship. A Must Buy for start-up business.

I'm a voracious reader of business and entrepreneurship books and without reservation I'd judge this to be best in class. My startup was fortunate enough to get a copy of The First Ten Yards upon its release and it's become mandatory reading among our managers. Po Chung's focus is on the real-life issues faced by real leaders; while the business theory outlined is solid, it's the application of the author's wisdom to recognizable business headaches that makes the lasting impact.

The First Ten Yards also places heavy emphasis on character-related issues, and I found those messages more memorable than any other. This is clearly guidance and coaching from someone who's "been there", and it's written in a very readable and approachable style. Highly recommended.

Po Chung and Saimond Ip started off writing a book for aspiring entrepreneurs, but delivered a product that could impact a much wider audience than they originally planned.

I say this because they introduced a simple yet elegant conceptual framework - the five dynamics of entrepreneurship - that applies equally well to managing a startup and managing one's life. Life, after all, is an entrepreneurial journey (hence the idea of Me, Inc.). Who wouldn't benefit from following the framework espoused by the authors, namely having strong core personal values (Founder's Personal Operating System), accurate self-knowledge (Product/Service), the ability to sell (Management Tools), a supportive network (Garage Team), and resource management skills (Culture/Environment)? Viewed another way, this book is about knowing how best to set and realize goals, i.e., getting things done and done well.

As an engineering professor for more than 30 years, I have always searched for compelling messages that would motivate my students to take ownership of their life and career planning, not only as competent professionals but also as responsible citizens. I found such a message in this book and can't wait to share it with my students.

Read this book. It is full of good advice, enjoyable to read, and potentially a life-changing experience.

I'm a serial entrepreneur and this is the only book I've read on my craft that I fully resonate with. The authors first focus on what they refer to as the aspiring entrepreneur's "POS," their Personal Operating System. They compellingly write about the most important component of entreprenurial success--the entrepreneur him or herself. These qualities that drive success are named specifically and, even more importantly, they name the qualities that destroy success.

As a Westerner not that familiar with Confucian thought but one who strongly believes in having a solid, positive value set as a foundation for living life successfully, it was a delightful surprise to get a quick and powerful overview of the authors' Confucian knowledge.

The balance of the book is thoughtful and well written--an intermediate to advanced primer on four additional components of business success.

If you'd like to get way beyond an academic approach to building a successful business, I recommend this book without reservation.

The best book I've read on what it takes to develop a successful business from scratch. Terrific, relevant, well qualified insights; very different from other writings on the subject. Reading this book is time well invested for anyone considering starting their own business.

I have to say this is the BEST book I've ever read about Entrepreneurship and the content is damn practically useful.

It includes a good balance of both Asian and Western entrepreneurial examples that is rare in most books.
And what's most important is the advice is from REAL successful entrepreneurial veterans, not academics pretending to be entrepreneurs.

Agree 100% with the book that B-schools are not teaching core human values, design and sales.
All the things I learnt from the EMBA classroom is far away from applicability to my entrepreneurial business now.

This book really brings clarity and wisdom to starting your own business and pinpoints where the mistakes are.
Its truly a navigation map for entrepreneurial ventures providing a holistic framework - a book that could save your business!

Especially if you're in VC (venture capital) deep waters now, Po/Saimond tells you exactly why it does not work.
I've seen many friends go down this path during start-up and companies/ex-colleagues gone through M&A (mergers & acquisitions),
these "modern ways" of doing business takes out the humanness and core values that made businesses work in the past.

Po/Saimond are addressing some really profound issues missing in modern businesses taught by B-schools that is
causing some serious repercussions in our financial systems today.

I wish Po wrote this 7 years ago before I started my business.
It could have saved me a lot of time figuring things out myself
and saved many of my friends' businesses from the dot-com bust too!