Customer Reviews

The Mouse Driver Chronicles: An Entrepreneurial Adventure

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a lifelong student of leadership and the Chairman of Coremetrics, a San Francisco-based company that I started almost three years ago. As a reader of dozens of books on leadership, I simply could not put this book down.

I graduated from Wharton with Kyle and John and know them well. But don't let that fact discount my review. The closest books to "The MouseDriver Chronicles" are "Startup", by Jerry Kaplan; "The Monk and the Riddle", by Randy Komisar; and "Burn Rate", by Michael Wolff. All three of these books are insightful reads, but if you only have time to read one book on entrepreneurship, "The MouseDriver Chronicles" is your best bet.

"Startup" isn't as personal and the key insight is that market timing is critical. "Burn Rate" is as personal and funny, but the key insight is that Michael Wolff isn't cut out to be an entrepreneur (and, worse, he doesn't realize it - if you read it, you'll understand what I mean). And "The Monk and the Riddle" is too fictitious, "dot comish", and "on the surface".

"The MouseDriver Chronicles" is the first book I have ever read that gives a truly open and honest view about what real entrepreneurship is about. Kyle and John started MouseDriver from ground zero with the right attitude. As lifelong students of leadership, Kyle and John provide the reader with valuable insights. "The MouseDriver Chronicles" is a personal tale that will remind you of a fireside conversation with friends. Often funny, often serious, and always real. Whether you aspire to be an entrepreneur or just want to read about what it's like, this is a great read.

A real-life account of two young smart entrepreneurs with sterling educational credentials (MBAs from the Wharton School of Business) who start a business in an industry that they know nothing about. It's a tale told with insight, pace, and self-deprecating humor that will teach you a lot of lessons about being a small-business entrepreneur. After an era in which everybody focused on VC-funded companies seeking to dominate multi-billion dollar markets, it's refreshing to read a story that reminds you about the boostrap process of the great majority of American businesses. As a former small-business founder myself, many of their lessons and observations hit home with me, and I think this book represents a great education in the perils and pitfalls of taking a business idea from concept to fruition. Whether you are considering starting a business yourself or just enjoy reading a well-written story that will make you laugh, I'd rate The Mousedriver Chronicles as a must-read!

The Mousedriver Chronicles is the story of 2 Wharton MBA's who take a business plan developed on their entrepreneurship course at Wharton and decide to make a go of it. In 1999 they turn away high paying jobs at investment banks and over funded dot.com startups to go it alone.

Their idea: to make and sell a computer mouse that looks like the head of a golf driver.

They fund the venture themselves, find a manufacturer in Hong Kong, move to San Francisco (to be part of all the start up vibe in The Bay area) and run the business from the kitchen of their rented flat.

Their story is brilliantly relayed as they grapple with manufacturing, marketing and distribution hassles. The single product focus of their new company, named Platinum Concepts Inc., makes for a wonderful entrepreneurial story with excellent lessons about what it takes to succeed as a self funded start up. The two founders quickly learn that they need more than the theoretical knowledge acquired on their MBA at Wharton; they need to be street wise. They experiment with different mechanisms to make things happen and end up categorizing their execution strategies as follows:

Plan A: Make use of their business school network and contacts

Plan B: Hit the streets and the shops to find a creative solution

Plan C: Work the Yellow Pages

More often than not, plan B and C worked far better than plan A.

One of the founders, John Lusk, began sharing their entrepreneurial adventure with friends and family via a monthly email called "The Insider". The Insider was a real, often humorous, sometimes highly insightful newsletter about their adventure. The insider subscriber list grew and grew. MBA lecturers began distributing The Insider as prescribed reading. In 2001 Inc. Magazine featured a cover story on the company and its two founders. The Inc. cover story entitled "An American Start-up" focuses on the impact of The Insider e-mail newsletter. The email newsletters were used as the foundation for the book published in 2001 entitled The "Mousedriver Chronicles".

The company has since been shut down but the Mousedriver website still serves as a portal for entrepreneurs and copies of The Insider newsletter can be found in PDF format on the website: www.mousedriver.com

Ok, so here's the deal. I currently manage about $20MM in retail business for a manufacturer, and have been contemplating whether to pursue an MBA (read Wharton) or start a company. This book provided a pretty no-pretense look at starting a product-based company. In many cases the author's MBA's weren't that valuable (their words, not mine). Ultimately, this book served to help demystify the process of starting a company. While not a "how-to" book, I can say that it has been one of the most beneficial books in providing 1) a realistic view of the start-up process, and 2) a realistic view on the benefit of an MBA in starting a company. My own personal conclusion is that industry experience seems to count for far more than an MBA (assuming, of course, and undergrad in Business Mgmt or business knowledge from experience).

Thanks, guys, for daring to share your victories, setbacks, and experiences with us in a transparent and unpretentious manner. I can't tell you how beneficial this book has been in my own decision to take the plunge.

The twenty bucks invested in this book may be the best start-up investment you can make. By the way, they really do reply if you email them. I received replies from both John & Kyle within a few days of asking for their input. God bless.

This book provides a business wisdom not rooted in lecture or charismatic absolutisim. Instead, it is a parable that is at once instructional and hilarious. I focus on two things that are amazing. First, it is a unique gift to be able to provide laughter in a story that's first purpose is to be enlightening about starting your own business. Like all truly comic stories the humor is a result of the characters and the situations of the main story versus plugging in a plot around some preconceived funny anecdotes or observations. Second, there seems to be a true generosity of full disclosure from the author's experiences. The jealousy and contempt brought on by the seductive dot com businesses in San Fransisco. The perserverance during business adversity. The absurdity of the unexpected and the true drive to follow through on their purpose and passion.
Everybody wants to be perceived as smart and funny. I suspect the author's are both. However, without knowing either one of them I can only offer that certainly their book is.

A mouse that looks like a golf club? Not my first choice for book subject matter, but the MouseDriver Chronicles has won me over... and over and over. Within 30 minutes of finishing it, I'd already recommended it to my Princeton entrepreneurship professor as required reading #1!

How much can you learn about "real" business from selling an apparent novelty item? A ton. Volumes on end. More than the 10 heaviest MBA texts combined.

Success in entrepreneurship (getting rich included) is determined by steering a process that can be incredibly frustrating and rewarding at the same time.

Within the MouseDriver Chronicles you will learn the universal hurdles so seldom answered (how to sign your first distributor), in addition to the screw ups that make starting a business the 3-ring circus it is (getting your order-line routed to phone porn).

RUN, don't walk, to get your copy of this book! I had to check 3 stores before I found it, and I'm not selling you mine ;)

Get copies for your family and friends while you can!

I saw "The MouseDriver Chronicles" in several bookstores, and passed because it sounded like it would be yet another story of dot-com failure. But finally I decided it looked like a "fun read" and bought it, and I'm glad I did.

I'm adding "The MouseDriver Chronicles" as my number-two title (after "Dot.Bomb," by by J. David Kuo) on my "must read" book list for entrepreneurs.

"Dot.Bomb" was more fun to read, in part because it was about a dot-com company that crashed and burned, and it's always more fun to write about failure than success.

Though "The MouseDriver Chronicles" isn't quite as fun to read, it is more useful for potential entrepreneurs. The book recounts many logistical and planning issues, in an exceptionally well-written style, using straighforward language and sharing more details (business and personal) than I'd expected (though the details seem to fade in the later chapters, presumably to protect the trade secrets of the continuing company).

Most important, "The MouseDriver Chronicles" is not about a crash-and-burn dot-com failure.

It's about a modestly successful startup whose mission was to build a product and sell it at a profit, a concept that seemed almost obscene when Lusk and Harrison launched their business in mid-1999. In January 2002, that concept (build a product and sell it at a profit) sounds much better, making the book more timely. Even if there are fewer entrepreneurs this year, they all should profit from reading "The MouseDriver Chronicles."

The authors especially deserve credit for admitting how "ignorant" they were (in many respects) when they received their MBA degrees from Wharton, even after earlier careers working for consulting firms. They frankly disclose some embarassing experiences, which should profit wise readers who may experience fewer mistakes as a result.

My main gripe with the book is that it ends before the end. I expected the final chapter to recount the company's failure, or its sale to a larger company, or some other "exit strategy" that would provide "closure" for the book.

Instead, the book's chronology ends in early 2001, but the company continues even today. Ending the book a year before it reached bookstores (in January 2002) seemed quite unfair (but that is the reality of the book-publishing industry).

Fortunately, the MouseDriver.com web site contains an archive of the author's "Insider" newsletter updates, so I could read "the rest of the story" (which is still unfolding, since the company is still plodding along).

The MouseDriver Chronicles is arguably the most candid and useful book about entrepreneurship on the market right now. The book is replete with important nuggets of knowledge, such the "Rule of 4," the 4 P's of entrepreneurship, the art of "low financing," the importance of securing markets etc. The MouseDriver Chronicles is well written and offers a wealth of practical advice to entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts alike. It truly is a MUST read!!

When I first saw this book, my heart did not exactly skip a beat. Another book about (and worse, BY!) 2 American entrepreneurs selling computer mice? Haven't publishers had enough of all these human interest business stories that all share the same beginnings and endings?

I decided to give the book a go anyway since it was a gift from a friend. Surprisingly, I was unable to put it down. Even though I am an Asian doing my MBA in Europe, I believe the experiences of the authors hold true for all aspiring entrepreneurs.

And what experiences! I won't give the story away (go to mousedriver.com and look at their Insider newsletter for a summary of some of their tales),but DO consider this book to get an idea of what it means to passionately believe in a product, get that product to the market -- and how to deal with all the obstacles in the way while preserving your sanity and bank balances.

If, like me, you have thoughts about being an entrepreneur but are not sure of what to start being passionate about, read this book and "Just Drive It" ! The marketing slogan for the MouseDriver (that's what these guys are trying to sell, a mouse that is shaped like a golf club) is certainly effective shorthand for all those who have always THOUGHT about being their own boss but have have not dared to fall out of their 8 to 8 routines (Worry about the landing later:-)

MouseDriver Chronicles is a true, compelling story that deserves a wider audience. I now understand why my friend (who gave me the book) actually went on to help publish it. Happy AND educational endings, anyone?

This book made me smile. Written by two entrepreneurs who were working in their first business start-up, the book chronicles their first year in business, and all of the things that they learned at Wharton that ultimately was totally useless. I have used this book in some of the MBA classes in which I teach, not because I think an MBA is useless, but because I do feel that some of the information taught in textbooks is incredibly irrelevant when it comes to running a real business. This book points out the highs and lows of a new business, and I recommend this book often for people who are in their first start-up. A quick, enjoyable read.