Building a venture capital funded start-up is one of the hardest things that most people will ever do. This is the best book I've found on building a start-up, from funding through exit. If you are founding a start-up or working for one, this book is essential reading.
The press reports of SnapChat turning down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook, or an app called Yo (which sends the text message "yo" to your friend's phone) getting $1 million venture funding reflects the mythology of start-ups. The book Hot Seat describes the reality.
Dan Shapiro is not some "Master of the Universe" who founded a start-up during the dot-com boom and managed to sell out before the crash. He has built multiple start-ups from the ground up, the hard way. There's no business jargon in Hot Seat, no empty platitudes. He writes about the mistakes he made, along with his successes. He writes about how hard it is to raise money as a first time founder. But he tries to give you some of the knowledge that you will need to succeed.
Dan Shapiro is an excellent writer and he presents the critical information in Hot Seat in an engaging manner. He writes not only of his own experience, but of the experiences of people he knows.
The first half of the book discusses some of the challenges a start-up CEO will face. Raising money, attracting co-founders and early employees, dealing with investors, some of the critical forms you need to file. This book is so good that I have absolutely no doubt that I will read it again.
The second half of the book is about how to manage your success after you survive the early challenges. Dan writes that there are always challenges and risks, they just change in nature. I have to confess that I didn't read the second half as closely because I kept thinking "I should be so lucky". But if I do succeed, I will be rereading the second half.
One of the scariest things about founding a company is that there are few guides. This book is one of the best you're going to find.
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Top reviews from other countries
davidwalker24
Interesting read - some good tips!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2016
Victor C
Not for everyone, especially those coming from the startup world
Reviewed in Canada on January 13, 2020
