Do More Faster, David Cohen
Do More Faster, David Cohen
4 Rating(s)
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Do More Faster
TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup

Author: David Cohen, Brad Feld

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Unabridged: 7 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 12/05/2011


Synopsis

It is a cold, hard fact of business life that most startups fail. Even many of those entrepreneurs who ultimately succeed have stories of personal challenges, unsuccessful companies, and difficulties along the way. The founders of TechStars, a mentorship-driven startup accelerator, have worked with entrepreneurs and companies over the past twenty-five years, and have seen a number of the same issues come up again and again.

In Do More Faster, the founders of TechStars identify the key issues that first-time entrepreneurs encounter, and offer proven advice from successful entrepreneurs who have worked with the TechStars program.

The authors organize the most critical issues into seven themes: Idea and Vision, People, Execution, Product, Fundraising, Legal and Structure, and Work and Life Balance. Many of the examples are personal experiences from the entrepreneurs themselves, integrated into a cohesive narrative—while at the same time able to stand on their own. Throughout the book, they debunk numerous myths about startups and reveal some surprising truths. They explain, for instance, that the core of a startup is not always a world-changing and earth-shattering idea—in fact, it is often the case that successful startups started out doing something else. They also underscore the efficiency of execution: great entrepreneurs know how to synthesize data, make a decision about the path they are going down, and execute. And they offer some alternatives to traditional ways of raising money, while stressing that you shouldn't start with the assumption that you need to raise money.

Mastering the seven themes may not ensure success, but understanding the issues, reading the stories, and getting advice pertaining to these issues will increase your chances dramatically. And if nothing else, you'll realize that you aren't alone in facing these challenges.


About David Cohen

David Cohen is cofounder and managing partner of Techstars. He has founded several software and web technology companies, including Pinpoint Technologies, which was acquired by ZOLL Medical Corporation. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, with the coolest girl he's ever met (his wife) and their children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nathan

What a shallow and disappointingly book. This is the kind of lazy book that I avoided when I was an editor, but thanks to self-publishing and self-promotion it has been inflicted upon all of us. It disappoints in so many ways: construction, content, and motivation. Let's deal with them in order, sha......more

Goodreads review by Dan

This book is mostly a commercial for TechStars. There are a few good takeaways and stories but generally it was slow going and fairly repetitive. Not much depth and a machine gun approach to business story telling with every 2 pages being written by a different TechStar mentor, founder, attendee, or......more

Goodreads review by Mahmoud

This is not a book, it is a blog articles. It is well organized yet not a complete story. It is like any blog, some information are new, some are old other are useless. If you are new to entrepreneurship, read it. if you have been more than a year then it is 50% useless for you.......more