The Fixer, Bradley Tusk
The Fixer, Bradley Tusk
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The Fixer
My Adventures Saving Startups from Death by Politics

Author: Bradley Tusk

Narrator: Bradley Tusk

Unabridged: 4 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 09/18/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

The famed political advisor to Uber, FanDuel, Lemonade, Tesla and other startups reveals what really happens at the intersection of politics, tech and business

Most new startups today are in highly regulated industries with strong incumbents - transportation, hotels, drones, energy, gaming, education, health care, cannabis, finance, liquor, insurance. The more startups try to snatch a piece of the establishment's pie, the more they risk running into a political wall. That's where Bradley Tusk comes in.

Described as "Silicon Valley's Political Savior" (Fast Company) "Uber's Political Genius" (Vanity Fair) and "Silicon Valley's Favorite Fixer" (TechCrunch) Tusk deploys the skills and knowledge he developed working with Chuck Schumer, Michael Bloomberg, Rod Blagojevich, and other political and business legends to help startups fight back. This book goes behind the scenes on how he helped stop the taxi industry from killing Uber in its infancy, how he held insurance companies at bay while startup Lemonade launched in each state, and how he helped online sports betting sites FanDuel and Draft Kings escape the regulatory death grip casinos tried to put on them.

As Tusk writes, "Every new company is essentially a tech startup. And when you disrupt someone in any industry, they don't say thank you. They punch you in the nose. These are the lessons startups need to learn to punch back and survive the clutches of politics." Combining a firsthand glimpse behind the curtain with tangible advice for how any new venture can play the political game, THE FIXER is a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Includes a PDF of A Quick Guide to Startup Politics.

About The Author

Bradley Tusk writes about tech and politics for The Observer and for Inc, hosts a podcastcalled Firewall, and speaks about these issues regularly to audiences across the world. He also served as Mike Bloomberg's campaign manager, as deputy governor of Illinois, as Chuck Schumer's communications director, as Uber's first political strategist, as the founder and CEO of Tusk Strategies, the first firm dedicated to helping startups navigate political problems, and Tusk Ventures, the first venture capital fund dedicated to investing in startups facing political challenges.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ryan on November 09, 2018

Basically four hours of marketing for Tusk (himself, his consulting firm, his venture firm, and his clients), but did include interesting info about how Uber, Fanduel, and some political issues were fought. While I strongly disagree with his pretty generic leftist (and enough inside a bubble or self......more

Goodreads review by huzeyfe on February 21, 2021

First read of the year! I bought this book last year to know how to protect our start-up from political battles. Because as Bradley Tusk well said "When you disrupt someone, in industry or politics, they don't thank you for it. They punch you in the face." However, funnily enough, I did not have enou......more

Goodreads review by Frank on October 22, 2020

On the very first page of this book, there are two inexcusable cliches: "raining cats and dogs" and "ninth circle of hell" (referring to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport). Those almost made me close the book right away. Yet although the writing may not shine, the book actually offers a wonderful look at mo......more

Goodreads review by Lorenzo on March 24, 2021

Bradley Tusk is the kind of mofo I like! Very short and to the point, just like the narratives behind his amazingly successful campaigns against cronies, entrenched lobbies, and hypocritical politicians. Regulatory capture is arguably the single biggest barrier that prevents tech innovation and capi......more

Goodreads review by Shayla on November 23, 2018

Maybe it’s my own fault, but I was hoping for a little more insight into “saving startups” from “politics”. This book is the memoir of a guy who essentially had unlimited funds (millions and millions of dollars) to use to fight the government. There’s no talk of startups until halfway through the bo......more

Quotes

“Lively and entertaining.” —The New York Times

“Bradley Tusk is raw, smart, and focused. The Fixer will become the book you didn’t know your business depends on—dragging you through the mud and into the trenches of startups and politics.” —SCOTT GALLOWAY, professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and author of The Four

“This roller-coaster ride of a personal business memoir ends with a series of case studies of what smart political pressure can really do (and often not do … not every story ends happily). The Fixer is the curtain (finally) being drawn on the often ugly inside reality of what happens when startups attempt to upend a comfortable (and profitable) regulatory order. Any startup founder attempting to eat some incumbent’s lunch (and that’s most of them) would beadvised to read the lessons in The Fixer.” —ANTONIO GARCÍA-MARTÍNEZ, author of Chaos Monkeys

“Disrupting any major industry means disrupting its politics, too. Bradley’s story about fighting for startups from Uber to Tesla, from delivering cannabis to marketing vitamins on Instagram, from mobile voting to fantasy sports, captures exactly what it’s like trying to navigate your startup through the muddy world of politics. This is a truly great story.” —MATT KING, CEO of FanDuel

“A must read for anyone in tech—or worried about being disrupted by tech!”—DANIEL SCHREIBER, CEO of Lemonade

“A deeply funny, exhilarating tour of the dark political arts … Reading The Fixer is like being shot out of a cannon and landing on a bullet train that’s flying off the edge of a cliff. One thing is abundantly clear: You want Bradley Tusk working for you, not against you!”—STEVEN SODERBERGH, filmmaker

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