Candid interviews with sixteen entrepreneurs from diverse fields let you into their personal journeys creating and building startups.
How do people decide to start a company or help grow one in its infancy? How do they build those companies? There are plenty of stories about people on the other side of the journey, who have already achieved great success. But what about people in middle of the process, for whom outcomes are still uncertain? That's what entrepreneur Renny McPherson and reporter Joe Flood--the hosts of the Numbers & Narrative podcast--set out to uncover in interviews with entrepreneurs who are building companies.
Entrepreneurs in the Midst is a collection of interviews with a mix of established young founders and builders as well as a number of others who have created exciting companies you'll be hearing about tomorrow. Focusing on entrepreneurs with a variety of backgrounds--McPherson and Flood bring out the surprising paths people take to entrepreneurship. There is a literature major who taught himself to code, a banker-turned-actress who built a product to foster curiosity in kids, and a labor activist-turned-consultant who's using technology to improve service workers' pay. The authors weave these disparate experiences into a coherent and compelling vision of what today's founders and builders are doing in real time.
The stories are inspiring, but tempered with honest talk about the struggles and challenges of entrepreneurship, a path none of these individuals took lightly. A fascinating read for anyone planning to pursue entrepreneurship and looking for role models on the journey, or for those curious to know how resilient, hard-working young people are building tomorrow's businesses.
Reviews
"Entrepreneurship, the lifeblood of innovation, is not one-size-fits-all. This book gives aspiring entrepreneurs a view inside a variety of start-ups being built by a broad array of founders and builders. This is a must-read for those who wish to build businesses and anyone interested in understanding the next generation of business builders."
--Howard Cox, special limited partner at Greylock and former chairman of the National Venture Capital Association
"Before you start your own struggle, read this book. Great insight into the real-life ups and downs of company building from a set of amazing entrepreneurs."
--Louis Beryl, founder and CEO of Earnest
Creating and and scaling a new company today requires more than just technical skill. Aspiring entrepreneurs need real world tools and solutions to make in the wild. Renny and Joe have done a great service for would-be founders, by taking lessons from 16 inspiring entrepreneurs who share their honest stories about the ups and downs of building a modern company. A book I recommend to everyone in the Galvanize family.
-- Kate Shillo, Director Galvanize Ventures
"Everyone who plans to start a business should read this first. Sixteen entrepreneurs bare their hearts to share their stories before the outcome is certain. That's a brave thing to do, and a gift to those who follow in their footsteps."
--Frank Bonsal, cofounder of New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
About the Author: RENNY MCPHERSON is an entrepreneur and investor who has cofounded and built three businesses: RedOwl Analytics, The Twenty, and N2 Communications. Earlier in his career, Renny served as a Marine Corps officer and worked in policy at RAND. Renny holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Harvard College. Renny's work has been profiled on or appeared in the Washington Post, the Discovery Channel, National Public Radio, Inc.com, and The Freakonomics blog. His writing has been featured in the Boston Globe, the Washington Times, Harvard Business Review online edition, and the Huffington Post. He lives in the Washington, DC, area.
