My summary of The Startup of You (Reid Hoffman)

Hello everyone,

Recently I have just finished the book "The Startup of you” and I find it a very interesting read. I myself want to become an entrepreneur myself in the future, so it hits me quite hard :)

As a habit, I summarize this book after I read, and I want to share it with you here. Please excuse my grammatical errors…

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Introduction

It is a popular belief that start-ups are for entrepreneurs, and not everyone can be an entrepreneur. However, what if running a start-up isn’t dedicated to inborn entrepreneurs? The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career(2012) will help its readers figure out the entrepreneurial potential within themselves.

This book is perfect for
• entrepreneurs-want-to-be who are striving for success
• any employer and employee who are seeking a right career path
• people who are keen on exploring the potential of themselves

###Lessons in a nutshell

In an era where the whole world focuses on the extravagant success of entrepreneurs, Hoffman and Casnocha have brought in a fresh insight on how an entrepreneur can be redefined. It turns out that a person doesn’t have to appear on Forbes’ cover to be an entrepreneur. If one knows how to nurture herhis career path, shehe is no doubt an entrepreneur.

In this summary, you will explore
• why everyone has innate entrepreneurial talents
• why being a life-controller is so important
• how to bloom the entrepreneur potential

Chapters

1. It’s time to let your entrepreneurial instinct bloom
2. If you want to gain the market, sell something others can’
3. ABZ planning: Always spare an escape
4. Planning doesn’t take a day; it takes a life
5. “Instead of better glasses, your network gives you better eyes”
6. Not all networks are the same
7. Don’t let strangers through the door, except for luck
8. Risk: What you avoid can be your biggest opportunity
9. Intelligence is not for show; it’s for learning

1. It’s time to let your entrepreneurial instinct bloom

“Everyone is an entrepreneur.” The saying doesn’t mean that everyone can, or should, start a company. However, the core value of entrepreneurship lies in the ability to invent and create, which, coincidentally and fortunately, all people are inherited from their ancestors.

The definition of “start-up” - a term that is closely related to “entrepreneur” - needs clarifying. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a company or a business of any kind. When our ancestors created caves, the caves were their “start-up,” or the “product” of their creativity. To pursue your dream career is to build a start-up.

Why should everyone establish and develop a career, or a start-up? Needless to say, one’s profession is what helps a person thrive. As the world changes day by day, it’s increasingly difficult to have an assuring and long-lasting career path that guarantees a happy life. Knowing how to create and maintain a career is more crucial than ever before.

Because a career is no different from a start-up, entrepreneurial strategies can be adopted when you build a career. Entrepreneurial strategies may include many action plans, but the most important strategy is keeping a positive mindset. Tell yourself that you’ll never give up. Failures are frequent, and success never comes overnight. As long as you keep learning, improving, striving and growing, success would finally come.

Quote: “Whether you’re a lawyer or doctor or teacher or engineer or even a business owner, today you need to also think of yourself as an entrepreneur at the helm of at least one living, growing start-up venture: your career.”

2. If you want to own the market, sell something others can’t

Globalization comes with both opportunities and threats.

The labor market expands rapidly, leading to an increase in high-quality labour. Higher job opportunity for one person means lower chances of success for another. That’s why everyone needs to develop a unique selling point to increase his or her competitive advantage in the job market.

Three elements that make a strong competitive advantage are assets, aspirations and values, and market realities. One’s unique selling point can be sold to the market only when these puzzles perfectly fit each other like one fine picture. Therefore, it’s necessary to evaluate the competence of each piece of the puzzle in order to make a perfect portrait of yourself.

Assets are what a person owns. They can be physical assets, such as cash, credits, housing, etc. They can also be knowledge and soft skills such as communication skills, public speaking skills, critical thinking skills, etc. Assets would be the first thing that other people see when they look at you and get to know you.

Regardless of how many assets a person may have, personal growth cannot be achieved without aspirations and values. Aspirations are the “deepest wishes, ideas, goals, and vision of the future,” regardless of the external world or existing assets. Core values are a part of aspirations: they are what a person considers the most important in his or her life.

Aspirations and values serve as the petrol that keeps a person going. If assets are what a person possesses at present, it is aspirations and values that perfect the assets and shape that person’s future. It’s always more motivational to pursue what you are passionate about rather than what you feel forced to follow.

The final piece of the puzzle is the market realities. Assets, aspirations, and values only work when put into the right marketplace where you are welcomed. Make sure that the market that you choose is favorable for you to develop to your inner potential. Sometimes, a market that no one but you has thought of, despite being a risky choice, can be the competitive advantage you need.

Quote: “No matter what the demand, you’re not going to be most competitive unless your own passions and strengths are in play.”

3. ABZ planning: There’s no easy escape without preparation

Flickr is considered one of the best web tools for storing, managing and sharing photos in the world. Since its birth in 2004, it’s been consistently developing with more than 5 billion images stored on the websites and 87 million subscribed accounts. However, when it was established, its original plan wasn’t how it seems today.

The website was originally a multiplayer online game called Game Neverending created in 2002. Online games at that time supported only a few people playing at the same time, but the developers of Game Neverending wanted to involve hundreds of players at once. They started to create groups and instant messaging on the website to increase interaction. Eventually, they added a function that helped to share screenshot pictures during the game among players.

The final add-on surprisingly overshadowed the main purpose of the game in popularity. It was at that time that the developers had to consider between dropping the original plan or continuing it. In the end, they decided to part from the original plan and continue with a brand new plan. That was how Flickr became one of today’s most effective photo-sharing platforms.

In the career market, situations like Flickr’s frequently arise. Difficult decisions in decisive moments have the power to change a person’s or firm’s destiny. Therefore, these decisions should be prepared firsthand. ABZ planning would support you in carrying out this difficult task.

In ABZ planning, the letter “A” stands for Plan A: Aim and Fire (and repeat). Plan A makes use of your assets: develop what you’ve got at the moment and implement them. It includes a string of aims and actions you can immediately implement once you’re ready. When executing plan A, failures frequently occur, but it’s okay. What matters is that you have to try as hard as you can without giving up.

When plan A doesn’t work anymore, it’s time for a change - plan B. Plan B is ignited when you pivot using knowledge and experience you’ve learned from failures while conducting plan A.

Sometimes plan B is simply an updated version of plan A; sometimes, it is totally different. No matter what, make sure that plan B would help you better to the market compared to the previous plan.

If nothing works, plan Z in ABZ planning is the exit plan. Like a lifeboat, plan Z should be much more certain than all previous plans so that it can save you from drowning and ensure your safety. However, bear in mind that floating on a lifeboat doesn’t mean that your life is over. Plan Z is not the end; on the contrary, it is the opening for a new, better plan A.

Quote:“There is no beginning, middle, or end to a career journey; no matter how old you are or at what stage, you will always be planning and adapting.”

4. Planning doesn’t take a day; it takes a life

ABZ planning is not a kid’s bingo game. It takes a lot of time and consideration to make a practical plan while minimizing the potential risks. There are several criteria on which to build this plan.

Firstly, build your plan based on your competitive advantage. It’s essential, therefore, that you find your unique selling point before jumping into creating a plan.

Your assets would help you build hypotheses, for example, “I’m good at Maths, so I’ll be a financer at Wall Streets.” Each hypothesis should lead to a proper action plan, which would later become different ways of implementation in plan A.

Soft assets - knowledge and soft skills - are much more invaluable than hard assets like spending power. Soft assets help people build and maintain their career in the long run, and they need frequent improvements. Whatever you decide to do next should utilize your skills and broaden your knowledge.

The best way to learn is through experiences. Sometimes it takes a little risk to test if hypotheses can become facts, and it’s every entrepreneur’s responsibility to take a risk. However, it’s better to make reversible, small bets rather than risk it all. It’s a part of plan Z - always spare yourself an escape.

Use time wisely. Never wait until it’s too late to do something.For instance, you can build plan A and plan B simultaneously rather than consecutively. The first step should be a firm but also a flexible one so that there can be many choices for the next steps.

Finally, try not to tie yourself to a specific employer. It’s not bad to be loyal and completely passionate, but flexibility is what makes ABZ planning so useful and feasible. More importantly, maintaining an identity - or retaining the unique selling point - requires you to be yourself, not your employer. Don’t let the position own you; own it instead.

Quote: “ABZ Planning isn’t something you do once early in your career. It’s a process as important for someone in their forties or fifties as for a newly minted college grad.”

5. “Instead of better glasses, your network gives you better eyes”

“World-class professionals build networks to help them navigate the world.” There is a reason why humans have been forming communities and groups ever since they were born millions of years ago. Aside from providing a sense of belonging, surviving in groups creates better proficiency and protection for everyone in the community.

If teams are important to individuals, individuals are equally important to teams. A team cannot succeed without its excellent individuals, just like how individuals need support from their teammates to shine their light. Therefore, it’s important to know how to deal with relationships, especially during your career development path.

An important principle everyone needs to remember is that giving is receiving. A networker will seek advantages of being friends with another person, while a relationship builder will ask himself what values he can bring to others. All essential and long-lasting relationships are and should be built based on sincerity rather than taking advantage of each other. So, you should be a relationship builder rather than a networker.

A relationship that isn’t frequently taken care of is a fragile relationship, no matter how strong it was at the beginning. No one wants an out-of-the-blue email after a long time without contact, so spend time maintaining contact with others. People often fear that they would disturb the other person, but that’s not the case. Anyone would appreciate a friend that takes the initiative in the relationship.

The power of social media in the modern era cannot be denied. It doesn’t cost much time or money to make frequent contact on social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. However, it should be noted that the virtuality world isn’t enough. Whenever possible, try to invite people over for lunch or dinner.

It’s sad but true that not every relationship lasts forever. In certain situations, there would be no use trying to keep a relationship. The best way to solve the situation is to let the relationship slowly fade away rather than actively delete it. By doing so, trust can remain, and the relationship can still be reactivated at the appropriate time.

Quote: “Relationships are living, breathing things. Feed, nurture, and care about them: they grow. Neglect them: they die.”

6. Not all networks are the same

It’s necessary to understand the networks that you want to build. Between personal relationship and professional relationship, it is professional relationships that increase the opportunities to develop a career and improve ourselves.

Professional allies are the ones who come first to your mind when you need advice. These people can be your seniors, colleagues, or even juniors at work, but they share a similarity: they’ve earned your trust. Allies are the people on whom you can rely for their consultancy.

Allies are so whom you can proactively share and collaborate. They have something in common with you, they share some similarities and interests with you, and you know they’ll work well with you. These traits are vital to figure out if a person is the right partner for you.

Finally, allies are the ones that mean more than just ordinary colleagues to you. You call them friends, defend them, promote them, help them, and stand up for them. A true ally, or in this case, a true friend, would do the same for you. That’s how you realize whether you have made the right allies or not.

Weaker ties and acquaintances form an entirely different network. They are people with whom you maintain a friendly relationship without being too close, and you don’t necessarily actively know them. Believe it or not, they are the ones who bring you the best opportunities.

Let’s say you and your friends share many interests, which means what he knows is likely to be what you’ve already known. Acquaintances, on the other hand, don’t know you that deeply. Thus, they’ll introduce to you the most unexpected chance, which is both risky and worthwhile.

The important key to bear in mind in building relationships is that the networks need to be both broad and deep. While the breadth of relationships helps people reach as many suitable opportunities as possible, the depth of them is what keeps people survive and make the best use of those opportunities.

Quote: “There are various types of relationships in personal and professional contexts, from intimate friends and family to polite coworker contacts to medium-strength trust connections. Each type of relationship is different.”

7. Don’t let strangers through the door, except for luck

Success begins with opportunities. Networks and all of the necessary skills are built to wait for the right opportunities. So the question to raise here is: what kind of opportunity is everyone looking for?

George Clooney was a B-class actor for twelve years despite his good looks, natural talent and hard work. It was not until 1994 did he come across his life-changing opportunity: an overly-costed gritty medical drama named ER. There had never been such a drama at the time, so it would be a huge risk for Clooney to accept the main role. But he accepted it anyway. The result was an astounding career that hardly any other actor can dream of.

Clooney’s story is an example of having a breakout. “Breakout” is the term implying the unusually rapid growth. There’s no ultimate success without luck. Luck only counts for 1 percent in one’s success, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important.

The most important criterion to find and generate career opportunities is to nurture curiosity. Getting used to the question “why” in whatever situation is an important habit. Learning to be curious enhances critical thinking by helping people examine each hypothesis carefully before making a decision.

Remember the importance of creating and maintaining relationships? It is one’s networks that bring the best breakout opportunities to that person. The number of possibilities is rather synonymous with the number of people you can connect to.

That’s why being in a group or a community plays such an important role in one’s career path. If joining an existing group isn’t what you want, consider creating your own group with specific characteristics that you want to develop and spread within that small community.

Creativity and boldness must always exist in any entrepreneur. Great opportunities seldom fit any body’s schedule. Being bold or you won’t ever have the same moment again.

Quote: “There are always breakout projects, connections, specific experiences, and yes, strokes of luck—that lead to unusually rapid career growth.”

8. Risk: What you avoid can be your biggest opportunity

Sometimes, risks mean opportunities no one would expect. Risks are a permanent part of life - that’s why being friends with risk, instead of being its enemy, is the best way to deal with and take advantage of it.

In a career context, risks are “the downside consequences from a given action or decision, and the likelihood that the downside actually occurs.” It is the other side of the coin that always exists; it is the reason why in ABZ planning, there are so many back-up plans supporting each other. In fact, entrepreneurs are bold risk-takers. It takes them years to figure out a list of tips to deal with and take advantage of risks.

Almost everyone tends to overrate risks. Humans were born with three main misconceptions to keep them survive, and one of them is overestimating threats.

Paying attention to potential threats is necessary, but they can often be exaggerated, especially in situations where people encounter them for the first time. That is when you need to calm down and estimate the risks carefully.

There must be a reason that ABZ planning has Plan A and Plan B with numerous implementations before going to Plan Z. When conducting the ABZ plans, remember not to freak out and jump from one plan to the next too quickly. You should first see if how serious the current situation is, then figure out whether it can be reversed or improved by any chance before deciding to change the plan.

Some circumstances imply risks to others, but not to you. It’s your mission to critically assess all the probabilities and make your own decision. Moreover, questionable situations can also be the best opportunities. In conclusion, being bold and calm will help you win against yourself.

Quote: “There’s competition for good opportunities. And because of that, if you can intelligently take on risk, you will find opportunities others miss.”

9. Intelligence is not for show; it’s for learning

Entrepreneurs don’t only create, they also learn from their creation process. It is the ability to learn actively and synthesize information that gives that person the most potential to be the best in his or her chosen field. These ultimate skills would determine if a person wins or loses in the end.

Gathering information in the business context is often called “gathering intelligence.” Intelligence in this context is “actionable, timely information on all facets of the business.” In other words, intelligence is what makes up a person’s skills and experience, and is shaped through learning and self-improving.

Learning from others is the best type of learning. The best way to earn intelligence, therefore, is through one’s networks. Again, this is another reason why building relationships is so essential: it plays a role in almost every aspect of building a stable and successful career. The stronger and broader is a person’s networks, the more he is going to learn.

Pulling the right information, or intelligence, from your networks, is another skill that needs enhancing. Before asking questions, regard the breadth and depth of your relationships. No matter if you ask a mass number of people at the same time or each individual, consider the status of those relationships carefully before thinking of questions.

It is vital to know how to ask good questions. A vague or too broad question would be difficult to answer, and it can even show that you’re not thinking critically before asking. Make sure that your question does not annoy the questionees, and don’t not ask things that are too obvious.

The final step would be synthesizing information. It’s important to spend time rearranging all the information you’ve got into one big neat picture. Only by doing this can others’ information become yours. To sum up, “good synthesis is what makes the whole worth more than the sum of the parts.”

Quote: “How you gather, manage, and use information will determine whether you win or lose.”

Summary

In the end, there is no fixed list of tips that guarantee one’s success. Every person is an entrepreneur, which means everyone should have his or her own way to shape his or her life. Consider this book as a guideline for you to explore your entrepreneurial potential. The rest of history is in your hands.

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