The Start-up of You [Kindle Edition]

The basic premise of thesis book is the following: the entrepreneurial mindset and attitude are essential for anyone's career in today's economy. Thinking like an entrepreneur is not any more reserved just for the ultra-ambitious, well-funded Silicon Valley types; in order to succeed in today's job market everyone has to adopt many of the practices that successful entrepreneurs have been employing for decades. This, in and of itself, seems like a great piece of advice. Unfortunately, this book falls far short of delivering on how to implement such an approach in most ordinarily career paths.

I have for years in fact been adopting the kind of attitude that this book promotes: I've networked like crazy, created substantial online presence, tried to be in tune with the latest technological and professional trends, etc. However, in order to have a career, or even get a job, a lot more is required. It is these other much more crucial steps that I was hoping to learn more about from reading this book. Its authors, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, seemed to have exactly the kinds of credentials that would lend itself to revealing interesting and fact-based insights that are otherwise hard to find. My expectations were particularly high since Hoffman is one of the cofounders of LinkedIn. I was hoping that we'd find out some interesting data culled from millions of LinkedIn job searches and professional connections. Unfortunately, all my expectations have fallen way short, and "The Start-up of You" is just another indistinguishable, fluffy career "advice" book, of which there are already way too many on the market.

The book is filled with motivational-speak, with an incessant deluge of phrases that sound meaningful and profound (at least to some people), but are in fact quite vacuous ("Once you catch curiosity, it is (luckily) hard to shake." "Everyone is looking for an opportunity, even if they don't know it."). It is hard to figure out how these pieces of "advice" can in fact contribute to advancing anyone's career. Granted, the book is written with the greatest possible audience in mind, but even so it could have used a lot more concrete actionable advice.

The only examples that are used in this book are those of people who have been very successful entrepreneurs. These kinds of examples are good motivational stories, but are almost useless to the millions of job seekers out there hoping to get their own career off the ground. In the entire book there are virtually no attempts to show how the insights from the career paths of top-dog entrepreneurs translate into the concrete, actionable advice for the rest of us.

Furthermore, almost all of the examples and insights in this book are in one way or another linked with Silicon Valley. That is indeed a wonderful and exciting place, and I have been fortunate enough that I had spent many years working and studying over there. However, Silicon Valley is exceptional in many ways, and the insights gained there do not translate well to the rest of the country, and you are even worse off if you live overseas. Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial spirit has tricked down to the lower professional and social circles. This, however, has not been the case with the rest of the world, and it's unlikely that it will happen any time soon. I still think that the entrepreneurial attitude is worthwhile having; just don't expect any dramatic impact on your career any time soon.

If you are in a tight situation right now when it comes to your career, then reading this book will be a near total waste of time. As already mentioned, it contains almost no concrete, actionable information. If you are relatively secure in your job and just want to gain a better perspective on managing your career, then this book might hold some overall value. Even under such circumstances, though, the information you get will almost certainly be very abstract and not readily applicable to your career path.

Short Review:

Recommended if you're the sort of person who thinks that you, and you alone, are responsible for your personal success. A strong and inspiring message of self-reliance throughout but with weak practical suggestions.

Longer Review:

Written by the co-founder of LinkedIn (Reid Hoffman) and Ben Casnocha - a young American entrepreneur - 'The Startup of You' is one of those 'kick in the pants' type of books that American authors seem to write so well (and so frequently).

As I understand it, the message of the book is that your success is down to you and you alone. Plain and simple. Always has been and always will be. A message that's even more important in the current economic climate when many have been turfed out of their jobs and are practically, if not literally, on their own.

Yet your version of career success, or the end Goal (the Vision as it's often called) should be something you're constantly evaluating, reflecting upon and, if needs be, changing. This flexible, adaptive mental state is what the authors label as 'permanent Beta'. It's a recognition that life is complex and it's not until you put your idea(s) out there, into the real world, that you'll discover whether it works and whether people are interested or not.

Your idea, or product or service, can literally be something you create, promote and sell as a business. Or, indeed, it can be 'Brand You' - your personal, Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or Value that you bring as an employee.

Once you've adopted this attitude that you're always experimenting, looking for the next opportunity and remaining flexible, the authors stress the importance of building and maintaining your network. And this is where the book counterbalances the one-dimensional notion that you can do it all alone. Thus, to achieve your individual success you need others. This is described as 'I to the Power of We' in the book.

What again makes this book so relevant, is that it stresses the importance of your social media presence. Unsurprisingly, the social network the book describes in detail is, of course, LinkedIn! Although there are much better books (and online guides) on how to get the most from LinkedIn, 'The Startup of You' has given me new ideas on how to make more of the site.

My niggles with the book are...

1.None of this stuff is especially original and earth-shattering. Nevertheless, it's put together in a readable and accessible 200+pages.

2. Each chapter ends with a couple of 'Invest in Yourself' pages. This is where the authors provide practical tips and suggestions.

Whilst I appreciate why they've done this, many of the suggestions are simplistic and banal. Unnecessary even. I wonder if it was the publishers (Random House) who asked for these ideas be included? Because if you're even half-familiar with this type of material, and LinkedIn itself, you won't find much of value in these sections.

In Conclusion:

I'm a sucker for this type of book. I know I am. My book shelves - both physical and electronic - are stuffed full of this stuff. This is probably because I sometimes need this sort of mental 'kick in the pants' when I'm feeling that 'success' - whatever that is - seems as distant as it used to be (which is not actually the case when I reflect upon it!)

Yet I also think that this book, and others like it, contain a vital and inspiring message that we should teach to our children. Which, ultimately, given the current economic doom and gloom, is why I think this book is so timely.

The basic premise in Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha's book is that the same mind-sets and skill-sets that can help to ensure the success of a start-up company's performance can also (with appropriate modification) help to ensure the success of an individual's career. In fact, all companies should always be viewed - and managed - as a start-up. This what Jack Welch had in mind years ago when, during a GE annual meeting, he explained why he admired entrepreneurial companies:

"For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy."

Hoffman and Casnocha assert, "To succeed professionally in today's world, you need to adopt entrepreneurial strategies...In the same way, you need to stay young and agile; you need to forever be a [begin italics] start-up [end italics]." Speaking for both of them (as he does throughout the book), Hoffman adds, "The business strategies employed by highly successful [begin italics] start-ups [end italics] and the career strategies employed by highly successful [begin italics] individuals [end italics] are strikingly similar." Readers are introduced to several "strategic frameworks" within which valuable (usually counterintuitive) insights are revealed by exemplary entrepreneurs such as Hoffman and Casnocha (of course) as well as Marc Andreesen, Jeff Bezos, Benjamin Franklin, Reed Hastings, Steve Jobs, Mary Sue Milliken, Marc Pinkus, Joseph Priestley, and Sheryl Sandberg, with insights anchored in their real-world experience.

Although Hoffman and Casnocha carefully identify the "what" of what organizational and individual success requires, they focus most of their attention on how (and how not to) achieve it. For example:

o How to develop a YOUR COMPANY/YOU Mind-Set
o How to develop a YOUR COMPANY/YOU Skill-Set
o How to develop and then sustain a competitive advantage
o How to anticipate and prepare for contingencies with agility and resiliency
o How to bounce back from adversity
o How to establish and then strengthen a network of genuine and appropriate relationships
o How to identify and then pursue breakout opportunities
o How to identify and evaluate "intelligent" risks
o How to navigate professional challenges with network intelligence
o How to synthesize information into actionable intelligence

Each of the Fortune 500 companies was originally a start-up and each of their CEOs was once a career-entry employee. My guess (only a guess) is that the most successful companies and their leaders understand, appreciate, and affirm the power and value of the start-up mind-sets and skill-sets that Hoffman and Casnocha examine in this book. For them, for all of us, "life is a permanent beta [and] the trick is never stop starting."