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How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs
WALL STREET JOURNAL #1 Bestselling Business Book
Based on the highly acclaimed NPR podcast, How I Built This with Guy Raz, this book offers priceless insights and inspiration from the world’s top entrepreneurs on how to start, launch, and build a successful venture.
Great ideas often come from a simple spark: A soccer player on the New Zealand national team notices all the unused wool his country produces and figures out a way to turn them into shoes (Allbirds). A former Buddhist monk decides the very best way to spread his mindfulness teachings is by launching an app (Headspace). A sandwich cart vendor finds a way to reuse leftover pita bread and turns it into a multimillion-dollar business (Stacy’s Pita Chips).
Award-winning journalist and NPR host Guy Raz has interviewed more than 200 highly successful entrepreneurs to uncover amazing true stories like these. In How I Built This, he shares tips for every entrepreneur’s journey: from the early days of formulating your idea, to raising money and recruiting employees, to fending off competitors, to finally paying yourself a real salary. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever dreamed of starting their own business or wondered how trailblazing entrepreneurs made their own dreams a reality.
Based on the highly acclaimed NPR podcast, How I Built This with Guy Raz, this book offers priceless insights and inspiration from the world’s top entrepreneurs on how to start, launch, and build a successful venture.
Great ideas often come from a simple spark: A soccer player on the New Zealand national team notices all the unused wool his country produces and figures out a way to turn them into shoes (Allbirds). A former Buddhist monk decides the very best way to spread his mindfulness teachings is by launching an app (Headspace). A sandwich cart vendor finds a way to reuse leftover pita bread and turns it into a multimillion-dollar business (Stacy’s Pita Chips).
Award-winning journalist and NPR host Guy Raz has interviewed more than 200 highly successful entrepreneurs to uncover amazing true stories like these. In How I Built This, he shares tips for every entrepreneur’s journey: from the early days of formulating your idea, to raising money and recruiting employees, to fending off competitors, to finally paying yourself a real salary. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever dreamed of starting their own business or wondered how trailblazing entrepreneurs made their own dreams a reality.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 370 reviews
September 30, 2020
I was really into it for the first third or half but then felt like the pace was too slow for me and found myself browsing over pages. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t as relevant to my business and entrepreneurial journey as I hoped it would. Or maybe it’s better to pick it up once in a while rather than read it all in one go
February 3, 2021
As a huge fan of the podcast, I was hoping this book would offer further insight and stories from founders and entrepreneurs who hadn’t yet been interviewed or at least had gone into more depth with some of the stories. I found this was not the case. However, I still enjoyed the book and did discover a few pieces of information and ideas that sparked a bit of excitement in me. If you haven’t listened to the podcast then this book would be great for you, as it has tons of anecdotes and stories from different entrepreneurs and founders across the board, and offers words of wisdom and encouragement. I do think the book could have gone into more depth, as there were parts that felt a bit rushed or lazy, but overall I enjoyed it and still came away with a bit more knowledge, which is always the goal when reading a book like this.
September 22, 2020
Popular NPR podcast host, Guy Raz, has taken what he’s learned from his time spent interviewing successful entrepreneurs and picking their minds to find out all he could about their journey from the seed of an idea to full fledged prosperous company. He interviewed Lisa Price founder of Carol’s Daughter, Jim Koch of Sam Adams Brewery, Jen Rubio of Away, Joey Zwillinger and Tim Brown of Allbirds, just to name a few. Raz is a great storyteller and I found all their stories interesting. This isn’t one of those boring business or how-to books. These are real life tested tips to help with the hurdles faced by entrepreneurs trying to successfully launch their businesses. Any reader could get something from this absorbing book whether you plan to pursue entrepreneurship or not.
October 5, 2022
Easily one of the best books on entrepreneurship out there. Raz and writing partner Nils Parker narratively organize an absolute trove of relevant topics, from ideation to funding, management and culture, scaling and marketing, partnerships and conflict resolution. It's packed with stories and crucial insights, fun to read, yet covers so much territory it demands reading stamina or systematic pacing. If you're thinking about starting a business, definitely read this first. Once you do, you'll probably want to reread it annually for years to come.
January 14, 2021
I am a huge fan of Guy Raz's "How I Built This" podcast and the inspirational stories he shares each week that feature an entrepreneur and his/her/their RAW business-building story. I just had to read his book which actually starts by referencing one of my favorite podcast episodes, the bittersweet story of Chicken Salad Chick (Kleenex required).
Guy's book references many of my favorite episodes. He uses the stories to build a "how-to" course for entrepreneurs regardless of the nature of their business. I was clapping as I read his chapter 19 which explains that the most successful businesses are built on a desire to do good in the world. What if we all approached our work this way?
Guy explains the advantages of a co-founder, how to navigate raising money, how to avoid a "cult" mentality, and why disruption is actually a good thing.
Guy writes for the educated. He uses impressive vocabulary and his chapters are LONG, but his characteristic caring personality is present on every page, and you can learn a ton from reading this book.
Guy's book references many of my favorite episodes. He uses the stories to build a "how-to" course for entrepreneurs regardless of the nature of their business. I was clapping as I read his chapter 19 which explains that the most successful businesses are built on a desire to do good in the world. What if we all approached our work this way?
Guy explains the advantages of a co-founder, how to navigate raising money, how to avoid a "cult" mentality, and why disruption is actually a good thing.
Guy writes for the educated. He uses impressive vocabulary and his chapters are LONG, but his characteristic caring personality is present on every page, and you can learn a ton from reading this book.
August 8, 2020
Even if you think there is not a scintilla of entrepreneurial aptitude in your skill set, this thorough, and thoroughly enjoyable, book will surely whet your appetite to test the waters. Mr. Raz puts to optimal use his many high-profile contacts in the corporate world (by way of his NPR podcasts) to inform, instruct, and encourage fledgling entrepreneurs in how to succeed in whatever business their passion calls to them to dip their toe in. His insights from countless big-name and lesser-known companies and their founders come with no shortage of chills, spills, and--most of the time--thrills. Such diverse, magnetic, generous personalities and philosophies! A must-read for every aspiring small-business creator, and a source of inspiration for the rest of us.
September 2, 2022
3.5 ** Describes some interesting business stories
February 11, 2021
If you love podcasts and love anything startup / business / entrepreneurship; you’d have heard of Guy Raz and his brilliant podcast, How I Built This. Where he lets us into his conversations with uber successful entrepreneurs, how they started, their mistakes, troubles, joys and success. It’s really such a wonderful platform for inspiration even if you have no desire to be an entrepreneur.
So why read the book? Great question. Because he does actually feature people he’s interviewed in depth in this book. But what’s he’s done is structure it around the different stages of starting and running and leaving a business; he’s also added insights from his own experience and other experiences to give context and he’s grouped different entrepreneurs together in ways that he hasn’t on his show. In essence building out a roadmap for any budding or current business person to refer to at whatever stage they find themselves in.
My only critique was in how he handled the question of what role privilege has in a business’ success. He attempted to address this, but he concluded that if we all try hard enough, we all can make it, which we know isn’t true. What I would really enjoy reading next, is if he’d look at the companies that don’t make it and identify if their failure was due to them giving up too soon or if luck just wasn’t on their side. Looking at it from the angle of, had they been tenacious enough, they’d have overcome the obstacles that they faced when they failed.
Other than that, this is a great read, a brilliant guide and a source of inspiration that I hope would keep entrepreneurs going towards that elicit status of success (however you define it).
So why read the book? Great question. Because he does actually feature people he’s interviewed in depth in this book. But what’s he’s done is structure it around the different stages of starting and running and leaving a business; he’s also added insights from his own experience and other experiences to give context and he’s grouped different entrepreneurs together in ways that he hasn’t on his show. In essence building out a roadmap for any budding or current business person to refer to at whatever stage they find themselves in.
My only critique was in how he handled the question of what role privilege has in a business’ success. He attempted to address this, but he concluded that if we all try hard enough, we all can make it, which we know isn’t true. What I would really enjoy reading next, is if he’d look at the companies that don’t make it and identify if their failure was due to them giving up too soon or if luck just wasn’t on their side. Looking at it from the angle of, had they been tenacious enough, they’d have overcome the obstacles that they faced when they failed.
Other than that, this is a great read, a brilliant guide and a source of inspiration that I hope would keep entrepreneurs going towards that elicit status of success (however you define it).
December 19, 2022
A flawed but ultimately timely and useful read.
I was deeply entrenched in NPR podcast culture when How I Built This debuted in 2016, and devoured every episode. Sometime around 2018, it started to get a bit stale.
Guy Raz seems to be a nice guy, but for me he epitomizes NPR corporate butt-kissery, that obnoxious vibe where the interviewer REALLY thinks of themselves as a cultural lightning rod who has a big Rolodex of successful and rich friends.
Each episode started to carry a whiff of “I could be just as successful as you if I hadn’t decided to become a famous podcaster that collects successful entrepreneurs like Pokémon cards”.
So, in short, I thought I wouldn’t like this book. However… I also happen to be an entrepreneur, and this book caught me at a really tough time in growing my business, and the stories frankly really inspired me. Guy Raz is good at telling stories. REALLY good. And I was probably unfair to be annoyed at him and I’ll probably try listening to the podcast again.
So because I was in the 99th percentile of “ideal audience at the right time”, I gave it 5 stars.
7/5 stars for “Caught me at the right time and helped my soul feel more at peace with my profession”
4.25/5 stars for the anecdotes of entrepreneurs. The stories are great.
2.48/5 for pretty much all of Guy Raz’s commentary (skimmed it all). He’s a nice guy, but it’s a little cringe-y how much he really tries to reiterate “Hey, I’m an entrepreneur too!”
I was deeply entrenched in NPR podcast culture when How I Built This debuted in 2016, and devoured every episode. Sometime around 2018, it started to get a bit stale.
Guy Raz seems to be a nice guy, but for me he epitomizes NPR corporate butt-kissery, that obnoxious vibe where the interviewer REALLY thinks of themselves as a cultural lightning rod who has a big Rolodex of successful and rich friends.
Each episode started to carry a whiff of “I could be just as successful as you if I hadn’t decided to become a famous podcaster that collects successful entrepreneurs like Pokémon cards”.
So, in short, I thought I wouldn’t like this book. However… I also happen to be an entrepreneur, and this book caught me at a really tough time in growing my business, and the stories frankly really inspired me. Guy Raz is good at telling stories. REALLY good. And I was probably unfair to be annoyed at him and I’ll probably try listening to the podcast again.
So because I was in the 99th percentile of “ideal audience at the right time”, I gave it 5 stars.
7/5 stars for “Caught me at the right time and helped my soul feel more at peace with my profession”
4.25/5 stars for the anecdotes of entrepreneurs. The stories are great.
2.48/5 for pretty much all of Guy Raz’s commentary (skimmed it all). He’s a nice guy, but it’s a little cringe-y how much he really tries to reiterate “Hey, I’m an entrepreneur too!”
February 5, 2021
I have to say that Guy IS A FANTASTIC STORYTELLER! This book is the reason why I wake up at 6:50 every morning not feeling tired reading! For me, the stories and wisdom Guy brings me through this book make my day—everyday for the past month. Reading all these entrepreneurial stories is like living those entrepreneurs’ lives. And I did learn something from this book even though I haven’t got an idea to start a business, yet. This book is about business startup yet more than business. It talks about humanity, friendship, relationship as well. And the most impressive thing to me in this book is that Guy ends it with his bona fide revelation of love to his wife! Oh God he’s such a sweet man! I can feel that he’s a full-of-love husband and father, who’s also good at being a writer and podcaster.
February 15, 2021
I'm a fan of Guy's weekly podcast with the same name. There are terrific, helpful, and memorable advice throughout the book that makes this a worthwhile read (e.g., Fear vs. danger - failing is scary, wasting your life is dangerous; Passion litmus test - if someone woke you up in the middle of the night, would you go out and run this business you're thinking about starting?; Why values matter - without them you're going to make decisions that are inconsistent).
The book didn't include one of my favorite counsel from Guy's show, so I'll add it here. When Troy Carter was experiencing the ups and downs of running a business, and he hit another bottom, "You can't fall off the floor. And I was on the floor, nowhere to go."
The book didn't include one of my favorite counsel from Guy's show, so I'll add it here. When Troy Carter was experiencing the ups and downs of running a business, and he hit another bottom, "You can't fall off the floor. And I was on the floor, nowhere to go."
February 21, 2023
Working for a start-up company means lots of exciting days, heartbreaks, challenges, and creative energy. It can be very lonely sometimes. I love Guy Raz’s segment on NPR and listen to it often, so admittedly, this book felt a little repetitive to me. However, I love how he connected all the stories together.
This book is a blueprint for any entrepreneur or employee working in the start-up life. It helps to put things into perspective and is a sound reminder that even the most successful entrepreneurs have experienced some of the toughest roadblocks imaginable.
This book is a blueprint for any entrepreneur or employee working in the start-up life. It helps to put things into perspective and is a sound reminder that even the most successful entrepreneurs have experienced some of the toughest roadblocks imaginable.
August 8, 2022
As humans, we often learn best when we see other people doing something that we want to do ourselves. Knowing you're not struggling alone and the feelings you experience are normal. This booked is packed with inspirational stories of how great businesses were built by ordinary people. If this is what you want to do in your life - it's a must-read for daily inspiration and small business tips that make a difference.
December 9, 2023
In 2012 Guy Raz left NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered to start a podcast. Although a risk at the time, his podcast, “How I Built This,” became a massive success. In this podcast he interviews entrepreneurs about their companies and their stories. In this book each chapter provides a lesson from those interviews. Although these lessons are primarily geared towards business entrepreneurs, I found each chapter helpful to starting a church. Here are my take aways:
1. Everything starts with an idea. Victor Hugo: “One with stands the invasion of armies; one does not withstand the invasion of ideas.”
2. Entrepreneurship is always scary because it is a step into the unknown. Reid Hoffman: “Starting a company is like throwing yourself off the cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.”
3. Safely leave your safety zone. Most entrepreneurs work their “real jobs” until their endeavor is more viable and demands more of their time.
4. Entrepreneurs do their research and know their stuff. Steve Jobs: “Some people say, ‘Give the customer what they want.’ People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
5. Successful endeavors happen not because of great men but because of great partnerships. Find a partner. Oliver Wendell: “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one they sprang up.”
6. Most new endeavors need “bootstrapping.” Bootstrapping is when you invest everything you have. You max out credit cards, use your life savings, and put in a crazy amount of blood, sweat and tears. This is often a necessity for any new endeavor to get off the ground. It also ensures more control over the organization later on.
7. Every new endeavor needs a vision and that vision should be crafted as a story. Develop that story and tell that story. Guy Raz: “All businesses are stories, and all stories are a process.”
8. If an organzation wants to make it to the next level, eventually it will need “OPM” - “other people’s money.” Guy Raz: “All entrepreneurs will tell you that fundraising is brutally hard at every level. It taxes your time, your energy, your ego, and sometimes your relationships… you are going to need thick skin.”
9. Iteration is “the incremental evolution of a product or service.” This happens as your idea develops as you prepare your endeavor for the public. This also happens when the idea is made public and you make changes based on feedback.
10. Guy Raz: “Go in the side door.” Often times success is not found chasing the large market but finding a niche in the market where you can succeed.
11. Location, location, location. The importance of where your organization is located cannot be overstated.
12. A key of success for entrepreneurs is “building buzz.” This is “a general awareness that your company exists and that there’s something cool or interesting or new (or all of the above) about what you’re doing.” This should create a “surround sound effect” (Tim Ferriss) - giving a sense “that you are everywhere.”
13. Another key for entrepreneurs is “engineering word of mouth.” Mark Zuckerberg: “A trusted referral is the Holy Grail [of marketing].” There is only one way to engineer word of mouth: “you have to make a really good product…. It has to be so good that someone HAS TO recommend it.”
14. “There will come a day well into the entrepreneurial process when you’ll think about quitting.” When this happens get out of the fray and get some perspective.
15. Most companies need venture capital to scale. Venture capitalists know money but they don’t know your business. You need to show that there is a market for your product. Be able to answer all their questions.
16. People within and without will try to destroy what you have built. Protect what you have built.
17. When catastrophe strikes there is an opportunity to build trust or completely lose it.
18. Many organizations pivot away from what they were started to do. Being open to a major pivot is key for any organization to succeed. Guy Raz: “It takes an immense amount of emotional maturity, no matter how old you are to recognize that the business you are leading is bigger and more important than the idea (your idea!) on which that business originally built.”
19. It can’t be all about the money. There must be a larger mission.
20. You need to create a healthy culture within the company. One thing that stops entrepreneurs from doing this is doing everything themselves. Guy Raz: “You don’t scale. Only your idea, and your story, and your values do.”
21. The companies that grew and have lasted from the Gold Rush of the 1800s where not involved in gold but servicing those looking for gold. Guy Raz: “The possibility of succeeding in that kind of capital-intensive, winner take all environment always has been much lower than finding a small niche related but adjacent to a massive boom and building a business there.”
22. The relationships of leaders will make or break a company. Protect those relationships.
23. Know thyself. Knowing your gifts and vision will help you know what to say yes to, what to say no to, and keep you on track.
24. 80% of entrepreneurs will be forced out of their company before they want to leave! Usually at end the entrepreneur’s need to choose between controlling their company and cashing in on their company. Guy Raz promotes a third way - seeking contentment and happiness in the decision. A decision that cares for others and allows you to do something you love.
25. A key characteristic that is usually there with entrepreneurs is kindness. Companies won’t stand the test of time if people hate working for the company.
26. A lot of success comes down to luck. Everyone has been given “luck” that they didn’t work for. What will you do with your luck?
1. Everything starts with an idea. Victor Hugo: “One with stands the invasion of armies; one does not withstand the invasion of ideas.”
2. Entrepreneurship is always scary because it is a step into the unknown. Reid Hoffman: “Starting a company is like throwing yourself off the cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.”
3. Safely leave your safety zone. Most entrepreneurs work their “real jobs” until their endeavor is more viable and demands more of their time.
4. Entrepreneurs do their research and know their stuff. Steve Jobs: “Some people say, ‘Give the customer what they want.’ People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
5. Successful endeavors happen not because of great men but because of great partnerships. Find a partner. Oliver Wendell: “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one they sprang up.”
6. Most new endeavors need “bootstrapping.” Bootstrapping is when you invest everything you have. You max out credit cards, use your life savings, and put in a crazy amount of blood, sweat and tears. This is often a necessity for any new endeavor to get off the ground. It also ensures more control over the organization later on.
7. Every new endeavor needs a vision and that vision should be crafted as a story. Develop that story and tell that story. Guy Raz: “All businesses are stories, and all stories are a process.”
8. If an organzation wants to make it to the next level, eventually it will need “OPM” - “other people’s money.” Guy Raz: “All entrepreneurs will tell you that fundraising is brutally hard at every level. It taxes your time, your energy, your ego, and sometimes your relationships… you are going to need thick skin.”
9. Iteration is “the incremental evolution of a product or service.” This happens as your idea develops as you prepare your endeavor for the public. This also happens when the idea is made public and you make changes based on feedback.
10. Guy Raz: “Go in the side door.” Often times success is not found chasing the large market but finding a niche in the market where you can succeed.
11. Location, location, location. The importance of where your organization is located cannot be overstated.
12. A key of success for entrepreneurs is “building buzz.” This is “a general awareness that your company exists and that there’s something cool or interesting or new (or all of the above) about what you’re doing.” This should create a “surround sound effect” (Tim Ferriss) - giving a sense “that you are everywhere.”
13. Another key for entrepreneurs is “engineering word of mouth.” Mark Zuckerberg: “A trusted referral is the Holy Grail [of marketing].” There is only one way to engineer word of mouth: “you have to make a really good product…. It has to be so good that someone HAS TO recommend it.”
14. “There will come a day well into the entrepreneurial process when you’ll think about quitting.” When this happens get out of the fray and get some perspective.
15. Most companies need venture capital to scale. Venture capitalists know money but they don’t know your business. You need to show that there is a market for your product. Be able to answer all their questions.
16. People within and without will try to destroy what you have built. Protect what you have built.
17. When catastrophe strikes there is an opportunity to build trust or completely lose it.
18. Many organizations pivot away from what they were started to do. Being open to a major pivot is key for any organization to succeed. Guy Raz: “It takes an immense amount of emotional maturity, no matter how old you are to recognize that the business you are leading is bigger and more important than the idea (your idea!) on which that business originally built.”
19. It can’t be all about the money. There must be a larger mission.
20. You need to create a healthy culture within the company. One thing that stops entrepreneurs from doing this is doing everything themselves. Guy Raz: “You don’t scale. Only your idea, and your story, and your values do.”
21. The companies that grew and have lasted from the Gold Rush of the 1800s where not involved in gold but servicing those looking for gold. Guy Raz: “The possibility of succeeding in that kind of capital-intensive, winner take all environment always has been much lower than finding a small niche related but adjacent to a massive boom and building a business there.”
22. The relationships of leaders will make or break a company. Protect those relationships.
23. Know thyself. Knowing your gifts and vision will help you know what to say yes to, what to say no to, and keep you on track.
24. 80% of entrepreneurs will be forced out of their company before they want to leave! Usually at end the entrepreneur’s need to choose between controlling their company and cashing in on their company. Guy Raz promotes a third way - seeking contentment and happiness in the decision. A decision that cares for others and allows you to do something you love.
25. A key characteristic that is usually there with entrepreneurs is kindness. Companies won’t stand the test of time if people hate working for the company.
26. A lot of success comes down to luck. Everyone has been given “luck” that they didn’t work for. What will you do with your luck?
March 28, 2021
Quick read; I enjoy the “How I Built This” podcast on occasion, and the book is a nice addition to the audio version. It draws out some of the lessons and larger reoccurring themes that thread through the stories of entrepreneurs Guy Raz has interviewed over the course of the podcast.
November 15, 2021
A fun read. Not all was relevant to me but inspiring to hear snippets of various entrepreneurs’ journeys.
December 30, 2020
The Book How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs isn't a book.
It's more like a collection of advice and how-to's based on the many interviews the host held with successful entrepreneurs for his famous podcast that wears a similar name: How I built this by Guy Raz
Funny enough though I did get some thought nuggets from the book so all in all, I wouldn't consider the book a waste of my time. I got something out of it, and that's what counts in the end. Read on for a more in-depth review and some unfiltered thoughts How I Built This.
How is the book written?
It's not a single cohesive story; it's a collection of stories and anecdotes stitched together from the many people that Guy has interviewed over the years. From these interviews, Guy saw patterns emerge that he strang together into an entrepreneurial timeline.
And that's precisely how the book is structured, as a set of events or circumstances that a founder with high ambitions might encounter in their days of hardship while trying to make their company a success.
Every chapter is a step of the way with companion advice based on entrepreneurial experiences from some of the successful businessmen and women Guy has interviewed of the years.
This makes the book quite hard to read. It's not a cohesive story, and I get that it isn't intended that way, but some business books have a particular flow that makes one chapter logically go into the other. I did not get that feeling with How I built this. Every chapter felt like a new chapter in a heroes journey where the hero would be a different person every chapter. It wasn't fascinating since it's so chronological.
There was no more profound connection between the tips, tricks and advice. It felt like a cookie-cutter 'let's make a book out of the juiciest content from our' podcast book. And that is how it read.
What problems do I have with the book?
It just feels like it's slapped together.
I get Guy has spoken to many entrepreneurs over the years and learned a lot from them. I genuinely believe that's the case. But the book feels cheap. Many of the anecdotes from the book are old and are copied from the podcast. I bought the book because I expected insights from the book that I could not get from the podcast, but this was not the case.
I felt like everything I read in the book already came across in the podcast. There were no new nuggets or insights. Just a slapped-together collection of insights from different podcasts and strung together into a how-to list where you get the answer for every step at the way.
And then my opinion about the answers. It's unscientific and based on multiple N of 1 anecdotes. Sometimes N becomes 2 or 3 but for the most part that's it. The book and its substance are so subject to survivorship bias my eyes started to bleed.
And I get it. These successful people are inspiring, and yes, I think their stories are informative, they indeed are. But I would have expected some objectiveness in the book. It read like only truths were spoken without any caveats or second opinions given.
For me, it would have been refreshing to see some alternating insights from people that might have also tried but failed. A section on failure and the lessons from that would also make the book more unique. Maybe for a second edition?
So, did How I Built this give me any value?
Like I said in the intro, funny enough the book gave me some exciting and meaningful insights. As an entrepreneur myself, I tend to be over obsessive with self-improvement and productivity gains.
I know that more knowledge isn't the key to more success because if that were the case, we would all be billionaires with six-pack abs by now, but still, I tend to read non-fiction books because or the rare though nuggets that might pop up once in a while when you read something.
And guess what, How I built this gave me two crucial thought nuggets. Check out this article to understand what thought nuggets are: http://juriaankarsten.com/how-to-be-b...
As a founder I set the standards in my company, I choose what the company's values should be, and as the founder, you should map out a set of ethical values based on your own beliefs. I've lost this idea in the past two years. I've lost my own beliefs, and I haven't acted on them at all.
The book has shown me that as a founder, I should take this more serious, and I should try to do everything to establish a culture in which I would like to work myself.
Which gets me to the second insight: I'm not building a company for myself anymore. I don't know who I'm doing it for at the moment, but that's not essential. I'm not thinking about myself. I'm not enjoying the process anymore like I used to do. The book showed me that especially during the later section, when Guy goes into the story behind Founder of the Outdoor fashion brand Patagonia. I have to refind joy in building a company and scaling a company.
Significant insights, right? Life-changing right? Not so much, these thoughts were lingering in my brain for a while, and the book just crystalized them and made them come up. Which is important in itself. I have to give credit where credit is due.
I will act on these insights, and I will focus on enjoying the process more. I need to find joy again. And I will find it. Trust me; I will.
In the end, when I make up the balance, I think the book was hard to read, not so much fun, not very original since its all content from the podcast, but in the end, it did spark a few interesting thoughts which made the book worth reading—a mixed bag of feelings.
How I'd advise you to read this book
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur and you want to be inspired yourself, I wouldn't recommend you this book. There are plenty more inspiring books on entrepreneurship out there. If you're going to start a business you shouldn't be reading about it, you should be a) working on the company, b) building out your product or service, or c) talking about it to others through speaking engagements, marketing or direct selling. Please do not read this book if you want to get inspired.
This book is for those entrepreneurs that want to see how some of the most successful have dealt with specific scenarios that we're thrown at them. It's no more than that. And always remember the principle of survivorship bias when reading the anecdotes. Use the insights in the book but don't take them for truths. Always take this type of stories and information with a grain of salt.
In the end, while reading, you might get lucky like I was and find a thought nugget.
CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE REVIEW AND MORE STUFF YOU'LL LOVE HERE:
http://juriaankarsten.com/a-quick-and...
It's more like a collection of advice and how-to's based on the many interviews the host held with successful entrepreneurs for his famous podcast that wears a similar name: How I built this by Guy Raz
Funny enough though I did get some thought nuggets from the book so all in all, I wouldn't consider the book a waste of my time. I got something out of it, and that's what counts in the end. Read on for a more in-depth review and some unfiltered thoughts How I Built This.
How is the book written?
It's not a single cohesive story; it's a collection of stories and anecdotes stitched together from the many people that Guy has interviewed over the years. From these interviews, Guy saw patterns emerge that he strang together into an entrepreneurial timeline.
And that's precisely how the book is structured, as a set of events or circumstances that a founder with high ambitions might encounter in their days of hardship while trying to make their company a success.
Every chapter is a step of the way with companion advice based on entrepreneurial experiences from some of the successful businessmen and women Guy has interviewed of the years.
This makes the book quite hard to read. It's not a cohesive story, and I get that it isn't intended that way, but some business books have a particular flow that makes one chapter logically go into the other. I did not get that feeling with How I built this. Every chapter felt like a new chapter in a heroes journey where the hero would be a different person every chapter. It wasn't fascinating since it's so chronological.
There was no more profound connection between the tips, tricks and advice. It felt like a cookie-cutter 'let's make a book out of the juiciest content from our' podcast book. And that is how it read.
What problems do I have with the book?
It just feels like it's slapped together.
I get Guy has spoken to many entrepreneurs over the years and learned a lot from them. I genuinely believe that's the case. But the book feels cheap. Many of the anecdotes from the book are old and are copied from the podcast. I bought the book because I expected insights from the book that I could not get from the podcast, but this was not the case.
I felt like everything I read in the book already came across in the podcast. There were no new nuggets or insights. Just a slapped-together collection of insights from different podcasts and strung together into a how-to list where you get the answer for every step at the way.
And then my opinion about the answers. It's unscientific and based on multiple N of 1 anecdotes. Sometimes N becomes 2 or 3 but for the most part that's it. The book and its substance are so subject to survivorship bias my eyes started to bleed.
And I get it. These successful people are inspiring, and yes, I think their stories are informative, they indeed are. But I would have expected some objectiveness in the book. It read like only truths were spoken without any caveats or second opinions given.
For me, it would have been refreshing to see some alternating insights from people that might have also tried but failed. A section on failure and the lessons from that would also make the book more unique. Maybe for a second edition?
So, did How I Built this give me any value?
Like I said in the intro, funny enough the book gave me some exciting and meaningful insights. As an entrepreneur myself, I tend to be over obsessive with self-improvement and productivity gains.
I know that more knowledge isn't the key to more success because if that were the case, we would all be billionaires with six-pack abs by now, but still, I tend to read non-fiction books because or the rare though nuggets that might pop up once in a while when you read something.
And guess what, How I built this gave me two crucial thought nuggets. Check out this article to understand what thought nuggets are: http://juriaankarsten.com/how-to-be-b...
As a founder I set the standards in my company, I choose what the company's values should be, and as the founder, you should map out a set of ethical values based on your own beliefs. I've lost this idea in the past two years. I've lost my own beliefs, and I haven't acted on them at all.
The book has shown me that as a founder, I should take this more serious, and I should try to do everything to establish a culture in which I would like to work myself.
Which gets me to the second insight: I'm not building a company for myself anymore. I don't know who I'm doing it for at the moment, but that's not essential. I'm not thinking about myself. I'm not enjoying the process anymore like I used to do. The book showed me that especially during the later section, when Guy goes into the story behind Founder of the Outdoor fashion brand Patagonia. I have to refind joy in building a company and scaling a company.
Significant insights, right? Life-changing right? Not so much, these thoughts were lingering in my brain for a while, and the book just crystalized them and made them come up. Which is important in itself. I have to give credit where credit is due.
I will act on these insights, and I will focus on enjoying the process more. I need to find joy again. And I will find it. Trust me; I will.
In the end, when I make up the balance, I think the book was hard to read, not so much fun, not very original since its all content from the podcast, but in the end, it did spark a few interesting thoughts which made the book worth reading—a mixed bag of feelings.
How I'd advise you to read this book
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur and you want to be inspired yourself, I wouldn't recommend you this book. There are plenty more inspiring books on entrepreneurship out there. If you're going to start a business you shouldn't be reading about it, you should be a) working on the company, b) building out your product or service, or c) talking about it to others through speaking engagements, marketing or direct selling. Please do not read this book if you want to get inspired.
This book is for those entrepreneurs that want to see how some of the most successful have dealt with specific scenarios that we're thrown at them. It's no more than that. And always remember the principle of survivorship bias when reading the anecdotes. Use the insights in the book but don't take them for truths. Always take this type of stories and information with a grain of salt.
In the end, while reading, you might get lucky like I was and find a thought nugget.
CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE REVIEW AND MORE STUFF YOU'LL LOVE HERE:
http://juriaankarsten.com/a-quick-and...
February 11, 2021
Guy Raz is the goat. Got this book because "How I Built This" is my favorite podcast of all time. A lot of good nuggets in this book reiterated from his podcasts on the journey of cultivating and maintaining a successful business or culture, and the stories of each founder.
My favorite question he always asks at the end of each podcast, and is hit on in this book.. "How much of what you have done is because of luck and how much is because of skill & hard work?" Interestingly enough, founders usually will say luck more than anything else. Seems like the more you are out there working, seeking, chasing, the more luck you seem to have. Good book, good podcast.
My favorite question he always asks at the end of each podcast, and is hit on in this book.. "How much of what you have done is because of luck and how much is because of skill & hard work?" Interestingly enough, founders usually will say luck more than anything else. Seems like the more you are out there working, seeking, chasing, the more luck you seem to have. Good book, good podcast.
January 27, 2021
Superficial business advice for people more interested in talking about the glory of entrepreneurship than building actual companies. 90% of the "success" stories involve a version of the following line: "he encountered cash flow issues and had to ask his mother-in-law for a $50,000 loan."
If you have an idea for a company that uses BUZZWORD1 to deliver BUZZWORD2 to consumers, and you happen to have a bunch of rich relatives, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, read literally any other book.
If you have an idea for a company that uses BUZZWORD1 to deliver BUZZWORD2 to consumers, and you happen to have a bunch of rich relatives, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, read literally any other book.
March 4, 2021
Guy Raz uses his unique story telling skills to share the heroes journey of several entrepreneurs. Through the pages Raz goes from early steps of a new venture up to the exit and legacy of the entrepreneur. This is an inspiring book for those who are starting a business, as well as a notebook of vicarious experiences that can speed up their learning curve.
December 22, 2020
This book is a must read for anyone interested in entrepreneurship or start ups. Provides a general overview of the various travails that a founder faces in a atypical start up journey along with tons of insightful anecdotes.
December 10, 2020
Fascinating!
February 19, 2023
Fan of the show, fan of the book. Uses the show's stories to give examples of how to (and not to) succeed.
December 25, 2020
I guess this book had empowered me to do exploits. A fascinating book.
January 20, 2021
Outstanding.
March 8, 2021
This was well written and inspiring. Loved it.
March 16, 2021
Amazing book. One of the best business/entrepreneur books I've read.
August 9, 2021
This was an easy book to skim, but more of a collective of snippets from the podcast episodes. Do yourself a favor and just subscribe to the podcast.
July 1, 2023
لا اعتبر هذا الكتاب مجموعة من القصص الفريدة عن كيفية مواجهة التحديات كمؤسس لشركتك، ولكنها نظرة عميقة في النضالات الحقيقية والتحديات التي عانى منها بعض المبتكرين الرائدين في العالم.
كل فصل يعتبر مثل دورة صغير في عالم ريادة الأعمال، مع دروس لا تقدر بثمن حول المثابرة والإبداع وحل المشكلات. تأتي المقابلات مع رواد الأعمال من مجموعة متنوعة من المجالات ، ولكن جميعها تشترك في السمات المشتركة للعزيمة والتصميم والرغبة في تحمل المخاطر المحسوبة.
ما يجعل الكتاب فريدًا هو تأكيده على دور الفشل والعقبات. تسلط قصة كل رائد أعمال الضوء على الحواجز التي واجهوها والعزيمة التي كان عليهم إظهارها من أجل تحقيق النجاح. توضح هذه القصص أن ريادة الأعمال ليست طريقًا مستقيمًا ، بل رحلة مليئة بالمنعطفات غير المتوقعة.
الدروس المستقاة من قصص رواد الأعمال هؤلاء لا تتعلق فقط ببناء الأعمال التجارية ، بل تتعلق بتطوير عقلية للتغلب على التحديات. ذكّرتني القصص بأن ريادة الأعمال الناجحة لا تتعلق فقط بت��قيق مكاسب مالية ، ولكن أيضًا عن متابعة شغف المرء وإحداث تأثير ذي مغزى.
بشكل عام ،اعتبر هذا الكتاب كشهادة على قوة المرونة والابتكار. رواية القصص لدى راز جذابة والخبرات التي يشاركها رواد الأعمال محفزة للغاية. سيجد أي رائد أعمال طموح هذا الكتاب دليلاً ملهمًا مليئًا بالحكمة الواقعية والنصائح العملية. انصح بهذا الكتاب، كرائد اعمال قد تجد الالهام اللازم لحل احدى أو عدد من المشكلات التي تواجهها كما الهمني في ايجاد حل لمشكلة مشروعنا.
شكرا راز
كل فصل يعتبر مثل دورة صغير في عالم ريادة الأعمال، مع دروس لا تقدر بثمن حول المثابرة والإبداع وحل المشكلات. تأتي المقابلات مع رواد الأعمال من مجموعة متنوعة من المجالات ، ولكن جميعها تشترك في السمات المشتركة للعزيمة والتصميم والرغبة في تحمل المخاطر المحسوبة.
ما يجعل الكتاب فريدًا هو تأكيده على دور الفشل والعقبات. تسلط قصة كل رائد أعمال الضوء على الحواجز التي واجهوها والعزيمة التي كان عليهم إظهارها من أجل تحقيق النجاح. توضح هذه القصص أن ريادة الأعمال ليست طريقًا مستقيمًا ، بل رحلة مليئة بالمنعطفات غير المتوقعة.
الدروس المستقاة من قصص رواد الأعمال هؤلاء لا تتعلق فقط ببناء الأعمال التجارية ، بل تتعلق بتطوير عقلية للتغلب على التحديات. ذكّرتني القصص بأن ريادة الأعمال الناجحة لا تتعلق فقط بت��قيق مكاسب مالية ، ولكن أيضًا عن متابعة شغف المرء وإحداث تأثير ذي مغزى.
بشكل عام ،اعتبر هذا الكتاب كشهادة على قوة المرونة والابتكار. رواية القصص لدى راز جذابة والخبرات التي يشاركها رواد الأعمال محفزة للغاية. سيجد أي رائد أعمال طموح هذا الكتاب دليلاً ملهمًا مليئًا بالحكمة الواقعية والنصائح العملية. انصح بهذا الكتاب، كرائد اعمال قد تجد الالهام اللازم لحل احدى أو عدد من المشكلات التي تواجهها كما الهمني في ايجاد حل لمشكلة مشروعنا.
شكرا راز
March 31, 2022
I am not a podcast girl. I try, really hard to get into them. I know there is an abundance of knowledge out there in podcasts that I am simply just missing but no matter how hard I try, it is just not for me. If you are in the e-commerce world, How I Built This is the top rated podcast. When I found out that Raz wrote a book, I knew I had to get a hold of it. His book is basically the podcast (shorter) but he provides great insights on business wisdom using examples and advise from an array of CEOs who have built impressive companies. Raz is a great storyteller and he writes exceptionally well. He takes a dull subject and makes it so fascinating. Heck after this book, I will be forcing myself to get through his podcast!
Highly recommend if you want to dive into the world of brand building.
Highly recommend if you want to dive into the world of brand building.
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