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The Embedded Entrepreneur: How to Build an Audience-Driven Business
Too many businesses start with a big idea and ultimately fail because nobody wants to pay for their product. What are they missing? The Audience-Driven approach of an Embedded Entrepreneur.
Instead of building solutions looking for customers, Embedded entrepreneurs find customers and build a solution with them. They join communities, observe, participate and take these learnings and transform them into products people need and businesses customers love.
If you want to find your future customers, discover how you can help them, and build an audience while growing your business, I invite you to become an Embedded Entrepreneur.
When you begin building your business with your future audience in mind, the guesswork ends. The Audience-Driven approach of an Embedded Entrepreneur is the path to a sustainable, customer-centric business.
In The Embedded Entrepreneur, you will
Audience who do you want to serve and empower?Audience where does your future audience hang out?Problem which critical problem does your prospective audience have that you can turn into a business? how can you leverage social media to build (with) your audience?
Arvid Kahl is a software engineer, entrepreneur, and writer who has been building (for) his audience successfully for years. He built a SaaS business to $55,000 Monthly Recurring Revenue with his partner Danielle Simpson. They sold the business for a life-changing amount of money within two years. Arvid wrote the best-selling book Zero to Sold while building a loyal following of tens of thousands on Twitter.
The Embedded Entrepreneur is your practical guide to finding the right audience and building the product they need.
Instead of building solutions looking for customers, Embedded entrepreneurs find customers and build a solution with them. They join communities, observe, participate and take these learnings and transform them into products people need and businesses customers love.
If you want to find your future customers, discover how you can help them, and build an audience while growing your business, I invite you to become an Embedded Entrepreneur.
When you begin building your business with your future audience in mind, the guesswork ends. The Audience-Driven approach of an Embedded Entrepreneur is the path to a sustainable, customer-centric business.
In The Embedded Entrepreneur, you will
Audience who do you want to serve and empower?Audience where does your future audience hang out?Problem which critical problem does your prospective audience have that you can turn into a business? how can you leverage social media to build (with) your audience?
Arvid Kahl is a software engineer, entrepreneur, and writer who has been building (for) his audience successfully for years. He built a SaaS business to $55,000 Monthly Recurring Revenue with his partner Danielle Simpson. They sold the business for a life-changing amount of money within two years. Arvid wrote the best-selling book Zero to Sold while building a loyal following of tens of thousands on Twitter.
The Embedded Entrepreneur is your practical guide to finding the right audience and building the product they need.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 13, 2021
129 people are currently reading
647 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 23, 2021
Excellent book to read before you start any business 👏
May 18, 2021
Another brilliant book
I have been following Arvid Kahl since reading his first book Zero to Sold. I read a pre-release version of The Embedded Entrepreneur and I love this book as much or more than Zero to Sold.
Where Zero to Sold was the story of their personal journey and was chock full of useful advice. The Embedded Entrepreneur takes that journey further with distilled wisdom.
It is a book I will go back again and again.
Highly recommended addition to your library.
(And yes I did buy a copy as well, I want to support the Author).
I have been following Arvid Kahl since reading his first book Zero to Sold. I read a pre-release version of The Embedded Entrepreneur and I love this book as much or more than Zero to Sold.
Where Zero to Sold was the story of their personal journey and was chock full of useful advice. The Embedded Entrepreneur takes that journey further with distilled wisdom.
It is a book I will go back again and again.
Highly recommended addition to your library.
(And yes I did buy a copy as well, I want to support the Author).
May 19, 2021
Your new business idea requires an audience? Don't know where to start? This book is exactly what you need then. It goes deep into audience discovery + exploration, problem exploration and audience building. I, myself, have had a few epiphanies while reading it despite thinking I already had a good understanding of who my audience was. Can't recommend this book nearly enough for community builders, makers and entrepreneurs-alike!
January 27, 2025
The book is actionable: a step-by-step guide to determining how best to serve a community of people to jumpstart a bootstrapped company or project.
My favorite part is the step-by-step procedure to determining your audience:
1.) Awareness - Think of Possible Audiences
2.) Affinity - Find out How Much You Care about Them
3.) Opportunity - Find out if They Have Interesting Problems
4.) Appreciation - Find out if They're Willing to Pay
5.) Size - Find out if this Market Can Sustain a Business
6.) Tally the Results
Systematic, detailed, actionable.
The two main issues with the book are its lack of real-life examples, and its dense verbosity.
1.) Not all examples are bad, but there aren't enough of them from consumer apps or creative works: fiction books, games, films, iPhone apps, documentaries, travel blogs, and the like. Some of the examples are so absurd that they don't apply to messier, real-life problems, like using New Jersey Beekeepers Association as an example of unsustainable market size. "Plumbing advice forum" and "tax lawyer web forum" are other example communities and problem domains that just don't say anything. There's such a thing as being so artificially niche that real knowledge workers -- software developers, writers, and designers -- can no longer derive any useful lessons. The book contains some good examples, like Ravelry, but I would have appreciated a deeper dive into the author's firsthand life experiences, like FeedbackPanda and projects that went through the same process he is now advising us to follow.
2.) While the value-per-page starts off strong, verbosity becomes a problem in the latter half of the book, when he painstakingly lists otherwise inconsequential things like reasons people read Twitter, or timing your tweet to maximize reach, scheduling X tweets per day or week, B2B purchasing agency. I do like the list of research tools -- SocialBlade to figure out a community's average activity, SparkToro to farm data on your audience, ilo.so for follower analytics, Audiense and Get the Audience to draw from Twitter history. But these are mostly name drops, with no examples about how to actually use these tools. Furthermore, you have to wade through pages and pages of pontification on internet etiquette. Pages about the value of shouting out other creators and performing for the internet, entire chapters about how not to be a troll, fish for compliments, or oversell your product. This is totally unnecessary. Just list the tools in a glossary-style appendix, along with screenshots of how you and other creators use them! The prose just gets too long-winded and redundant, repeatedly stating the obvious:
"Well, in reality, communities are messy, chaotic places. Thousands of voices talk about thousands of things, and it's very hard to find the hidden gems among the rubble." (119)
"people want variety. As a well-rounded person, your content should be equally varied." (224)
"The moment you think you're better than someone else, more knowledgeable, and you want to show them, you're acting from a zero sum perspective. Instead of elevating another person, calling them out in public creates a negative space." (192)
"Inflating your follower numbers without making sure that those you actually want to interact with care about you or your work will cause more harm than it will help you." (171)
"Audience overlap is a wonderful thing in abundance-based networks." (173)
"A question invites responses. A statement invites a nod." (224)
In isolation, all of this advice is true, but Arvid surrounds each one with many repetitions, saying the same thing over and over. A 300-page book could have been 150 pages -- half as long! -- without these long-winded thesis statements, followed by contrived examples with empty expressions like "wonderful thing" and "create value"
Overall, I liked the part of audience discovery at the beginning of the book and the discussion of tools for reach, but I would have appreciated more deep-dived consumer (B2C) software examples targeting kids and casuals rather than techies or businesses, and much less fluff in long-winded chapters about SNS etiquette and creator economy growth hacks.
My favorite part is the step-by-step procedure to determining your audience:
1.) Awareness - Think of Possible Audiences
2.) Affinity - Find out How Much You Care about Them
3.) Opportunity - Find out if They Have Interesting Problems
4.) Appreciation - Find out if They're Willing to Pay
5.) Size - Find out if this Market Can Sustain a Business
6.) Tally the Results
Systematic, detailed, actionable.
The two main issues with the book are its lack of real-life examples, and its dense verbosity.
1.) Not all examples are bad, but there aren't enough of them from consumer apps or creative works: fiction books, games, films, iPhone apps, documentaries, travel blogs, and the like. Some of the examples are so absurd that they don't apply to messier, real-life problems, like using New Jersey Beekeepers Association as an example of unsustainable market size. "Plumbing advice forum" and "tax lawyer web forum" are other example communities and problem domains that just don't say anything. There's such a thing as being so artificially niche that real knowledge workers -- software developers, writers, and designers -- can no longer derive any useful lessons. The book contains some good examples, like Ravelry, but I would have appreciated a deeper dive into the author's firsthand life experiences, like FeedbackPanda and projects that went through the same process he is now advising us to follow.
2.) While the value-per-page starts off strong, verbosity becomes a problem in the latter half of the book, when he painstakingly lists otherwise inconsequential things like reasons people read Twitter, or timing your tweet to maximize reach, scheduling X tweets per day or week, B2B purchasing agency. I do like the list of research tools -- SocialBlade to figure out a community's average activity, SparkToro to farm data on your audience, ilo.so for follower analytics, Audiense and Get the Audience to draw from Twitter history. But these are mostly name drops, with no examples about how to actually use these tools. Furthermore, you have to wade through pages and pages of pontification on internet etiquette. Pages about the value of shouting out other creators and performing for the internet, entire chapters about how not to be a troll, fish for compliments, or oversell your product. This is totally unnecessary. Just list the tools in a glossary-style appendix, along with screenshots of how you and other creators use them! The prose just gets too long-winded and redundant, repeatedly stating the obvious:
"Well, in reality, communities are messy, chaotic places. Thousands of voices talk about thousands of things, and it's very hard to find the hidden gems among the rubble." (119)
"people want variety. As a well-rounded person, your content should be equally varied." (224)
"The moment you think you're better than someone else, more knowledgeable, and you want to show them, you're acting from a zero sum perspective. Instead of elevating another person, calling them out in public creates a negative space." (192)
"Inflating your follower numbers without making sure that those you actually want to interact with care about you or your work will cause more harm than it will help you." (171)
"Audience overlap is a wonderful thing in abundance-based networks." (173)
"A question invites responses. A statement invites a nod." (224)
In isolation, all of this advice is true, but Arvid surrounds each one with many repetitions, saying the same thing over and over. A 300-page book could have been 150 pages -- half as long! -- without these long-winded thesis statements, followed by contrived examples with empty expressions like "wonderful thing" and "create value"
Overall, I liked the part of audience discovery at the beginning of the book and the discussion of tools for reach, but I would have appreciated more deep-dived consumer (B2C) software examples targeting kids and casuals rather than techies or businesses, and much less fluff in long-winded chapters about SNS etiquette and creator economy growth hacks.
March 19, 2025
Unlike the traditional approach of creating a product first and then finding customers, Kahl flips the script—advocating for embedding yourself within your target community before launching a business.
Main Point: Build WITH Your Audience, Not FOR Them
The core idea of this book is that success comes from truly immersing yourself in your audience’s world. Instead of guessing what they need, you engage with them, learn their struggles, and co-create solutions. Kahl emphasizes listening, participating in conversations, and becoming a trusted voice before selling anything. This approach not only ensures product-market fit but also creates a built-in customer base that feels heard and valued. -- I found this one particularly useful while I am building my online audience
Why It’s Worth Reading
Kahl provides actionable steps to find and embed yourself in a niche, from leveraging online communities to conducting audience research effectively. He shares personal experiences and frameworks that make the process tangible and repeatable. The book is practical, no-nonsense, and ideal for solopreneurs, creators, and startup founders who want to build something people truly need.
Main Point: Build WITH Your Audience, Not FOR Them
The core idea of this book is that success comes from truly immersing yourself in your audience’s world. Instead of guessing what they need, you engage with them, learn their struggles, and co-create solutions. Kahl emphasizes listening, participating in conversations, and becoming a trusted voice before selling anything. This approach not only ensures product-market fit but also creates a built-in customer base that feels heard and valued. -- I found this one particularly useful while I am building my online audience
Why It’s Worth Reading
Kahl provides actionable steps to find and embed yourself in a niche, from leveraging online communities to conducting audience research effectively. He shares personal experiences and frameworks that make the process tangible and repeatable. The book is practical, no-nonsense, and ideal for solopreneurs, creators, and startup founders who want to build something people truly need.
February 5, 2025
Typical practical business book. Nothing the author said was wrong per se, but I didn't learn anything from it. It wasn't very creative and focused on how to infiltrate online communities and maximize engagement. In the beginning, it said it wasn't a book about growth hacks, and then spent a lot of the book recommending exactly what is considered growth hacks (e.g. posting on a schedule and reposting your stuff after six hours, daily tasks like "engage with three major influential people in your community"). There was one part I completely disagreed with: "When you build an audience, it is understood that you do this for some sort of financial gain." It's as if people can't just create for the love and joy of it and happen to attract people who want to follow along. The author writes all this in earnest, but it's still shrouded in a motive of "make my audience as big as possible and make money from them". Almost all the tweet examples in the book are posted in a LinkedIn tone of voice and feel at some level inauthentic.
March 28, 2023
So I recently finished reading the book, and I gotta say, it was a pretty useful read. Kahl talks a lot about this idea of being an "embedded entrepreneur", where you build your business around a specific community or audience, and I found his tips on how to do that to be super helpful.
One thing I really appreciated about this book was that Kahl gives a lot of practical advice on things like how to engage with your audience, create content that resonates with them, and eventually monetize your business. He also stresses the importance of building relationships with your audience, which is something that I overlooked in the past.
Overall, I'd give this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
One thing I really appreciated about this book was that Kahl gives a lot of practical advice on things like how to engage with your audience, create content that resonates with them, and eventually monetize your business. He also stresses the importance of building relationships with your audience, which is something that I overlooked in the past.
Overall, I'd give this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
October 24, 2023
I hardly ever rate a book 4/5 while still recommend it to my friend - because this book really is a good one for people with the intent of diving into a new community (like my friend is launching a VC career). But I personally don’t want to be part of any community, I’m a lone wolf and extreme introvert, so it was a boring book for me. If I ever truly want to successfully infiltrate a community, I’ll re-read it :D A detailed step-by-step guide. Be interesting, and interested. Find the community experts and engage who engage with them. Write down common problems.
Oh, i liked the welcome quote in the book,
Naval Ravikant: “Most in life is the search for who and what needs You the most”.
Oh, i liked the welcome quote in the book,
Naval Ravikant: “Most in life is the search for who and what needs You the most”.
September 27, 2022
boring and fictional. as far as I'm concerned, the author does not speak from experience, but more like had a succesful exit and then fits the narrative retrospectively. what he didn't have experience with, he probably just researched the best practices.
It's an ok book, but it's not credible enough for me. don't tell me what would you do. show me what you'd done.
It's an ok book, but it's not credible enough for me. don't tell me what would you do. show me what you'd done.
January 29, 2023
Game changing if you wish to build in public
Arvid picks up and explains simple concepts so well. To highlight importance of little things than when considered together can be game changing for our social media presence.
Arvid picks up and explains simple concepts so well. To highlight importance of little things than when considered together can be game changing for our social media presence.
November 29, 2021
The most practical book I’ve read this year. Entrepreneur or not it’s a most read filled with tools and smart approaches.
August 29, 2022
Awesome book for anyone who wants to start their entrepreneurship journey. Some basic and small tips are complimented with real-life examples.
August 30, 2021
Arvid is a great guy this is an amazing book.
This is one of the most practical books on the market. It's not packed with theory but it's full of suggestions you can immediately implement.
If you'd love to learn more about Arvid and his books, check out this profile:
https://coffeeandpens.com/arvid-kahl-...
This is one of the most practical books on the market. It's not packed with theory but it's full of suggestions you can immediately implement.
If you'd love to learn more about Arvid and his books, check out this profile:
https://coffeeandpens.com/arvid-kahl-...
November 12, 2024
The author has focused on an audience-driven approach while starting a business.
Some are great points and others can feel like too much work. Great insights though.
Some are great points and others can feel like too much work. Great insights though.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews