I finished reading The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha last weekend.
It's a special book that will have a lasting influence on how I manage and approach my professional career AND personal choices FOREVER.
You Were Born an Entrepreneur. This is the book's stated mantra and working hypothesis. But, the book seeks to fulfill a higher mission (more on that later).
I think I've been relatively savvy in managing my professional career. But, the book identified multple gaps in my approach I must address NOW.
The book does reinforce and validates the activities driving my personal reinvention process (which started around three years ago):
1. Immersing myself in all things relevant to digital and social media
2. Participating actively and building relationships via digital and social technologies
3. Starting, writing, and sticking with this personal blog
4. Re-discovering a love for reading and building knowledge
5. Remembering how "giving is better than receiving"
And, the book points out the importance of constantly iterating and improving ourselves by being in "permanent beta" (e.g., adopting a continuous innovation attitude to adapt to a dynamicly changing workplace).
An Inspiring Message of Opportunity in Today's Ambiguous and Uncertain Economy
Invest In Yourself, Invest in Your Network, and Invest in Society. There are many important Start-Up of You concepts which I'll share in this post. In my next post, I will explore in greater detail specific ideas from the book.
This book is special because it delivers more than pragmatic career management advice.
"What that something special is" can be found in these inspiring direct quotes from the book's Conclusion:
"For Ben and me, this book is one our gifts back to society. We think the tools in this book can improve both your life and society. Sometimes giving back can be simply spreading ideas that matter."
"Invest in yourself, invest in your network, and invest in society. When you invest in all three, you have the best shot at reaching your highest professional potential. As important, you also have the best shot at changing the world."
Critics Say Those Statements are Presumptuous, Arrogant, and Idealistic
A Quick Note To Critics of The Start-Up of You. The book's critics believe that. In addition, they dismiss this book as nothing more than "mass-targeted content supplying fluff we've all heard before." Or, "it's nothing more than a 250+ page LinkedIn advertisement."
Those critics are flat-out wrong.
The book's mission, principles, and message to "invest in all three" are timely and important.
Timing Is Everything. Or paraphrasing Reid and Ben: "there's a way to court serendipity and good randomness." When I read the following articles from reputable and credible sources, it strengthens my resolve that The Start-Up of You's principles and values matter:
- The New York Times: Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs
- Bloomberg: Yes, Mr. Smith Goldman Sachs is All About Making Money: View
- Harvard Business Review Blog Network: The Anti-Goldman Culture
- Microsoft's MSDN Blog: Why I Left Google
A Four-Post Blog Series on The Start-Up of You Book and The LinkedIn Start-Up of You Community
This book's mission, pragmatic career management content, and thriving LinkedIn community are why I've decided to publish this review as a multiple-post series. This book and its growing movement are that important.
Here are the working themes:
- Part 1, Invest in Yourself, Invest in Your Network, AND Invest in Society
- Part 2, Five Game Changers in Career Competitive Advantage
- Part 3, Theme: The Start-Up of You LinkedIn Community (The People and Ideas They Share)
- Part 4, My Response to Critics of The Start-Up of You
Want To Start Learning About The Book's Principles and Begin Participating in The Community NOW?
The Book's Executive Summary. This link allows you to download a free Executive Summary PDF of The Start-Up of You. If you have difficulty receiving it, please notify me in the comments. I'll email you the PDF.
Also, here are some cool visual book notes by Sacha Chua:
The LinkedIn Start-Up of You LinkedIn Community. This is a SPECIAL LinkedIn Group. What differentiates it?
* People Genuinely Do and Want to Help Each Other. This group epitomizes how "giving is better than receiving."
* No Blog Pimping. This unwritten code is enforced by the group and its managers. How? Those who've tried posting links to their posts without giving something to the group INSTANTLY LOSE CREDIBLITY. Their submitted discussion posts are ignored and buried in the stream.
Start-Up of You Community Members are smart and discerning. They know and identify self-serving BS quickly.
* The Group Practices the IWe (I to the We) Principle (direct quotes):
"The nuanced version of the story of success is that both the individual and team matter. "I" vs. "We" is a false choice. It's both. Your career success depends on both your individual capabilities and your network's ability to magnify them."
"Think of it as IWe. An individual's power is raised exponentially with the help of a team (a network). But just as zero to the one hundredth power is still zero, there's no team without the individual."
"This book is titled The Start-Up of You. Really, the "you" is at once singular and plural."
Closing Thoughts
Thank you for reading this far! I hope you'll stick with me for a little longer …
Have You Read The Start-Up of You? What did you think of it? How will this book influence your career management approach? Please let me know with your comments.
I'd love to hear from you.
Tony Faustino writes about how the Internet is reinventing marketing strategy for companies and individuals. He tweets at @tonyfaustino.
Your Turn
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you. I’m here to read, listen, and learn from YOUR PERSPECTIVE. Comments are open. So let’er rip!
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Tony – your inspiration is infectious. It’s been great getting to know you in the LinkedIn group and I look forward to your next 3 posts.
Question: I think your post about investing in yourself, your network, and society is a great one. How are you doing this?
Jessie, you’re so kind to leave this comment. Thank You! Absolutely makes my week! I’ve also enjoyed getting to know you through the Start-Up of You LinkedIn Group. I love reading your comments and article contributions because they’re very thought-provoking. Just like your question here 🙂
Invest In Yourself: I’m working on practicing some of the book’s key concepts every month. For the rest of this month and April, I’m focusing on taking intelligent risks. I’m proactively looking for more ways “to say yes” to opportunities. Instead of thinking I’ll dilute my focus and bring unwanted to stress to a life that’s already pretty stressful with my current job and a newborn in our family, I’m focusing on the upside these opportunities can produce (i.e., new contacts and experiences that will force me to keep learning and stretching in my industry and in technology). The investment in myself will increase the value of my soft assets. And, that means I have to be more creative and proactive in investing in my network …
Invest In Your Network: The principle of the power of small gifts really impacted me. One of the book’s key principles linked to “small gifts” is the importance of “refreshing your relationships” in our respective networks. I started practicing the “small gifts” principle in my client communications when asking for personal meetings. For example, I’d include in my emails a link to an industry article that I thought addressed a problem my individual client is currently confronting. This principle increased the receptivity of individual clients taking time from their busy schedules to personally meet with me. But, I also need to practice the “small gifts” principle with close friends and other business associates that I haven’t contacted in awhile. That’s something I’ll be working on in the next month.
Invest In Society: I’ve lived in the Kansas City area for 6.5 years (can’t believe time has flown by that fast). I’ve been looking for something where I can give back. I think I’ve finally found it by applying for (and being accepted) as a Mentor at University of Missouri Kansas City’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. I’m really excited about participating! Kansas City’s civic mission is to become the most entrepreneurial city in the world. Kansas City is steeped in entrepreneurial success and tradition due to the founders of H&R Block, Hallmark, American Century Investments, Marion Laboratories, and The Kauffman Foundation. I want to contribute to that civic mission. And, I think being a contributor (even in a small way) to UMKC’s Entrepreneurship program is one way to directly participate in Kansas City’s future growth and development.