THE START-UP OF YOU by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

The first thing that caught my attention in this book was the phrase “All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA and creation is the essence of entrepreneurship.” This made me realize that everyone is capable of create innovative and different things. I really like the comparison it says in the book about our ancestor and how they had to create and use their own resources in order to feed themselves. Thanks to these new ways they founded out, they started to evolve. So from this part we pointed out the principle of adaptation

Also something that I could learn while reading was that this world has changed compared to the old world. Opportunities are everywhere but it will depend in us if we take them or leave it to another who is willing to take those opportunities. I was really studying the case of Detroit and it’s depressing to see how a big enterprise fell down because of the conformism of the people and the lack of adaptation they had. This part of the book where it says: “Detroit’s automakers lost their entrepreneurial spirit” reminded me about the story of Nephi’s people and how they progress in the land because they were industrious people and when they started to have the Spirit of entitlement, they perished in the land. The same happened to Detroit’s Automakers.

Also, I like the idea to have always a mindset of permanent beta because this will allow us to innovate constantly and try new things according to the market and the needs of our demand. I liked when in the book we read: “We are all works in progress”. We are living in a world that is constantly changing and because of it, we have to be able to adapt and progress if we want to compete with the others outside. As the author says “Get busy living or get busy dying”, It is in our hands.

The book also mentioned some principles that will help us develop our entrepreneurial spirit. 1^st) Develop a Competitive Advantage. This means that we have to be different from the others so our clients will prefer us rather than our competitors. I like the Zappos example and how they could go to the extra mile in order to make their clients choose them. This allowed to this Company strengthen the loyalty bonds of their brand in the mind of the clients. We have to have in mind that “a million people can do your job”.

There are fundamental pieces in this puzzle that will help us positing us in the market: a) Our Assets (soft and hard assets), b) Aspirations and values (Where I want to go in the future), c) Market Realities (What is people willing to pay me for).

2^nd) Plan to Adapt. This means that we have to be flexibly to what the market ask. The traditional 10 year plans doesn’t work anymore because of the constantly change of this world and we have to be prepared to take those risks, otherwise we might fail. Being flexible doesn’t mean we have to work without goals, we have to set goals and achieve them but in period of time accordingly with the offer and demand of the market. We also have to always have a plan B and if it’s possible a plan C or D when the A isn’t working very well. We are going to learn by doing most of the time.

3^rd) It takes a network. The relationships are very important nowadays and we have to focus in strengthen them; in other to use those relationships are valuable sources for the future. We have to remember that relationships are like any living thing: “If they’re not getting stronger, they’re getting weaker”. We can use Social Networks as part of our networking.

4^th) Persue Breakout Opportunities. We should look for great career opportunities not only good ones. Sometimes we have to go for randomness things and others we will have to use our resources because we have no other choice. “Making a decision reduces opportunities in the short run, but increases opportunities in the long run.”

5^th) Take Intelligent Risks. Risk is not an enemy, in fact is part of life and we should be aware and wise of those opportunities that other miss so we can take advantage of them. We have to understand that maybe something that for us seems risky for another doesn’t.

6^th) Who you know is what you know. The knowledge we need in this world is not static but it’s always changing. We need to use the information we have in order to get reliable sources and get where we want to go. This is when we use our networking. We study their preferences and we can get a better conclusion and not only a mere estimate.

In conclusion, we need to invest in our own skills, create a solid and reliable networking, we should be prepare to take intelligent risks in this changeable world, we should be willing to adapt and be in constant improvement, plan our career and define where we want to go; if we apply these principles in our life, the things we will get will be have more opportunities to succeed in this journey of ups and downs. It will depend in the attitude and capability we develop to take the opportunities that are spread in our market.

                               

To read the full book you can get it here The Start-up of you.