My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley

Foreword xi
By Marc Benioff

Introduction 1

1.0 My Dot-Com Life Begins 5

Brainstorm: Who Knows What Could Happen If You Raise Your Hand? 7

Brain Trust: Take Responsibility, by Heidi Roizen 11

2.0 Nature or Nurture? A San Francisco Upbringing 14

Brainstorm: All the Fuss About “Passion”—and How to Tap into Yours 16

3.0 The First Axiom of Business: Find a Need and Fill It 18

Brainstorm: The Fringe-Thoughts List: Where Most Great Ideas Develop 19

Brainstorm: Feedback, Feedback, Feedback 22

4.0 Comcate is Born: The Nuts and Bolts of Starting a Business 26

Brainstorm: The Business Plan Myth 28

Brainstorm: Why Some People Get More Stuff Done (and Start Real Businesses) 33

5.0 First Meeting with a VC (It’s All About the Network) 36

Brainstorm: The Power of Mentors 37

Brainstorm: When to Ask a Dumb Question 40

Brain Trust: Taking Mentor Relationships to the Next Level, by Brad Feld 42

6.0 Signing Up Early Customers: Selling the Sizzle and the Steak 44

Brainstorm: Asking Questions: There’s a Right and a Wrong Way 47

Brainstorm: I Have a Strategic Plan. It’s Called Doing Things. 49

7.0 Confronting Failure . . . and Bouncing Back 52

Brainstorm: Building Resilience—A Transferable Quotient 57

Brainstorm: How to Create and Leverage an Advisory Board 60

8.0 Hiring an Interim CEO: My First Big Mistake 64

Brainstorm: Three Sure Ways to Maximize Luck 68

9.0 The Hunt for a COO: Recruiting a Top Team 70

Brainstorm: The Art of Courtship 78

Brainstorm: How to Overcome Fear of Failure 85

10.0 Life as a Road Warrior: Making Memorable Sales Pitches 90

Brainstorm: Presentations—Worthy of Obsession 93

Brainstorm: Pricing in an Early-Stage Company 100

Brain Trust: Life is a Sales Call, by Jeff Parker 105

11.0 I’m a Sophomore: Balancing Work, School, and Life 106

Brainstorm: Redefining the Entrepreneurial Lifestyle: Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise 108

Brainstorm: Being a Corporate Athlete 114

Brain Trust: A Life That Works, by Chris Yeh 119

12.0 A Silicon Valley Life: Building Me, Inc. 121

Brainstorm: Networking 101 124

Brainstorm: Networking 202 126

Brainstorm: Every Cold Call Can Be Warm— Rich First-Time Interactions 128

Brainstorm: Creating and Projecting Brand “Me” 131

13.0 The Product Development Process: Cheap, Good, or Fast? 137

Brainstorm: Dare to Be Mediocre: Good is the Enemy of Perfect 141

14.0 It’s a Frugal, Frugal World: Bootstrapping Through the Inevitable Cash Squeeze 144

Brainstorm: Asking for Money Versus Asking for Advice 147

15.0 The Long, Hard Slog: Achieving Scale 149

Brainstorm: A Relationship-Based First Business 152

Brainstorm: Getting More Good Revenue and Less Bad Revenue 154

Brain Trust: Keep Slogging Away, by Carol Rutlen 157

16.0 Fulfilling the Mission, One Customer at a Time 158

Brainstorm: Make Meaning: What Gets You and Your Employees Up Each Day? 160

17.0 The Road Ahead: Leaders of the Flat World 162

Brain Trust: How to Think About the Future, by Sean Ness 165

18.0 What Will You Be Shouting When You Reach the Grave? 167

Brainstorm: Entrepreneurs Are Optimists 170

Brain Trust: Let Your Heart Guide You, by Timothy J. Taylor 171

Appendix A: What’s Next 173

Appendix B: A One-a-Day, One-Month Plan to Becoming a Better Entrepreneur 175

Appendix C: Ben’s Reading List 179

Acknowledgments 183

Endnotes 185

The Author 189