The Startup Playbook

November 5, 2012
Kidder, a serial entrepreneur and bestselling author of the Intellectual Devotional series, has assembled what can best be described as the perfect coffee-table book of collective entrepreneurial wisdom. He set out to collect key ideas that have inspired the world's greatest entrepreneurs and asked a number of wunderkinds to explain "key practices, behaviors, and ideas" that allowed them to succeed. Aggregated, the critical ideas expressed are know thyself; keep the focus on your big ideas; build a painkiller, not a vitamin; be 10 times better than the competition; and be a monopolist. The participantsâincluding such luminaries as Steve Case of AOL, Robin Chase of Zipcar, Scott Harrison of Charity: Water, Jay Walker of Priceline, Sara Blakely of Spanx, and many othersâprovide their advice in the form of a playbook and offer pearls of wisdom such as running lean, firing people when they lose faith in your ideas, and staying ahead of the game. The sheer range of projects and ideas makes this an inspiring look at the process behind the successful startup plan. Illus. Agent: Joy Tutela, David Black Literary Agency.