The $100 startup
Here, Chris Guillebeau shows you how to lead a life of adventure, meaning and purpose--and earn a good living. Still in his early thirties, Chris has traveled around the world--and yet he's never held a "real job" or earned a regular paycheck. Rather, he has a genius for turning ideas into income, and he uses what he earns both to support his life of adventure and to give back. In preparing to write this book, Chris identified 1,500 individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment, and he's focused on the 50 most intriguing case studies. Here, distilled into one easy-to-use guide, are the most valuable lessons from those who've learned how to turn what they do into a gateway to self-fulfillment. It's all about finding the intersection between your expertise and what other people will pay for. You don't need an MBA, a business plan or even employees. All you need is a product or service that springs from what you love to do anyway, people willing to pay, and a way to get paid.--From publisher description.
Stats for nerds
9recommend
20mentions
16people
2013–2022years
60% recommend40% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. Really good at stripping away many of the reasons I had been holding onto to not start something on my own.
The book is agnostic about how you raise capital. It gives you the pros and cons of bootstrapping or raising money, and leaves it to you to decide what's best.
- I really disagree. I think you haven't even tried reading the article or any of these books. To be true I was one of these people who thought all these "self-help" books are quite useless. I used to hate the word "self-help"
But these books changed my mindset. Let me share some insights from these books:
1) Fastlane Millionaire Told me that if I want to be a "Millionaire" then it's highly unlikely I will be one by working for others (a job) unless my job is super high paying. Also by having a job I am playing an almost no risk and less reward game. Instead if I just increase the risk profile lil bit my rewards will be must more increased. It's hard to explain everything in 2 lines, hence this books is number 1.
2) Creativity Inc How can creativity be nurtured and promoted.
3) Range I am one of those people who like to do multiple things and mostly mix my different passions and make something new.
6) The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau Startups don't need to be started with a lot of money. People are making it big.
7) Originals by Adam Grant Lessons from others that it is okay to think differently and it is okay to do things others might tell you not to.
These are some lessons I owe to these books.
- Getting Things Done - the 2001 version I read two years ago, I use the general idea and it helps to have a clear head when your fighting fires daily.
Never Split the Difference - some very practical negotiation strategies.
Mini Habits by Stephen Guise - short book but awesome method. I am still doing the one pushup habit since last March.
How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck by Steve Stockman - I wanted to improve my video production for my programming course for kids. I am still learning but this book has been a huge help.
The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking by Barbara Minto - huge help with improving my written communication at my job.
The Coaching Habit by Michael Stanier - short book but huge help when your transitioning to managing people.
Made to Stick by Dan Heath - was a huge help in planning how I would teach elementary students last month about programming.
The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch - aside from application of Pareto principle, I took away the idea that books provide the best bang for your buck for knowledge density.
The 4 Hour Work Week - great inspiration to start your own thing.
The $100 Startup - like the 4HWW but with more details.
- My advice to you is to keep your job. Work on your startup as a side project and gradually build it. If it takes off and starts to generate as much as your day job, then make the transition.
Survivorship bias will skew the success of startups. Success is far less common than what I originally thought.
Take a look at the $100 Startup book it has some good points to consider.
- Find an existing market first. It is much easier to sell to people that are already looking to buy something. Just because someone says something is a problem, it does not mean they will open up their wallet.
I have built stuff that nobody wanted. I put in far too much time on these projects only to hear crickets at launch.
Here are a couple of books that I found helpful for getting me to approach things from a different perspective:
$100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
Will It Fly by Pat Flynn
This is Marketing by Seth Godin
- In my side projects, I am influenced by a book I read few years ago: The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. I only do projects that have potential to bring revenue. I use the following milestones to decide whether to keep project alive or not. Once a project is cash flow positive (ramen profit), I only reinvest cash flow.
$100 + time before project goes live $250 + time after launch and until revenue generation $1,000 + time after revenue starts coming and until cash flow positive
