Entrepreneur Journeys: A Review
I had the chance recently to read the second book in the Entrepreneur Journeys Series by Sramana Mitra. The book, Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction looks at alternatives to venture capital. Mitra believes that entrepreneurs are the future and will be the ones to pull out ahead of the current economic situation.
The book is essentially Mitra`s views on bootstrapping, interspersed with very in depth interviews with a dozen entrepreneurs who started their businesses and built them to success without major cash infusions from venture capitalists.
Though it was a little difficult to get started, the book is a very interesting one. However, it´s not really a good read for relaxing . . . I found that the language was quite businesslike and you will find yourself needing to concentrate in order to understand . . . part of the reason it took me a while to finish it since I normally do any reading in the wee hours of the morning!
If you are looking for inspiration, the entrepreneurs that Mitra features are fascinating. They give a little background on themselves, so there is more information than simply the business side of it. Each interview runs for several pages and covers a LOT of information. This is quite valuable if you`re interested in how things are run and exactly how, with details, these people got started. I found it quite informative.
Something else that was very interesting was the fact that the entrepreneurs featured were from around the world. It´s pretty common in this type of book to find 99% of the stories are from US companies, but in this case, we get a truly international perspective, which I find valuable and far more interesting.
The bottom line is that Bootstrapping is a little dry, but packed with information and inspiration based almost entirely on the interviews. You can read more from Sramana Mitra on her blog.
I have made my blogs, but they still in their early stages, so I need lots of inspiration from other blogs as well. So that I could be as successful as they are.