The Best “How to Build a Business” Book on the Planet

With three tech start-ups under my belt and currently working on no. 4, I can honestly say this is the best “business building” book on the planet. The advice, guidance, and insights are so good, that it’s not only my “go-to” start-up bible, but I’ve also purchased numerous copies for fellow entrepreneurs and colleagues. The first edition was certainly a hard act to follow, but now that I’ve read (cover to cover) the Expanded & Updated edition, Bill has knocked it out of the park!!!!

Despite housing, an overflowing bookshelf dedicated to entrepreneurship, Disciplined Entrepreneurship (DE) is the only book I know that provides a sequential 24-step-by-step guide on how to both, “de-risk” your start-up, and set you up for success as you venture down the entrepreneurial road less travelled.

Bill’s 24 steps, not only provide you with a battle-tested (it worked for me and his students in the real world) framework to work towards, but also ensures, you are doing the right things, at the right time in the right order – this alone will save you years of work, money, and frustration.

Through the DE canvas (pg. xlvii), Bill provides you with a helicopter view of the 24-step methodology with subsequent chapters diving deep into each of the step 24 steps. Furthermore, each chapter (step) also furnishes you with additional resources, which are accessible online and includes video explanations, worksheets, and detailed examples to name but a few.

It is also great to see a fellow entrepreneur devote multiple chapters and bring to the fore, the importance of “Unit Economics” which he articulates eloquently in Step 17 (Lifetime Value Calculation), Step 18 (Design a Scalable Revenue Engine), and Step 19 (Cost of Customer Acquisition Calculation).

Bill also raises additional key (and important) concepts around why and how to define your moat/competitive advantage (pg. 138), how to position and visualize the venture relative to its competitors (pg. 154), and the need to build an MVBP (Minimal Viable Business Product) and not just an MVP (Minimal Viable Product) to validate your assumptions (pg. 276). All mission-critical topics that need to be navigated at the beginning of your journey which sadly other practitioners and authors fail to address.

Peppered on every page, Bill’s advice is practical, down-to-earth, and battle-tested among thousands of fellow entrepreneurs (including me). DE is my guiding light on the entrepreneurial road less travelled and to maximize your success, I highly recommend it is your guiding light too. It is simply the best “business building” book on the planet!!!

6 stars from me!!!