All in Startup - by Diana Kander (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A book for anyone who has started a business, thought about starting a business, or just been close to someone who has, All In Startup introduces the reader to the latest advances in entrepreneurship, including a new understanding of how to launch a company in a way that dramatically improves its chances of success.The "business plan" curriculum taught in most M.B.A. programs is on the verge of extinction. A new "scientific method" of entrepreneurship built around forming and testing basic assumptions will soon replace the tired old model. The book, told through a case study approach, follows the story of Owen Chase who is tasked with turning his company around in 9 days. Through rich storytelling, All In Startup provides a book-length case study to showcase a new type of entrepreneurship, revealing innovative business principles and the emotional reality of entrepreneurship that goes tragically unmentioned during business school"--

Book Synopsis

If Owen Chase can't find a way to turn his company around in the next nine days, he'll be forced to shut it down and lay off all of his employees. He has incurred substantial debt and his marriage is on shaky ground.

Through pure happenstance, Owen finds himself pondering this problem while advancing steadily as a contestant at the World Series of Poker. His Las Vegas path quickly introduces him to Samantha, a beautiful and mysterious mentor with a revolutionary approach to entrepreneurship. Sam is a fountain of knowledge that may save his company, but her sexual advances might prove too much for Owen's struggling marriage.

All In Startup is more than just a novel about eschewing temptation and fighting to save a company. It is a lifeline for entrepreneurs who are thinking about launching a new idea or for those who have already started but can't seem to generate the traction they were expecting.

Entrepreneurs who achieve success in the new economy do so using a new "scientific method" of innovation. All In Startup demonstrates why four counterintuitive principles separate successful entrepreneurs from the wanna-preneurs who bounce from idea to idea, unable to generate real revenue.

You will likely get only one opportunity in your life to go "all in" in on an idea: to quit your job, talk your spouse into letting you drain the savings account, and follow your dream. All In Startup will prepare you for that "all in" moment and make sure that you push your chips into the middle only when the odds are in your favor. This book holds the keys to significantly de-risking your idea so that your success appears almost lucky.

Join Owen and Sam for this one-of-a-kind journey that will set you on the right path for when it's your turn to put everything on the line.

From the Back Cover

Praise for all in startup

"I dare you to find a business book for entrepreneurs that's as useful as All In Startup, and I double-dare you to find one that's as much fun to read. Diana Kander captures what it's like to launch something new. The result is a book that helps set readers on the path to finding startup success."
--Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Delivering Happiness

"This is a must read for anyone interested in launching a new product or business. All In Startup makes lean concepts more accessible through a simple but powerful allegory to which readers will easily relate. Diana Kander helps readers understand the value of the lean approach by tying it to a memorable story."
--Steve Blank, Lecturer, U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University, Columbia University and UCSF

"Not often enough is a business book so chock-full of intelligent advice and such a fun read."
--John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing and Duct Tape Selling

"There is seldom a read that when you start it, you can't put it down. Diana Kander has crafted such an experience that fuses an engaging story of choices, dilemmas, tradeoffs, and problems with the real-world experience of the entrepreneur. In a narrative that captures the culture and the spirit of an entrepreneur in a worthy tale of swagger, hustle and intuition, the reader will learn the lessons of the 'all in' entrepreneur and build a framework to approach their own entrepreneurial pathway. Before you know it, the lessons framed in the book become your own, to the extent that you will convince yourself you have always known them. I've concluded that anyone who thinks they may want to take a crack at founding a business should read All In Startup first."
--Ted Zoller, Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"If more books were like All In Startup, the business world would be much better off, and significantly more entertaining. This is a delightfully fresh take on what it requires to follow your passion--even against the odds. Highly recommended!"
--Jay Baer, New York Times bestselling author of Youtility

About the Author

DIANA KANDER is a successful entrepreneur, having founded and sold a number of ventures, and is a Senior Fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the largest non-profit in the world dedicated to entrepreneurship and education. A Georgetown-educated attorney who left a successful practice to launch her first company, Diana draws on her experience as a founder, investor, and academic to design and implement curriculum in educational institutions and the private sector. A sought-after public speaker, consultant, and writer, Diana has advised startup founders and Fortune 500 executives on her methodology for launching customer-focused products and services and developing an entrepreneurial mindset throughout an organization.