The Start-up of You

Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

By Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha

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About the book

Reid Hoffman, cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn, and author Ben Casnocha argue that professionals should manage their careers the way entrepreneurs run a start-up business. Their case responds to a job market where the career escalator is jammed, global competition is fierce and traditional job security has faded. Start-ups, they note, stay nimble: they invest in themselves, build networks, take intelligent risks and turn uncertainty to their advantage. Rather than cover letters or resumes, the book deals with adapting plans as people and industries change, building a competitive advantage, forming alliances and a varied network, spotting breakout opportunities, and drawing on contacts for intelligence. It reached the New York Times hardcover advice best seller list.

Michael Bloomberg praised it as holding lessons for success in any career and called entrepreneurship a way of seeing the world, and Jack Dorsey called the startup approach to life it describes necessary today. Sheryl Sandberg endorsed it as a practical guide to building a career with real impact.

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This book has 7 recommendations

Sheryl Sandberg (COO/Facebook)

Everyone, women and men alike, needs to think big to succeed. This is a practical book that shows you how to take control and build a career that will enable you to have real impact.

Michael Bloomberg (Founder/Bloomberg)

Being an entrepreneur isn’t really about starting a business. It’s a way of looking at the world: seeing opportunity where others see obstacles, taking risks when others take refuge. Whatever career you’re in or want to be in The Start-Up of You holds lessons for success.

Jack Dorsey (Co-Founder/Twitter)

The Startup of You" describes how to take the Silicon Valley approach to building a life: start with an idea, and work over your entire career to turn it something remarkable. In the world today, I think that the startup approach to life is necessary. This book distills the key techniques needed to succeed.

Marc Andreessen (Co-Founder/Netscape)

Silicon Valley revolutionizes entire industries through the way we work. It is now time to export our playbook to the rest of the world. The Startup of You is that key playbook: it will help you revolutionize yourself and achieve your own career breakout.

Jeff Weiner (CEO/Linkedin)

The same extraordinary vision and timing that enabled Reid to found LinkedIn is once again on display with his book "the start-up of YOU." His central thesis, that every individual can benefit from acting as the entrepreneur of their own life and career, has never been more important than it is in today's increasingly globalized, competitive, and networked world.

Emi Gal (CEO/Teads Studio)

When asked what books he would recommend to young people interested in his career path, Emi Gal mentioned The Start-up of You.

Recommended by Marvin Liao (Partner/500 Startups)

Source: Book-Talk with Marvin Liao, Partner at 500 Startups, Avid Reader & Tsundoku

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