The Little Black Book of Entrepreneurship

By: Fernando Trias de Bes

Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell

A truth-sayer's guide to assessing one's entrepreneurial aptitude, written for anyone seriously considering starting a business of any kind. Most entrepreneur guides focus on the mechanics of raising capital, drafting a business plan, and handling licensing, but they overlook the serious self-reflection that is required in the decision to launch a business. And most of the literature is obsessed with success stories, while ignoring the much more illuminating and instructional lessons that can be learned from failure.

Featuring interviews and anecdotes from the author's nearly twenty years as an entrepreneur, The Little Black Book of Entrepreneurship identifies the 14 Key Failure Factors that every aspiring entrepreneur should be aware of before signing the papers.

"Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of any economy, and yet over 90 percent of new entrepreneurial ventures fail. By forewarning would-be entrepreneurs about the 14 causes of failure, this book's thoughtful dose of reality will raise the quality of entrepreneurship by deterring misguided ventures and increasing the number of informed, successful start-ups." (Philip Kotler, author of Principles of Marketing and Marketing Management)

©2008 Fernando Trias de Bes (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Short but concise!

The key failure factors outlined in this book went a long way towards helping me mentally prepare myself to staring my own company.

a very good book

Concise and straight to the point. Very useful for making a decision on whether to be an entrepreneur or not.

I learnt so many useful and key lessons.

A Different, Important Perspective

I have recently started to consider starting a business, and this book provided a much-needed perspective. Rather than focusing on the details and processes for formally starting a business, it explored the common pitfalls and ill-fit motivations for doing so.

Excellent information

Excellent insights on being an entrepreneur, valuable all round. I recommend it! Don’t be ignorant to key failure factors.

Refreshing

Fernando's bluntness is refreshing. It doesn't come as condescending or offensive, rather, it's another perspective with genuine insight that comes from experience. The points made are food for thought and reflection that I've gained as a result of listening to this book.

Good reflection point!

Very good points to consider. the author might seem blunt, but there is value on what he says.

The other side of being an entrepreneur

Unlike most books, it shows the bad sides of being an entrepreneur, but in the end it augmented my resolve regarding my ambitions to be an entrepreneur.

Not bad

Gained some insight from this book. As someone who is trying to start a business I definitely learned a little something. The greatest takeaway was not to start a business with my friend. My best friend recently asked to start a business with him. I told him it sounded great. After this book it doesn't sound so great, as a matter of fact it sounds horrible. I already know my friend's bad habits and he likes to procrastinate. I'd be putting my money at risk.

Some good nuggets in there

Was a good short read. Helped confirm direction and brought up thoughts about partnerships that I hadn’t thought of.

Loved it. Especially the last chapter.

I learned a lot. I Made notes. Got ideas. I feel more confident in knowing where to start and where to put my energy and when.