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.
Foreword ix by Steve Blank
A Letter from Thom Ruhe, VP of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation xi
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1: First Appearances Can Be Deceiving 1
Chapter 2: Youre Not Fooling Anyone 7
Chapter 3: You Cant Sell Anything by Doing All of the Talking 13
Chapter 4: Its How Well You Lose, Not How Well You Win, That Determines Whether You Get to Keep Playing 19
Chapter 5: The Real Pros Dont Play Every Hand 25
Chapter 6: Vanity Metrics Can Hide the Real Numbers That Matter to Your Business 29
Chapter 7: You Wont Find a Mentor if You Dont Ask 35
Chapter 8: Put Your Customers and Their Needs before Your Vision for a Solution 39
Chapter 9: Dont GambleUse Small Bets to Find Opportunities 47
Chapter 10: Even Experts Need to Prepare for New Terrain 51
Chapter 11: People Dont Buy Visionary Products; They Buy Solutions to Their Problems 55
Chapter 12: Only Customers Can Tell You if Youve Found a Problem Worth Solving 63
Chapter 13: Hoping and Praying for Luck Is Not a Strategy 75
Chapter 14: Its Never Too Late to Test Your Assumptions 81
Chapter 15: The Secret to Customer Interviews Is Nonleading, Open-Ended Questions 87
Chapter 16: The Only Way to Get Good at Customer Interviews Is to Practice 95
Chapter 17: Finding Out Your Assumptions Were Wrong Is Just as Valuable as Proving Them Right 99
Chapter 18: Dont Pivot to a New Idea without Testing Your New Assumptions 109
Chapter 19: Save Your Chips for When Youll Need the Least Amount of Luck to Win 117
Chapter 20: Successful Entrepreneurs Recognize Failure, Fold, and Live to Fight Another Day 123
Chapter 21: Test Your Assumptions before Committing Any Resources to an Idea 133
Chapter 22: Luck Can Be Engineered if You Take Emotion Out of the Equation 143
Chapter 23: Every Successful Entrepreneur Has More Failures than Successes 149
Chapter 24: The Harder You Work, the Luckier Youll Get 153
Chapter 25: Opportunities to Find Prospective Customers Are Everywhere You Just Have to Look 157
Chapter 26: The Best Feedback from Potential Customers Comes from Meticulous Interviews 161
Chapter 27: Recognize the Vanity Metrics to Avoid Big Losses 169
Chapter 28: Keep Interviewing Customers until You Find a Migraine Problem Worth Solving 173
Chapter 29: People Cant Help Themselves from Sharing When You Bring Up a Migraine Problem 181
Chapter 30: Stay Objective in Your Interviews Whether You Are Getting Good or Bad News 187
Chapter 31: Nothing Else Matters until You Can Prove That Customers Want Your Product 191
Chapter 32: Luck Makers Seek Out New Experiences and Find Opportunities Wherever They Go 195
Chapter 33: Luck Is Not a Good Strategy for Poker or BusinessIts the Outcome of a Good Strategy 201
Chapter 34: To Prove Demand, Find the Shortest Path to the Ultimate Customer Action 209
Chapter 35: Prepare for Bad Luck by Building Up Reserves 219
Chapter 36: Fear and Inaction Are the Two Greatest Threats to Your Business Idea 225
Chapter 37: Understand Your Tendencies On Tilt So That You Can Compensate for Them 229
Chapter 38: There Is No Mistaking It When You Uncover Migraine Problems Worth Solving 235
Chapter 39: Get Comfortable with Being Wrong 241
Chapter 40: Dont Go All-In without Confirming Your Assumptions through Smaller Bets 249
Chapter 41: Second Chances Are RareMake Sure You Get It Right the First Time Around 253
Chapter 42: Even When You Find a Migraine Problem, Crafting a Solution Requires Vigilance and Readjustment 255
Chapter 43: Dont Commit All-In until You Prove That Customers Want Your Product and Theres a Business Model to Support It 265
Chapter 44: The Strength of Your Initial Idea, or Starting Hand, Is Always Relative 269
Sams Journal 271
Acknowledgments 279
About the Author 283
