Disciplined Entrepreneurship : 24 Steps to a Successful Startup

I have been involved in startups for over two decades. I am a member of an angel group, an investor in a number of startups and also mentor to numerous entrepreneurs. Ever since getting this book almost the first recommendation I make to entrepreneurs of whatever age and experience is get the book!However I fear that the book is almost too accessible for its own good! I know a few people I have recommended it to who describe it as a 'coffee-table' book and frankly dismiss it. They seem to believe that without pain, long words, a high price and dense intellectual text there will be no value.What Bill Aulet has done is filter his vast experience and knowledge to very sharp succinct text. It is only after seeing dozens of businesses fail that one can appreciate the depth of what Bill Aulet has written.For new entrepreneurs what I recommend is that they use the book almost as a 'workbook' going through each chapter in turn and looking to write a couple of pages on how it can be translated into their own business. One of my big concerns about a lot of startups (especially in Europe and the UK) is that the entrepreneurs do inadequate research and modelling before they launch into the business - typical questions that are not properly answered are:(1) What is a typical real life customer profile?(2) What is the end customer willing to pay?(3) What is the buying cycle and what are the hurdles you need to cross?(4) Is there sufficient bottom up demand?(5) Will you make any money even if you sell some product?(6) How will you get your next 100 customers?Indeed without answering the above questions you cannot work out how much money you will need for your startup - or frankly if it is worth spending the next several years of your life doing the startup.Bill Aulet's book will help you answer these and other questions in a structured way. If you are serious about having a successful startup I would recommend using this book to help you develop your business plan. Frankly, if I was fresh faced and doing my own startup I would:(1) Buy a copy of this book for each startup team member(2) Have everyone read through it over a weekend(3) Spend the following week working through the chapters step by step and working out a plan of action - eg how are you going to approach your lead customer; how are you going to get a beachhead etc.(4) Then spend the following month or two working on the business plan and the workstreams that come from the above(5) At the end of that you will have a far more robust business plan and increase your chances of success significantlyHowever the honest truth is that too many 'entrepreneurs' will 'glance' at this book, dismiss it as a coffee table book and only recognise years later that it could have helped them significantly....... but if even one entrepreneur succeeds in his business due to my recommendation for this book and the action plan I suggest above then I will consider the time taken to write this review as time well spent.If this book was in a dull cover, with matt paper and was padded out with 10 times the words (even if they added no extra information) and was priced several times more expensive then I suspect some of the entrepreneurs I mentor might take it more seriously. For the rest of the world - just appreciate that Bill Aulet is an MIT Professor - and students pay thousands to attend his course there.

I was so excited from the table of contents of the book and found that the chapters headlines were appealing but found the following :- Book extremely shallow in examples, yes there are some stories in each chapter but are very shallow nothing deep at all.- The author seems to include un logical order of steps for the sake of differentiation like making market research without having an idea. Also he made a different name instead of MVP to be minimum viable business product with the same criteria just changing the name.The only part I found it useful is how to calculate cost of customer acquisition other than this the book is not worth the time there are many other books that tackles the same topic and could be worth the time and money and contains much valuable information.

Keeps you organised a brutal snakes and ladders but necessary if your in business. I thought very lean sigma almost going back to 1970'/ 80s Japanese influence but I'm a convert. Thoroughly recommend for any business just follow the 24 steps (23!) Different business terms but once you get your head around them - it makes you question your model.

Just awesome. I love this book and would recommend it as a must-read for anyone who wants to get a business off the ground and do it properly.I’ve used this twice at software companies I’ve been involved in growing and can personally vouch for it!

If you're in business or thinking about a start-up, then Disciplined Entrepreneurship could be the book to inspire you. I have personally applied what is set out in this book, it works! In early 2012 I was honoured to have been selected to attend an Entrepreneur Development Programme in Boston, USA. This programme was run by Bill himself. I was extremely impressed by his lessons and took back with me all I learned and applied it to my own business. This year I was awarded the Ernst & Young Scottish Entrepreneur of the year "Emerging Market" category. The disciplines Bill taught really helped me and my company to grow. Last year my business grew by 342% and profitably. I owe Bill so much, go out and buy this book, it is excellent.Darren Bunker