The Entrepreneurial Brain: How to Ride the Waves of Entrepreneurship and Live to Tell About It

by Jeff Hays

Finally, a user’s guide for people with entrepreneurial brains and those they work and live with . When your biggest superpower is also your most critical weakness, it helps to have a manual on how to control it. Entrepreneurs are creative, bold thinkers and risk-takers capable of great accomplishments. At the same time, for every success story, there is a counter story of an epic collapse caused by a lack of a moral compass, values, or proper guidance. Jeff Hays knows the highs and the lows having ridden that rollercoaster many times in his life and career and provides a much-needed user’s manual for entrepreneurs everywhere and the people in their work and personal lives.

Genres: Business

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2023

Reviews

[Scott Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Hays compiles a lot of helpful advice and strategies for entrepreneurs, especially serial entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs from business schools (why I say this latter part, I’ll explain later). Two helpful keys are found in this book: business is full of paradoxes—contradictory advice where both sides are true at times; the key business functions and different strategic tools to grow (or survive). An example of the first is the advice to “never quit” while it’s also true that you should “quit early and learn” so you can make improvements for the next round. An example of the latter key is to be reminded that sales and marketing are two different and necessary business functions. His compendium of strategic tools may be worth the price of the book.

Hays himself is a paradox. He describes his values and how they rank in his decision-making and then conforms to his principles and violates them at the same time. For example, he describes the time value of money and explains how he’s refused to have lunch with people who want to learn from him. It’s not worth a $1ooo of his time to have lunch with someone. But then later explains that he’s willing to give because others have given to him. That it’s all about serving others especially customers. You give, and as a result you get. Through all his stories/adventures I’m wondering if he gives only to those that he can get something from. (I’m not impugning his character; I just couldn’t find a preponderance of evidence that he has lunch so others can pick his brain.)

While he’s trying to encourage entrepreneurs and notes that “all” entrepreneurs score high on the Quick Start dimension of the Koble assessment—versus Follow Through, Fact Finder, Implementor—it may do a disservice to those overlooked entrepreneurs who start most of the businesses in the US. We often call them “mom and pop” shops because they’re the key to providing for the owners’ families. They’re started sometimes by recent immigrants and refugees who see a need in the community. They’re started by non-Stanford, Silicon Valley-bound graduates. I challenge the author’s premise; I doubt all of these entrepreneurs score high on Quick Start. Millions of businesses are sole proprietorships. (Millions of businesses are also asset owner/holders like LLC’s to own/operate a solar farm in order to sell energy to a single customer, like a hospital, college or factory.) While the author’s book might help the millions of independent contractors in construction, computer programming and related, event planning, videography and home healthcare, and many other service industries, this audience will have trouble relating to the multi-million dollar deals Hays highlights. Maybe rather than knowing the Brain of the Entrepreneur, it might be worth paying attention to the Soul of an Entrepreneur (a book by bestselling author David Sax with the subtitle “The Work and Life Behind the Startup Myth.”)

Quick Start brains, according to Kolbe, can assess risks and are risk tolerant. Perhaps being risk tolerant, opposed to risk averse, is the key here. Others have shown that we’re horrible at assessing risk and predicting the future. Review Daniel Kahnemann’s and his co-authors’ works. Ask Nassim Taleb about black swans and how to invest broadly because we can’t predict who will win—for example, he describes the difference between NYT bestsellers and other writers as a lottery of catching the readers’ attention. There are many gifted authors but only a few sell more than a hundred or a thousand copies. Same with businesses (and economic trends and stock market stars, since most economists are wrong and most mutual fund managers can’t beat the stock market indices repeatedly). Hays’ mantra here is to make sure you avoid complexity and keep a simple business model. Whether that reduces risk or not, I don’t know. The guy who developed the copy machine thought there was a need for three in the whole world—maybe it was more complex than pen/paper and a good mimeograph machine. Risk tolerance might be the key to the entrepreneurial brain, or a bit of desperation if you’re trying to feed your family.

[Hermes_Fang · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't really like the book and the tone that the author told the stories.
Yes, there're no scientific data or studies, only the author's personal stories.
And they sound like a boast, instead of a humble life lesson to teach.

And this book could be a misleading for students. The introduction almost made me quit the book.
The author said he doesn't fit in the school system, so he quit high school, and he started writing about how Bill Gates dropped out of school and become successful.

If you know better about Bill Gates, you'll know it's not the dropout makes him successful, but actually his family and his technology skills.

Gates dropped out from Havard. The author can't even finish high school. Can you believe that?
"Don't fit," and "I don't want to fit" is one thing, but "I'm not that clever to get into the university" is another.
I don't think the author is truthful to himself, and I don't believe a thing he tries to tell in this book.

The rest of the book is like what a high school dropout could write. If the author went to the college and learn some basic business principles, his entrepreneurial career could go well.

Thus, skip this book if you want to start your own business. You don't need this one.
Read Atomic Habit. It helps you build a great habit;
Read Ray Dalio's Principles. It helps you know what really matters in life and work;
Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It helps you become a better person.

Oh, and there's no such thing called "The Entrepreneurial Brain". Some people are just rude and selfish, and they sugar coat it with high concepts.
If you want to start your own business. Please be kind and humble. Then you'll be fine.

[Karin Künnapas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn on this book. Jeff Hays has built multiple successful businesses, had some failures and has many good stories to tell. But this book felt too much of a promo text or a very basic textbook text (i. e. how crowdfunding works, how to do A/B testing).

So it's between a very big meh and many good learnings. I do agree with many points like finding mentors and people to test your ideas with but I don't think it's just as simple. And all in all, I don't really believe that there's a thing like the entrepreneurial brain. I think becoming an entrepreneur is a combination of so many different factors and cannot be summed up like that.

All in all, it's more like 2.5*, so I do not really recommend it.

[Lee Nuñez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this story to be a gem! Jeff took the reader on a constant journey through his business ventures. He emplaned the highs and lows and the formula behind each. I thought it was important that he touched on the importance of building business relationships and what it takes to effectively and efficiently run a business. It makes being an entrepreneur seem more human. Society often romanticizes and inflates entrepreneurs; but Jeff made it clear that these individuals are regular folks that operate differently from the masses. This book would be a great gift or a great read for anyone starting a business or thinking about perusing it. The information is truly invaluable.

[Darya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a good mix of memories, stories and practical advice walking along an entrepreneurial journey. Mainly the mentions are about the author and their mentor. The book has two parts where one helps you to understand or learn how a brain of an entrepreneur operates and the second part of the book provides you with practical tips and tools on building and growing your own company in a classic manner (sales, marketing, team, funding, operations, etc.). Can be a good book for anyone wabt-to-be entrepreneur and somehow experienced alike.

[Erika Desfontaines · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some worthwhile insights, I personally found it a bit cringey at the start as it read slightly self-aggrandising, however as you move through more chapters you can find some gold nuggets of advice and helpful information.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always looking for books to read on my Entreprenerial journey.

This is a great book full of insight that any one trying to set on on their own as a business owner should read.

This book will make you believe that you can dream big... and succeed.

[mags♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative, useful tool that is a must read.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Read

The book started out with some generalizations about entrepreneurs that I found to be intriguing. Overall, I found the book to be informative and insightful.

[Freddie Braun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started my first business and failed. Wish I would have known the lessons that Jeff shared. Keeps you motivated and demonstrates how our minds work. Mentioned about having balanced and how to cope with the mental stress which I loved.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting and enlightening

As a wannabe entrepreneur I really enjoyed reading Hays experiences being an entrepreneur. His book started out giving a review of common entrepreneur traits, many of which I resonated with. The book continues with many personal experiences and stories from his life and advice he’s received from his mentor. This book would be enjoyable for entrepreneurs looking for advice and how that advice has been applied in a successful entrepreneur’s life.