You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Business

by Barry Moltz, Howard Tullman (Preface by)

A business coach, angel investor, and "serial entrepreneur" describes his successes and failures and offers inspiration and advice for entrepreneurs in the wake of terrorism and the 1990s boom and bust. Focusing on business start-ups, Moltz discusses such ideas as building trust capital by finding customers early on, letting the business grow at its own pace, and recognizing that your life is your network. Moltz writes with plenty of humor, sharing numerous personal experiences related to balancing work and family, finding mentors, and persevering in times of trouble or illness. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Business

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Helfren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only passion can held you in the tough time. Only it can propel you forward when difficulties lie ahead. This book has a lot of advices for new small business and how it shapes the relationship of the people in the circle. Trusted customer capital is better in early day of business.

[Rodney TS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and intermittent moments of giggles about the crazy

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short audio book with some sound advice, that rings true to me.

[starburst_tiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read was great on exploring the ideas of becoming an entrepreneur/ small business owner

[Stacey A · Rating 1 out of 5]

I get the impression that this book was written so that the author could make money selling a book, not because he had something useful to share. It is drawn strictly from his own experiences and lacks any noticeable structure. I spent most of the book wondering who was the intended audience. I thought for a while that it might be written for someone that wants to chronically go into business for the sake of going into business but his very specific tips feel more like he's just spewing things he wishes someone had told him. Unfortunately I lost respect for the author early on when he opened with a scattering of his own poor business choices and ethical failings. He only vaguely followed up with his successes making me question his authority for writing a business book. The author views luck as the primary determinant of success. I strongly disliked the tone and had no real takeaways from this book.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a great dose of skepticism and an equal dose of optimism towards someone who is either thinking of, or currently running their own business.

The author himself has been running small business and had a few successes and failures over the years. He uses those experiences to guide the reader through his own journey.

He explains how on day 1 he and his partner agree to be honest and run their business in a way that agrees with this strong morals, but then admits to how when times got tough he often found himself crossing that line to keep the business afloat.

I would recommend this as great resource for someone considering starting their own business, maybe even make it the first book you read since it seems weighted towards the downsides (which after all are *far* more common than the upsides). After reading it, if you choose to go further than read some additional works out there on the same subject and then proceed.

[Ashish Ambokar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers various aspects of starting a company. It tells you the things you need to do but also warns you of the associated risks. It not only tells the positives but tells the negatives as well. It makes sure when you start a company you do not make mistakes that can be avoided. Also if you make mistakes you should be prepared for it and ready to accept them and only then you can leap into a business.

[Jack Gidding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this before doing a startup. I though Barry was exaggerating a bit. Come to find out ... he wasn't. I think all entrepreneurs think that everything will always fly smoothly. Read this book, then determine if you are a bit crazy, before doing the startup thing.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Tips on how to choose a mentor, why it's appealing to start a business, and what the realities are like. Quick read, read it in a day.

[Eliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are an entrepreneur then this book will speak your language.

[Kendel Christensen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing really stood out to me in this book. It was one guy's experience, just relating what happened to him. Not really that helpful to me, as far as value-added. Skip.

[Jackie Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was too vague all around. I was looking for something with a few more specifics and was bored with the back-and-forth between reality checks and encouragement. Ho hum.

[Alberto Lopez · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little soft