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My new book on entrepreneurship: My Start-Up Life

bencasnochabencasnocha subscriber Posts: 1
edited October 2007 in Inspiration and Motivation
Hi guys!I recently wrote a book on entrepreneurship called "My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley". It`s about my own entrepreneurship written in a way that can inspire or aid other entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, or simply become CEO of their own lives. It hit the Amazon bestseller list shortly after its release and has been featured in the New York Times and on ABC News!You can check out the book web site: http://www.mystartuplife.comI appreciate your support. I`d love to hear any of your feedback.I look forward to exploring these forums and getting involved!aloha,Ben Casnocha

Comments

  • blondieblueblondieblue subscriber Posts: 9
    First of all, allow me to be the first to welcome you to SuN. Its an honor to have someone of your caliber join our little family here.
    I`m confident that your knowledge, passion, and early wisdom will inspire some here at SuN to "reach for the stars".
    And then some here may simply be intimidated by you, your youth, your energy, your drive and more than anything your PASSION.
    Please feel free to enter into any discussion, as I`m confident it`ll liven things up.blondieblue2007-6-14 21:9:18
  • RichRich administrator Posts: 582 Site Admin
    Ben,with permission of your publisher, can you offer some excerpts to us here in the forums? Doubleday, our publisher allowed us to do that...welcome aboard!rich
  • bencasnochabencasnocha subscriber Posts: 1
    Hey guys,thanks for the note back.Check out the NYT review of my book today! http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/busin ... ey/17shelf .htmlExcerpts are at the book web site: http://www.mystartuplife.com/the_book.phpYes, I still live in SF.To the question about a Life Plan -- I don`t have a life plan. I`m not a big long term goal person. I think they can constrain more than guide.thanks again for the support!
  • blondieblueblondieblue subscriber Posts: 9
    Hey guys,thanks for the note back.Check out the NYT review of my book today! http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/busin ... ey/17shelf .htmlExcerpts are at the book web site: http://www.mystartuplife.com/the_book.phpYes, I still live in SF.To the question about a Life Plan -- I don`t have a life plan. I`m not a big long term goal person. I think they can constrain more than guide.thanks again for the support!
    Ben, thanks for the response ...
    But thats it ... from the #1 Hotshot of Start-ups today????
    Sorry, guy, but I do have to say that I`m a little dismayed by your lack of depth here ... and just wanting to pitch the sale of the book.
    The art of success, IMHO, is the ability to apprerciate one`s success .... and willing and able to foster that success in others ... and it may not neccessarily mean ... by selling a book.
    I wish you the best ... but I`m, for one, am a little dismayed by your portrayal of "living in the moment" rock-star type "life plan" is what has helped you to succeed. You have been blessed with some incredible talents and good furtune, at such a young age. In your response here, it apprears that those talents and good fortune may have wasted on youth. I`ll give you the benefit of the doubt, and chalk it up to youthful enthusiasm and exuburance of the wild ride you`ve had so far.
    I`m confident that many here are looking for a little more depth from your responses ... not just a pitch to buy your book.
    I, for one , don`t agree with that type attitude. (Even if you have earned big $$`s) blondieblue2007-6-18 8:34:25
  • blondieblueblondieblue subscriber Posts: 9
    Here is a better link to the NYT article.blondieblue - I feel you are basing your response on his age. It`s funny that people wouldn`t think of correcting someone they felt had more maturity ... but because he`s "a kid" in your mind, you`re going to knock his life plan down?
    I didn`t knock his life plan at all ... what I was knocking is his lack of substance in coming here to the forums. He entered plugging his book ... comes back with a very terse and non-defining  "life plan" ... a question that one of the members here asked about ... not me ... and then continued to plug the book.
    IMHO, I`m NOT impressed. And my comment re: an obligation and a resposibility to share one`s success secrets with other fellow enterepreneurs stands. 
    Any one of the members here, would give their "eye teeth" to have 1/100th of the public exposure he has received so far ...and would be much more humble re: their experience also.
     (My notation re: his youth is true ... his "being in awe of himself" is apparent in his lack of depth in his postings and his plugging of his book. To be humble when basking in the lime light (when others around you are struggling) comes from maturity ... not age.
     
     blondieblue2007-6-18 13:58:44
  • blondieblueblondieblue subscriber Posts: 9
    Rock stars win. It`s as simple as that. Rock stars exude confidence and success, and that is exactly what they get.
    It great to see that you have turned into a "Ben" groupie sooooo fast ... thats good to see.
    I truly believe you missed the point of my observations. I agree Lance Armstrong and other true winners have a quality know as "self-confidence" - yet it is tempered with modesty.
    There is a saying ... thet "Real Lions don`t Roar .... they don`t have to. They already know they are the King of the Jungle."
    Your "boy" came bouncing in here ... promoting his book. Expected everyone to fawn all over him. We welcomed him with open arms ... in fact I was the 1st to do so.
    But when folks truly wanted to "meat and potatos" from the "Golden Child" all he could muster was ... "I really don`t have a "life plan" I just wing it and live day by day. A life plan is too "confining".
    If you asked the same question to Lance Armstrong or other true winners, you would find a much more disciplined and focused answer. And a willingness to share that vision and passion ... without having to buy the book.
    Your "Ben" `s answer showed a lack of maturity ... that comes sometimes with age ... but not neccessarily. All that we got from the "Golden Child" was basically ... buy my book.
    Like I said before ... REAL Lions don`t roa. (And they show true leadership ... by sharing their success with others ... and not for a price. (Unless they are into personal gratification, self-indulgence, and self-promotion ... rather than serving those that need or want inspiration.)
  • bencasnochabencasnocha subscriber Posts: 1
    Pretty amazing far this thread has come since I last checked in! I didn`t know how intimate this community was....still learning....Sorry if I came across terse. And too sales-ish for my book....which you can buy today! 24% off at Amazon! Do it now! I`m hurt by Blondie Blue`s generalizations and presumptions, but I`d rather focus on the issue at hand which is life plans.Craig`s says: "The underlying idea is to have a sense of
    your life and its purpose. The point of calling it a plan is to focus
    people on the idea that a business, no matter how successful and
    complex, is still only a "step" in one`s reaching out for a life of
    Gusto (to borrow from an ancient commercial)."Well, if this is a life plan, then I definitely have one! But that`s not what I think of when you say the phrase "life plan".I spoke at a college in April. A student told me for his class he had to write a life plan. He emailed it to me. It was 15 pages and very detailed. Tons of goals and scenarios. Incredible. And very stupid, in my opinion. That`s what I thought of when you asked, "What`s your life plan?" The answer is I don`t have one.If the question is, what`s your underlying passion / purpose, it`s to make the world a better place. Sounds cheesy, but I believe it.On the whole rock star idea, I guess I don`t relate my work and life in that fashion. I agree w/
    nhgnikole
    `s points, but I don`t adopt that way of thinking for my own life. And i shouldn`t be anywhere close to Lance Armstrong, Sergey, or Larry in a sentence!thanks for the comments....
  • AntonioDestiny1AntonioDestiny1 subscriber Posts: 1
    I am definately going to check this book out when i get a chance. Thanks for telling us about it.
  • CookieCookie subscriber Posts: 2
    There is a saying ... that "Real Lions don`t Roar .... I think I`d drop this analogy.  They do roar.  Big time.  I live near Lincoln Park Zoo & can attest to the fact.It`s probably hard not to strut your stuff when you`re on top of the world but it`s best to realize that things may not always be that wonderful for you & may not be as wonderful for those around you as for you.  Humility is a good thing.Cookie11/2/2007 1:20 AM
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