Viewing entrepreneurship through a Kaleidoscope

Traps and lessons from transitions into entrepreneurship similar to parenting, marriage & funerals.

What this book is about:

Most books on starting a business or on entrepreneurship are dry. At best, they're exciting if you're fascinated (as I am) about how people become successful. This book is different. It's about adventure, both inside and outside the entrepreneurial world.

There's none of the airy theorizing that characterizes most business books. Instead, you get step-by-step actionable advice for every stage of building your business. Keshav's observation of successes and failures and philosophy is that everything is a learning experience, even if you're not sure where you're headed.

Why It's Worth Reading:

Three reasons.

First, the book provides an insider's view of serial entrepreneurship and the adaptation of the mind required for the transition to occur. Stop rushing into entrepreneurship born from half-baked ideas, misguided theories, and other forms of self-delusion based on motivational speakers.

Second, while this book is positioned as advice for people considering a shift into the entrepreneurial world, it's also a manifesto for a new way of thinking about the environment juxtaposing concepts with common familiar themes such as parenting, marriage, growing up and funerals.

Third, it is fun, at the author's expense.

Best Quotes:

"Entrepreneurship is a marathon of marathons"

"It's a trap"

"The pain of regret is many times more than the pain of failure"

The themes:

1. When does one bootstrap a business? a.k.a. Stories from the “Thrift“

2. How does one transition from a corporate career into the entrepreneurial world? a.k.a. Stories from the “Shift”

3. How dealing with business partners is the same as Marriage? a.k.a. Stories from the “Rift“

4. When does one start a business? a.k.a. Stories from the “Lift“

5. When does one bury a business? a.k.a. Stories from the “Crypt“

6. How building and running businesses is SIMILAR to Parenting? a.k.a. Stories from the “Pffffft“

7. Mental health issues that entrepreneurs face in light of the challenges and how the Dad jokes get worse? (Evident from the Dad jokes)

More about the author:

Chennakeshav (Keshav) Adya is a versatile and resourceful business and technology professional with 20+ years of international corporate and entrepreneurial experience in building firms across sectors from a concept and leading global teams of 200+ spanning corporate finance advisory, international growth, M&A, technology delivery and fund-raising.

Keshav is an Entrepreneur Mentor in Residence (EMiR) at London Business School and is supporting the school's experiential entrepreneurship activities for students and alumni who are interested in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship, whether launching or growing their own ventures.

Keshav holds an MBA from London Business School and an Engineering degree from VTU, India.