Are you too busy polishing your "elevator pitch" to wade through these books? Then hone your business plan with these take-aways.
Finding the right idea: During a mystical moment, Tom Ashbrook brainstorms with a friend about changing the way people live. "We were pulling threads out of the air, weaving Xanadu into ideas that could be shared." Nothing quite so spiritual is going on at Benchmark Capital - where, Randall E. Stross writes, the firm's partners want to finance "a total can-do guy ... a big honkin' stud."
Startup bravado: Both authors agree: Paint a picture of future success that will attract people with talent and with money - and maybe your dream will come true.
When things get ugly: Ashbrook worries that his marriage is in trouble and that he might go broke. The Benchmark partners don't brood: They stridently insult one another's judgment.
What's the reward for all this hard work?: Ashbrook says that he tried to form a startup at age 40 because he wanted "to be on fire again with dreams." The Benchmark partners believe that they are standing at "the best place in the cosmos to get the first peek at the future."
No, really, what's the reward?: Ashbrook's stock in HomePortfolio.com is probably worth at least a few million dollars. In the course of "eBoys," Benchmark's partners boost their personal wealth at least 20-fold, to $350 million or more each.
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