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The Minimalist Entrepreneur

How Great Founders Do More with Less

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The Minimalist Entrepreneur

By: Sahil Lavingia
Narrated by: Sahil Lavingia
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About this listen

A revolutionary road map for building start-ups that go the distance.

Cracks are forming in the myth of the VC-funded, IPO-driven billion-dollar company. They're unprofitable, unethical and unsustainable - so why bother chasing unicorns? The Minimalist Entrepreneur is the manifesto for a new generation of founders who would rather build great companies than big ones.

Packed with hard-won, battle-tested lessons from Lavingia's own journey of building Gumroad, The Minimalist Entrepreneur teaches founders how to start from anywhere to build any kind of software-enabled business. You will learn how to:

  • Resist investments that set you up to fail
  • Run a tight ship amid the rise of the gig economy and remote work
  • Develop and release products without failing fast or often
  • Get to profitability and stay there

The Minimalist Entrepreneur offers essential knowledge for every founder aspiring to build a business worth building.

2022, Business Book Awards, International Business Book category, Short-listed

©2021 Sahil Lavingia (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK Business Development Business Development & Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship Organisational Behavior Small Business Workplace & Organisational Behavior Business Minimalism

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Critic reviews

Pay attention (Jason Fried, founder and CEO of Basecamp and bestselling author)
A must-read for any potential founder. Brilliant insights into starting something simply and sensibly. Best guide to the new world of starting from anywhere (Derek Sivers, founder of CDBaby and author of Anything You Want)
A timely, hard-won guide for entrepreneurs looking to build sustainable, profitable businesses with real-world impact. This is the path to a world in which people are able to do what they love for a living, with creativity, ownership and freedom (Li Jin, founder of Atelier Ventures)
Few people can simplify a complex topic like Sahil. This book is as fun to read as it is informative (Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money)
In a world where things have become grossly overcomplicated, The Minimalist Entrepreneur teaches us how to strip away the unnecessary and do more with less. Sahil has a profound understanding of the power of community and how to build a business with intention, which makes this book a must-read for any aspiring founder (Alexis Ohanian, Founder, Seven Seven Six and Former Executive Chair, Reddit)
Sahil Lavingia's book changed the way I think about my life and my business, and opened my mind to possibilities for a different - and better - model for successful entrepreneurship. A brilliant, fascinating read (John Green, cofounder of Complexly and author of The Fault in Our Stars and The Anthropocene Reviewed)
All stars
Most relevant  
I have been an entrepreneur for almost a decade, devoured tons of content on entrepreneurship and I have still been able to thoroughly appreciate this book. Tons of wonderful insights!

Highly recommended to Any entrepreneur!

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It's pretty crazy that a sustainable way of running a company from the start feels refreshing but that's where we've come to. Very practical and meaningful book for people either at the start or in the middle of their entrepreneurship journey.

A needed reminder that it's ok to not become a billion dollar company, and that you can be successful and impactful without venture capital.

Refreshing and needed take on starting a company

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I rarely bother with a review but it’s also rare to find books these days about real businesses and how to run them. Don’t read Peter Thiel or fantasize about venture capital and exits read this and make the world and your life a better place instead. I’m an entrepreneur and I run my business along these lines and .. I’m super happy!

A useful realistic business book and inspiring

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Super inspiring. Great stories, cannot recommend enough to anyone looking to find purpose and happiness.

Love it

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the narrator is easy to follow and listen to. bar some preachy moments it's a good book and gives solid advice.

a solid book

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There isn't a book's worth of content here. And what content there is to be found, is very basic, mostly just "feel good" stories. I felt like I was listening to an incredibly long medium post. Not sure who the target audience is, probably for the author to further his own career. Here is a double digit percentage of the content: x started company y. He expected to sell Z but he sold 5xZ.

A slog to get through

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I enjoyed this. As a small business owner, it gave me a lot to think about when defining what we do and why.

The book's core theme is aimed at people who believe they can solve a problem that they might have and then sell their solution with a strong emphasis on profits over growth. The author himself had dreams of creating a billion dollar unicorn and was well on his way, receiving millions in VC funding, until it dawned on him that the growth over everything model and the pressure that VC start up money puts on business and entrepreneurs just didn't work for him.

The book explains his journey and the steps he took to create a profitable business with its customers and audience at the heart of everything it does. He covers many traditional business themes, marketing, hiring people, do you need an office space etc., but reframes it and makes you question how you are doing things and why.

I know for a long time I always thought my business needed an office space, but upon deeper reflection, my reasons for it were based on the appearance that would have over the actual value it would add to our clients and us. This book, for me, is for people who have a business up and running with client's, and although it's aimed at new entrepreneurs, I think founders who are already in business but maybe still working on other things, this book will give you a lot of food for thought.

If you liked this review, you can read more of my book reviews on my Instagram page @HaydnCorrodus

Great food for thought for business owners

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Nothing new but decent for beginners. I don’t think I was the target market for this book. Company of one by Paul Jarvis is much better IMO.

Nothing new but decent for beginners

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