The Venture Mindset

FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH

'Full of powerful, practical lessons on changing how we think and act.'

Eric Schmidt, former CEO and Chairman of Google

'Many principles mentioned in the book helped us build Zoom, and they will help you as well.'

Eric S. Yuan, founder and CEO, Zoom

Inspired by venture capitalists' unique way of thinking, The Venture Mindset offers a transformative playbook for delivering results in a rapidly changing world from a top Stanford professor and a technology executive.

Venture capitalists are known for their extraordinary ability to spot opportunities. They know how to identify emerging trends, how to bring new industries into being, and when to hold them and when to fold. Their unique way of thinking has made them the force behind world-changing companies such as Amazon, Google, Moderna, SpaceX, and Zoom.

Stanford Professor Ilya Strebulaev has devoted two decades to studying VCs' counterintuitive approaches to decision-making and the reasons behind the successes and failures of corporate innovations. Alex Dang has witnessed up close how VCs' thinking and mechanisms can create successful businesses at companies like Amazon and McKinsey.

Combining their insight and extensive experience, they present nine distinct principles that will help you make better decisions, transform your business, and achieve remarkable results, no matter your industry.

In The Venture Mindset, you'll learn:

- One question VCs ask that will change the way you evaluate opportunities

- Why you should encourage dissent and be wary of consensus

- The number one killer of innovation in traditional corporate environments

- Why it's crucial to learn when to 'pull the plug' on initiatives

- Why failure is not just an option, but a necessity

Packed with entertaining stories and scientific precision, The Venture Mindset is a must-read for anyone who wants to be better equipped for the era of uncertainty when industry, company, and career can be disrupted overnight. The Venture Mindset will teach you more than how to simply survive. It'll teach you how to win big.

This book is full of powerful, practical lessons on changing how we think and act. -- ERIC SCHMIDT, former CEO, Google
Many principles mentioned in the book helped us build Zoom and they will help you as well. -- ERIC YUAN, Founder and CEO, Zoom
A terrific insight into the mindset of venture capital. Professor Strebulaev has deep knowledge of the way VCs think and their impact on the modern economy. His book is an invaluable guide. -- LIONEL BARBER, former Editor-in-Chief, FINANCIAL TIMES
Strebulaev and Dang really know their stuff, and they deliver their insights and advice with remarkable clarity. Jerry Yang, founding partner, AME Cloud Ventures and Co-Founder, Yahoo!
The authors show how the VC playbook can bring new ideas, deeper clarity and increased momentum to every leader's decision making. A must read for anyone facing a fast-changing business world. Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School
Reserve a spot for this book next to Built to Last. Together they provide a powerful guide for a new generation of leaders. Jerry Porras, co-author, BUILT TO LAST
A must-read for CEOs on how to launch a successful corporate-VC initiative. Carlos Brito, CEO, Berlon and former CEO, AB InBev
Ilya is one of the most knowledgeable people in the field of venture capital. This brilliant book provides essential insights about how VCs think and make decisions and how everybody can apply those insights to their own field and innovate like them. -- ALI TAMASEB, author of SuperFounders
THE book of the year if not the decade. NICOLAS SAUVAGE, President of TDK Ventures

Ilya Strevulaev (Author)

Ilya Strebulaev is the foremost academic expert on venture capital. As the founder of the Venture Capital Initiative and a Professor of Private Equity and Finance at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, where he teaches a popular class on venture capital, his research has been widely published in leading academic journals and featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Bloomberg and the Harvard Business Review. He frequently leads workshops and executive sessions for senior business and government leaders around the world and has consulted for companies and investors on the venture industry trends and corporate innovation. In 2023 he was named a Top Voice on LinkedIn.

Alex Dang (Author)

Alex Dang is a CEO, a senior technology executive, and an advisor on innovation and digital strategy. He has two decades of senior leadership as a Partner at McKinsey and Ernst & Young, and as a product leader at Amazon, where he designed and launched numerous new businesses and solutions for millions of customers across ecommerce, supply chain, and AI. He graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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