Entrepreneurs Move Fast, So Should Their Education

At Teaching Startup the search is almost as important as the result

Think about all the ways entrepreneurs can learn their craft outside of actually doing it. It won’t take long, because there aren’t many.

For the vast majority of entrepreneurs, if they want to become a better entrepreneur, they have two options: Books or classes. There are several reasons why both of those methods are suboptimal.

Startup books aren’t textbooks

I read a lot. I’ve read dozens of books on startup and digital and eCommerce and every facet of the business world that I’m fascinated with. I think the first startup book I read was Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of the Start, and the most recent was — I’m sorry, I can’t remember the name of the book or the author or even enough about it to find it on the web. It was something to do with being more like Amazon.

The thing is, while all those books were enjoyable, I didn’t learn much from any of them, and what I did learn didn’t ever work when I needed it to. Business books aren’t textbooks. In fact, more often than not, they’re just vanity projects.

There is no textbook for starting a company — I mean, there are textbooks, but those textbooks are in…