As a recovering serial entrepreneur, I was excited to read this book, especially because I'm in the scaling phase of my current (and last) business. However, I found this was suitable mostly if your version of scaling involved finding investors; not if you wanted controlled growth that you scaled on your own.

While this book is based on a course the author teaches, I did find it to be repetitive. The stories were engaging, but there was little practical instruction as to how to apply certain principles to your own business and seemed to emphasize businesses that were national (even international) brands, rather than something a bit more relatable for your average entrepreneur.

After I got about 2/3 into it, it just wasn't holding my attention anymore, so I gave up on it. Based on another reviewer's comment, the last third is about pitching and raising funds, so all the more reason for me not to finish. That's now how I plan to scale my company.

So, this book may be very good if you have the type of business that you could envision going on Shark Tank or the Dragon's Den to raise more capital and become a household name. But if you've got a smaller business that serves a niche market, as I do, it's not going to help you very much.

Thank you to Danny Warshay, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Entrepreneurial Process professor and founder/director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Brown University, Danny Warshay, explains the process for creating and implementing a successful business. According to Warshay, becoming a successful entrepreneur does not require a business or technical degree, but rather just a good idea and the process (which he explains) to follow it through. Indeed, he argues, those with backgrounds in liberal arts are better prepared to be entrepreneurs than those who study business.

This is an easy-to-read guide with very logical explanations. The chapters are broken down into sections, many with anecdotes about successful entrepreneurs and their journeys to success. As the title indicates, there are three major steps to the entrepreneurial process: See, Solve, and Scale.

I finished the book several weeks ago and am still not an entrepreneur, but that doesn't mean the next reader won't be. #SeeSolveScale #NetGalley

A well written book with clear guidance for readers. Good not only for prospective and current business owners but business staff and others.

Thank goodness for this refreshing take on entrepreneurship, which doesn’t restrict people based on a concept of needing specific character traits to become a successful business owner. In fact, Warshay champions the benefits of an entrepreneurial approach to endeavors that might not fit classic business models or be designed with profit as an end goal. He paves the way for anyone with a vision to carve a path forward. His structured, step-by-step approach ensures important considerations are made ahead of time, as well as prevents aspiring entrepreneurs from thinking too small and limiting chances of success. I was wholly inspired by the possibilities this plan enables and will revisit this text many times to hone my own strategic vision.

Problem Solving - Not Just for Entrepreneurs

The focus of this book is on how to help people who want to start a company. The strategy is to find a need or a way to solve a problem. Then don’t be constrained by your current resources. Think outside the box about what will make the idea a success. Finally have a vision about how the world will change if you are successful. The last objective will keep you focused on the goal during the times when things aren’t going perfectly and keep you from giving up.

The book is very readable. The author presents his ideas and follows them up with examples of both successful and not so successful entrepreneurs. I particularly liked the inclusion of the not so successful. Sometimes I find it off-putting to hear only success stories. Failure is a learning experience also.

While this book is clearly aimed at people who want to make a difference and have their own companies. There are other groups who can benefit from these ideas. You may not have to start your own business. It can be equally challenging to move an established business into more profitable areas.

The problem solving principles can be used by anyone even if the objective isn’t to start a business. The most difficult thing for most people embarking on a project is identifying a workable problem. This book presents good strategies for this. I think anyone could benefit from reading this book and translating the ideas into their own area.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

Real Rating: 4.5* of five

<B>I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review</b>: The best, measured by their own success metrics, entrepreneurs are the same kind of people who become cultural anthropologists. They are more interested in what you have to say than in putting forth their own ideas. They are deeply curious about things, lots of things, and like asking questions designed to elicit explanations not simply answers. They like building on those explanations, fixing those unfulfilled needs, by getting the needy in contact with needed commodity.

This is a radical departure from the existing models of entrepreneurship. These focus on the item to be sold and thus focus on salesmanship, on taking A Widget and getting together the right talents and teams to make it. Think <I>Shark Tank</i>. It's a hit-and-miss process...it depends on selling selling selling, on creating a need where none might've been before.

Warshay says the best results come from starting at the end of the traditional process: Identifying the need that a widget satisfies. He requires his students to form teams, which is already a huge lesson in observing, asking questions, and solving issues; the teams must then identify an issue (See) that they can imagine a way to improve, to add value to (Solve), and then create a structure to both implement the solution and make it replicable for others (Scale).

So, you know what it says, now you can go do it, right? Ummm...no.

The value Warshay adds in his course at Brown University, of course, is access to his extensive knowledge base in person and the presence of other motivated and creative people on one's own level. The book is a great way to pick up many ideas, and Warshay is as generous with his experience as he is with his expertise. The case analysis of failures is as valuable as the rah-rah of support and cheerleading. (I contend it's actually more valuable, but I'm a cynical old party.) What Warshay's written version of the course has over the lived experience of it is, one: cost...a $30-ish book purchase is a lot less than a Brown University course...two: time, as in "read in your own." Some of us aren't great at sprints like a class represents. Some of us aren't able to thrive in the distracting atmosphere of competing ideas and purposes. A book is a great way to determine for one's self if a technique will work for us, our own special needs and conditions of life.

There are, inevitably, downsides to reading a book about a dynamic thing like developing one's innate entrepreneurial methodology. Those multivarious points of view? Distracting, perhaps; but urgently needed to avoid making the echo-chamber error. (Look at the great failures in History, eg: Napoleon, Hitler; they heard no dissent, brooked no argument; they Were Right. A faster road to failure I do not know of.) And let's not forget that other people have other social networks. The social aspect of entrepreneurship isn't to be underestimated. There need to be converts and believers to get any action from plan to performance, no matter how many or few, no matter what is needed from them or required of them.

There's a major disconnect for me in Warshay's insistence, at the very beginning of the book, that no pre-existing resources are needed for entrepreneurs to begin their journey. I contend that these social networks and the luxury of time to spend developing their skills are resources, and the glibness to sell others on a vision isn't exactly something everyone just *has*. The book does the work of developing whatever innate abilities one has a disservice by not acknowledging it as a precious resource, and one that not everyone possesses.

Since, however, the book and the course it's based on exist as a means of doing that developing, I suppose it's simply so basal to the ability to benefit from it that Warshay doesn't feel it needs belaboring.

One thing Warshay addresses (but doesn't belabor, either) is that the contents of the book can be applied within existing businesses or organizations. This strikes me as something that is supremely valuable in the post-COVID economy. One's role in an existing business might not be the same now as it was three years ago. What better moment to introduce something major and unexpected than this one? And this is the resource that can make that vague idea you've had since 1999 a reality at last.

A business doesn't need two people with the same ideas. So be the one with a new idea. Read this book, apply its precepts, and survive the layoffs. Or read this book, realize your idea is workable but can't be done while wage-slaving, and find the path to the door. It's never the wrong time to bet on yourself and your own creativity.

Parents with college undergrads or recent graduates could do a lot worse than give them a copy of this book (graduation season being close upon us); those with younger kids, high-schoolers let's say, could do worse than let them in on the way professors, later on bosses, will be looking at them and the yardsticks those seniors will use to measure them.

If there's been an employment gap in your life, this $30 might be more than you can splash out...but the library can, and will, help out there! This isn't some self-published marvy by a distinctly second-rank creator. This is a major-publisher product, well made and vetted by generations of successful and satisfied students. If it's not already on the library's acquisitions list, recommend the purchase to them. No one can know about every single book that's coming out. Who knows but what you might find yourself wreathed in glory for suggesting something that will help many.

The overall point I'm making is: Read it; try it out; and don't wait any longer to make a move to get your vision made manifest.

This book was extremely helpful while building our business development team. My team of executives all read the book and with the 3 step process. Easy steps to follow and easy to hold yourself accountable. Highly recommend.

Provides a solid foundation of how to build and scale a business. It was an interesting read that was well researched. A good book to pick up for anyone learning about business or looking for more information about building successful companies. I like that this book incorporated other startup strategies and showed how to incorporate that way of thinking within the structure. It's a book I'd recommend to anyone looking for an edge in the business world.

Danny Warshay wrote this as a book version of an entrepreneurship class he teaches at Brown University. He expressly notes that it’s designed to mirror his students’ experience in learning the tools one needs to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Warshay selected several real world examples of businesses that started in his class or that exemplify what he teaches, and these examples help illuminate his “See, Solve, Scale” approach throughout the book.

Since the students in Warshay’s class must form teams, identify a problem (see), create a solution with a value proposition (solve), and develop a sustainability plan (scale), then pitch this venture in a pitch event, readers of the book (obviously) can’t get the full experience of Warshay’s class. Fortunately, reading the book almost feels like an audit of that class, like we got to sit in the back and didn't have to worry about getting up in front of anyone to speak and we definitely didn't have to worry about a grade. Warshay presents the content of his class in a clear, organized manner, filled with industry stories, practical tips, and reality checks.

Warshay also provides targeted advice for creating an Executive Summary, a Sustainability Plan, and a 10-page pitch deck, and for giving a strong pitch. This portion of the book could almost be a stand-alone for an entrepreneur to keep at hand for frequent reference.

Strong read for anyone who wants to develop real and sustainable solutions and have the tools to build a team (partners, employees, investors) and change the world (or a very small part of the world).

As a former entrepreneur, business lecturer, and social anthropologist, I feel like this book was written for me. Warshay sets out what it takes to be an entrepreneur and focuses on three aspects that absolutely speak to me.

First, the need to observe. He contends that the best entrepreneurs are anthropologists at heart. They start by simply watching, asking questions, and understanding how people behave. From that - and only from that - they can figure out what problem they are trying to solve. And, as Einstein noted, once you fully understand the problem, the solution is often obvious. In other words, don’t start with a product or an idea and figure to how to monetize it. Start by identifying a need, and then create a solution that you know people will want.

Second, think big. Don’t try to solve the problem by thinking about how to work within your existing constraints. Figure out what it would take to solve the problem in an ideal world. Once you have that answer, your problem is not what you should do to be successful, but how to get what you need to make it happen. In many cases, small-scale solutions aren’t cost-effective. You have to be prepared to get out of your comfort zone and be audacious.

This leads naturally to the third aspect: the need for a big vision. How will you have changed the world in twenty or thirty years if your venture is successful? That motivates you, it motivates your investors, it motivates your staff, and it motivates your customers. Think beyond just making money, and think about how you can make people’s lives better.

Where I found myself disagreeing with Warshay was that at the start of the book, he kept emphasizing that you don’t need resources to build a successful company. The examples he gave, however, involved entrepreneurs persuading people to donate their time, expertise, or financial support. You do, almost always, need resources - even if you can find a way to avoid paying for them, you still need to acquire them. The last part of the book is all about pitching and fundraising - in other words, acquiring resources. If you can’t pitch, it doesn’t matter how good your idea or your business model is - it won’t get off the ground.

On the whole, however, an excellent book. Recommended for any aspiring entrepreneur - especially those with a liberal arts background who fear they don’t have the required skills.

This reads more like a play-by-play of the author’s famed Brown University Course than a handbook for entrepreneurs. You’d think one would lead right into the other. But I found that while the stories were interesting and in some cases inspiring, there wasn’t much “here is how this might apply to situations you might face” in these pages, aside from the constant repeating of the title phrase. This isn’t a bad book - it’s an entertaining read. But it’s not necessarily a key book to have in your hand as you start your new business.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book.

Anyone who is interested in growing a business from where it is to where they want it to be should read this book. They won't be disappointed.

Inspired by Brown University’s beloved course—The Entrepreneurial Process . Bottom up Research recaptured as in the videos.
Successful Canadian products tend to do 10 times the sales when they enter US market.
Tim Hortons?
When Turbotax intuit followed small business/individual clients in their offices to understand their accounting activity, they were doing ethnographic research methods.
Fit Organic Produce Wash, 12 Oz. Spray, Fruit and Vegetable Wash & Pesticide/Wax Remover
Surprised to find aparigraha in the book.