Eat People: And Other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing Entrepreneurs

by Andy Kessler

Overview

How entrepreneurs find the next big thing-and make it huge.

The era of easy money and easy jobs is officially over. Today, we're all entrepreneurs, and the tides of change threaten to capsize anyone who plays it safe. Taking risks is the name of the game-but how can you tell a smart bet from a stupid gamble?

Andy Kessler has made a career out of seeing the future of business, as an analyst, investment banker, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. He evaluated the business potential of the likes of Steve Jobs and Michael Dell before they were Steve Jobs and Michael Dell. His eye for what's next is unparalleled.

Now Kessler explains how the world's greatest entrepreneurs don't just start successful companies-they overturn entire industries. He offers twelve surprising and controversial rules for these radical entrepreneurs, such as:

? Eat people: Get rid of worthless jobs to create more wealth for everybody
• Create artificial scarcity for virtual goods
• Trust markets to make better decisions than managers

Whether you're at a big corporation or running a small business, you're now an entrepreneur. Will you see change coming and grab on to opportunity or miss the boat?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591845423
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/31/2012
Edition description:	Updated
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.52(w) x 8.39(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Andy Kessler is a former hedge fund manager turned author of Eat People: And Other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing Entrepreneurs, How to Kick Ass On Wall Street, and The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor. Kessler’s book Running Money: Hedge Fund Honchos, Monster Markets and My Hunt for the Big Score was a New York Times Business Bestseller. He regularly writes about technology and markets.

Table of Contents

Something from Nothing 1

Musée 7

Circus and Inspiration 13

Rule #1 If It doesn't Scale, It Will Get Stale 29

Rule #2 Waste What's Abundant to Make Up for What's Scarce 47

Rule #3 When in Doubt, Get Horizontal 59

Rule #4 Intelligence Moves Out to the Edge of the Network 73

Rule #5 Wealth Comes from Productivity; Everything Else Is Gravy 85

Rule #6 Adapt to Humans; Don't Make Them Adapt to You 105

Rule #7 Be Soylent-Eat People 111

Rule #8 Markets Makes Better Decisions Than Managers 139

Rule #9 Embrace Exceptionalism 155

Rule #10 Be a Market Entrepreneur and Attack Political Enterpreneurs 171

Rule #11 Use Zero Marginal Cost to Create a Flood (or Someone Else Will) 185

Rule #12 Create Your Own Scarcity with a Virtual Pipe 193

Bonus Rule

Money Sloshes to the Highest Returns 215

How Many? 223

Hackers vs. Slackers 227

Epilogue 233

Index 243

Editorial Reviews

Kessler (Running Money) has interviewed technology billionaires and game changers like Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg in an attempt to determine what their success has in common, and combines this empirical data with his own impressive experience for his latest book. Kessler knows his industry, and understands business (though most of his ideas can be found elsewhere). He approaches his subject with an irreverent, cocky attitude that will likely divide readers, and gives advice that comes heavily colored by his own political and philosophical outlook; while he doesn't come right out and say it, he's clearly a fan of Ayn Rand and is quick to accuse environmentalists or anyone concerned over the impact of industry on the planet as both blocking progress and mooching off of the successful. Readers who can move past his derisive ideology will find Kessler's ideas useful. And his big questions will help would-be entrepreneurs figure out if their new idea is good, bad, or revolutionary.
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