How to Be a Founder: How Entrepreneurs can Identify, Fund and Launch their Best Ideas

Description

This new title aims to inspire the next generation to become founders and to equip them with the mindset and tools they need to take the leap to successful entrepreneurship. And that doesn't necessarily mean 'success' in financial terms - but more often is about making a social impact or creating ways to improves people's lives in the longer-term. But even if you have a great idea, what are the next steps? How do you find funding? What kind of culture do you want to create? And how can you build growth potential into a start-up? Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford are the cofounders of Entrepreneur First (EF). They invented 'Talent Investing', the controversial idea that you could invest in an individual, before they have a team or even an idea. Over the last decade, they have worked with more than 2,000 individuals across three continents, supporting them to realise their ambition to become founders. Those individuals have now built companies worth more than US$2bn and are taking on some of the world's biggest challenges, including finding hard-to-spot cancers, improving financial literacy and developing space laser communication systems. The authors will share key advice, insights and lessons from their decade of experience of working with individuals to become successful founders, as well as bringing in case studies from highly successful business launches around the world. In other words: what you need to do today to start your journey as a founder, and the exact advice you'll need to maximise your chances of success.

Alice Bentinck MBE is the co-founder of Entrepreneur First. She is part of the Imperial College Innovations Investment Committee, a Trustee of youth employment charity Generation UK and on the UK government's AI Council. She won the Veuve Clicquot women in business New Generation award, and was selected as one of the 1,000 most influential people in London by the Evening Standard. She started her career at McKinsey & Company. Matt Clifford MBE is the co-founder and CEO of Entrepreneur First. He is a non-executive director of Innovate UK, and a trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust. Matt started his career at McKinsey & Co. and holds degrees from Cambridge and MIT, where he was a Kennedy Scholar. Matt and Alice also cofounded Code First: Girls, the UK's leading organization for women in tech, which has taught more than 20,000 women to code, for free. They are both now non-executive directors.

"Entrepreneurship is a key engine of the modern economy. This book is the essential guide for the founders of the future who want to get started and build the enduring businesses of tomorrow." -- Tony Blair * Executive Chairman of the Institute for Global Change, and former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland * 'Alice and Matt have created the ideal handbook for anyone considering founding a company. It provides both strategic advice on building toward a mission and purpose, plus pragmatic advice on the first 100 days. Essential reading for anyone experimenting with ideas and co-founding teams.' -- Sara Clemens * Former COO, Twitch * 'In this book, Alice and Matt explain how they've been helping some of the world's most ambitious and talented people start companies for the last 10 years. It's a great overview of the founding journey.' -- Tom Blomfield * Founder, Monzo * 'Alice and Matt have helped hundreds of founders build companies and this book distils everything they've learned. It's a great starting point for any aspiring entrepreneur!' -- Taavet Hinrikus * Founder, Wise *