Talk to The Startup of You like its author wrote you back.
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What it argues
The Startup of You is Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha's argument that in a world of permanent change, every professional needs to think about their career the way entrepreneurs think about their companies — with a deliberate strategy, a specific competitive advantage, and a willingness to pivot when circumstances change. Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn and has observed how the best career builders operate. Casnocha is an entrepreneur and writer. Together they argue that the era of lifetime employment and linear career progression is over, and that the professionals who thrive will treat themselves as a startup of one.
The book's core framework rests on three elements. Competitive advantage is the combination of your assets (skills, knowledge, networks), your aspirations and values, and the market realities of which assets are valuable to employers or customers right now. The intersection of all three defines your competitive position. Most people develop assets without asking whether those assets are genuinely rare and valuable in their market, or focus on aspirations without understanding what the market will pay for.
What it gets right
- 1.
In a rapidly changing economy, every professional needs to manage their career like a startup: with a strategy, a competitive advantage, and the willingness to pivot when circumstances change.
- 2.
Competitive advantage is the intersection of three factors: your assets (skills, experience, network), your aspirations and values, and the market realities of what is currently valued.
- 3.
ABZ planning: Plan A is your current direction, Plan B is the adjacent pivot, Plan Z is the safe fallback. Having all three prevents career crises when Plan A stops working.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Reid Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn and a partner at Greylock Partners, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms. He was an executive at PayPal before founding LinkedIn and has invested in companies including Airbnb and Facebook. He hosts the Masters of Scale podcast. Ben Casnocha is an entrepreneur and writer who co-founded a technology company at age 14. He has worked closely with Hoffman and subsequently served as chief of staff at LinkedIn. Together they wrote The Alliance, a follow-up focused on employer-employee relationships.
