Upstarts: How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business

Before I delve deeper into the book, let me explain “Generation Y”—called “Gen Y” for short. These are individuals born between 1977 and 1997. The book covers some of the 77 Million of them in the United States … the ones that have started and now run businesses. How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

One of the trends we’ve written about here at Small Business Trends over the years is how entrepreneurship keeps attracting younger and younger people. It used to be that people started businesses AFTER school. Then they started them in their dorm rooms at college (remember the famous story of how Michael Dell started selling computers from his dorm room back in the 1980s?).

Guess what? Now entrepreneurs are starting businesses in their teens, before they are out of high school. As Professor Jeff Cornwall of Belmont University is quoted as saying in the book, “Forty percent or more of students who come into our undergraduate entrepreneurship programme as freshmen already have a business. It’s a whole new world.” How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

This movement toward earlier and earlier entrepreneurship is what the book covers.

The book covers over 150 entrepreneurs from Generation Y.

While a few of the entrepreneurs are the “usual suspects” that you may have read about before, there are many others who will be new to you, with stories just as interesting.

Most operate technology, consumer-lifestyle or services businesses. But there are a wide range of businesses represented, including retail, media and manufacturing. There’s even a section on reinvigorating family businesses through Gen Y blood. For instance, the book covers Emily Powell, the 29-year-old heir apparent to Powell’s Books. Then there’s Kathy Vegh, a GenY-er who is now CEO and 49-percent owner of Danny Vegh’s Billiards.

For those who are running a business virtually or who leverage social media today, or who have always been committed to social causes, you may not find the points made about those and other topics revolutionary. You already may be operating your business according to those same principles the Gen Y entrepreneurs employ in their businesses. How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

But then again — maybe not.  Chances are there is at least one new thing you can learn from the experiences of these Gen Y entrepreneurs.

What I Liked About the Book on How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

The most intriguing part of Upstarts is all the stories and case studies. The book is absolutely stuffed with them. You can tell the book was carefully researched because of the detail.

Another part of the appeal is the writing and editing (published by McGraw Hill). The author, Donna Fenn, writes energetic prose that holds your interest. The book is highly readable. The information is presented as colourful

short stories. Some of it is so vivid that it almost feels like you’re watching brief video clips of these business owners.

This book has a lot of human interest. You will definitely enjoy this book if you enjoy learning tidbits about how entrepreneurs expanded their businesses and getting quick looks into their business lives. I found it difficult to put down my review copy of Upstarts once I started reading it. How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

Additionally, reading about the difficulties these business owners encountered may give you more courage to face the problems facing your own company. After all, with all your years of experience, shouldn’t you be able to solve a difficult problem if an 18-year-old can? How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

Who This Book is For on How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

Upstarts is a book that analyses things. It looks at successful GenY business owners and shows you what they do well and what motivates them. This book will help two groups of people.

First, this book is for marketers, policymakers, teachers, and others who want to learn more about what drives GenY entrepreneurs. This book is perfect for you if you really want to learn more about GenY entrepreneurs and how to market to them for any product or service. You will get a good idea of what motivates this generation of entrepreneurs. You will see how they run their businesses. How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

Second, I think Upstarts is a great book for anyone who wants to learn more about the magic behind the success of today’s startups. Do you enjoy reading about how other people “did it”? Are you looking for something that will give you an idea or two that you can use in your own business? Then you might find it in Upstarts. The $17 price tag at Amazon is worth it if the book makes you think of a new way to do things or comes up with a great idea.

Who This Book is NOT For on How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

Upstarts is not the book for you if you want detailed instructions on how to make your own business better or a step-by-step guide on how to start a business. I know what the title says. And yes, there is a two-page summary of points at the end of each of the eight chapters called “Upstarts Playlist.” But these pages only make up about 16 out of the 240 pages. That means that the advice doesn’t get a lot of attention. Also, the advice in these Playlists is very general. “Find a mentor” and “Assemble the right team” are two examples.

Upstarts won’t help you if you want to know HOW to put together the right team, though.Upstarts doesn’t even go into detail about how the GenY business owners did it for their own companies. It only talks about the problems they had because they didn’t have the right team. If you own a small business or startup, don’t expect it to give you a step-by-step plan for putting any ideas you get from the book into action. How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking

But if you market to GenY entrepreneurs or are looking for something to spark ideas and motivate your own business, you should definitely check out Upstarts. How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking