Entrepreneur Journeys Book Review: Mentor Capital, Not Venture Capital

Here are some noteworthy reviews and mentions of Sramana’s new book:

Rick Terrien of Sustainable Work says, “Yes. A thousand times, yes. The subject of Ms. Mitra’s book and the approach she recommends is clear: You need to bootstrap most businesses. The next step is mentor capital, not venture capital. This will come when you’ve got customers and a track record. Use your bootstrapping phase to get smart, make mistakes and build a market. It will take more time but less money than you think.”

Amey Shivapurkar at The Wild Investor adds, “Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstructionis a great read for anybody looking to start or already running a new start-up. Mitra uses interviews with a dozen of successful entrepreneurs and combines them with lessons these business owners used to make their start-up successful.”

Arnold Kling on The Palgrave Econolog shares a mention and review.

Marylene Delbourg-Delphis of Grade A Entrepreneurs notes, “We are swamped with books about entrepreneurship. Yet, haven’t you noticed that most of them seem to be copied out of the Silicon Valley’s virtual Scriptures, telling the same sensational tales over and over, and featuring the same people with narratives that have turned bloodless because they have been hammered too often? Sramana’s book is refreshing. She picks heroes who are not (or not quite) as wildly famous and insanely wealthy, yet are very successful (and rich, too) or already renowned, but not that rich. Their stories sound true.”

From some Amazoncustomer reviews: “The book is well written and Mitra is a great interviewer and writer. Her insights and questions lead to frank and perceptive answers from these entrepreneurs. There is a lot to learn for would-be start-ups. It is fun and easy to read, and you will walk away with a deeper understanding of why bootstrapping is the best way to finance your start-up and hopefully turn around our economy.” (Kes Sampanthar)

And, “Mitra provides the background and motivation to get out there and grow your enterprise. Buy this book!” (Ken Lizotte)

Finally, “The value in the book is to “read between the lines”, read the stories each person tells and learn the lessons that made each entrepreneur a success. There are some recurring themes in each story. They are recurring because they are basic principles required for success.” (John Chancellor)

And last from Kirkus Discoveries: “Mitra clearly has a passion for small businesses. This useful volume is largely comprised of interviews with the founders of such companies. Her skilled questioning prompts a discussion of the many issues involved in starting and growing a business. The entrepreneurs share wisdom and insight useful to any budding or existing business owner. The reader will be struck by the vision, inventiveness and sheer determination of these entrepreneurial heroes, who operate businesses that are successful but far below the radar. A highly relevant and timely work on entrepreneurship’s role in economic reconstruction.”

If you’ve already purchased a copy from Amazon, we’d love to get your feedback in the form of a review or mention as well!

Maureen Kelly

This segment is a part in the series : Entrepreneur Journeys Book Review