The 10% Entrepreneur: Live Your Startup Dream Without Quitting Your Day Job

by Patrick J. McGinnis

Overview

Choosing between the stability of a traditional career and the upside of entrepreneurship?
Why not have both?

Becoming a full-time entrepreneur can look glamorous from the outside. Who doesn’t want to chase their dreams, be their own boss, and do what they love? But the truth is that entrepreneurship is often a slog, with no regular hours, no job security, and very little pay.
 
What if there was a way to have the stability of a day job with the excitement of a startup? All of the benefits of entrepreneurship with none of the pitfalls? In The 10% Entrepreneur, Patrick McGinnis shows you how, by investing just 10% of your time and resources, you can become an entrepreneur without losing a steady paycheck.
 
McGinnis details a step-by-step plan that takes you from identifying your first entrepreneurial project to figuring out the smartest way to commit resources to it. He shows you how to select and engage in projects that will provide you with upside outside the office while making your better at your day job. He also profiles real-world 10% Entrepreneurs such as...
• Luke Holden, a cash-strapped recent college graduate, who started his own lobster-roll empire and oversaw much of its first year of operations, all while working full time in corporate America
• Dipali Patwa, a designer and mom whose side project designing and selling infant clothing is now a sensation.
• A group of friends who met at a 6am Bible study class and went on to start a brewery that now generates millions in sales .
 
A successful 10% Entrepreneur himself, McGinnis explains the multiple paths you can follow to invest your cash, time, and expertise in a start-up—including as a founder, angel, adviser, or aficionado. Most importantly, you don’t have to have millions in disposable income to become a 10% Entrepreneur. When you put McGinnis’s 10% principles into action, you’ll quickly start racking up small wins, then watch as they snowball into your new (and far more entrepreneurial) life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591848097
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	985,676
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

PATRICK J. McGINNIS is a venture capitalist and private equity investor who founded Dirigo Advisors, after a decade on Wall Street, to provide strategic advice to investors, entrepreneurs, and fast-growing businesses. As a 10% Entrepreneur, he has built a diverse portfolio of investments in new ventures in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. A graduate of Harvard Business School and Georgetown University, he writes for Business Insider, Huffington Post, Boston Magazine, and Forbes. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Why Should You Be a 10% Entrepreneur?

Chapter 1 One Job Is Not Enough 11

Chapter 2 All the Benefits Without the Pitfalls 27

Chapter 3 The Five Types of 10% Entrepreneurs 41

Part 2 Building Your 10%

Chapter 4 What Kind of 10% Entrepreneur Are You? 63

Chapter 5 Making the Most of Time and Money 77

Chapter 6 Playing to Your Strengths 93

Chapter 7 Finding, Analyzing, and Committing to Ventures 115

Chapter 8 Building Your Team 147

Chapter 9 Overcoming Obstacles 173

Chapter 10 Winning the Long Game 185

Acknowledgments 203

Glossary 207

Appendix 209

Notes 215

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

"For 4 years, while working a full time job, I was also a 10% Entrepreneur. I didn't know the phrase then, I just knew I had more money, more fun and more opportunities than I'd ever had in my life. If any of those sound like things you want more of, read this book!"
-Jon Acuff, author of Do Over
 
"Entrepreneurship is not one size fits all. It can take many shapes and forms. There's immense value to testing ideas or weaving entrepreneurial qualities into your life before taking the plunge. The 10% Entrepreneur will tell you how." 
- Christine Tsai, Founding Partner at 500 Startups
 
“We think of entrepreneurship as a big, scary thing, involving blind leaps of faith and sweeping acts of disruption, not for the faint of heart. Yet in today’s ever-changing world, everyone needs to act more like an entrepreneur and take risks — or risk being left behind. In his debut book, McGinnis delivers a winning game-plan for assuming 10% more risk, more creativity and more (ad)venture in your everyday life for 100% more satisfaction. Entrepreneurship is a smart choice for everyone—and so is reading this book. “
- Linda Rottenberg, co-founder & CEO of Endeavor and author of Crazy is a Compliment
 
“In a shifting corporate landscape, entrepreneurship no longer has to mean all-or-nothing endeavors. Patrick McGinnis uses his own expertise as a "part-time entrepreneur" to illustrate a proven solution for you to become one, too.
- Keith Ferrazzi, author of the Who's Got Your Back and Never Eat Alone
 
“This book should be read by anyone who has ever dreamed of starting an entrepreneurial venture.”
- Nir Eyal, author of Hooked
 
“Clear, concise and forward-thinking, The 10% Entrepreneur dives deeper into the future of today’s business world.”
 - Tony Hsieh, author of Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.

From the Publisher

04/01/2016
McGinnis has an MBA from Harvard Business School and has been a venture capitalist and private equity analyst. He founded Dirigo Advisors after a decade with firms on Wall Street to provide strategic advice to multiple firms, start-ups, individuals, and entrepreneurs all over the world. With the financial crisis of 2008, McGinnis conceived and developed the concept of the ten-percent entrepreneur who could have the security, safety, and learning potential of full-time employment while developing their own business. This, he felt, would allow him to develop and nourish his business skills as well as build interactions and alliances with chosen peers and advisors to form a network for further ventures. McGinnis outlines several paths to excel as a ten-percent entrepreneur that consider the investment of time, resources, and expertise needed to launch successful start-ups. Additionally, the author, who serves as an advisor to the World Bank, includes multiple appendixes useful to potential ten-percent entrepreneurs. Index not seen. VERDICT An intriguing, beneficial handbook for those considering various types of investment ventures by someone who is well qualified to offer guidance.—Littleton Maxwell, Robins Sch. of Business, Univ. of Richmond

Library Journal