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The Launch Pad
- Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
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Publisher's summary
Twice a year in the heart of Silicon Valley, a small investment firm called Y Combinator selects an elite group of young entrepreneurs from around the world for three months of intense work and instruction. Their brand-new two- or three-person start-ups are given a seemingly impossible challenge: to turn a raw idea into a viable business, fast.
Each YC session culminates in a demo day, when investors and venture capitalists flock to hear pitches from the new graduates. Any one of them might turn out to be the next Dropbox (class of 2007, now valued at $5 billion) or Airbnb (2009, $1.3 billion).
Randall Stross is the first journalist to have fly-on-the-wall access to Y Combinator. He tells the full story of how Paul Graham started this ultra exclusive institution, how it chooses among hundreds of aspiring Mark Zuckerbergs, and how it teaches them to go from concept to profitability in record time.
Critic reviews
"Y Combinator is a national treasure, a Silicon Valley seed fund that is mass-producing new startups. Randall Stross’s behind-the-scenes look at YC offers a rare glimpse into what it really takes to conceive an idea and get it to market as quickly as possible. The Launch Pad is a must-read for anyone interested in the realities of modern entrepreneurship." (Eric Ries, author of the New York Times best seller The Lean Startup)
"The Launch Pad is an intimate look at the white-hot center of the new Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. Stross’s account of the best new entrepreneurs and the exciting companies they’re building at startup schools is a great read for founders and would-be founders alike." (Marc Andreessen, cofounder, Andreessen Horowitz)
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Memory lane for the cyberist.
- By Robert C. Hickcox on 08-08-18
By: Brian Dear
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Frenemies
- The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (And Everything Else)
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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An intimate and profound reckoning with the changes buffeting the $2 trillion global advertising and marketing business from the perspective of its most powerful players, by the best-selling author of Googled. Advertising and marketing touches on every corner of our lives, and is the invisible fuel powering almost all media. Complain about it though we might, without it the world would be a darker place. And of all the industries wracked by change in the digital age, few have been turned on its head as dramatically as this one has.
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Good; not for beginners
- By DV on 10-05-18
By: Ken Auletta
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Ahead of the Curve
- Two Years at Harvard Business School
- By: Philip Delves Broughton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2004 Philip Delves Broughton abandoned a post as Paris bureau chief of the London Daily Telegraph to join 900 other would-be tycoons on the Harvard Business School's plush campus. With acute and often uproarious candor, he assesses the school's success at teaching the traits it extols as most important in business: leadership, decisiveness, ethical behavior, and work/life balance.
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On one breath.
- By Atkins on 05-17-22
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Reality Check
- Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition
- By: Guy Kawasaki
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In Silicon Valley slang, a "bozo explosion" is what causes a lean, mean, fighting machine of a company to slide into mediocrity. As Guy Kawasaki puts it, "If the two most popular words in your company are partner and strategic, and partner has become a verb, and strategic is used to describe decisions and activities that don't make sense"...then it's time for a reality check.
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The Reality of Reality Check
- By Ben on 08-18-09
By: Guy Kawasaki
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Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated
- And the Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
- By: Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz
- Narrated by: Richard Harries
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps - and inner mindset - he uses to reach out to connect with the thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates on his contacts list, people he has helped and who have helped him. And in the time since Never Eat Alone was published in 2005, the rise of social media and new, collaborative management styles have only made Ferrazzi’s advice more essential for anyone hoping to get ahead in business.
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Couldn't finish
- By book smart on 05-01-16
By: Keith Ferrazzi, and others
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Losing the Signal
- The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry
- By: Jacquie McNish, Sean Silcoff
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Losing the Signal is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.
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Fascinating
- By Gerardo A Dada on 09-05-15
By: Jacquie McNish, and others
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The Art of the Start 2.0
- The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
- By: Guy Kawasaki
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Whether you're an entrepreneur, an intrapreneur, or a not-for-profit leader, there's no shortage of advice on such topics as writing a business plan, recruiting, raising capital, and branding. In fact there are so many books, articles, and websites that many startups get bogged down to the point of paralysis, or they focus on the wrong priorities and go broke before they discover their mistakes.
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Like a collection of about.com articles
- By Lee on 06-15-15
By: Guy Kawasaki
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Women in Tech
- Take Your Career to the Next Level with Practical Advice and Inspiring Stories
- By: Tarah Wheeler
- Narrated by: Tarah Wheeler
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Geared toward women who are considering getting into tech, or those already in a tech job who want to take their career to the next level, this book combines practical career advice and inspiring personal stories from successful female tech professionals Brianna Wu, Angie Chang, Keren Elazari, Katie Cunningham, Miah Johnson, Kristin Toth Smith, and Kamilah Taylor. Written by a female startup CEO and featuring a host of other successful contributors.
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Fantastic, motivating and superb advice!
- By EuropeanCaliGRL on 12-29-17
By: Tarah Wheeler
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Friend of a Friend...
- Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career
- By: David Burkus
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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What if the best way to grow your network isn't by introducing yourself to strangers at cocktail parties, handing out business cards, or signing up for the latest online tool, but by developing a better understanding of the existing network that's already around you? We know that it's essential to reach out and build your network. But did you know that it's actually your weaker or former contacts who will be the most helpful to you? Or that many of our best efforts at meeting new people simply serve up the same old opportunities we already have?
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The reality of human networks - How to Navigate, Create & Use them!
- By T.Om on 11-07-18
By: David Burkus
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UnMarketing, Second Edition
- Everything Has Changed and Nothing is Different
- By: Scott Stratten, Alison Stratten
- Narrated by: Allison Stratten, Scott Stratten
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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UnMarketing shows you how to unlearn the old ways and consistently attract and engage the right customers. You'll stop just pushing out your message and praying that it sticks somewhere. Potential and current customers want to be listened to and validated and have a platform to be heard - especially online. With UnMarketing, you'll create a relationship with your customers and make yourself the logical choice for their needs.
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Authentic and genuine people
- By Karin Bertelsen on 06-30-20
By: Scott Stratten, and others
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Alibaba
- The House That Jack Ma Built
- By: Duncan Clark
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the world's largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China's booming private sector.
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Strange: Best part of story happens "off-screen"
- By Tristan on 09-02-16
By: Duncan Clark
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High-Hanging Fruit
- Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else WIll
- By: Mark Rampolla
- Narrated by: Mark Rampolla
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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When Mark Rampolla filled a notebook with potential start-up ideas, his wife asked him some tough questions. What about this idea is exciting, beyond the possibility of a profit? How will it fit into a life that makes you and your family happy? How will it change the world? Eventually Mark found his great idea: coconut water. He had seen the developing world use coconut water, but this valuable resource was being discarded in the US. While taking on the beverage industry was a big goal - high-hanging fruit - it was worth the risk.
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10 Chapter Infomercial
- By KIM WILLIAMSON on 02-16-20
By: Mark Rampolla
What listeners say about The Launch Pad
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Alex
- 04-26-16
Perfect intro for outsiders
Loved it, I feel like I finally know a bit of what they look for.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Blake
- 07-28-18
Y Combinator
This is a very well written book if you love tech, i suggest reading it.
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- Jose
- 08-16-16
Grear
I cant wait to listen to it again, great audio book! I ghink I will get the printed version as well
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- Roman G
- 08-11-17
I wish I read it two years ago
Great book. Very insightful and educational. As the leading photography platform (think Uber for professional photographers) we thought Splento was an ideal fit for YC. This book clearly explains why it wasn't. Having a great business and team do not necessarily matter, both team and idea have to be right for YC and tick certain boxes. So if you are an aspiring entrepreneur thinking of applying to YC, read this book first to save yourself time and disappointment.
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- NC Native
- 07-18-15
What Haight-Ashbury was to Hippies, Y-Combinator is to Geeks
Interesting inside view of high tech start-up culture. Especially valuable to young computer geeks with entrepreneurial inclinations. Can I get a do-over?
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- Mike
- 09-27-19
Makes me wish I lived in Silicon Valley
Super interesting, this is what America is about, unlimited opportunity to do something interesting and great.
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- Christian Martinez
- 04-15-18
On Towards a New Journey
An awesome tale describing the whole 3 month crucible at YCombinator’s startup program. The author takes you from start day - describing some of the ideas of the batch, to demo day. Along the way, we learn a few things about the founders. We learn their troubles, and listen to their thinking process when conjuring new ideas.
I listened to the book on Audible. The narrator performed well. Really enjoyed his clear voice.
A motivating book that was much needed for myself. This book has motivated me towards a new journey - the startup journey.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Roy Andre Tollefsen
- 08-12-18
Great book!
Great book! Would have loved to hear more from the YC attendees, pre-work and post batch.
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- Robert
- 04-03-17
peak behind the scenes
I really enjoyed this audio book. It gives nice overview of y combinator and that your ideas don't have to be big to be successful.
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- Book Deals Club
- 07-21-15
Interesting look at startups
Interesting look at the startups that have come out of y combinator. I enjoyed it.
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