6 Inspirational Quotes from “The Start-Up of You”

Last July, when Thomas Friedman wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about a book coming out after the New Year, I was so excited that I put in a reminder to buy it once it came out.

The book did not disappoint.

I just finished reading “The Start-Up of You,” (aff link) by Reid Hoffman (co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn) and Ben Casnocha, and I thought it was phenomenal. The book is an absolute must-read and I highly recommended it regardless of what industry you work in or how old you are.

In essence, the book’s main point is that you need to treat yourself and your career as a start-up – a company that is just being established, struggling to stay afloat, and can go under at any time.

The reason behind this is fairly straightforward: lifetime employment is not guaranteed anymore, and external factors, such as outsourcing trends and the global economy dynamics, can leave you without a job at any point.

The book’s advice is to do something about it now and shows you how to plan accordingly.

If you’re not too convinced, Hoffman and Casnocha point to a reality-check billboard sign they saw in 2009 which puts things in perspective:

“The Start-Up of You” has a lot of interesting insights, from the concept of “permanent beta” (always focusing on your personal growth in test mode), to intelligent networking (not in the traditional business-card-sharing sense) to weak ties (relationships with people you don’t interact a lot with).

The following are six quotes from the book that inspired me, categorized into two buckets:

On developing new skills

• “[Andy Hargadon] says that for many people “twenty years of experience” is really one year of experience repeated twenty times.”
• “If you’re in permanent beta in your career, twenty years of experience actually is twenty years of experience”
  
• “Establish an identity independent of your employer, city, and industry…This way, you’ll have a professional identity that you can carry with you as you shift jobs.”

 On networking

• “[Mark Granovetter] summed up his conclusion in a paper appropriately called “The Strength of Weak Ties”: The friends you don’t know very well are the ones who refer winning jobs.”
• “One lunch is worth dozens of emails”
• “As you meet your friends and new people, shift from asking yourself the very natural question of “What’s in it for me?” and ask instead, “What’s in it for us?” All follows from that.”

Have you read the book or are thinking of reading it? Let me know in the comments below!