Today we are publishing our first interview collection book. We are excited beyond measure. I have been a long-time fan of Paris Review's brilliant series Writers at Work and have always wanted to do something along those lines. While ours is no match for Paris Review, we are finally happy that our first interview collection is here. We are calling it How to Build (that name, love it!). We hope the series will carry this name forward and you all will end up loving it immensely over the next decade.
The inaugural How to Build, I think we can call this one, collection brings together eight of Future Startup's long-form founder conversations. The questions are plain. How do you build a company? And how do you build it well so that it lasts?
We have interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years. People tell us they return to our long conversations, the ones with room for stories, mistakes, and the unglamorous details. I have wanted to turn them into books for a long time. This is the first.
Each interview appears in full, with its original publication date and a link to the source. Some are recent. Some come from our archive, and their details have moved on. After each interview, you will find key takeaways and a lessons section. The book also has an introduction, a set of reflections on what it takes to build, a closing essay on repeated good decisions, and ten questions to sit with in your own notebook.
I believe the best way to learn business is by doing. I have written about and talked about this many times. You remember the bicycle analogy, right? You learn by falling! However, that can be sometimes too costly and too lengthy a journey. Why do you have to make all the mistakes yourself when there are people who have walked the same path and made some of those mistakes you are making right now? Look around, men and ladies. There is much to learn from the fellow travelers who have gone ahead of us.
The second best way is to read closely how others did it. We wanted a book you can keep, mark up, and come back to when your own company hits a hard stretch.
How to Build is available on Rokomari: [Rokomari link].
So, what are you waiting for? Go buy one for yourself. Gift to mad ones around you. Share with other crazy people. Crazy is good. Crazy are the ones who make this world work.
Finally, an appeal to your better angel: Future Startup is supported by its readers and partners. Every copy sold funds the interviews and research behind our work. If the book helps you, share it with a founder, a teammate, or a student, and tell us what you want the next book in this series to cover.
Happy making!
