101 Startup Lessons: An Entrepreneur's Handbook

George Deeb · Red Rocket Ventures

Nov 2013 · BlogIntoBook.com

About this ebook

 A comprehensive,
one-stop read for entrepreneurs who want actionable learnings about a wide
range of startup and digital-related topics from George Deeb, a serial
entrepreneur and partner at Red Rocket Ventures. The book is a startup
executive's strategic "playbook", with "how-to" lessons
about business in general, sales, marketing, technology, operations, human
resources, finance, fund raising and more, including many case studies herein.  We have demystified and synthesized the
information an entrepreneur needs to strategize, fund, develop, launch and
market their businesses.  Join the
100,000+ readers who have already benefitted from this book, freely available
and continuously updated on the Red Rocket Blog website.

 

TESTIMONIALS

 

• David Rabjohns, Founder & CEO at MotiveQuest  
  "George's passion, ideas and involvement with MotiveQuest has
  been "game changing" for us. From jumpstarting our sales and
  marketing plans and team, to productizing our business and procedures, Red
  Rocket has had an immediate and meaningful impact from day one. I highly
  recommend Red Rocket. If you want to grow, strap on the Red Rocket.“


• Tyler Spalding, Founder & CEO at StyleSeek 
  "Red Rocket has been a great investor for our business and
  vocal champion of our brand. As a proven entrepreneur himself, George has
  provided valuable insights and recommendations on how to best build my
  business. Red Rocket would be a great partner in helping build your
  business.“


• Seth Rosenberg, SVP at Camping World 
  "Red Rocket helped us do a high level assessment of our
  e-commerce efforts and assisted with the development of a digital strategy
  and marketing plan. Red Rocket identified some immediate opportunities,
  which we are implementing. I am pleased to recommend Red Rocket for your
  e-commerce and digital marketing needs.“


• Andrew Hoog, Founder and CEO at viaForensics 
  "As viaForensics experienced significant growth, we recognized
  the need for an experienced advisor with start-up chops who could help us
  refine critical steps in our transition from a service company to a
  product-based company. Red Rocket's expertise in growth planning including
  organizational structure, financial modeling and competitive analysis were
  instrumental in refining our strategy. He helped facilitate key decisions
  the management team needed to make in order to take the company to the
  next level. We are very pleased with Red Rocket's contributions to
  viaForensics and highly recommend his services to other start-ups facing
  similar growth.“


• Jerry Freeman, Founder & CEO at PaletteApp 
  “Red Rocket has been a key instigator in helping raise funds for
  PaletteApp. They have helped me tremendously in realizing what an investor
  wants to see and how best to present it. George has great experience and
  understanding of how to fund and launch a new company. We feel fortunate
  that he has thrown his hat into our arena.”


• Scott Skinger, CEO at TrainSignal  "Red Rocket helped us in a variety of ways,
  from financial modeling to introductions to lenders. Their biggest win was
  helping us do preliminary investigative research on one of our
  competitors, that ultimately sparked a dialog that lead to the $23.6MM
  sale of our business to that company. We couldn't be more happy with Red
  Rocket's involvement with our business. Overall, a great advisor to have
  in your corner."

Ratings and reviews

A very easy read, with a large variety of topics relevant to the startup entrepreneur. Many of the lessons from this book have taught me a lot, and I will definitely refer this book to my friends and colleagues.

This read bridged the gaps and made it clear.

Tell ya later

About the author

George Deeb is serial entrepreneur and Managing Partner of Red Rocket Ventures, a startup consulting, financial advisory and executive staffing firm based in Chicago. He is also a venture capital investor at the FireStarter Fund.  George has consulted/mentored over 500 startups since founding Red Rocket in 2010. George desires to help other entrepreneurs navigate through their start-up, fund raising or other business issues. In addition to authoring 101 Startup Lessons-An Entrepreneur's Handbook, which has had over 100,000 reads online, George is also a contributing author to Forbes, Crain’s, Alley Watch, Startup Beat, Founder Institute and elsewhere.  George has been a featured speaker/mentor for many startup-related organizations, including TechStars Chicago and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses accelerators. George was named to the Crain’s Tech 50 list in Chicago and was a finalist for "Mentor of Year" by Built in Chicago, for his efforts at Red Rocket.

Prior to launching Red Rocket, George was the founder and CEO of two venture-capital backed digital tech startups: iExplore (which became the #1 adventure travel website) and MediaRecall (a B2B digital video services and technology company).  Both of these startups were sold to billion dollar companies.  George was named an Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2001, for his efforts at iExplore.  George began his career as an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston, doing mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance in the retailing/consumer industry group. George received his BBA in finance from the University of Michigan in 1991.