My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley

Ben Casnocha

Jun 2007 · John Wiley & Sons

About this ebook

Ben Casnocha discovered he was entrepreneur at age 12 and hasn'tslowed down since. In this remarkably instructive book, Bendissects the entrepreneurship "gene," explaining that everyone hasinherited it if they have an idea to make the world a better place.In Casnocha's case, he found a better way for city governments tocommunicate with constituents on the Web. Six years later, Comcatehas dozens of municipal clients, a growing staff, and a record ofexcellence. This book is the story of his start-up, but also aconversation with his mentors, clients and fellow entrepreneursabout how to make a business idea work?and how to have the time ofyour life trying. From Pat Lencioni to Marc Benioff ofsalesforce.com, Ben has won over the best and brightest of thebusiness world?now it's your turn!

Ratings and reviews

Ben Casnocha writes about becoming an entrepreneur and doesn't only focus on business matters but includes all aspects of life. The main message is: Let your passion drive everything you do. Throughout the book, he also strongly recommends to read a lot, sustain a passion for learning and to actively work out relationships with friends, business partners, mentors and interesting people in general. It's not a typical start-up story with anecdotes of 24 hour work dashes and buying a shirt on the way to meeting VCs. The focus is more on developing a business idea, starting a company by creating a prototype and winning early customers, then managing the company as the founder and member of the board. The book is at the same time easy to read, entertaining and full of information worth thinking about. Ben is also a self-professed bookslut.

About the author

THE AUTHOR

Ben Casnocha is a San Francisco–based entrepreneur, writer, student, and blogger. Currently 19 years old, he serves on the board of Comcate, Inc., the leading e-government technology firm he founded six years ago. In 2006, BusinessWeek included him on its list of "America's best young entrepreneurs." His work has been featured on CNN and in USA Today. He will attend Claremont McKenna College after publication of this book. In his free time he indulges in passions for ping-pong, bow ties, and chess. Visit his blog at ben.casnocha.com