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What is The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha about? Does job stability seem like a thing of the past? Why should you treat yourself like a startup business?
In The Startup of You, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur Ben Casnocha argue that the job market is changing faster than ever. To build a successful career in the modern world, you must approach your career as if it were a startup company.
Read below for a brief overview of The Startup of You.
The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha
In The Startup of You, entrepreneurs Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha argue that, in the 21st century, you can no longer rely on employers to invest in your professional success. Instead, you must invest in yourself and treat your career like a startup company—as something that’s always growing and adapting. By applying principles of entrepreneurship to your career (like developing a competitive edge, building a strong network, and taking smart risks), you can overcome unexpected obstacles, react quickly to opportunities, and build a successful career in the fast-changing modern world.
Reid Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn and a successful investor who has backed over 100 startups. Ben Casnocha is the co-founder of the venture capitalist firm Village Global. Hoffman and Casnocha have also collaborated on the best-selling book, The Alliance.
The Modern Professional World: All Careers Are Like Startups
Hoffman and Casnocha argue that the work world has changed: Half a century ago, as long as you worked hard, you ascended the career ladder and then retired. Today, however, job stability is all but gone and all careers are now like startups, or brand new companies built from the ground up. We’ll discuss this idea later in this section and will first provide some background on how the working world has changed.
Technology, Globalization, and the End of Traditional Career Development
How did these changes to the professional landscape come about? According to the authors, technology and globalization have turned the work world from one defined by stability and streamlined careers to one defined by constant flux and competition.
First, technology has led to the automation of more and more industries, which has rendered entire career paths obsolete. Hoffman and Casnocha argue that while technology also leads to new jobs, it displaces more jobs than it creates. Additionally, these new jobs often require people to invest more time and education to learn different and more advanced skills.
Second, technology has led to globalization—people can hire and collaborate professionally with others all across the world. We now have far more competitors than ever before, competitors who often already possess the qualifications to do the jobs we want and are willing to do them for less pay. As a result, employers no longer invest money and time into your career development but expect you to train yourself or to learn quickly.
In short, the ready access to a global pool of candidates has eroded the traditional loyalty between an employer and their employees. In this new era of work, instead of staying at one company for the greater part of their careers, people are now changing jobs more frequently or working multiple jobs.
The Shift Toward Careers as Startups and the Startup Mindset
The authors argue that because of these changes in modern work, you deal with many of the same conditions and challenges that startup founders face: limited time and resources, fierce competition over opportunities, and constant risk and uncertainty. Startup lifespans are often short, and similarly, people are staying at companies for shorter periods. Successful startups are aggressive and adaptive no matter how much they expand.
To thrive in the job market, therefore, you must treat your career like a startup by adopting a startup mindset. The authors write that a startup mindset is founded on the idea of constant growth. Because career paths are no longer straightforward, you must always treat yours as “in development.” To do this, make improvement a permanent goal by always seeking to expand your skills and finding new ways to use your knowledge. When you prioritize skill-building and improvement, you’ll be able to pivot to different career paths with ease and success if better opportunities come along.
A startup mindset is crucial to succeeding in the uncertain and ever-changing conditions of the job market and economy. It allows you to keep pace with the fast-changing professional landscape and to act swiftly on new opportunities so that you can excel in the global economy.
Your Career as a Startup: Three Entrepreneurship Principles
Now that we’ve discussed the importance of a startup mindset, let’s look at how you can treat your career like a startup: by developing your competitive edge, becoming adaptive to changing circumstances, and cultivating a network of supporters. By applying these skills to your career, you can stand out from your competitors, make bold career decisions, and navigate unexpected obstacles.
Principle 1: Develop Your Competitive Edge
To stand out in any career field, the authors suggest you develop a unique competitive edge—something that makes you different and better than other people. In a global work economy, you’re competing with many people with similar capabilities. Success relies on making yourself seem more valuable and desirable than others. According to the authors, your competitive edge is made up of a foundation of valuable assets, a guiding set of personal values and ambitions, and an understanding of your market’s needs.
Principle 2: Be Adaptive
In addition to developing competitive advantages, like successful startups, you must also become adaptive in your career. When you prioritize adaptability, you can not only survive unpredictable challenges but also seize unexpected opportunities. To fashion a flexible career path, the authors suggest you create backup plans, open yourself up to more opportunities, and take calculated risks.
Principle 3: Build a Strong Network
Now that you’ve learned to be competitive and flexible with your career, let’s look at another key tool successful startups use: a strong network. Without supporters and advisors, you can only make decisions based on your limited perspective and knowledge. A network, however, exposes you to many different perspectives that can help you make professional decisions and provide you with a wealth of opportunities, insights, and support. Even further, Hoffman and Casnocha point out that the people around you affect the kind of person you become, so you should network with people you want to be like.
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Here's what you'll find in our full The Startup of You summary:
- Why you must approach your career as if it's a startup company
- How to overcome unexpected career obstacles
- The three entrepreneurship principles you should adopt
