Piet Terheyden &
How I Built This by Guy Raz

I felt that the stories told in the book were too simplistic. The podcasts are way better.

What a wonderful read. Inspirational, empathetic, and informational as always. Just like his podcast. I think I'd go back to read this now and then.

This is a book on entrepreneurship, put together by Guy Raz, author and podcaster. Inspired by his podcast of the same title, How I Built This dives into the stories of battle-scarred entrepreneurs who shared their war stories, battles, losses, and wins. From these stories came lessons, insights, and some words of inspiration. It took me 2 months to finish this book because I was reading other books. But this can be finished in one sitting. I have highlighted many parts of this book starting with the introduction to its conclusion. Raz is a great storyteller. You should read it not just once, but several times.

Guy Raz’s reporter background really shines in this book. He could have taken the easy way out, posting transcripts of the podcast. But he really spends time building the narrative and a framework for entrepreneurs.

If you like the podcast, you will probably like the book as well! I was expecting more stories that I hadn't already heard about (in the podcast or elsewhere) but that was not really the case. If you haven't listened to the podcast or could use a summary of its most popular interviews, the book is for you. The pace slowed down a bit towards the end and I personally would have preferred to have less "inspirational" parts but still found a large amount of insights. I can recommend the audio version of the book, as it's read by Guy Raz himself.

Fascinating collection of diverse startup stories, showing just how many paths to personal success there are.