Brad Feld

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Book Review: Lucky or Smart? Secrets to an Entrepreneurial Life

Feb 05, 2005
Category Books

I’ve never met Bo Peabody, but I know I’d like him.  His half book – Lucky or Smart? – (Amy told me that if it only has 58 pages, it doesn’t count as a whole book) is a quick and delightful romp through his entrepreneurial brain.  If you are too lazy to read a half book, you can try this Inc. Magazine article that will give you a feel for it.

Bo’s first company – Tripod (the one he sold to Lycos for $58m – maybe that’s why the book has 58 pages – and then was locked up for two years while Lycos stock went up 10x) – is still around.  We were investors in Tripod’s competitor Geocities – also still around (and part of Yahoo) – which are both logical predecessors to the things we now call blogs.

Enough history – back to the book.  Since it’s a short one, I’ll summarize by listing the table of contents.  If you can’t figure out why you’d like this book from the table of contents, then it’s not for you.

  1. Lucky or Smart?
  2. Entrepreneurs Are Born, Not Made
  3. Entrepreneurs are B-Students.  Managers are A-Students.
  4. Great Is the Enemy of Good
  5. Start-Ups Attract Sociopaths
  6. Practice Blind Faith
  7. Learn to Love the Word “No”
  8. Prepare to Be Powerless
  9. The Best Defense Is a Gracious Offense
  10. Don’t Believe Your Own Press.  In Fact, Don’t Read.
  11. Always Be Selling Your Stock
  12. Know What You Don’t Know