Built for Growth: How Builder Personality Shapes Your Business, Your Team, and Your Ability to Win

(Hardback)

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Many factors shape the success or failure of a new business, whether it's a stand-alone start-up or a new venture inside a larger corporation. But the most important and least understood of these factors is the personality of the builderthe founder or leader's particular combination of beliefs and preferences that drives his or her motivation, decision making, and leadership style. And it's the one factor you, as a business builder yourself, can directly control.
This book decodes the interplay between builder personality and new business success or failure. Using a patented analytic methodology, authors Chris Kuenne and John Danner discovered four distinct types of highly successful "business builder" personalitiesthe Driver, the Explorer, the Crusader, and the Captaineach displaying special gifts and predictable gaps or shortcomings in growing their companies and new ventures.
Built for Growthblends exclusive research findings, personal interviews, and experienced analysis to illustrate how each type handles the five dynamic challenges of building businesses of lasting value: converting an idea into reality, recruiting inspired talent, transforming buyers into partners, aligning financial and other supporters, and scaling the business.

Reviews

Advance praise for Built for Growth: Alex Gorsky, Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson In order to achieve long-term growth, large corporations must foster the entrepreneurial spirit. Built for Growth provides a practical framework on how corporate leaders can foster, deploy, and support entrepreneurs inside their companies to unleash innovation and growth. Steve Blank, inspiration for the Lean Startup movement; coauthor, The Startup Owners Manual Product-market fit is central to the Lean Startup movement. In this essential book, Kuenne and Danner focus on the fit between the founders personality and the teams, customers, and investors needed to build for growth. A must-read! Alan Blinder, former Vice Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve; former member, Council of Economic Advisers The ancient Greek philosophers advised us to know thyself. Kuenne and Danner agree, and they argue that the personality of the founder is one of the key elements in the growth of a new business. To find out what kind of actual or potential entrepreneur you are, read this fascinating book. Paul Maeder, cofounder, Highland Capital Partners; former Chairman, National Venture Capital Association Built for Growth provides investors and founders alike with a pragmatic guide on how best to select and work with one another. Jeff Hoffman, cofounder, Priceline.com; cofounder, ColorJar The title says it all. Built for Growth is a must-read for any entrepreneur, startup team member, investor, or executive committed to growing a successful large-scale business that lasts.

Author Bio

Chris Kuenne is a successful business builder, growth capital investor, and member of Princeton Universitys entrepreneurship faculty. He is the founder of Rosetta, a digital marketing firm sold in 2011 to Publicis Groupe, and the private equity firm Rosemark Capital. He is a frequent speaker to business and entrepreneurial audiences, including the Young Presidents Organization, CFO Roundtable, Association for Corporate Growth, and numerous venture capital and industry conferences. John Danner is a senior fellow at the University of California Berkeleys Institute for Business Innovation and serves on the faculty of both the Haas School of Business and Princeton University. An experienced entrepreneur and business adviser, he anchors executive leadership courses globally. He speaks widely on innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship, keynoting corporate events and premier international conferences, and his work is frequently cited in major business media. He is the coauthor of The Other F Word: How Smart Leaders, Teams, and Entrepreneurs Put Failure to Work.