If Owen Chase can't find a way to turn his company around in the
next nine days, he'll be forced to shut it down and lay off all of
his employees. He has incurred substantial debt and his marriage is
on shaky ground.

Through pure happenstance, Owen finds himself pondering this
problem while advancing steadily as a contestant at the World
Series of Poker. His Las Vegas path quickly introduces him to
Samantha, a beautiful and mysterious mentor with a revolutionary
approach to entrepreneurship. Sam is a fountain of knowledge that
may save his company, but her sexual advances might prove too much
for Owen's struggling marriage.

All In Startup is more than just a novel about eschewing
temptation and fighting to save a company. It is a lifeline for
entrepreneurs who are thinking about launching a new idea or for
those who have already started but can't seem to generate the
traction they were expecting.

Entrepreneurs who achieve success in the new economy do so using a
new "scientific method" of innovation. All In Startup
demonstrates why four counterintuitive principles separate
successful entrepreneurs from the wanna-preneurs who bounce from
idea to idea, unable to generate real revenue.

You will likely get only one opportunity in your life to go "all
in" in on an idea: to quit your job, talk your spouse into letting
you drain the savings account, and follow your dream. All In
Startup will prepare you for that "all in" moment and make
sure that you push your chips into the middle only when the odds
are in your favor. This book holds the keys to significantly
de-risking your idea so that your success appears almost
lucky.

Join Owen and Sam for this one-of-a-kind journey that will set you
on the right path for when it's your turn to put everything on the
line.

DIANA KANDER is a successful entrepreneur, having founded and sold a number of ventures, and is a Senior Fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the largest non-profit in the world dedicated to entrepreneurship and education. A Georgetown-educated attorney who left a successful practice to launch her first company, Diana draws on her experience as a founder, investor, and academic to design and implement curriculum in educational institutions and the private sector. A sought-after public speaker, consultant, and writer, Diana has advised startup founders and Fortune 500 executives on her methodology for launching customer-focused products and services and developing an entrepreneurial mindset throughout an organization.

Praise for all in startup

I dare you to find a business book for entrepreneurs that's as useful as All In Startup, and I double-dare you to find one that's as much fun to read. Diana Kander captures what it's like to launch something new. The result is a book that helps set readers on the path to finding startup success.
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Delivering Happiness

This is a must read for anyone interested in launching a new product or business. All In Startup makes lean concepts more accessible through a simple but powerful allegory to which readers will easily relate. Diana Kander helps readers understand the value of the lean approach by tying it to a memorable story.
Steve Blank, Lecturer, U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University, Columbia University and UCSF

Not often enough is a business book so chock-full of intelligent advice and such a fun read.
John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing and Duct Tape Selling

There is seldom a read that when you start it, you can't put it down. Diana Kander has crafted such an experience that fuses an engaging story of choices, dilemmas, tradeoffs, and problems with the real-world experience of the entrepreneur. In a narrative that captures the culture and the spirit of an entrepreneur in a worthy tale of swagger, hustle and intuition, the reader will learn the lessons of the 'all in' entrepreneur and build a framework to approach their own entrepreneurial pathway. Before you know it, the lessons framed in the book become your own, to the extent that you will convince yourself you have always known them. I've concluded that anyone who thinks they may want to take a crack at founding a business should read All In Startup first.
Ted Zoller, Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

If more books were like All In Startup, the business world would be much better off, and significantly more entertaining. This is a delightfully fresh take on what it requires to follow your passioneven against the odds. Highly recommended!
Jay Baer, New York Times bestselling author of Youtility

Foreword ix
by Steve Blank

A Letter from Thom Ruhe, VP of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation xi

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1: First Appearances Can Be Deceiving 1

Chapter 2: You're Not Fooling Anyone 7

Chapter 3: You Can't Sell Anything by Doing All of the Talking 13

Chapter 4: It's How Well You Lose, Not How Well You Win, That Determines Whether You Get to Keep Playing 19

Chapter 5: The Real Pros Don't Play Every Hand 25

Chapter 6: Vanity Metrics Can Hide the Real Numbers That Matter to Your Business 29

Chapter 7: You Won't Find a Mentor if You Don't Ask 35

Chapter 8: Put Your Customers and Their Needs before Your Vision for a Solution 39

Chapter 9: Don't GambleUse Small Bets to Find Opportunities 47

Chapter 10: Even Experts Need to Prepare for New Terrain 51

Chapter 11: People Don't Buy Visionary Products; They Buy Solutions to Their Problems 55

Chapter 12: Only Customers Can Tell…