Model47: A Startup Storybook

By Dona Sarkar and Jeremiah Marble

How long are you going to procrastinate starting that business? You've been thinking about it for years. Have you scrawled that idea down on a napkin somewhere? Congratulations friend, you've already finished step 1 of Model 47. A few years ago, the two of us embarked on the greatest journey of our lives, to understand how the modern entrepreneur uses technology--not only in Silicon Valley, but anywhere in the world. We started in Lagos, Nigeria, working with 25 entrepreneurs building life-changing businesses. One was SonoCare, a mobile ultrasound service tackling the terrible challenge of providing affordable healthcare to the 1 in 13 rural Nigerian women who die in childbirth. To our surprise, the greatest obstacle our entrepreneurs faced wasn't how to write an app or build a website. Rather, their biggest test was truly understanding their customer's problem, solving that problem at a price they'd pay, then spinning the tale of their success. Working with these founders, we created and taught 30 business lessons to help turn their initial ideas into profitable businesses. After six months of teaching and learning, we extended our program to another set of founders in East Africa, in order to understand a different market. On the flight from Lagos to Nairobi, we began writing down the stories of those entrepreneurs--and what had worked for them. Little did we know that we were "writing down the bones" of this book. Since then, we've refined that first outline 46 times, once for every business we have worked with. You're looking at the 47th iteration of the framework: Model 47. We wrote this book for two reasons: 1. To share the framework. This method has worked for 46 entrepreneurs in both emerging and developed markets. We believe these techniques can work for you, no matter where you live. 2. To share the stories. Entrepreneurship is a lonely, scary journey. You are not alone. If you ever feel like you are, come talk to us and our crew of entrepreneurs. We're real people and we are VERY excited to meet you. We're excited to share with you our tested techniques. Things like building for one human and then winning your first 100 customers. Convincing them to become your greatest advocates. Building a dream team of co-workers and sponsors. Most importantly, turning your idea into a profitable business--all while being true to who you are. Whether you live in London or Liberia, San Francisco or Sao Paolo, Portland or Port Harcourt, if you want a no nonsense step-by-step guide to success (plus real vulnerable stories of people, some of whom have succeeded and others have failed), this book is for you. We believe this is the year you make your dream into a life-changing reality. Let's do this.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1729815669
• ISBN13: 9781729815663
• Release Date: November 2018
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 174 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.4" x 8.5"