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Lost and Founder
- Narrated by: Rand Fishkin
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Professionals & Academics
Non-member price: $30.38
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Publisher's Summary
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Lost and Founder written and read by Rand Fishkin.
Everyone knows how a startup story is supposed to go: a young, brilliant entrepreneur has an cool idea, drops out of college, defies the doubters, overcomes all odds, makes billions and becomes the envy of the technology world.
This is not that story.
Rand Fishkin, the founder and former CEO of Moz, is one of the world's leading experts on SEO. Moz is now a $45 million a year business, but Fishkin's business and reputation took 15 years to grow, and his startup began not in a Harvard dorm room but as a mother-and-son family business that fell deeply into debt.
Now Fishkin pulls back the curtain on tech startup mythology, exposing the ups and downs of startup life that most CEOs would rather keep secret. For instance: a minimally viable product can be destructive if you launch at the wrong moment. Growth hacking may be the buzzword du jour, but initiatives to your business can fizzle quickly. Revenue and profitability won't protect you from layoffs. And venture capital always comes with strings attached.
In Lost and Founder Fishkin reveals the mostly awful, sometimes awesome truth about startup culture with the transparency and humour that his hundreds of thousands of blog readers have come to love. Fishkin's hard-won lessons are applicable to any kind of business environment and this audiobook can help solve your problems, and make you feel less alone for having them.
What listeners say about Lost and Founder
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Vishal Ganatra
- 09-08-2019
Great book, refreshingly honest and vulnerable
I normally don't write reviews, but Rand's book has valuable, honest and vulnerable information. It demonstrated Rand's intent to help entrepreneurs along their journey.
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- Amazon Customer
- 30-04-2019
One of the best business books Ive read
Ok, as Im a digital marketer and Rands story pretty closely follows my own (at least on a smaller scale) Im probably biased, however the honesty, transparency, authenticity, lack of ego getting in the way of facts, and the dedication Rand has taken in working out why things happened the way they did at MOZ and how he would do things differently next time, make this book completely unique and invaluable. I’ve read many great businesses books, but from the point of view of real, in the trenches lessons from someone who’s been there, this one’s the best so far.
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- Fargeot
- 07-01-2019
A great read!
Great insight into the tech startup world, rightfully taking down the glamour of it with great humor and transparency. Being part of this world, a lot of it resonates. A great read and eye-opener to whoever is thinking of building a business.
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- Peter J Cossey
- 24-11-2018
Refreshing (and valuable) behind-the-scenes story
I loved this for its well written story, great delivery (Rand's voice is uniquely suited for audiobooks!) and above all, insightful and honest business advice. It's like the best behind-the-scenes online startup story combined with a business case-study that's has actionable insights.
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- Kenny Lee
- 18-06-2018
Fantastic candid sharing
Love how Rand shares all the candid lessons learnt, stuffs that you don't usually read about in other books. While most writers try to inspire with generic and common knowledge stuffs, Rand talks about thoughts and experiences that founders would usually be too embarrassed to reveal or admit.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 06-09-2019
Very good & honest feedback on starting a company
Story was good and engaging, last bit was a bit to techy and less about startups as whole. But very relevant and enjoyable
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- Gokul Chandrasekaran
- 18-05-2019
Worth every second of your time!
loved it. he was so honest. thanks a lot your candidness. So much of the book resonated with me that it felt written especially for me!
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- Daniel
- 09-03-2019
Better than i expected.
Thanks Rand for the honestly. More people should take the time to organize their thoughts like this. it seemed to be used for Rand and it's helped me ask some useful questions in my business before going too far down the path. high five Rand!
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- Seb
- 16-03-2019
Frank, thought provoking
Have followed Rand's progress for years. Regards appreciate the open, informative approach that Rand advocates in his writing, and business.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 28-09-2020
Well narrated but not a lot to learn from it
It focused a bit too much on money and funding, which is usually common knowledge. Many times it is just stating the obvious.
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- Alex
- 08-04-2020
Shared experiences
As a 'founder' for the last 11 years I really enjoyed this book and could draw so many parrallells. Thanks Rans and good luck
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- Anonymous User
- 31-08-2019
Brutally honest and utterly captivating
Read a lot for business books this summer and this is by far one of the most interesting and in depth book so far. loved it
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- Alex Dixon
- 16-08-2019
enjoyed this more than I expected too..
Bought this book on a whim and it exceeded my expectations. Great story and well written. Some honest advice that goes against the grain in places. Enjoyable listen.
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- Anonymous User
- 15-08-2019
Raw, hard-hitting and practical
Rand does a great job of transparently portraying the real startup culture. His insights about the ups and downs of Moz are truly useful for founders, especially those willing to go down the "Venture Capital" lane.
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- paul roderick
- 10-08-2019
An honest view from inside the bubble.
I thought the whole book was a fresh look at running a business and did not push the usual rhetoric of a "follow these steps and you'll be rich". As a person who is toying with setting up a business, he has given me a great insight in what and what not to do. So thank you Rand, it's made me a lot more focussed.
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- Nick
- 18-05-2019
Must read for any aspiring entrepreneur!
This book is a must read for any aspiring entrepreneur. If your looking to start a tech business you have this is a must read book before any other book.
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- Teodor
- 12-04-2019
Amazing enterprenuership guide.
By far this is the most personally open book for someone entrepreneurship experience. The level of details and open speaking for everything is just amazing. This book must be a guide for every one who started or want to start a project.
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- antonio
- 16-03-2019
the startup Bible
after the 3rs chapter I decided to buy even the paper copy, it's a MUST and sometimes is good to have a refresh of it.
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