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  • The Messy Middle

  • Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture
  • By: Scott Belsky
  • Narrated by: Scott Belsky
  • Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (31 ratings)

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The Messy Middle

By: Scott Belsky
Narrated by: Scott Belsky
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Publisher's Summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Messy Middle, written and read by Scott Belsky.   

Silicon Valley is full of start-up success stories; every day stories emerge of a new company with the potential for a billion-dollar valuation and plans for global domination. 

But what can we really learn from these stories? How many of these start-ups are genuinely successful in the long term? When nine out of ten start-ups end in spectacular burnout, how can we ensure our own success story?  

While most books and press focus on the more sensational moments of creation and conclusion, The Messy Middle argues that the real key to success is how you navigate the ups and downs after initial investment is secured. It will give you all the insights you need to build and optimise your team, improve your product and develop your own capacity to lead. Building on seven years of meticulous research with entrepreneurs, small agencies, start-ups and billion-dollar companies, Scott Belsky offers indispensable lessons on how to endure and thrive in the long term.

©2018 Scott Belsky (P)2018 Penguin Audio

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Lots of good ideas & content

I got a lot out of this book. Aimed primarily at motivation and putting elements into perspective.

Not so much actionable content, but definitely helpful to get in the right mindset.

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A Bible for Entrepreneurs

By far, the Best Book and Mentoring I had (and will probably ever have).
Dear Scott Belsky, thank you so much for sharing all your experience in this book. I truly have no words to thank you for all your advice and knowledge shared. There is a chapter for everyone at their own stage of the journey in this book. I can't recommend this book enough! A hundred stars out of ten.

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Basic premise worthwhile, execution could use some polish

Good on this guy for writing a book. A bit of happy clappy repetition in parts and he doesn’t exactly have a voice for radio but mostly great content that reinforces how hard the messy middle is and gives solid advice on how to deal with it.

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must read for anyone in product

great advice for every part of a product process, including how to work with different teams, people and yourself.

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Great book for founders of product companies

Scott gives an honest account of his journey from being a founder of an early-stage company (Behance) to his experience as an executive at Adobe. I found large sections of the book to be highly relevant with the journey we are currently on at Vervoe. I didn't agree with absolutely everything (and there was a clear design bias, which is obviously understandable), but all of Scott's insights were, at a minimum, thoughtful and founder-centric. Section 8, which focused on hiring, was especially good. Great book overall.

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  • CB
  • 01-02-2023

Not good - soundbite city.

The book feels like it’s written by chatGPT answering the request ‘write a book using only business soundbites’. It feels like the author just wants to be quoted, there is no real story or narrative. The sound bites are mildly interesting but not ground breaking. Not worth buying IMO.

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