It sounds simple: with $100, you can start your own company. What a concept, right? Chris Guillebeau, the author of the revolutionary inspiring book The $100 Startup, says not only can you do it, but you’ll love your life afterwards. So what is the $100 startup, who is Chris Guillebeau, and is this gutsy concept actually realistic?
What is the $100 Startup?
The $100 Startup is based on one simple premise: find what you’re passionate about and make that your business. All you need is a product or service that develops naturally from what you already love to do, identify those who are willing to pay and find a way to get paid. Simple!
So what’s with the hundred dollars? The $100 is more of a placeholder value that shows how simple, small investments in ideas that entrepreneurs stand behind are all it takes to get up and running. In some cases, investments as small as $100 were all a company needed to find the right exposure and launch. The book focuses on these success stories, all from various startups who’ve seen huge profits on little investments. It’s not a “how to build your business from scratch for a hundred bucks” book at all. Says Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, The $100 Startup is “crammed with data, checklists, models, and concrete examples that show how ordinary people can build solid livings, with independence and purpose, on their own terms.”
Who is Chris Guillebeau, and Why Is He Giving This Advice?
Guillebeau is an entrepreneur with an appetite for adventure. Still, only in his thirties, Guillebeau has visited nearly every country on Earth and has never had a “real” job or a regular paycheck. Yet, throughout his travels, Chris has spoken to over 1,500 business moguls and entrepreneurs alike and found the best 50 case studies to showcase in The $100 Startup.
Guillebeau prides himself on being able to turn passion and talent into income, and he fully believes that we should all live our lives with freedom from the confinements of a traditional workplace. On his website, Guillebeau poses this scenario: “Imagine that today is your final day of working for anyone other than yourself. What if you could prepare for work by firing up a laptop in your home, walking into a storefront you’ve opened, phoning a client who trusts you for helpful advice, or otherwise doing what you want instead of what someone tells you to do?” It’s this ownership of our own careers that Guillebeau focuses on and highlights in this book.
Is It Actually Realistic?
There’s no question that it’s an ambitious, perhaps lofty goal: quit your day job, invest $100 in your passion, and become wildly successful. But Guillebeau wholeheartedly believes you can do it if you pay attention and focus your passions on products consumers need. And that’s where his book The $100 Startup becomes crucial: his guide gives hopefuls all of the advice, lessons, tips needed to become truly successful. “The proof is found in everyone who has made it happen,” Guillebeau says. “My hope is that this book will serve as a blueprint for many more success stories, just like the unconventional and unexpected entrepreneurs I talked to from all over the world.”
