Phil Liao reviewed “Working Capital: It Takes More Than Money” in January 2021, here is his full review with more context on his experience as an entrepreneur.
Phil Liao Reviews of “Working Capital: It Takes More Than Money”
While there are many books that can help you on your path to entrepreneurship (i.e. The E-myth, Start Small Stay Small, The Mom Test) I have found this book transmits an inordinate amount of holistic wisdom in a short amount of time, especially for those who are just starting out. It’s a book I’ll be reading multiple times.
Consider, for example, these nuggets of wisdom:
“Many entrepreneurs get a jolt in their new venture when they discover that their credibility with strangers, which was once freely granted by virtue of their employer, must now be earned one painstaking step at a time.”
“We always recommend that entrepreneurs start with a service-first approach to shorten time between product iterations. Instead of spending money to build a product and then asking for feedback, sell the incomplete solution as a service.”
“When looking for your team, the co-founder rule of thumb is ‘shared values, complementary strengths.’ Many of the serious arguments between co-founders can stem from overlapping strengths.”
And the book is packed with useful, non-obvious advice like that. Had I read this book before embarking on my first attempt at entrepreneurship last year, I would have been able to avoid many major issues that ultimately led to failure.
I strongly recommend any aspiring entrepreneur to pick up this book. The more mentorship you can get, the more time you’ll save, and this book conveys decades of entrepreneurial wisdom in its 100 pages.
Read this book before starting a venture, it’ll save you time and grief!
Phillip Liao in “Like having a mentor in your pocket. Read it BEFORE starting a business!“
About Phil Liao
Phil Liao (@philipliao_)graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 2014 with a BA in Economics and a minor in Computer Science. He has worked at Symphony Commerce and Uber as a Software Engineer, and founded or join several early stage technology startups, including: Feather, Summer of Shipping, SpaceTime , Emoji cp , and Motivational WD-40 . He is active in the IndieHackers community and blogs at
SKMurphy Take
Phil is a serial entrepreneur who has taken part in several startups and has directly experienced some of the challenges the book addresses. I was gratified that he the book in such good company by comparing it to The E-myth, Start Small Stay Small, and The Mom Test. It’s hard to know what insights and advice resonate and his choice of three quotes to excerpt provided me with direct feedback on what he found useful.
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