'I Don't Believe That Every Dream Needs A Sponsor'

I kept meeting all kinds of interesting people who started a business without going to business school and without spending a lot of money. I was fascinated with how they did this, and I wanted to understand the specifics of how it worked. 

 

I don't believe that every dream needs funding or a sponsor. Many of the people we met were able to pursue their dream without support from an external source. They bootstrapped, they hustled, they did whatever they could to make it happen for themselves. It's a myth that you need someone else to endorse your idea before starting. 

 

MBAs don't teach people to start businesses; they teach people how to be middle managers in someone else's business. I don't think a degree is a prerequisite to anything other than a corporate career. 

 

 

Whenever there is a recession, it forces us to reexamine our priorities, as well as the means in which we will achieve those priorities. Many people have found that there is little job security in a traditional career. The way they can create true security is by taking matters into their own hands and pursuing creative self-employment. I found many people all over the world who had done this successfully. 

 

I want to tell the stories of the 1,500 inspiring people I met during the research, and I hope to provide a blueprint for readers who hope to create their own freedom through self-employment… as well as those who hope to create a side income while working a regular job. 

 

I have a blog that is widely read around the world. Accordingly, we had our choice of publishers to work with. This is how it works these days — if you want to publish a book, you need to work on building a community of readers who will ultimately support it. 

 

Coffee, of course. Although while I have been in India I have also been drinking a lot of chai. 

 

I'm still learning! But certainly I am very inspired to be in a culture of people who have the values of self-reliance and independence in their DNA. I try to focus on learning at least as much as teaching, and so far it's been wonderful to see how entrepreneurship is changing India. 

 

I am continuing to bring the message of The $100 Startup to interested communities around the world. I also have only 3 countries left to visit in my own personal project of going everywhere, so after that I hope to write a different kind of book.