Blurb:
Have you ever dreamed about creating your own company? Have you wondered what it takes to make it to that elite, inner circle of the “Unicorn Club”?
In this book, you’ll find the true story behind one of Silicon Valley’s famous companies on its rise to the top. Peek behind the curtain as you see the highs and lows from an insider perspective, on the roller coaster that is the startup life. What emerges is a lasting friendship, a billion-dollar company, and an understandable framework of success for you to replicate.
You’ll learn:
● How to find the balance between your career and personal life.
● Why emotional awareness and critical thinking are as important as specialized knowledge.
● How to identify the real skills you need to build a “Unicorn” team.
Heather, along with her husband, was one of Evernote’s first employees. Heather, unlike other self-help writers who have built successful businesses in Silicon Valley, shows us the reality of building a Fortune 500 company, which includes the strain it can cause on relationships, health, and emotions. Heather walks down memory lane to the time where she and her husband worked hard with the other founders of Evernote, how the workload brought them together but also separated each other. Heather also came to a point where she had to prioritize her marriage amidst the increasing workload and how as a couple, she managed to do it. The challenge doesn’t stop just there, as she had to deal with fatigue and sleep deprivation.
The core of her coaching methods rests on six basic needs for humanity: uncertainty, significance, love/connection, growth, contribution, and certainty. I love how she placed an emphasis on love and connection because, without these two elements, life gets very meaningless. I also think that as entrepreneurs embrace greater challenges, they often forgo their health, family, and friends, which are the very reasons why they started working hard in the first place.
Some of the marketing efforts she made can serve as inspiration for anyone having small businesses and I feel that her opinions are honest and they come from a place to help people.
The formatting of the book was a little confusing and the headings were all over the place, which made it confusing. The narration sometimes gets a little repetitive, especially surrounding the relationship with her husband however, this is a worthwhile read.
