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Built, Not Born

A Self-Made Billionaire's No-Nonsense Guide for Entrepreneurs

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Built, Not Born

By: Tom Golisano, Mike Wicks
Narrated by: Mike Terry
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About this listen

Get tested and proven advice on how to navigate risk and succeed in all phases of business ownership from a successful entrepreneur who turned a small startup into a billion-dollar company.

Self-made billionaire and Paychex founder Tom Golisano understands the fears, risks, and challenges small-business owners face every day. He has launched and grown his own highly successful business and mentored dozens of entrepreneurs, helping them build their own fruitful companies.

Golisano knows how nervous aspiring business owners are about the risks of entrepreneurship. Now, he’s sharing the startup-to-exit secrets to success and how he turned $3,000 into $28 billion dollars.

Built, Not Born shows you:

  • How going against the grain can be a great strategy for finding business opportunities and why it pays to question conventional wisdom.
  • Why the pregnant pause can be an effective weapon in negotiations and when interviewing potential employees.
  • Why a prenuptial or even a postnuptial agreement is critical to any business owner.
  • What potential buyers and funding sources look for, and the best way to present a business plan.
  • And finally, the key growth and leadership strategies that have helped Paychex sustain its incredible level of growth and profitability.

Built, Not Born provides a direct and practical approach on how to overcome everyday challenges. This essential handbook is a key resource for current and aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start, grow, and operate a successful business.

Business Development & Entrepreneurship Corporate & Public Finance Economics Entrepreneurship Leadership Management & Leadership New Business Enterprises Business Management Inspiring Employment

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Critic reviews

'Built, Not Born is full of hard-earned insight from a proven entrepreneur. Tom Golisano's commitment to clients to 'make their business his business' is not only smart advice, it's good leadership wisdom. He has something to say to anyone who has built--or is looking to build--a successful business.' --John C. Maxwell, #1 New York Times bestselling author and global leadership expert
'Built, Not Born is sure to earn its place as the essential handbook for entrepreneurs and business owners of all types. Tom Golisano truly understands how to start, grow, and operate a successful business; his direct and practical approach to everyday challenges shows why he is one of this country's great entrepreneurs.' --Joe Tucci, former Chairman and CEO, EMC Corporation
'Deciding to leave a senior leadership role at a major film studio to lead Rachel and my startup was not easy. Every decision seemed fraught with risk. Absorbing Tom's practical lessons for managing a high-growth business will reduce the fears that many feel when making the leap into entrepreneurship.' --Dave Hollis, CEO, The Hollis Co. and author of Get Out of Your Own Way
'If anyone discovered a smart growth path, it's Golisano. His book Built, Not Born shows that success in business doesn't come from an MBA. Instead it's about seeing opportunities, taking risks, and applying common sense. His wise chapters reveal how to do so along every step of the entrepreneur's journey to billion-dollar growth.' --Tiffani Bova, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Growth IQ; Global Customer Growth and Innovation Evangelist, Salesforce
'Tom Golisano is a creative business and philanthropic genius, with an eye for doing just the right thing at just the right time. Read this book to learn how to he does it and how you can do it too.' --Tim Shriver, Chairman, Special Olympics
'Tom Golisano understands what it takes to grow and thrive as a business owner at all levels, and Built, Not Born is full of practical insights for those who have made or are considering making the leap to starting a new business.' --Tom Monaghan, founder, Domino's Pizza
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Felt the content was fairly self explanatory and not the insightful read that I was expecting. Nothing new that the you can’t already attain from similar business entrepreneur novel’s.

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Good advice from successful entrepreneur with interesting and sometimes counterintuitive insights (for example why its more risky to be employee than employer). Important book for history of American business.

Very interesting and high quality audiobook.

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