The Parallel Entrepreneur

"The Parallel Entrepreneur is to B2B startups as Rich Dad Poor Dad is to real-estate. It's a manifesto to entrepreneurs that you don't need to raise venture capital to build a profitable business; that you can be your own boss; that you can control your own destiny -- and still be successful. Ryan is one of the few folks who've successfully navigated this path, and in this book he shares his hard-won experience. If you are thinking about starting a business to generate some cash, you owe it to yourself to read The Parallel Entrepreneur." - Jon Miller, CEO of Engagio and Co-founder of Marketo "The Parallel Entrepreneur is a fantastic resource for anyone who has faced the conundrum of wanting to stay at their current job while starting one or multiple companies in parallel - and my experience at Upwork shows me that a lot of people are trying to do this. Ryan, himself a parallel entrepreneur, describes his best practices as well at those collected from others in a compelling, down-to-earth book that will walk the reader through why and how to become a parallel entrepreneur." - Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork Building a product on the internet is relatively easy these days. It's the making money part that's hard. I wrote this book to help you become a parallel entrepreneur faster than I did, and to encourage you to do so while you have the safety net of a day job. I've divided this book into two parts: Theory and Tactics. The Theory section will cover all sides of parallel entrepreneurship and lean on both my experiences and those of others who have also ventured into parallel entrepreneurship. I lay out a framework and incorporate insights and patterns from dozens of parallel entrepreneurs so that we can understand the rationale behind splitting your time across multiple ventures instead of focusing on just one. This is important because we've all heard the refrain, "Focus, focus, focus." I'll explain why this is right (each business you start should be singularly focused) and why this is wrong (because--and this is the point of the book--you can have multiple singularly focused businesses!) The Tactics section covers everything you need to know in order to plan, build, and run a business on the internet -- all while keeping your day job. The businesses I'm focusing on are singles and doubles, not home runs and grand slams. The businesses I want you to build are little money makers with no staff. Combine them together and you'll be financially free. Throughout this book I'll explain why keeping your businesses small and simple is very important. Furthermore, I focus solely on businesses that sell to other businesses. These are called "B2B" companies. I think it's too hard to build a consumer-facing ("B2C") business on your own. If you're reading this book, you're probably interested in working for yourself. In these pages, you'll get helpful resources from my journey along with insights into the nasty pitfalls you'll inevitably discover. This book is designed to be both a story and an encyclopedia that you can keep referring back to as you build your businesses. I must warn you: what you're about to embark upon is all-consuming, painful, and frustrating. You will want to quit several times before you finally turn your idea into a personal ATM machine. I hope you stick with it long enough to get there. Join The Parallel Entrepreneur's online community at http://www.parallelentrepreneurship.com.