Summary: Bo Peabody tells, in amusing vignettes, the story of how he became an entrepreneur and the lessons he learned along the way.

Review: One of those slim little books that's good for inspiration if you're a youngster working on starting your own business. If I get a copy, I'll be putting it on my "pick-me-up" bookshelf.

N: The chapter headings themselves contain great advice - here they are: Lucky or smart? Entrepreneurs are born, not made. Entrepreneurs are B-Students, Managers are A-Students. Great is the enemy of good. Start-ups attract sociopaths. Practice blind faith. Learn to love the word "no." Prepare to be powerless. The best defense is a gracious offense. Don't believe your own press. In fact, don't read. Always be selling your stock. Know what you don't know.

Q, xii: I was smart enough to realize I was getting lucky. (what Bo Peabody says when people ask him if it was luck or smarts that made him successful)

Q, 4: Lucky things happen to entrepreneurs who start fundamentally innovative, morally compelling, and philosophically positive companies.

Q, 5: In other words, the best way to ensure that lucky things happen is to make sure that a lot of things happen.

Q, 5: ...the entrepreneur has two tasks: 1. Create an environment where smart people will gather. and 2. Be smart enough to stay out of the way and let luck happen.

P, 15-18: Good managers are A students. A students know one thing and know it very well and want to do things perfectly all the time. Good entrepreneurs are B students. B students aren't good at any one thing, but they can do many things with some degree of competence.

Q, 19: Greatness is exactly the wrong thing for entrepreneurs to strive for. I tell my colleagues: "Never let great be the enemy of good." A good decision made quickly is far better than a great decision made slowly.

Q, 20: Start-ups are like extreme-skiing runs. The person who wins is the one who screws up the least and doesn't die. Success in a start-up is being around tomorrow, a lot of days in a row.

Q, 21: If you survive, you will succeed. (Talking about startups)

Q, 22: Ordinary people don't agree to work for start-ups. They go get ordinary jobs. So, as an entrepreneur, you'd better like odd people, because that's who is going to agree to work with you.

N, 31-32: Bo tells the story of how he "rejects his rejection" from Williams College and works with the admissions department to prepare himself to go to that school the next year. Good advice for someone who wants to do anything.

Q, 32: Train yourself not to shut down when you hear the word "no." That is in fact just the time to really start fighting. No human being likes to say "no" to another human being. When he does, he is at his weakest moment. Take that opportunity, and start selling.

Q, 50: Good VCs know that the key ingredient in a start-up's growth is not how big the company actually will be but how big the entrepreneur thinks it can be.