The Entrepreneur's Essentials: Lessons for Startup & Leadership Excellence

Do you possess the soul of an entrepreneur? What are the necessary goals and mindset you need to carry your startup from a dream to a thriving reality?

“You create the future. Others dream about it, some write about it, many read about it. But the rare few actually create it. You are one of those rare people, and you are to be cherished by humanity for being so brave to define the future for all the rest.”

Brett A. Hurt is the CEO and Co-founder of data.world, Founder and former CEO of companies Bazaarvoice and Coremetrics, and Co-owner of Hurt Family Investments, which is involved in 124 startups, 40 VC funds, and counting.

With his experience of creating six successful companies, as a serial entrepreneur, and as an angel investor alongside his wife, Debra, Brett defines the building blocks essential to becoming a bold and wise business executive and leading your own startup as a CEO.

The Entrepreneur’s Essentials developed through Brett’s series of blog posts called Lucky7—named in honor of his mother—to help all entrepreneurs take proactive steps to avoid mistakes that, though common, can have a hugely negative impact on their business.

Brett presents this book as a guide with 23 informative lessons, pulling from impactful experiences from his own life as both a startup CEO and investor, sharing dual perspectives to give deeper insight. He explores the stages of a startup’s progression from deciding on a company name to hiring well and understanding what it takes to be an inclusive leader worthy of your own company. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a first-time business owner, The Entrepreneur’s Essentials will help you explore ways to make your startup better, examine your strengths and weaknesses, and find the areas in which you can flourish.

Editorial Reviews:

“The Entrepreneur’s Essentials illustrates not only Brett’s extraordinary business acumen but his principled belief in centering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the company workplace. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic that has introduced new challenges and opportunities to entrepreneurs, this book reminds us of the core values that can lead to a successful business, but also a better world. It’s a must read for all business and thought leaders.”

— Dr. Peniel Joseph
Associate Dean, Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI); Founder and Director, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School at the University of Texas at Austin; Author, The Third Reconstruction: America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century

“The Entrepreneur’s Essentials is not a textbook; it’s a handbook. It’s a resource I go back to again and again to seek out the exact advice I need for whatever challenge has come up in my biz.”

— Suzi Sosa
Co-founder and CEO, Verb (goverb.com)

“Coming from one of the most successful entrepreneurs, most active angel investors, and most inspiring leaders in Austin, we’re all lucky to have access to Brett Hurt’s newest book. Embracing his framework of meaning & the creative process of entrepreneurship unlocks the startup in all of us. It is a must-read no matter what stage your company is at.”

— Josh Baer
Co-founder and CEO, Capital Factory

"The Entrepreneur’s Essentials is a gift to us all. Brett’s deep knowledge, passion, vast wisdom, boundless expertise, personal experiences, and heart for what’s right and good make this book so much more than a ‘how-to’ manual. I have seen Brett inspire college students to find meaning in their lives regardless of their career paths. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t benefit from reading this book."

— Colette Pierce Burnette, Ed.D., President and CEO, Huston-Tillotson University