The Idea Is the Easy Part

by Brian Dovey

Lifelong entrepreneur Brian Dovey offers readers a personal, humorous, story-driven compendium of practical advice for navigating the risky entrepreneurial journey. The Idea Is the Easy Part counters widespread myths of failure and success with lessons learned from Dovey’s decades of hands-on experience.

Today’s entrepreneurs can earn celebrity and billionaire status. Our books, movies, and TV shows seem to say that with a big idea and a jazzy elevator pitch, anyone can quickly earn funding for their own startups and achieve massive financial success. In these stories, a brilliant initial idea—and the funding you’ll easily acquire—are all you need.

The reality, however, is vastly different. Getting funding is incredibly hard, and success depends on many factors, strategies, and decisions.

The idea, as it turns out, is the easy part.

Between serving as the president of the company that developed the groundbreaking EpiPen, bringing entrepreneurship to a Fortune 500 company as president, working in venture capitalism for several decades, and being involved in the development of nearly 300 startups, Brian Dovey was well acquainted with entrepreneurship—its reality as well as its mythology.

In The Idea Is the Easy Part, Dovey busts common myths about entrepreneurship and lays out an enthusiastic but realistic guidebook for aspiring entrepreneurs to make better decisions at every stage of the entrepreneurial process.

For those seduced by the myths of fame and fortune, as well as for those who don’t realize what they’re missing out on, The Idea Is the Easy Part is a reliable guide to navigating the entrepreneurial waters, replacing today’s misleading notions with objective and actionable advice.

Genres: Business

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 3, 2023

About the author

Brian Dovey was a business author, venture capitalist, and partner at the venture capital firm Domain Associates, which invested more than $2.8 billion in startups since 1988. He was involved in the development of more than 250 pharmaceutical and life-sciences startups and served on the boards of more than thirty-five companies (and as chairman of six) with a combined value of more than $25 billion. Dovey was an early executive and then president of a medical-technology startup, Survival Technology Inc., which developed the groundbreaking EpiPen to treat severe allergic reactions. Dovey was also a dedicated educator, teaching business students part-time, including a long-running acclaimed course at San Diego State University called “Managing the Growing Firm.”

A native of New Jersey, Dovey received his BA in mathematics from Colgate University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had three children and eight grandchildren.

Reviews

[Wan Shoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Idea is the Easy Part" offers insightful and honest guidance on launching startups. As more young people aspire to become entrepreneurs, Brian begins by emphasising that a compelling elevator pitch alone is insufficient for success. He effectively illustrates that whilst good ideas are merely the starting point, the long-term survival of a business requires extensive learning and planning.

As a novice, I found the book particularly valuable for understanding an investor's perspective. It provides crucial advice on retaining control of your startup, particularly through self-funding when possible. The book includes practical guidance on crafting feasible proposals with exit strategies, encouraging readers to avoid becoming overly fixated on perfection and success.

The text serves as an essential reminder for entrepreneurs to acknowledge human limitations and maintain objectivity. The chapter detailing the expected personality traits of an entrepreneur is especially enlightening, supported by well-chosen examples. For those seeking entrepreneurial wisdom, this book is a worthwhile read.

[Justin Swanson]

👀read with eyes