E-raamat: Startupland: How Three Guys Risked Everything to Turn an Idea into a Global Business

"Startupland is the story of Zendesk, founded in the kitchen of a Copenhagen loft, and now a 500-person company with customers in 140 countries and one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley. Zendesk provides customer service software to major clients. Much like Zendesk's mission itself--to remove the friction, the barriers and the mystery in order to make software easier and more approachable--this book removes some of the myths about startups and startup founders. Instead of making things murky andcomplicated, this book inspires and empowers you to follow your own dream and create your own story. This book makes you want to go out and do something--not just because there's an opportunity in the market, or a path to make money, but because you wantto build something that you believe in, are determined to design your own destiny, and understand that what you do matters.While there are books by consultants who tell you how to build businesses, or entrepreneurs now running billion dollar businesses, there are few books from people still in the trenches who acutely remember what it was like. Startupland is indispensable reading for all entrepreneurs who want to make their ideas the next big thing"--

The real story of what it takes to risk it all and go for broke.

Conventional wisdom says most startups need to be in Silicon Valley, started by young engineers around a sexy new idea, and backed by VC funding. But as Mikkel Svane reveals inStartupland, the story of founding Zendesk was anything but conventional.

Founded in a Copenhagen loft by three thirty-something friends looking to break free from corporate doldrums, Zendesk Inc. is now one of the hottest enterprise software companies, still rapidly growing with customers in 150 countries. But its success was anything but predestined. With revealing stories both funny and frank, Mikkel shares how he and his friends bravely left secure jobs to start something on their own, how he almost went broke several times, how they picked up themselves and their families to travel across the world to California and the unknown, and how the three friends were miraculously still together for Zendesk's IPO and (still growing) success.

Much like Zendesk's mission itself—to remove friction, barriers, and mystery in order to make customer service easier and more approachable—Startuplandremoves some of the myths about startups and startup founders. Mikkel's advice, hard-won through experience, often bucks conventional wisdom and entrepreneurial tropes. He shares why failure (whether fast or slow) is awful, why a seemingly boring product or idea can be the most exciting, why giving back to the community is as important as the bottom line. From how to hire right (look for people who are not offended by swearing) to which personas generate the highest response rates, Mikkel answers the most pressing questions from the perspective of someone still in the trenches and willing to share the hard truth, warts and all.

While there are books by consultants who tell you how to build businesses, or by entrepreneurs now running billion-dollar businesses, there are few books from people still in the trenches who acutely remember the difficult daily decisions, the thrill (and fears) of the early days, the problems that scale with growing a business, and the reason why they all went on the adventure in the first place.Startupland is indispensable reading for all entrepreneurs who want to make their ideas the next big thing. The book will inspire and empower you to follow your own dream and create your own story.