Book excerpt: A NATIONAL BESTSELLER & FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH "Full of powerful, practical lessons on changing how we think and act." –Eric Schmidt, former CEO and Chairman of Google "A must-read for board members, executives, and investors.” – Amy Bance, investor and Fortune 500 Board Member The Venture Mindset is a playbook on how to adapt to a rapidly changing world, make smarter bets, launch new ventures, and transform traditional organizations into hubs for innovation, from a top Stanford professor and a technology executive. Venture capitalists are known for their extraordinary ability to spot opportunities. They know how to identify emerging trends, how to bring new industries into being, and when to hold them and when to fold. Their unique mindset has made them the force behind world-changing companies such as Amazon, Google, Moderna, SpaceX, and Zoom. Stanford Professor Ilya Strebulaev has devoted two decades to studying VCs’ counterintuitive approaches to decision-making and the reasons behind the successes and failures of corporate innovations. Alex Dang has witnessed up close how VCs’ thinking and mechanisms can create successful businesses at companies like Amazon and McKinsey. Combining their insight and extensive experience, they present nine distinct principles that will help you make better decisions, transform your business, and achieve remarkable results, no matter your industry. In The Venture Mindset, you’ll learn: • One question VCs ask that will change the way you evaluate opportunities • Why you should encourage dissent and be wary of consensus • The number one killer of innovation in traditional corporate environments • Why it’s crucial to learn when to ‘pull the plug’ on initiatives • Why failure is not just an option, but a necessity Packed with entertaining stories and scientific precision, The Venture Mindset is a must-read for anyone who wants to be better equipped for the era of uncertainty when industry, company, and career can be disrupted overnight. The Venture Mindset will teach you more than how to simply survive. It’ll teach you how to win big.