Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
ReWork summary
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Unorthodox advice for growing companies
19 mins
Table of Contents
ReWork
Summary of 10 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 10
You need less than you think to start your own company – launch as soon as the core of your business is ready.
Founding your own business has never been easier than today. If you start small, you need far less time and resources than you imagine.
First, test the waters: don’t quit your day job to slave 100-hour weeks, but rather gauge your enthusiasm by squeezing in a few hours each week to work on your idea. You don’t need to take on crippling amounts of debt either; just use whatever facilities and equipment you have at your disposal or can easily afford. Only use external investment as a last resort, as it will not only dilute your stake in the idea but the process of looking for funding is time-consuming and distracting. In most cases, all you need is a laptop and an idea to get started; everything else is peripheral to your success anyway.
When starting your company, focus all your efforts on building the core of your business. Without this core, your business cannot function. For example, hotdogs are the core of a hotdog cart operation. The core should be something you think will be stable in time. Amazon’s core isn’t only about books; it’s about fast shipping, affordable prices and a great selection. Publishing fads come and go, but these are things people will always be willing to pay for.
Once your core is ready, launch immediately. Don’t wait for every aspect of the business to be fully complete. You can work out the details later. When 37signals launched its Basecamp product, they could not even bill customers yet. But with the monthly billing cycle, they knew they had four weeks to fix the issue. Just get started and wing it.
You need less than you think to start your own company – launch as soon as the core of your business is ready.
Want to see all full key ideas from ReWork?
Key ideas in ReWork
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is ReWork about?
Rework (2010) throws out the traditional notions of what it takes to run a business and offers a collection of unorthodox advice, ranging from productivity to communication and product development.
These lessons are based on the authors’ own experiences in building, running and growing their company to a point where it generates millions of dollars in profits annually.
Who should read ReWork?
- Anyone who has ever considered starting their own company
- Anyone interested in what work should be like in the 21st century
- Anyone trying to create an environment of productivity
Categories with ReWork
Books like ReWork
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
28 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers