Customer Reviews:
 Inspirational and useful at once! August 7, 2008
After several conversations with friends regarding starting a social network I have been passionate about, I was wandering the aisles of our local bookstore, looking for inspiration and advice. And I am so glad I chanced upon David Silver's book.
David's book is at once encouraging and fact-filled. He comes across as a financier with a heart, who understands the psychology of entrepreneurs and entrepreneur-wannabes intimately, while have a time-tested point of view of what it takes to make a community work profitably.
You can expect a great blend of theory, examples and solid advice from Smart Start-ups. Drawing upon learnings from offline communities and how they evolved, David makes a strong case for growth in the number and use of web-based communities. Having tackled the 'why', he then draws upon numerous examples to give us practical advice on 'how' to go about setting up a community that will not only be popular, but also deliver revenues well beyond what would be required to support the ongoing growth of your social network. David also devotes a chapter to 'Raising Capital' for your community. I realized that David is an entrepreneurship guru who has been sponsoring and helping start-ups for thirty years, and was prompted to seek him out for help and advice with setting up my community.
If you are looking for one and only one book to read as a prelude to building and launching your social network, pick up David Silver's Smart Start-ups.
wow, the book for community entrepreneurs !!! August 6, 2008
David Silver's hypothesis is that the period of 2007 - 2010 is the greatest opportunity for community entrepreneurship in the economic history. if you belief too that we live in the "age of communities", that you have what it takes to launch a useful, sustainable and profitable community, David's book is a MUST READ. his enthusiasm for communities is very addicitive and ... his got credibility; four decades of experience as an entrepreneur/angel/VC. David shows without going into much details which industries will decline, that USD 300,000 are enough to launch an economical justifiable community, and, and idea of how a communiter could forever change how consumer goods and services are marketed. this idea would need USD 4,600,000, but a person could move the earth ...
a GREAT GREAT GREAT book for bold & visionary entrepreneurs !
 Much ado about nothing July 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
'Smart Start Ups' does start up smart: interesting possibilities to consider. But then, page after page is spent trying to convince you that the future is this one way street of online communities. Only in the final chapters does the author begin to unravel what you need to know the most: the 'how to do it' part. But once the book is finished you will still find yourself wondering how to get started.
Invaluable for all entrepreneurs! May 19, 2008
After reading countless books that all seem to re-hash the same general "nuts-and-bolts" information, this book blew me away. David goes as far as telling you what to do, how to do it, why you should do it, and how to make millions doing it. Truly a one-of-a-kind book and author. I recommend this book to all entrepreneurs, whether starting or running an online, or offline business. The insight is pricesless.
One of the best books I've ever read May 19, 2008
This book is a phenominal book. If you are an entrepreneur and looking to build a cutting edge company, this is a must read!!!!! The ideas described and the central theme of where the Internet and Mobile age is moving is dead on. David provided some very insightful examples that, given some thought, can be applied to many different areas of business. I have read the book a few times and it keeps getting better and better each time I read it. If you don't read this book before embarking on your new journey, you will be short-changing yourself in a monumental way. Keep it up David. Looking forward to the next book!!!!!
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