“Yang’s pitch for entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to more structured careers is enticing.” (Publishers Weekly) We've got a problem—our most talented and educated young people aren't building things. They're not starting or joining innovative companies that are addressing crises in education, energy, or transportation. Meanwhile, in recovering cities such as Detroit, New Orleans, and Baltimore, promising startups and growth companies representing the next generation of job creation are desperate to attract the talent they need to expand and thrive. Imagine if the same people who are currently heading to Wall Street were instead joining startups and early-stage companies throughout the United States. How long would it take before they positively impacted job creation and economic competitiveness? Knowing firsthand why the current vision of education and career paths isn't functioning properly, Andrew Yang has set out to fix this problem. As the founder and CEO of Venture for America, he places top college graduates in startups for two years in emerging U.S. cities to generate job growth and train a new generation of entrepreneurs. In Smart People Should Build Things , this self-described "recovering lawyer" and entrepreneur has woven together a compelling narrative of success stories (including his own), offering observations about the flow of talent in the United States, and explaining why current trends are leading to economic distress and cultural decline. He also presents recommendations for both policy makers and job seekers that will make entrepreneurship more realistic and attainable. The country needs teams of committed builders to create value and restore the culture, and Smart People Should Build Things is about how we can get there. Andrew Yang is the founder and CEO of Venture for America, a national nonprofit that is regarded as one of the country's leading social innovation organizations. He has worked in startups and early-stage growth companies as a founder or executive for more than twelve years, including as the CEO of a national education company that was acquired by Kaplan. Yang was named a Champion of Change by the White House and one of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business." He lives in New York City. Read more
Features & Highlights
Andrew Yang, the founder of Venture for America, offers a unique solution to our country’s economic and social problems—our smart people should be building things. <em>Smart People Should Build Things</em> offers a stark picture of the current culture and a revolutionary model that will redirect a generation of ambitious young people to the critical job of innovating and building new businesses.
As the Founder and CEO of Venture for America, Andrew Yang places top college graduates in start-ups for two years in emerging U.S. cities to generate job growth and train the next generation of entrepreneurs. He knows firsthand how our current view of education is broken. Many college graduates aspire to finance, consulting, law school, grad school, or medical school out of a vague desire for additional status and progress rather than from a genuine passion or fit.
In <em>Smart People Should Build Things</em>, this self-described “recovering lawyer” and entrepreneur weaves together a compelling narrative of success stories (including his own), offering observations about the flow of talent in the United States and explanations of why current trends are leading to economic distress and cultural decline. He also presents recommendations for both policy makers and job seekers to make entrepreneurship more realistic and achievable.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Reviews
★★★★★
3.0
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Smart people understand why becoming an entrepreneur is like gambling with their life
The central premise of Smart People Should Build Things, which Andrew Yang repeats ad nauseam, is that smart, overachieving young people should forgo traditional careers in finance, consulting, law, and medicine and instead become entrepreneurs. This is a worthwhile idea in theory, but in the real world there is a big problem: many entrepreneurs fail. Most young college grads are tens of thousands of dollars in debt and wisely choose career paths that will enable them to pay it off as soon as they can. Yang downplays the difficulty of getting into medical school. As a physician, I know from experience this is far from the truth. Only about half of the people who apply to medical schools eventually get in. What happens to the other half? Usually nothing good. There aren't many good job prospects for pre-meds with a bachelor's in biology who don't get into some sort of post-graduate program. Maybe Yang thinks they should become entrepreneurs? But who is going to give them any capital to start a business? No, it is more likely that bankruptcy will be their future. For me, the fear of failure was a big motivator to succeed. Overall, I though the book was tedious and the proposed solutions were simplistic and naive.
32 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Include Nation Building
In my Amazon review of the Great Courses lectures on The Great Debate: Advocates and Opponents of the American Constitution, I wrote, “In a way, the Federalists were innovators and the country was a startup that offered something new." The Founders might also be described as entrepreneurs.
The following passages from Andrew Yang’s book are also applicable to nation building.
WE THE PEOPLE
“There is a common and persistent belief out there that entrepreneurship is about creativity, that it’s about having a good idea. But it's not, really. Entrepreneurship isn't about creativity. It’s about organization building—which, in turn, is about people." (p. 63)
BROUGHT FORTH, . . . A NEW NATION, . . .
”We delivered a service that customers liked more than what was otherwise available. They sought us out and rewarded us with their business. We hired more people, grew, and kept improving. This process—a new company filling a need and flourishing as a result—is an example of value creation.” (p. 98)
A REPUBLIC, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT
“We need to restore the culture of achievement to include value creation, risk and reward, and the common good . . . If we succeed in this, our best and brightest will build the engines of future economic growth. If we don’t, our talent will continue to heed purely market-based incentives, our economy will likely continue to underperform, and our culture will become more and more bifurcated.” (p. 110)
Smart People Should Build Things is a joy to read because Andrew Yang actually knows and builds things; he writes from experience. Whether building a company or country, it’s about building up people.
28 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Phenomenal motivation for joining a startup
Should be required reading for any entrepreneurship class. Yang lays out the jaw-dropping statistics of how many smart ambitious students are squandering their potential in pursuit of money/prestige/security. As an engineering student it was an incredible reminder to pursue an industry that builds and creates, not just analyzes! Yang builds incredible value for why individuals of all walks of life should invest in America by creating something (anything!) instead of walking the well-trodden paths.
An inspiring read for anyone considering a start-up, and an essential read for anyone considering law/finance/consulting!
19 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Andrew Yang, Democratic candidae for President
I ordered and read this book to see the development of his ideas, which seem to me the best among the pack of candidates.
17 people found this helpful
★★★★★
3.0
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Good 1st half, disappointing/irritating 2nd half
I thoroughly enjoyed the analysis and insight in the 1st half of the book. It was very well researched and made a perfectly logical argument about what's wrong with our economy, and how to fix it. Then the book started to annoy me, and eventually I could barely finish it, let me explain:
I am a 28 year old who fits the mold this book describes (mostly). I am smart, hard working, and looking for meaning in what I do. I was disappointed in the 2nd half because it was 99.9% a pitch for Venture For America (VFA) (the author's Nonprofit). It's essentially an entrepreneur version of Teach For America (go to s***ty city for 2 years trying to build up a business). Perfect, right? Great organization + Me who fits the mold. BUT NO!! To paraphrase the 2nd half of the book, Yang's laser like focus on VFA and their economic solution is to recruit top graduates (defined as Ivy League almost exclusively), of whom even fewer are accepted, and send them off to build companies. There was ZERO discussion about those who are A. Not 22 years old, or B. Did not attend Yale (state school? AHAHA, AHAHA, aha...).
On the one hand I understand this is a young organization, and maybe the plan will evolve in time, but on the other hand I found all the Ivy League ass kissing to be arrogant and irritating. To top it off, the first-hand accounts from the fellows were enough to make you want to rear end those smug idealistic bastards in their rusty Volvo station wagon/green Subaru Outback.
Interesting book, narrow focus, lots of pretentious d-bags.
16 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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Interesting Facts - but not an engaging read
I read this book and the author's other book "The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future". Both read like they are self-published, and they both are very similar to each other. Interesting facts which you can easily read in one or the other book -- the feel like a rehash of each other.
Bleh.
15 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Amazing book that all smart college kids need to read before graduating
Excellent book, excellent message. Andrew is a visionary that you need to listen to. Can you imagine how much more awesome we could be as a society if the smartest kids built real things again instead of CDOs and trading algorithms? Rather than waste their intellectual horsepower on new ways to just build wealth for themselves and their clients, we could solve big problems and make big advances.
This message needs to make it back into our cultural value system before we lose all our societal IQ into self-serving black holes.
10 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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Good book if you seek clarity to choose to become an entrepreneur
I liked the first half of the book which focuses on why entrepreneurship is important for the society and addresses some of the key challenges entrepreneurs have in choosing their paths. The latter half is about Andrew's own endeavor to start Venture for America, a program that focuses on promoting your entrepreneurs in starting/joining new businesses.
Overall the book is a good read and may help aspiring entrepreneurs with evaluating pros/cons of this line of work.
7 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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A must-read for college grads
I have seen way too many people bust their butt in finance and consulting and end up miserable. They are too far removed from reality and end up doing work that isn't aligned with their values. In some cases they end up creating the policies that they protested as students. There is another path and Andrew describes it well.
7 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Smart people should read this book
Wow. I read this book in lightning speed. And I wish this book (and venture for America) existed when I was in college. Maybe there's something missing to your current job even though it's a pretty good job... maybe it's just not what you imagined your life to be. I know so many people who like me graduated from a top school who feel similarly. Yang builds a compelling case for why smart college grads are going down the wrong paths and he does it in an incredibly insightful, funny and nonjudgmental way. This book may or may not move you to quit your job and move to Detroit but it will help you answer why you ended up where you are and hopefully help you figure out your next move. If you've ever had dreams of becoming an entrepreneur I think you will appreciate this book. I definitely did.
