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“Fooled by Early Adopters”

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What entrepreneurs are saying about Fooled by Early Adopters

“I found the book 'Fooled by Early Adopters' to be an exceptional resource for understanding startup dynamics. The author's immersive storytelling style is particularly noteworthy, as it effectively combines theoretical concepts from various startup-focused texts into a compelling narrative. This approach makes the material more accessible and engaging, especially for those who might find pure theory challenging to grasp.”

- Zhen Song, Co-Founder, WeAI Software.

“If you have a company, a product, or even just an idea—start here. Jeff’s timely book is full of hard learned lessons every startup and early-stage company need to know.”

- Dean Dzurilla, 3X founder and former CEO of Vertify, Inc.

“Jeff’s years of experience in the startup world is evident throughout this book, and the fictional format makes the concepts all the more approachable.”

- Charlie Wood, Founder and CEO, Spanning Cloud Apps

STOP WASTING MONEY ON PREMATURE SCALING

 

“When is the right time to scale my startup?” Start too early, and you might chase the wrong customers. Start too late, and you might miss your only window of opportunity. The wrong time could cause you to lose millions, if not your entire company.

Fooled by Early Adopters is a leadership fable that follows the journey of Jonathan Reeves, a serial entrepreneur faced with this very challenge. Jonathan had success with his first startup, so he should already know everything he needs to know, right?

Unfortunately, things aren’t so simple with his second startup. After turning a few pilots into paying customers, Jonathan raised Series A funding to begin scaling his company.

But now, after six months of hard work and a new sales team, that funding is about to run out. What’s gone wrong? Is his company entering a death spiral? Is it already too late?

Fooled by Early Adopters details the key moments in Jonathan’s journey as he struggles to get his company back on track. Through Jonathan’s story, readers will:

  • Learn practical and memorable examples of lean startup concepts 

  • Understand how these concepts are used in the business world 

  • Be equipped to apply these lean startup concepts to their own company

About the Author

Jeff is a Chief Financial Officer and Product/Market Fit Coach for early stage startups. He works in venture capital (co-founder of Long View Technology Ventures) and private equity as well as teaching entrepreneurship at Concordia University.

A lecturer, consultant, and speaker, Jeff coaches early stage founders and startups on finding product/market fit, customer discovery, fundraising, and growth. When he isn’t teaching or speaking, he can still be found writing articles and blog posts about these very topics.

He has spent years consolidating and translating his unique expertise in startups to create his first book, Fooled by Early Adopters, a work of business fiction that outlines the practices founders need to know to reach product/market fit and find success.

Jeff moved to Austin, Texas in 2004 and transitioned from the world of engineering to business and finance. Having worked as a computer engineer for ten years, his perspective lies at the intersection between technology and business, and his passion remains in entrepreneurship. After spending over two decades working with startups, Jeff transformed this passion into Long View Technology Ventures in order to fund the future of software and technology in central Texas.