ReWork

reject growth, meetings, budgets, boards of directors, advertising, salespeople, and “the real world,” yet thrive. That’s their problem, not ours. They say you need to sell to the Fortune 500. Screw that. We sell to the Fortune 5,000,000.
    They don’t think you can have employees who almost never see each other spread out across eight cities on two continents. They say you can’t succeed without making financial projections and five-year plans. They’re wrong.
    They say you need a PR firm to make it into the pages of
Time, Business Week, Inc., Fast Company
, the
New York Times
, the
Financial Times
, the
Chicago Tribune
, the
Atlantic, Entrepreneur
, and
Wired
. They’re wrong. They say you can’t share your recipes and bare your secrets and still withstand the competition. Wrong again.
    They say you can’t possibly compete with the big boys without a hefty marketing and advertising budget. They say you can’t succeed by building products that do less than your competition’s. They say you can’t make it all up as you go. But that’s exactly what we’ve done.
    They say a lot of things. We say they’re wrong. We’ve
proved
it. And we wrote this book to show you how to prove them wrong too.
    First, we’ll start out by gutting business. We’ll take it down to the studs and explain why it’s time to throw out the traditional notions of what it takes to run a business. Then we’ll rebuild it. You’ll learn how to begin, why you need less than you think, when to launch, how to get the word out, whom (and when) to hire, and how to keep it all under control.
    Now, let’s get on with it.

CHAPTER
FIRST

The new reality
    This is a different kind of business book for different kinds of people—from those who have never dreamed of starting a business to those who already have a successful company up and running.
    It’s for hard-core entrepreneurs, the Type A go-getters of the business world. People who feel like they were born to start, lead, and conquer.
    It’s also for less intense small-business owners. People who may not be Type A but still have their business at the center of their lives. People who are looking for an edge that’ll help them do more, work smarter, and kick ass.
    It’s even for people stuck in day jobs who have always dreamed about doing their own thing. Maybe they like what they do, but they don’t like their boss. Or maybe they’re just bored. They want to do something they love and get paid for it.
    Finally, it’s for all those people who’ve never considered going out on their own and starting a business. Maybe they don’t think they’re cut out for it. Maybe they don’t think they have the time, money, or conviction to see it through. Maybe they’re just afraid of putting themselves on the line. Or maybe they just think
business
is a dirty word. Whatever the reason, this book is for them, too.
    There’s a new reality. Today anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few bucks or even free. One person can do the job of two or three or, in some cases, an entire department. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is simple today.
    You don’t have to work miserable 60/80/100-hour weeks to make it work. 10–40 hours a week is plenty. You don’t have to deplete your life savings or take on a boatload of risk. Starting a business on the side while keeping your day job can provide all the cash flow you need. You don’t even need an office. Today you can work from home or collaborate with people you’ve never met who live thousands of miles away.
    It’s time to rework work. Let’s get started.

CHAPTER
TAKEDOWNS

Ignore the real world
    “That would never work in the real world.” You hear it all the time when you tell people about a fresh idea.
    This real world sounds like an awfully depressing place to live. It’s a place where new ideas, unfamiliar approaches, and foreign concepts
always
lose. The only things that win are what people already know and do, even if those things are flawed and inefficient.
    Scratch the surface and you’ll find these “real world” inhabitants are filled with pessimism and despair. They expect fresh concepts to fail. They assume society isn’t ready for or capable of change.
    Even worse, they want to drag others down into their tomb. If you’re hopeful and ambitious, they’ll try to convince you your ideas are impossible.