Smart People Should Build Things: How to Restore Our Culture of Achievement, Build a Path for Entrepreneurs, and Create New Jobs in America

by Andrew Yang

Overview

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. Smart People Should Build Things 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 Smart People Should Build Things, 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. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062292049
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/04/2014
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	1,146,370
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Andrew Yang is a writer and reality TV enthusiast living in New York City. He studied computer science at the University of Chicago and has a day job as a coder. Andrew is a devoted fan of the writer Elena Ferrante, whose Neapolitan Novels are his favorite book series. He enjoys studying languages, rooting for his favorite sports teams, and trying new recipes with his air fryer. He is the author of I'm Not Here to Make Friends and The Ping-Pong Queen of Chinatown.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Part 1 Where Our Talent is Going

1 The Prestige Pathways 3

2 Too Much of a Good Thing 16

3 Professional Training Cuts Both Ways 31

4 Network Effects and Why Human Capital Markets Don't Self-Correct 44

Part 2 Building Things

5 Building Things Is Really Hard 57

6 How You Get Better 73

7 Running a Company 83

8 Rent-Seeking versus Value Creation 98

Part 3 Solving the Problem

9 The Qualities We Need 107

10 Building a Machine to Fix the Machine 113

11 The Future Changes for at Least a Few 138

12 Teams of Builders 149

13 Training Camp, and Notes from the Field 154

Part 4 The Future

14 Mow to Get Smart People to Build Things 175

Acknowledgments 189

Appendix A Venture for America Mission Statement and Credo 193

Appendix B The State of Venture for America 195

Appendix C Accounts from 2012 and 2013 Venture Fellows 197

Appendix D Job Traits 212

Appendix E 2012 Venture Fellows and Their Employers 222

Appendix F The Postgraduate Paths of National University Graduates 227

Notes 235

Index 243

Editorial Reviews

11/25/2013
Entrepreneur and “recovering lawyer” Yang is the founder and CEO of Venture for America, a nonprofit that seeks to match top graduates with startups and other high-growth companies. Yang suggests that many young people graduate from college and seek jobs in finance, law, and medicine because it’s expected of them. The downside is that many of these promising young people hit their mid-20s with tons of student debt, and realize they’ve been trained very narrowly, in addition to not enjoying their jobs. How much could the world be changed if these young and energetic people went to startups, rather than going corporate? Yang’s pitch for entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to more structured careers is enticing, but readers will get the book’s points after the first 10 pages. Overall the book, which contains far too much of Yang’s own story, reads like an advertisement for Venture for America. A few half-hearted tips only serve to throw the overall weak presentation into stark relief. Agent: Byrd Leavell, Waxman Leavell Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Yang’s pitch for entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to more structured careers is enticing.” — Publishers Weekly

“Andrew Yang lays out a solution that is a proven winner for not only the young generation coming of age, but for the nation as a whole.” — Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Rock Ventures

“I have great respect for the foresight Andrew brought to his groundbreaking start-up, Venture for America, and Andrew has become living proof that it’s possible to create a platform that makes it easier than ever for the country’s best and brightest to help others succeed.” — Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn

“Andrew is one of those rare visionaries who puts dreams into action. This book is a roadmap for young people in designing their careers, a playbook for policy makers for rebuilding our cities, and a path forward to moving entrepreneurship back to the center of the American economy.” — Arianna Huffington, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post

“I wish this book and Venture for America had existed when I graduated from college and wanted to make the world a better place but didn’t know where to turn. This book details how we can channel our top graduates into impactful entrepreneurial opportunities while addressing our economy’s biggest problems.” — Dave Gilboa, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker

“A lot of people in the world are chasing the money, not the passion. Smart People Should Build Things shows them a way out — and has the potential to change the way we define success in business.” — Tony Hsieh, NY Times bestselling author of "Delivering Happiness" and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.

“Enlightening and frequently surprising and moves much of the author’s pro-entrepreneurship slant from conventional wisdom into fact-based guidance for the “young, hungry talent” he hopes will help rebuild the American economy. A galvanizing amalgam of personal history, acquired business wisdom and mentorship.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Andrew is one of those rare visionaries who puts dreams into action. This book is a roadmap for young people in designing their careers, a playbook for policy makers for rebuilding our cities, and a path forward to moving entrepreneurship back to the center of the American economy.

Arianna Huffington

I wish this book and Venture for America had existed when I graduated from college and wanted to make the world a better place but didn’t know where to turn. This book details how we can channel our top graduates into impactful entrepreneurial opportunities while addressing our economy’s biggest problems.

Dave Gilboa

I have great respect for the foresight Andrew brought to his groundbreaking start-up, Venture for America, and Andrew has become living proof that it’s possible to create a platform that makes it easier than ever for the country’s best and brightest to help others succeed.

Jeff Weiner

A lot of people in the world are chasing the money, not the passion. Smart People Should Build Things shows them a way out — and has the potential to change the way we define success in business.

Tony Hsieh

Andrew Yang lays out a solution that is a proven winner for not only the young generation coming of age, but for the nation as a whole.

Dan Gilbert

2014-01-04
A small-business guidebook promoting entrepreneurialism over a corporate career. Yang, the founder of Venture for America, a program steering new college graduates toward startup businesses, believes in the power of innovation and venture development. In his first book, which could be perceived as a thinly veiled promotional vehicle for his nonprofit organization, the author clearly advances the idea of new business-building rather than universities' robotically funneling top grads toward traditional high-profile arenas like financial institutions, law firms or management consultancies. "I meet seniors in college all the time," writes Yang, "and they have a very vague idea of what roles are available to them beyond the obvious ones and little sense of how the economy functions." On the other hand, he writes, there are unlimited possibilities in startup businesses once candidates gain training and on-site experience. Yang generously shares his own personal journey: being raised "conscious of money," spending uninspiring years in law school, then creating a succession of influential companies that made him a millionaire at age 34. His success story of finding fulfillment in the nonprofit sector after overcoming the harsh realities of student loan debt and fleeting job satisfaction forms the foundation of the book's principles of entrepreneurial team building, dedication and earnest product development. Yang firmly believes initiatives like Venture for America stimulate new graduates to build startup businesses rather than becoming individual contributors in what is often a creativity-stifling corporate world environment. This enterprising outlook expands employment options and opportunities in nontraditional job sectors, as well. The author's use of business statistics and bullet-pointed lists of his own lessons learned are enlightening and frequently surprising and moves much of his pro-entrepreneurship slant from conventional wisdom into fact-based guidance for the "young, hungry talent" he hopes will help rebuild the American economy. A galvanizing amalgam of personal history, acquired business wisdom and mentorship.

Kirkus Reviews