In this article, we share the exciting book launch for Many, Many Hats: The CEO Strategy’s Guide to Startups by Max Polec.
About Many, Many Hats
I’ve been in the startup space for well over a decade. I started my first business at 15, a landscaping company, out of necessity so I could afford to attend the University of Pittsburgh and become a first-generation college student.
That’s where my journey began and I’ve worn many, many hats since from startup employee to co-founder, accelerator director to ecosystem builder, and now as trusted coach.
This book is an act of reflection to look back and share the best practices I’ve learned that have served me and the hundreds of founders I’ve worked with well.
Who this book is for
This book was written to give you a few takeaways regardless of whether you are a first-time founder, seasoned entrepreneur, startup employee, or team member at an entrepreneurship support organization.
I believe that the many, many hats I’ve worn and the many, many founders I’ve worked with help to highlight stories and key principles that may serve you well. Here is an outline of the sections covered in the book:
- About Max: Or why you should consider believing the opinions I share.
- Your Why: How can you be successful with your goals if you don’t know what they are and what drives you?
- Productivity: How to get not only a lot done, but also the most important things done.
- Customer Discovery: Don’t play yourself. Use a structured framework to build a product that your target customer actually needs and will pay for.
- Problem Validation: How to narrow your niche down into a problem that is real and worth solving.
- Traction: How to begin finding the ill-defined product-market fit and feel true progress in the direction you are building.
- Growth: How to use marketing and sales experiments to begin, build, and scale revenue for your startup.
- Fundraising: I’ve raised $26M+ in growth financing the past 5 years and share what I’ve learned.
- Leadership: Leaders can be ceilings or multipliers. Here I’ll share an introduction on how to bring out the best in yourself, your team, and your startup.
- Reflection is a Superpower: If you don’t pause to reflect, document, and learn, you will be doomed to unconsciously repeat the same cycle over and over limiting your success.
How to get your copy
I’ve had countless people support me so far in this journey that we call life. This book is a way for me to give back to the startup community. I don’t want to make a single dollar from selling this book. Instead, I want to use this as an opportunity to do good.
If you are interested in getting your own digital copy of Many, Many Hats, please do the following:
- Go to The Arc Alliance’s website.
- Donate $25.
- Screenshot your donation receipt.
- Reach out to me via email at max(at)theceostrategy.com and share your donation receipt. Since I will be manually reviewing the emails, please have “Many, Many Hats” in your subject line.
- I’ll personally send you your own digital copy to read.
If you are based in Pittsburgh, I will be speaking about the book during a Fireside Chat on October 23rd hosted by InnovatePGH. You can find event details and get your ticket to attend here.