- Thomas M.
- Thursday, August 24, 2023
The Financial Literacy book review series #FinLit recommends thought-provoking books about money, investing, and personal finance. This post is about Project Startup by Heather Alexander, with Laura D'Asaro and Rose Wang.
Project Startup is based on the real-life business started by Laura D'Asaro and Rose Wang when they were in college. Their business idea, using powderized insects to make chips, landed them on a shot on the TV show Shark Tank. The book, written by Heather Alexander, revolves around two middle schoolers, Hallie and Jaye. They are paired together for an entrepreneurship competition at school and disagree on the direction they should take with their project. Their budding friendship and school project take shape over the course of the book, culminating in their pitch at the school competition.
Readers won’t need to know about Laura and Rose’s company in order to feel the authors’ advertisement for bug chips every few pages. There are a lot of positives to consider! However, the book excels the most at depicting an entrepreneurial mindset and what it takes to start a business. Some of the lessons are bluntly stated through a teacher character, while others are conveyed a little more subtly. Good entrepreneurs share the following habits:
- Think of a business that solves a problem that either isn’t solved yet or could be solved better
- Use a personal angle to “make the pain point feel real and urgent”
- Believe in your product
- Pitch using a test version of your product to help people understand
- Learn from mistakes and pivot to better ideas
- Listen to your target market, get feedback
- Eye-catching logo to set your product apart
- When pitching, less is more – keep it simple and high-impact (and practiced/memorized!)
- Work with a team – you can’t do or know everything, and the extra perspective will help
- Don’t give up
And just for good measure, the book includes an interview with the authors about their real-life entrepreneurial journey and making of the book, as well as a cookie recipe. There's something for everyone in here!
Thomas M. is a Certified Financial Education Instructor℠ (CFEI®) and has previously blogged about Financial Lessons That Can Backfire, Talking To Kids About Money, and Online Financial Literacy Library Resources.