For me, writing Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution—A Handbook for Entrepreneurs (BenBella/Holt) was about fulfilling my destiny. While I’m an entrepreneur with a dozen startups, I’m also a teacher. I feel equally rewarded when I build stuff myself and when I guide someone else in building it.
In the book, I share unique knowledge I’ve learned over the years as an entrepreneur with two unicorn companies under my belt so far. And throughout the journey of writing, publishing, marketing and promoting the book, I’ve learned that the market and the journey are somewhat similar to building a startup. Here’s why.
Many people have an idea for a startup or a book. Only a few of them will make the leap to actually do something about their idea. Of those few, an even smaller number will get the company funded or their book published. A venture capital partner is likely to meet 100–200 companies per year and invest in one or two. One percent, that’s it.
Publishers are somewhat similar to venture capitalists. They take some of the financial risks and enjoy a major part of the financial rewards. A publisher will get many proposals and eventually choose a few. The ratio may be slightly different than 1% of 2%, but at the end of the day, most books will not be published, and the majority of startups will not be funded.
And even then, not all of them are going to be successful. One out of a thousand startups will become a unicorn, and one out of a thousand books will sell a million copies or more.
One of the chapters in my book describes the fundraising process. While building a startup is a roller-coaster journey, fundraising is a roller-coaster in the dark; you don’t even know what’s coming. It is an entirely different ball game. And if you are building a startup and expect your investors to do the heavy lifting for you, you will be sorely disappointed. One veteran told me, “In order for us to invest, we need to have the conviction that your company is going to be a unicorn, and while we want you to be successful, we are not going to do a lot for it to happen, unless we see the traction that you are getting closer to the path of being such. In particular, we get excited when other investors want to invest.”
To build a successful startup, entrepreneurs do nearly all the heavy lifting, figuring out product-market fit, business model, and growth, and building everything. The role of the VC is to provide fuel for the journey, which is the money.
Occasionally, you will run into an investor who will go above and beyond and roll up their sleeves to help you to become successful. If you get an investor like that, then you’re lucky. I have been lucky with some of my investors and with some of my publishers.
So we return to the one in a thousand rule: out of 1,000 startups only about 150 will be funded; out of 1,000 books about the same ratio will get published. Of those that get funded, one will become a unicorn, and one book will sell in the millions. Many startups will eventually fail, and many books will not even become profitable. A bunch of startups will make nice returns on the investment, and the same with books—a bunch of them will be sold in nice numbers.
Artists are the same. Very few will become financially successful. I would guess one out of a thousand—another single digit, percentagewise—will make a living, and the rest will have a different day job.
Authors are like artists; becoming one is a mission and not a career choice. It originates from a desire to share your “something”—a vision, philosophy, experience, mission, wisdom, or talent. Few would think, “I’m going to write a book and make money out of it.” Most would think, “I have something special that I would like to share, it is primarily my choice of self-expression.”
If publishers and authors understand the odds involved, that will help them set expectations for their work together. Authors, you should know that it is a one-in-a-thousand market. Publishers, you should tell that to authors.
Uri Levine is a cofounder of Waze, among other startups. A version of this article originally appeared in the 2024 PW Frankfurt Book Fair digital supplement.
