A practical, evidence-based guide to entrepreneurship communication that takes readers from generating an idea to pitching it for the first time.
How do successful entrepreneurs communicate? Plenty of entrepreneurship books address interviewing customers or crafting a pitch, but none provide a complete picture of the process from venture idea to venture offering. Filling this gap, The Persuasive Entrepreneur shows readers how to effectively communicate and cocreate with potential customers, markets, and other stakeholders at each step of their early startup journey. Clay Spinuzzi draws on social and rhetorical theory as well as extensive empirical research to distill what makes an entrepreneur persuasive, centering market dialogue as the key to solving problems. Rooted in the Lean Startup approach and packed with real-life case studies and tools, this practical textbook teaches entrepreneurs not just what to do, but why and how to do it.
Presents entrepreneurship as an ongoing exchange between entrepreneurs and stakeholders
Details how to understand market dialogue, conduct it well, and cocreate with customers
Illustrates step-by-step process with diagrams, tables, and real-world examples
Covers pitching, conducting interviews, identifying problems, establishing feedback loops, and refining value propositions
ENDORSEMENTS
“This book is so much more than a guide to pitching. Clay Spinuzzi makes a compelling case—and provides actionable tools—for understanding venture creation as a robust communicative endeavor: listening, dialogue, argumentation, and more.” —Dr. Kristen Lucas, Professor, College of Business, University of Louisville
“This approachable, comprehensive text captures the long game of listening, researching, relating, and revising as much as landing the perfect pitch. Bringing years of research and theory to life, it sets a new standard.” —Stacey Pigg, Professor of Scientific and Technical Communication, North Carolina State University; author of Transient Literacies in Action
Clay Spinuzzi is Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Tracing Genres through Organizations and Triangles and Tribulations, both published by the MIT Press, as well as Network and All Edge, among other books.
A practical, evidence-based guide to entrepreneurship communication that takes readers from generating an idea to pitching it for the first time.
How do successful entrepreneurs communicate? Plenty of entrepreneurship books address interviewing customers or crafting a pitch, but none provide a complete picture of the process from venture idea to venture offering. Filling this gap, The Persuasive Entrepreneur shows readers how to effectively communicate and cocreate with potential customers, markets, and other stakeholders at each step of their early startup journey. Clay Spinuzzi draws on social and rhetorical theory as well as extensive empirical research to distill what makes an entrepreneur persuasive, centering market dialogue as the key to solving problems. Rooted in the Lean Startup approach and packed with real-life case studies and tools, this practical textbook teaches entrepreneurs not just what to do, but why and how to do it.
Presents entrepreneurship as an ongoing exchange between entrepreneurs and stakeholders
Details how to understand market dialogue, conduct it well, and cocreate with customers
Illustrates step-by-step process with diagrams, tables, and real-world examples
Covers pitching, conducting interviews, identifying problems, establishing feedback loops, and refining value propositions
Reviews
ENDORSEMENTS
“This book is so much more than a guide to pitching. Clay Spinuzzi makes a compelling case—and provides actionable tools—for understanding venture creation as a robust communicative endeavor: listening, dialogue, argumentation, and more.” —Dr. Kristen Lucas, Professor, College of Business, University of Louisville
“This approachable, comprehensive text captures the long game of listening, researching, relating, and revising as much as landing the perfect pitch. Bringing years of research and theory to life, it sets a new standard.” —Stacey Pigg, Professor of Scientific and Technical Communication, North Carolina State University; author of Transient Literacies in Action
Author
Clay Spinuzzi is Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Tracing Genres through Organizations and Triangles and Tribulations, both published by the MIT Press, as well as Network and All Edge, among other books.
