I studied economics and environmental policy but landed in entrepreneurship. I wrote The Parallel Entrepreneur after I sold my first company and continued to work on Rbucks, my blog, after I joined the next company. Outside of work I volunteer frequently in my community. I’m an Associate Professor in the Business Department at Diablo Valley College, where I teach marketing and sit on the advisory boards for both the Business and Computer Science departments. I also lead the Diablo Valley Tech Initiative (DVTI), an economic development organization incubated at DVC. Related to DVTI, I run Lamorinda Entrepreneurs, a community group that promotes and supports local entrepreneurship. I have a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
By Ryan Buckley
Building a product on the internet is relatively easy these days. It's the making money part that's hard. I wrote this book to help you become a parallel entrepreneur faster than I did, and to encourage you to do so while you have the safety net of a day job.
I've divided this book into two parts: Theory and Tactics. The Theory section will cover all sides of parallel entrepreneurship and lean on both my experiences and those of others who have also ventured into parallel entrepreneurship. The Tactics section covers everything you need to know in order to plan, build, and run a business on the internet -- all while keeping your day job.
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By Max Altschuler
Max is one of the thought leaders in modern sales development and acceleration. His book is full of actionable advice for the modern sales rep – and entrepreneur – to blast through the building and closing of a sales pipeline. Since entrepreneurship requires selling, I highly recommend this book.
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By Sam Walton, John Huey
Sam Walton didn’t have a side hustle, but he was certainly a hustler. He fell in love with retail outsmarted his competition. It’s a fascinating read and takes the story of Walmart, one of America’s most successful companies and largest employers, all the way down to a competition between five and dime shops across the street from each other in a small town in Arkansas. If you think of each store as a stand-alone business (as Sam did), then Sam Walton was perhaps the most successful parallel entrepreneur in history.
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By Adrian Slywotzky
This book came by recommendation from Jonathan Siegel, the brains and brawn behind Xenon Partners, a private equity firm that I joined in 2018. This book summarizes several profit models presented by a fictional mentor coaching a business executive. It’s clever, poignant, and was helpful to me in thinking about other profitable business models. For example, in my side-hustle life, I use the Profit-Multiplier Model: running multiple small SaaS businesses in parallel using the same tech stack (make money off the same good or skill in different markets).
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By Bill Russell, David Falkner
A great book about leadership and business. I pick it because it’s on the reading list suggested in The Art of Profitability. I learned that focus is important. Bill Russell was one of the greatest basketball players of all time because he worked harder and played smarter than everyone else. However, he also recognized that he doesn’t play every position. He needs to have a great team, one that adapts to the competition. He needs them all to play at his level and he was able to do that, winning the NBA Finals a record-breaking 11 seasons. One way to build a successful side hustle (or portfolio of side hustles) is to recruit a great team to help you.
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By James Altucher
James Altucher has produced a gem. It is full of discrete shortcuts that anyone interested in finding success in business can apply to get where they’re going faster. I learned to brainstorm every day, to read often, and to work on ideas in parallel. I also appreciate that he recommends publishing early and often rather than overthinking and agonizing over every blog post and tweet. Just let it go, but have a plan, and be strategic. If that sounds contradictory, then you too should read the book. The beauty is in the nuance.
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