Built for Growth

Book excerpt: A Wall Street Journal Bestseller Are You a Driver, an Explorer, a Crusader, or a Captain? Many factors shape the success or failure of a new business, whether it’s a stand-alone startup or a venture inside a larger corporation. But the most important and least understood of these factors is the personality of the entrepreneur—the particular combination of beliefs and preferences that drives his or her motivation, decision making, and leadership style. And your builder personality is the one resource you can directly control in growing a business that wins. Simply put, who you are shapes how you build for growth. Built for Growth decodes the interplay between builder personality and new business success. Using a patented analytic methodology, authors Chris Kuenne and John Danner discovered four distinct types of highly successful entrepreneurial personalities—the Driver, the Explorer, the Crusader, and the Captain. Each is motivated, makes decisions, manages, and leads their businesses differently. Kuenne and Danner blend pioneering research and exclusive personal interviews to illustrate how each type handles the five dynamic challenges in building a business of lasting value: converting ideas into products, galvanizing individual talent for collaborative impact, transforming buyers into partners, aligning financial and other supporters, and scaling the business. With assessments and tools, including a brief Builder Personality quiz and in-depth profiles of each builder type, Built for Growth is the ultimate guide for how to play to your strengths, complement and compensate for your gaps, and build a successful business—from startup to scale-up. Its vivid stories and practical advice show how you can unlock the potential of your builder personality to shape your business, your team, and your ability to win in the marketplace. Please visit builtforgrowthbook.com to learn more and access the Builder Personality Discovery tool.