How Hard Can It Be
By Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm
In 2012, the world was slowly recovering from the Great Recession while Facebook and other social media platforms disrupted global life and business, ushering in a new era of startup optimism. From his desk at a consulting firm in Stockholm, Sweden, Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm watched in disbelief, wondering, “How could such a waste of time become so popular?”
Bursting with ideas of how to break out of business monotony, Henneville-Wedholm and his coworker were ready to start something of their own. Soon, a lightbulb went off: what if they created a social platform that challenged people to get off the couch and live better lives? And better yet, what if it took down Facebook? There was only one problem: neither of them knew the first thing about running a tech company.
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In How Hard Can It Be, Henneville-Wedholm traces, in a uniquely eclectic and cosmopolitan voice, the youthful enthusiasm that propelled the promising rise of his startup—along with its equally calamitous downfall. Along the way, he teaches readers startup lessons by example, such as:
- How to pitch startup incubators like Sting, Europe’s version of Y-Combinator
- How uninformed optimism can still lead to real organic growth
- What to do when your business isn’t as scalable as you thought
- The brand-building power of guerrilla marketing
- How to pivot (and then pivot again, and again) when user growth stalls
- For optimists and idealists everywhere, How Hard Can It Be is a jet-setting parable of the European startup scene that takes on the most elusive business topic of them all: failure. Puncturing the hollow platitudes of how-to guides, Henneville-Wedholm instead offers his real-world experience of trying to go from zero to one.
As a result of his efforts, How Hard Can It Be teaches entrepreneurs that failure need not be feared. In the right light, it can be a blessing in disguise—and it can even be fun.
Author Bio
Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm is a consultant, lecturer, and the head of sales and business development at GLOBHE. He is also the founder of multiple startups, including internalDesk, a SaaS platform for enterprise collaboration, where he served as COO. Henneville-Wedholm’s interest areas include entrepreneurship, neuroscience, resiliency, and making the world a better place. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and three children. How Hard Can It Be is his first book.
ISBNs:
- 978-1951407926 (Paperback)Â
- 978-1951407902 (eBook)
Genre:
- Memoir
- Entrepreneurship
- Startups
- Personal Growth
- Business
- InspirationÂ
Themes:
- Adventure in Business (treating entrepreneurship as a daring journey)
- Humor & Humanity (finding levity in the struggles of building a company)
- Uncertainty (embracing the unknowns of startup life)
- Learning by Doing (gaining wisdom through trial and error)
- Grit (persistence in the face of repeated challenges)
- Storytelling (using narrative to capture the highs and lows of growth)Â
FAQs:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Q: What is How Hard Can It Be about?
A: How Hard Can It Be is Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm’s memoir of the unpredictable, often humorous and always instructive world of startups, capturing both the excitement and the chaos of entrepreneurship.
Q: Who is Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm?
A: Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm is an entrepreneur and storyteller who has founded and grown businesses across industries, sharing candid lessons from the front lines of startup life.
Q: What makes this memoir different from other business books?
A: Instead of presenting polished “success formulas,” How Hard Can It Be offers a refreshingly honest and funny look at the realities of entrepreneurship, making it relatable for anyone who’s taken risks.
Q: Who would enjoy reading How Hard Can It Be?
A: Startup founders, aspiring entrepreneurs and readers who enjoy candid, humorous and insightful stories about building businesses against the odds will find it especially engaging.
