As I gear up for the official launch of Give First: The Power of Mentorship this week, I spent the weekend reading, playing with my 7GL, running, celebrating my 32nd wedding anniversary with Amy, and hanging out with some friends who were in town.
Ben Wiener’s book Fever Pitch: A Novel About Selling Your Vision, Raising Venture Capital, and Launching Your Startup was delightful! Ben is a partner at Jumpspeed, based in Jerusalem, Israel. We are email friends, and he has been key in helping develop and lead the Jerusalem startup community. I don’t know his portfolio well, but I do know he was an investor in BreezoMeter, an app I obsessively used during a fire season in Boulder one summer.
I’ve read some fiction that attempts to blend classic crime drama with startups, technology, relationships, and venture capital. Eliot Peper is my favorite in that category, and William Hertling (who needs to add https to his website so Google doesn’t barf on it) is a close second. Even though this is Ben’s first book, I’m adding him to that list.
If you like a fast novel that you can read in a few hours while still learning something (Ben’s H.E.A.R.T. framework: five essential elements of a pitch that mirrors how venture capitalists evaluate deals), I highly recommend Fever Pitch: A Novel About Selling Your Vision, Raising Venture Capital, and Launching Your Startup.
Nice job, Ben – good inspiration for me if I get around to writing fiction some day!