Irrational Persistence: Seven Secrets That Turned a Bankrupt Startup Into a $231,000,000 Business

Sounds like the key to success is find a guy who already has an idea, has brought that idea to market, and then become his partner.

loved it!

It was an excellent story about the passion and hard work it takes to start and grow a business.

This is definitely one of the best books for someone thinking of starting a business. The "four stars" is not a negative in any way. I like the book very much. However, the title is "irrational persistence" and that is a strong theme throughout. I dropped a star just as a balance--because sometimes persistence not only seems irrational (as it did for Dave Zilko, financing his Garden Fresh salsa business with $2500 he charged on his girlfriend's credit card--and then persisted in business for years when he was $400,000 in debt with no likelihood of ever getting it back.) Sometimes this kind of persistence can not only be "Irrational" it can also be "Foolish". In Zilko's case, he had a good idea and he had a talent for marketing and selling and he had the luck to meet and team up with a great and very compatible partner. That's a lot of danger points along the way to success (BIG success that included selling the business after over a decade to Whole Foods for ....)A book like this can be very inspiring. I also really liked how Zilko didn't make it sound easy (at all). Nor did he take all the credit--he had a lot of support, both financially and emotionally, from his girlfriend and his father. The importance of a supportive network for an entrepreneur cannot be overstressed and I respected his humility in emphasizing their importance here. He gives a good overview of the struggles, the challenges, of starting your own business. He goes into some strategies for overcoming problems and giving yourself the best chance of success. But any reader needs to carefully read the "challenge" and "risk" parts of the story and not do what we all want to do--jump to the part where we dream of selling a company for a quarter of a billion dollars, too.This is a very good book to give to someone thinking of starting a business. Yes, it is inspiring. But it also shows an important fact: these guys worked HARD -- for years-- before it began to pay off. Aspiring entrepreneurs need to ask themselves, "Do I have whatever it takes to make that kind of commitment?" This book--well written, informative, and easy to read--will help to get them there and to an honest appraisal of their own likelihood for success.. Hopefully, that's what readers will take away from it--NOT that the key to big financial success is to simply be persistent.

A fantastic biography about how a couple of middle-aged men (and their wives) started a salsa company in Detroit with over a million dollars in debt and eventually sold for almost a quarter of a billion dollars.Dave takes us through a lot of twists and turns in his journey through the food industry. The takeaways strike at the core of not only what makes a great entrepreneur, but also what makes a good person as well.Amongst the many lessons Dave teaches you, my favourite definitely is the suggestion that we need a North Star to guide all of our decisions in life. Otherwise, you'll be fraught with confusion trying to make decisions on the fly while weighing dozens of variables. Because of this, Dave tells us to identify our one visionary goal that we want to achieve and stick to it as if your life depended on it (because it does).It also has some interesting lessons for marketing as well. I won't spoil the book, but I truly thought this was quite a gem for everyone (not only entrepreneurs). In short, Dave advises that we shouldn't aim to sell, instead we need to form long-term partnerships where we can truly benefit our customers/partners.All in all, a fantastic book. Not too lengthy, but yet comprehensive enough to give you a good context of the very real characters involved. Great job Dave.

The best business inspirational books are the ones that are true (or seem to be).Founded in 1988 to refrigerated salsa, the company prospered as it faced one difficulty or crisis after another. No one who hasn't owned a struggling small business - and virtually all small businesses struggle all day, every day - can appreciate everything that goes into the simple act of keeping the business' doors open.Zilko and his associates fought those battles to a rousingly successful conclusion - being bought out by a major corporation for $231-million as they were in 2015.This a well-written, comfortable book that demonstrates the small-scale entrepreneur can make it big, if that is what they want to acheive.Well worth the reading time for the small entrepreneur.Jerry

An inspiring “Only in America” story of a salsa company founded in the back of a bankrupt restaurant that remarkably grew to become the #1 brand of fresh salsa. Readers ride along with Dave and his partner as they conquer countless setbacks and crushing adversity to ultimately sell to a Fortune 500 food company for $231 million. With great humility, Zilko shares seven powerful secrets, gleaned over the course of his multi-decade entrepreneurial career. Irrational Persistence is a different kind of business book. Shunning a textbook, didactic approach, Zilko takes the reader on a touching journey reading much more like a novel. This heartfelt and personal account is both energizing and practical, delivering a success formula applicable to both the upstart entrepreneur as well as the multinational firm.