Book Excerpt: Ben Casnocha's 'Start-Up Life'

Nov. 15, 2007 — -- Author and entrepreneur Ben Casnocha, 19, spent his teenage years building Comcate, a company that provides city government with software designed to track complaints from the public. Now the young CEO is sharing his strategies with the world in a book that includes his own brainstorms, as well as "braintrust" entries from leaders in business.

The following is a brainstorming excerpt from "My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley."

How to Maximize Luck

I made mistakes when we hired our interim CEO, but I also got unlucky. Sometimes that's the way things go. In my view, luck is the single most underrated component of success. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to maximize your chances of being lucky.

1. Expose yourself to as much randomness as possible. Attend conferences no one else is attending. Read books no one else is reading. Talk to people no one else is talking to. Who would have thought that giving a speech at a funeral at age twelve would introduce me to a man who would introduce me to my first business contact who would introduce me to several other important people in my life? That's luck. That's randomness.

2. Trust in probabilities of luck. I think life works in peaks and valleys. Every time luck doesn't go my way I believe a piece of good luck is right around the corner -- you always bounce up after hitting rock bottom. Similarly, whenever I get lucky I prepare myself for weathering a dip. Knowing this, I can always mitigate a rough stretch and make the most of the good times.

3. Trick yourself. Self-deception is essential for high self-esteem. It's OK to take more credit than you deserve, in your own mind, for successes. It's OK to think that you can outwork and outpassion anyone who competes with you. It's OK to attribute soaring victories to a tireless work ethic. It's OK if these are slight exaggerations. After all, how many people attribute "good luck" to their wins? Far fewer than those who attribute "bad luck" to their losses! Stay humble, especially on the outside, but consider yourself (privately) as unstoppable.

The Power of Mentors

A famous Harvard Business Review article published in 1979 reported that mentored executives earned more money at a younger age, were better educated, were more likely to follow initial career goals, and had higher career satisfaction. This isn't all that surprising -- experienced practitioners transferring wisdom is bound to do something!