Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Suneel Gupta with Carlye Adler, Hachette Australia, $32.99.
Backable tells the surprising truth behind what makes people take a chance on you. We all have such instances: “times when something sounded exciting inside your head but uninspiring when it left your mouth”. That’s when the time comes for you to make adjustments to your style without losing your edge — “without sacrificing what makes us who we are”.
Inside this book are those adjustments: seven surprising changes that course-corrected Gupta’s life and career. “By taking these steps, I went from feeling embarrassed to speak inside team meetings to confidently pitching ideas inside the offices of people like Michelle Obama and Tim Cook.” He went from being rejected by every investor he pitched to raising millions of dollars!
In his invaluable book, tech entrepreneur Gupta notes that lots of people have good and even great ideas, but the ones who persuade investors to back them “aren’t just brilliant. They’re backable”.
As he explains, “being backable isn’t just about lighting up a boardroom with your confidence or charisma. Instead, it’s about conveying your idea with such conviction that others come to share your belief in it too — and also believe you are the person to make that idea a reality”.
No one makes it alone, and Backable has the key steps to help convince anyone to see your potential. Gupta had the required quality to inspire others to take action. One of the accolades he received was being named the New York Stock Exchange’s ‘New Face of Innovation’. What an unbelievable endorsement!
Suneel’s tale is a cautionary one of a career that had gone off the rails through cancelled projects, missed promotions and near-bankrupt startups. He began to question his life choices … and came out on top.
Above all, applause goes to those near and dear to Suneel, who taught him not only how to wonder, but also how to believe!
