Acknowledgments

The Entrepreneurial Attitude is my fifth book on the entrepreneurial spirit. One thing I’ve learned about writing books is that it can be a lonely job. At the same time, rather paradoxically, succeeding at this lonely endeavor requires a large network of active supporters and allies.

For me, the first level of support has come from Sylvia, my beautiful and supportive wife. She was herself a youthful entrepreneur, the first Hispanic single woman in the state of Arizona to get a Small Business Administration loan—to expand her already existing business. After fashion design school, she opened her first store at age 24—ultimately designing and manufacturing her own line of women’s clothing, sold through her chain of 12 Sylvia Ann’s stores around the state. Indeed, Sylvia knows the message of the book firsthand.

This book would not be possible without the wonderful cooperation and support of JA Worldwide. It is in fact written in honor of that great organization’s centennial celebration. CEO Asheesh Advani has been the number one champion of this book project. And thanks to JA’s staff around the world, I was able to interview and include in the book the entrepreneurial success stories of 70 JA alumni from every corner of the globe. JA currently teaches work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurial skills to over 10 million young people a year, more students than all the business schools in the world combined. I am forever indebted to them for partnering with me on The Entrepreneurial Attitude.

Next, of course, are the publishing pros who make it all happen. Once again, I’m thankful to my literary agent, Bob Diforio, who first inspired me to write and has been there for all five of my books. Bob has been a friend since our days together at Harvard Business School and literally changed my professional life when he encouraged me to write my first book. I must also thank Donya Dickerson, the super-smart and super-supportive editorial director at McGraw-Hill Professional in New York City. Her advice and enthusiasm for the book have been all any author could ask for. We are all very thankful and proud to have a world-class organization like McGraw-Hill as the publisher of this book.

Finally, I want to acknowledge, and thank in advance, all the future readers of the book. The Entrepreneurial Attitude has been written for them, and I wish them all great success as they pursue their own entrepreneurial dreams.

Larry C. Farrell

Arizona and Virginia

January 2018