How does one write an acknowledgments section without it sounding like an Academy Awards acceptance speech? One probably can’t. Yet this section is important to us, because without these individuals the book would not have been possible.

Unlike with the Academy Awards, when you might turn the channel once you know who has won an award, you should read this section. Why? Because they are people you should know or want to know. They are people who are doing things, people who are changing the world.

First off, we’d like to thank our editors at John Wiley & Sons, Laura Walsh and Judy Howarth. One often hears horror stories about editors, and though they’re always thanked in the end, the acknowledgment is often buried. This book is about disruption, and there’s no better case study of an industry being turned on its head than book publishing. Laura gets this. She is forward thinking, open to new ideas, and infinitely patient. Note to Wiley: Promote Laura.

The most common question we get from frustrated intrapreneurs who see their efforts at real innovation inside their large organizations continuously thwarted is “How do we convince senior management to adopt lean startup principles?” We always have one answer: “Buy Eric Ries’s book, The Lean Startup. Ries’s book is, hands down, the best way for big businesses to understand why they need to turn their continuously thwarting organization into a continuous learning one. Thank you, Eric, for leading the change and for supporting our efforts.

Similarly, when we encounter MBA students or professors seeking to actually teach entrepreneurship and not just market the teaching of entrepreneurship, we point them to Steve Blank. It’s truly great that forward-thinking universities are using technology to make their courses available online, but the real disruption to education is coming from the few entrepreneurs who are changing what is being taught and how it’s being taught. Blank’s class at Stanford Universityi is the best example of that we’ve seen. Instead of a lab-to-market program that results in a business plan (ugh!), Blank’s course results in real, live, functioning startups with validated business models and paying customers. Thank you, Steve, for leading the change and continuing to support our efforts.

We would like to single out one individual in particular. Hiten Shah embodies today’s value-creation startup culture. He is a lean startup thought leader, kind-hearted, magnanimous, and a great friend who has supported our efforts from the moment we first met. Thank you, Hiten.

We are grateful to Fake Grimlock for providing the artwork that makes this book special.

We are fortunate and privileged to be able to travel around the world and speak to entrepreneurs, investors, and other big thinkers. They’ve all influenced the way we view the world, what’s happening globally, and, of course, this book. For taking time out of their busy schedules to speak with us, we would like to thank Paul Kedrosky, Bill Gross, Mike Maples Jr., Alan Cooper, Bill Burnett, Scott Summitt, Nick Pinkston, Patrick O’Neill, Brian Clark, Mike Volpe, Brad Feld, Andy Butler, and David ten Have.

Similarly, thanks to Rob Fan, Bennett Blank, Hugh Molotsi, Marti Frederickson, Mark Frauenfelder, Nate Oostendorp, Tom Fishburne, Alex Douzet, Stephen Devereux, Tim McCoy, Yoav Lurie, Lucas Carlson, Chris Lindland, Nick Fellers, Chirag Patel, Richard Caro, Rob Emrich, Drake Pruitt, Steven Cox, Chris Waldron, Brent Freeman, Jeff Gothelf, Andres Glusman, David T. Lang, Dan Palacios, Danny Kim, Ryan James, Noah Kagan, Jeff Titterton, Patrick Llewellyn, Jason Sew Hoy, Lachlan Donald, Venkat Subramaniam, Bill Scott, Dave McClure, and Paul Singh for sharing their stories.

Special shout-outs to friends Jonas Koffler, Giff Constable, Trevor Owens, Eric Otterson, Eric Galen, Sean Murphy, Sean Ellis, Tristan Kromer, Jeremey Lavoi, Abbey Lavoi, Julian Bergquist, Kate Rutter, Janice Fraser, Jason Fraser, Venkatesh Rao, Al Bsharah, Bryan Hall, Aaron Eden, Parker Thompson, Nik Souris, Ryan Holiday, Michael Ellsberg, Stephen Sammut, Venkat Chandrasekar, Jin Lee, Salim Virani, Dan Martell, Ben Yoskovitz, Alistair Croll, Gary Whitehill, Sisha Ortuzar, Jeffrey Zurofsky, Johnny Chan, Rodney Rumford, Lindsay Dayton LaShell, Abby Fichtner, Alline Oliveria, Cindy Alvarez, Nate Berkopec, Casey Armstrong, Taylor Miles, Shervin and Vafa Talieh, Farsheed Atef, Keyvan Raoufi, Anthony Singhavong, Faiza Tajammul, Avesta and Cameron Rasouli, Joe Zulli, Pete Mauro, Molly Matthieson, Ryan Tanaka, Amir Banifatemi, Andres Buritica, Olin Hyde, Willy Huang, Maggie Finch, Lauren Gard, Tarek Pertew, Maciej Skierowski, Neil Patel, Philip Rosedale, Danny Beckett Jr., John Fries, Josh Payne, Chris Johnson, Alexander Osterwalder, Julien Smith, Steve Cheney, Derek Holt, Scott Case, Peter Hargittay, Debbie Landa, Clare Ryan, Brian Hall, Greg Isenberg, and Stephen Davies for providing some combination of content, review, big thinking, stories, inspiration, support, and friendship.

We would also like to acknowledge others whose thinking and writing are important influences: Seth Godin, Mark Suster, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, David Cohen, David Skok, Tony Hsieh, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Clayton Christensen, and Fred Wilson.

Thanks again to our early adopters who contributed to the book by diving in early, reviewing content, providing feedback, and otherwise supporting us through pre-orders.

Of course, the book is simply not possible without the support and patience of our family and friends.

Brant: I send love and thanks to daughters Riva and Eliza Cooper for being inspirational, smart, and, not least of which, great human beings and excellent writers in their own regard! Thanks also to my parents, Ross and Cynthia, for all their support throughout the twists and turns of life. My brothers Craig and Todd and sister Stephanie, who also contributed to the book, are all big, independent, and inspirational thinkers. I’m not sure at all how my folks pulled that off, but I should probably thank them again for putting up with all that entailed.

I’d also like to thank Daniella and Jackie Zucker for help with the family, Eve Zucker, and Karl Malone for their support.

Patrick: First and foremost, I could not have tackled this book without the loving support of my wife, Katalin Vlaskovits, and our son, Shane. Kati and Shane truly know the burden of having a husband and a father not always present in the moment as The Lean Entrepreneur (unfairly) occupied my thoughts all too frequently. Thank you both for bearing with me. I love you.

It should go without saying, and perhaps too often does, but my parents Ludmilla and Joseph, my brother Jet, and my sister Vivienne have always been there for me. Thank you.

I am incredibly lucky to have an amazing extended family. My in-laws are a blessing: Istvan Csucsy, Gergo Csucsy, and, of course, the indefatigable Krisztina Albert.

To Alan Jones for his saint-like patience, unending generosity, good humor, and firm friendship since high school in Saratoga, thank you, buddy.

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It’s important to know who the true entrepreneurs are in this world. Let us tell you: They are not the stewards of wealth creation. They are not those who claim that taxes kill entrepreneurship. They are not those whose motivation is purely money. They are not the gamblers posing as innovators, nor the smarmy marketing types trying to trick, guilt, or scare you into buying. They are not the self-promoters, the real estate tycoons, the bankers, or the slash-and-burn business vultures.

The true entrepreneurs are those seeking to create value. Whether trying to support themselves or change the world, we thank you for facing down uncertainty, putting yourself out there on the line, and risking it all to do what you believe has to be done. Above all, you are optimistic, passionate doers, and we are fortunate to work for you.