Peer Review

The Parallel Entrepreneur

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Jun 29, 2025 by Business

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This is a book intended for entrepreneurs who want to start their own businesses and keep their day jobs (parallel entrepreneurs). It’s divided into two parts, theory and tactics. The author provides a framework and incorporates insights and patterns from many parallel entrepreneurs. One of the keys to success is keeping your businesses small and simple. This book is focused on Internet software businesses. Chapter 1 as well and the introduction were reviewed.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

This would be an effective supplement for an entrepreneurship course.
It’s also useful for individuals and teams looking at entrepreneurship
Parts of it can be used in lectures, homework, and in class discussions.

Technical Requirements:

Mozilla/Firefox Version 134.0, Chrome

Identify Major Learning Goals:

After reviewing this textbook, students should be able to:

Understand the concept of entrepreneurship based on theory and entrepreneurs’ experiences
Explain the importance of keeping a business idea simple
Examine resources for entrepreneurs to plan, build, and run a business.

Target Student Population:

Undergraduate upper level, any business courses
Courses in entrepreneurship
Individuals interested in starting their own online/software business

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic business knowledge is highly recommended, and this type of business would requireknowledge and experience in software development.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The author uses personal examples from his experiences, and personal rationale, as well as historical examples such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and Elon Musk.
The author addresses some of the key questions people considering starting their businesses might have, such as sources of income.
The book is well organized.
Each chapter builds on the others.
The book provides entrepreneurial business examples and experiences.

Concerns:

This textbook is not relevant to current trends. It was written in 2018, making some of the content outdated.
There was not enough research-based content.
The theory isn’t theory per se, but it is background information that provides grounding for the contents of the book.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

This is written in first and second person, so it is personalized and easy to follow.
The author gives four basic rules to follow if you are leading a “double, triple, or quadruple life as an entrepreneur”.
The book offers easy-to-follow chapters with real entrepreneur experiences.

Concerns:

This is not structured like a traditional textbook; it reads as though it is a conversation. This may make it difficult to locate specific information or details.
The content is outdated, so it would be difficult to assign student work based on the content

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Examples and the writing in general are easy to understand because they’re written like an ongoing conversation.
Numerous examples are provided throughout, such as Rich Barton, who developed Expedia, Zillow, and Glassdoor.
The author also discusses when it’s time to quit.

Concerns:

Although this is easy to read because of the conversational tone, sometimes the information is hard to pinpoint if there are specific questions.
The author is good about identifying what he believes to be the issues, but it may not address all of the issues or concerns of the reader.
There are no specific instructions other than to read the book; one of the conclusions is that it helps to get lucky.
The primary focus is on Internet software businesses only.
The book does not provide current entrepreneur success stories or failures to learn from based on current frameworks.

Other Issues and Comments:: This open-source book was written in 2018 and includes content that may have worked then. Entrepreneurs can access several new tools, including Google Workspace, Zoom, QuickBooks, and social media.
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