American Entrepreneur

How 400 Years of Risk-Takers, Innovators, and Business Visionaries Built the U.S.A.

By: Willie Robertson, William Doyle

Narrated by: Brian Holsopple

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

America is the ultimate start-up venture - and these are the heroes who made it happen.

The history of the United States is, to a remarkable degree, the story of its entrepreneurs, those daring movers and shakers who dreamed big and risked everything to build better lives for themselves, and their fellow Americans. In American Entrepreneur, Duck Commander CEO and star of the blockbuster Duck Dynasty series Willie tells the captivating true tale of the visionaries and doers who have embodied the American Dream.

We begin with the first American entrepreneurs, the Native Americans, who established a highly sophisticated commercial network across the land in the precolonial days. The original Founding Father, George Washington, was also a founding entrepreneur, at the head of a thriving agri-business venture that gave him the executive skills to steer the nation through the darkest hours of the revolution. Then, of course, there were the mega-entrepreneurs, legendary figures like Astor, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and Rockefeller, who transformed America, connected the country with miles of railroad track and supplied the fuel and steel that would help make this country the most powerful nation on earth. And in recent years, business visionaries from Jobs to Gates to Zuckerberg, not to mention the thousands of equally vital, yet smaller-scale, operators that spring up every year, have ushered America into the 21st century.

American Entrepreneur also relates the story of the Robertson family business, telling how Willie’s family turned a humble regional duck call manufacturer, founded by his father Phil, into an international powerhouse brand. From a young age, Willie had the entrepreneurial bug, buying candy in bulk and hawking it on the school bus. He did special orders, offered revolving credit plans, and earned a small fortune for a 10-year-old - until he was hauled into the principal’s office and told to knock it off. So he transferred his focus to Phil’s fledgling business, helping in whatever way he could, from folding endless numbers of cardboard boxes to acting as the company’s customer service department - though he still wasn’t out of grade school. Willie helped build Duck Commander, which he now runs, into a worldwide brand, culminating in the mega-success of the Duck Dynasty television show.

American Entrepreneur tells a most American tale, of those among us who through their vision, ingenuity, and good old-fashioned hard work, made something that changed the world.

©2018 Willie Robertson and William Doyle (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Should have been narrated by Willie

Great book but Willie should have read the book would have been much much better! Very monotoned and boring narrator.

History of Entrepreneur within America

Through out the founding of the country in our nation history and those who participated in and help our nation.

Great book but...

This is an amazing book. I will definitely be purchasing the hard copy but what is up with Willie not narrating the audiobook? I loved the information presented. The material was well researched and organized. I can not give it 5 stars due to the narration.

Great Read

I enjoyed the Entrepreneurship History, as well was very motivating for my ideas. I would recommend.

Great listen if your a fan of the family

Deffently would listen if your a fan of Duck commander or duck dynasty or a fan of how good people make it in life.

The book starts a little slow, but builds momentum

Want to book does give great examples of some of the leading entrepreneurs in the country? I wish there was a little bit more detail about each of them. Of course, what it does do is, it does give me the desire to search out specific biography, some people such as JP Morgan, which I have really never read and only have a cursory knowledge.

I wanted to learn something new

It sounded like stuff I already learned, more of a history lesson being told again I was hoping for new information Very Monotone narration, you could at least had Uncle Sy do it ,

Not exactly what was expected.

I did not purchase this book expecting to get a history lesson, guess it was my fault for not doing a little bit more research. The information provided in the book was interesting but like I said, was not expecting a history lesson.