The Messy Middle

Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture

By: Scott Belsky

Narrated by: Scott Belsky

The Messy Middle is the indispensable guide to navigating the volatility of new ventures and leading bold creative projects by Scott Belsky, bestselling author, entrepreneur, Chief Product Officer at Adobe, and product advisor to many of today's top start-ups.

Creating something from nothing is an unpredictable journey. The first mile births a new idea into existence, and the final mile is all about letting go. We love talking about starts and finishes, even though the middle stretch is the most important and often the most ignored and misunderstood.

Broken into three sections with 100+ insights, this no-nonsense audiobook will help you:

• Endure the roller coaster of successes and failures by strengthening your resolve, embracing the long-game, and short-circuiting your reward system to get to the finish line.

• Optimize what’s working so you can improve the way you hire, better manage your team, and meet your customers’ needs.

• Finish strong and avoid the pitfalls many entrepreneurs make, so you can overcome resistance, exit gracefully, and continue onto you next creative endeavor with ease.

With insightful interviews from today’s leading entrepreneurs, artists, writers, and executives, as well as Belsky’s own experience working with companies like Airbnb, Pinterest, Uber, and sweetgreen, The Messy Middle will outfit you to find your way through the hardest parts of any bold project or new venture.

Critic reviews

“Starting a new venture is like jumping off a cliff and sewing a parachute on the way down. This book is the parachute.” —Joe Gebbia, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Airbnb

“This is required reading for founders. Experienced entrepreneurs all know this period Scott refers to as 'the messy middle' and a few of us have worked our way out of it, but this is the first time I've seen an expert—both as a founder and as an investor—break down in such detail just how to endure, optimize, and make it through.” —Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Initialized Capital and Reddit

“Scott Belsky is a master of generous work worth doing. The Messy Middle will help you see that you have more control than you dare to admit, and the ability to make a difference if you care enough." —Seth Godin, author of Linchpin

"Having been through the ups and downs of the messy middle many times, it’s critical to understand the challenges ahead. This insightful book empowers you to approach them head-on. Belsky’s powerful toolkit, based on hard earned experiences, is an essential guide to building a compelling product, revolutionizing an organization or growing your leadership abilities.” —Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod, co-inventor of the iPhone, founder and former CEO of Nest, Principal at Future Shape

“Building a lasting business is 1% idea and 99% resilience. The Messy Middle details the unglamorous but essential lessons every founder needs to learn.” —Jennifer Hyman, Co-Founder & CEO, Rent The Runway

“The Messy Middle is one of my favorite business books of the last decade. It’s humble, smart, vulnerable, and precise. If you do complex work (don’t we all?), this book will show you how to navigate the most difficult part of any endeavor.” —Todd Henry, author of Herding Tigers

"With The Messy Middle, Belsky delivers a brilliant book that goes past dogma and slogans into key tactics and ideas. ... Small business teams and evolving start up teams will find The Messy Middle useful for refining every aspect of their game."— Small Business Trends

Great insights

Scott gave some great insights! His concept on Free Radical employees hit home. As I go through the start up process including meeting VCs, bringing on new employees, etc. this book was perfect timing!

SO good

I read/listen to nonfiction business books full time and I can confidently say that this is one of the most valuable books I've listened to. So much counterintuitive but valuable advice on subjects ranging from leadership to product market fit. Highly recommended. I'll be relistening to this for years to come.

What the startup process is ACTUALLY like!!

Every story that Belsky tells brings to life an important aspect of the business creation process. This is a very good book that, it seems to me, is much better “heard” than “read”. This is an audiobook I will listen to again.

Really excels after the first 1/3!

I was worried that it was just going to be another simple written and for-everyone -book, when I heard the first few chapters, but then after about 7 chapters It completely changed gear. It's possible that I think that because I'm a product designer, and my boss is not the best at priorities, but damn the last 2/3 was amazing. Definitely going to re listen in the near future.

Every chapter has value

This is basically a collection of wisdom that Scott either learned himself, or often gained by working with or consulting smart people.

Every chapter has good advice, and there is an abundance of real world experience to help you avoid mistakes, get the most from given situations and drive successful outcomes for your business and yourself.

Scott has built a business from small to large revenues (but small staff) and gas worked for a large corporation (Adobe) in a position of influence - and advised many startup and growth companies. So he had advice applicable to almost any business or motivated founder, executive, line manager or product manager.

Great book, from someone who has made it - with hard work and who paid attention along the way.