The Startup Lifecycle

This book can change your life if you read it carefully and understand the necessity of following the phases that make up the startup lifecycle. It will also provide the necessary motivation through his personal story of forging forward and overcoming obstacles while also undertaking risky adventures that align with his business risks.

Shepard will continually remind you that you are on a journey and should focus on moving from one phase to the next while keeping your exit from day one. It is however, imperative to recognize that you are following a highly accredited startup guru. If you decide to take shortcuts or believe you have a “better” plan of action, you may be sabotaging yourself.

The biggest takeaways are that: with enough drive and fortitude you can overcome all sorts of obstacles on your way to triumph 

You are learning from someone who has been there / done that and is a proven expert in startup businesses.

And Shepard wants nothing more than to see people leave the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle and create a thriving started up business that that will attract prominent buyers from the lofty mega-companies that stand front and center on modern business horizon.

Gregory Shepard is a formidable business leader who has built and sold twelve businesses. Over his brilliant career he has worked with startups, turnarounds, cleanups and roll-ups. His crowning achievement, thus far, was the sale of two of his own businesses in 2016 as a part of a cross-brand deal totaling over $980 million. 

Shepard, whose debut book, The Startup Lifecycle: The definitive guide to building a startup from idea to exit” was released by BenBella Books and distributed by Penguin Random House in 2024. The book has been described by John Cockburn, scientific advisor at Partnership for Economic Policy as “An incredibly powerful resource for startup entrepreneurs and even those who have been running enterprises for several years,” 

Shepard has also written, or been quoted in, articles for Forbes, Fortune, Entrepreneur, The New York Observer, The DEAL and Thrive Global magazines. In addition, Shepard hosts the podcast Startup Science and the Forbes Radio podcast Meet the BOSS, named for the global investment syndicate BOSS Capital Partners, a series seed technology businesses which he founded in 2020.

With book in hand and a consummate knowledge of all facets of the startup process, Shepard has taken his startup business expertise on the road with a speaking tour. Prior speaking engagements include Tedx talks as well as keynotes speeches at many universities and conferences worldwide. 

What separates Shepard from his peers is his remarkable personal journey in which he defied the odds by navigating his career around several significant barriers including dyslexia, neurodivergencies, and growing up in abject poverty. And yet Shepard, a calculated risk taker, peppers his talks, as he did with his book, by including amusing, inspiring and courageous tales from his days as a young rattlesnake salesman to guiding founders through the process of building and selling their startup companies for life-changing wealth.

Shepard lives in San Diego with his wife, two children, and his potbellied pig, Winnebago.