When we think of entrepreneurs, we typically think of Sergey Brin or Elon Musk, apps built by college kids and funded by venture capital firms, and a culture that makes fortunes and shapes economies overnight. But in reality, most new businesses are things like restaurants or hair salons. Entrepreneurs aren’t all millennials—more often, it’s their parents. And those small companies are the fabric of our economy.

Join us for an evening with David Sax, as we discuss his book The Soul of an Entrepreneur, his observations, and the ask questions from you -- the Zebras Unite audience, who he's mentioned directly in his book.

This event is hosted by the San Francisco Chapter of Zebras Unite.

Thank you to Basecamp and the Center for Cultural Innovation for generously sponsoring the Season of the Dazzle!

The event is free, but donations are gratefully accepted and will be sent to local entrepreneurs impacted by the ongoing fires in California

In THE SOUL OF AN ENTREPRENEUR: Work and Life Beyond the Startup Myth (April 21, 2020), David Sax delivers a look at what entrepreneurship in America really looks like today, casting aside the tech-bro Silicon-Valley myth to tell the stories of real small business owners and why they choose the independent life.

Sax is a longtime business and culture journalist and the author of The Revenge of Analog, The Tastemakers, and Save the Deli. With all of his books, he’s tapped into the reasons people go into business—whether it’s a nostalgia for tangible things, a passion for food, or the desire to preserve cultural heritage. Similarly, THE SOUL OF AN ENTREPRENEUR is not your usual book about entrepreneurship. As Sax writes in the introduction, he’s “not at all concerned with the How (how to become an entrepreneur, start a company, or get rich), but Why? Why do entrepreneurs do it? Why do they keep at it, even in the face of tremendous odds, and the daily personal sacrifices, and the imminent threat of financial failure? Why does the entrepreneur matter, why do different types of entrepreneurs matter, and what’s at stake if we lose sight of their value?”

From immigrants starting family businesses in a new country, to burnt-out professionals adapting work to match the lifestyles they want, to minority business owners finding creative ways to serve their own communities, to employee-owned, mission-driven businesses, Sax talks to entrepreneurs across North America to present a more realistic, diverse portrait of today’s startup business owner.

David Sax is a writer and reporter who specializes in business and culture. His previous book, The Revenge of Analog, was a #1 Washington Post bestseller, was selected as one of Michiko Kakutani's top ten books of 2016 for the New York Times, and has been translated into six languages. He also won a James Beard award for his first book, Save the Deli. He lives in Toronto.

The Season of the Dazzle: The business model is the message: A conversation on the soul of a Zebra Entrepreneur w/ Author David Sax