Raising Eyebrows: A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets it Right
Before he was a success, Dal LaMagna was a failure. A self-described "compulsive capitalist," he failed at every business he tried, from one of the original computer dating services (run on a 1950s vacuum-tube computer), to an ice cream parlor on the Venice boardwalk, to converting drive-in movie theatres to drive-in discotheques (he tried to compete against Woodstock), to a Harvard Square waterbed store. All these ventures got him, aside from some really good stories, was about $150,000 in debt. As he puts it, "I failed to get ahead." Yet his tale has a happy ending.Raising Eyebrowsreveals how LaMagna turned his failures into the seeds of his success, founding the beauty tool company Tweezerman and building it into both a premium brand and a socially responsible enterprise. If you're tired of entrepreneurship stories that gloss over hardships or sugar-coat risks, LaMagna pulls no punches in depicting the long and difficult work of realizing his dreams.Over years and years of starting and running companies, LaMagna discovered how his early unsuccessful ventures equipped him to ultimately achieve triumphs. While reading Raising Eyebrows, you will learn from his mistakes so you can apply them to your enterprise. You'll find practical wisdom on raising capital, marketing, selling, and more, all woven into a rich portrayal of doing business in the radical 1960s and beyond. You'll also learn how building and running a socially responsible company works in the real world, straight from an entrepreneur who has walked the walk. And you won't want to miss the painfully funny story of how LaMagna first got the idea for Tweezerman!By turns inspiring, hilarious, poignant, and enlightening, Dal LaMagna's story, cowritten with his lifelong friends Wally Carbone and Carla Reuben, offers an unforgettable business and life journey that brings new meaning to the saying "never give up." If you've ever dreamed of following your own path and changing the world along the way, you'll want to see how a lot of pluck—and a little luck—had one man Raising Eyebrows.