Anthony C. Chang, MD, MBA, MPH, MS

Chief Intelligence and Innovation Officer
Medical Director, The Sharon Disney Lund Medical Intelligence and Innovation Institute (MI3)
Children’s Hospital of Orange County

“This aptly named book is an outstanding treatise on navigating uncertainty. It is essential reading for any physician who has a penchant for the entrepreneurial world. The authors’ many years of experience as both innovators and educators uniquely qualify them as seasoned ‘captains’ who would be welcomed on any physician’s entrepreneur journey to success.”

Kristen Cooper

CEO and Founder, The Startup Ladies

“The Startup Ladies were fortunate to have hosted a Titanic Effect workshop. The book is a life jacket for a first-time founder. It helps you understand, anticipate, and solve problems that are just below the surface of a startup. ”

Barb Cutillo

Financial Consultant and Investor in Early-Stage Companies
Co-Founder/CFO/CAO, Stonegate Mortgage Corporation

“The Titanic Effect is a no-nonsense and easy-to-understand ‘field guide’ to startups. For entrepreneurs, it offers critical, hard-earned insights that are typically only learned through failure. For early-stage investors, it gives wisdom and tools to effectively evaluate startups and determine your own investment strategy.”

Dan Gebremedhin MD, MBA

Principal, Flare Capital Partners

“The nature of entrepreneurship is to venture into unfamiliar territory. As an investor, we often see entrepreneurs who teach themselves lessons the hard way, through trial and error. I would encourage all would-be entrepreneurs to absorb the several great lessons in this volume to anticipate common pitfalls and strategize corrective action to speed the iterative process of business-building.”

Ting Gootee

Chief Investment Officer, Elevate Ventures

“The investment world often debates distinguishing factors between luck and skill. Both are necessary, but neither alone is sufficient for success. The Titanic Effect unpacks the skills and helps decipher luck, and is a must-read for entrepreneurs to navigate their journeys to target destinations.”

Jeffrey N. Hausfeld, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.S.

Chairman of the Board and CMO, BioFactura Inc.
President, Memory Care Communities LLC
Chairman and Founder, The Society of Physician Entrepreneurs

“As a retired surgeon, serial entrepreneur, life-science and healthcare investor and champion, as well as Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs, I am thrilled to see a book directed to improving the success of innovators, both in our sector and in general. This is a well-organized, thoughtfully written work, both from the perspective of the entrepreneur as well as the potential early-stage investor.

“I often counsel and mentor young entrepreneurs that they have three important assets to monitor and nurture as they grow their companies. They are Money, People, and Time, each of which seems to take on different prominence and priority depending on the various stages of the company’s development. My suggestion is that they read The Titanic Effect, and in doing so they might save some money, associate with the right people, and recognize that time is truly their most precious commodity.”

Scott Hill

Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, PERQ

“One of the biggest blind spots for an entrepreneur in building a startup for the first time is ‘you don’t know what you don’t know.’ The things that keep me up at night are not usually the problems I am aware of or the decisions I know I need to execute. The sleeplessness is usually from the anxiety of ‘What am I missing right now that is going to be a problem later?’ The Titanic Effect goes a long way in giving answers to that very question and gives any reader immediately more wisdom. 

“I have known Todd, Kim, and Michael for over ten years, and all three have played a part in advising me on how to navigate the choppy waters of entrepreneurship. I am excited to see all of their expertise consolidated and made available to founders everywhere.”

Matt Hunckler

CEO and Founder, Powderkeg

“Todd, Kim, and Michael are experts on the entrepreneurial journey. Together, they provide the perfect combination of experience, teaching ability, and research-backed best practices. The Titanic Effect simplifies a lot of complex concepts that affect startup success and gives founders tools to stay afloat when navigating the icebergs of venturing. Any leader willing to brave the waters of building a high-growth business should read this book.”

Mukund Krishna

Founder and CEO, Suyati Group India

“I am honored to have known Todd for almost two decades. Todd, Kim, and Michael have been pillars in Indiana, guiding entrepreneurs and promoting venture-building in the area. They have figured out a novel way to explain to entrepreneurs and investors how not to get into traps by creating massive debtbergs (akin to icebergs that doomed theTitanic) during the course of an entrepreneurial journey. [This book is] an interesting must-read for aspiring and established entrepreneurs and investors. I am sure a reader will spot such patterns in his/her entrepreneurial journey and proactively apply the learnings from this book.”

Oscar Moralez

Managing Director, VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels

“They say hindsight is 20/20, and this is typically true. The terrible Titanic tragedy is a dark yet very real and valuable metaphor for the many events or ‘debts’ that lead to startup failure today. These events (as trivial as they may seem) often combine for a multiplicative effect that culminates in failure. The irony is that most of the debts we know of are obvious (e.g., the iceberg sticking out of the water). The Titanic Effect takes a much deeper dive into the more vague, yet critical ‘hidden debts’ that can cripple and sink any company, no matter how big or how small. This is an essential read for anyone in the ‘entrepreneurial community’ that interacts, advises, or just exists alongside these startups. The comparisons between the Titanic event and the startup world also make this book entertaining and historically educational. Highly recommended!”

Dave Wortman

CEO, Diagnotes
Former CEO, Made2Manage

“There are many books on entrepreneurship but very few that capture the insights, understanding, and actionable ideas shared in The Titanic Effect. I've had the opportunity to partner with all three authors, and they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to light in an entertaining and meaningful way for all entrepreneurs.”

Gilbert Wu

President, Greater China, Aventics

“In my years in business development and strategy in the US and China, I have had the opportunity to work with large corporations as well as new technology firms. Both startups and larger firms can learn a lot from the ideas in The Titanic Effect regarding the perils of innovating without attention to tradeoffs. I particularly appreciate the effort to include entrepreneurial stories of founders and startups outside of the United States, in addition to the excellent examples of US ventures.”