Willie Robertson

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AMERICAN ENTREPRENEUR: How 400 Years of Risk-Takers, Innovators, and Business Visionaries Built the U.S.A. by Willie Robertson (William Morrow Hardcover; on sale 11/13) - spending his childhood folding an endless number of cardboard boxes, staining duck calls, and acting as the company's entire customer service department, Willie Robertson knows the amount of blood, sweat, and tears it takes to get a fledging business off the ground. Fast forward four decades and he is CEO of that very company, Duck Commander-a worldwide brand and the catalyst that helped launched the mega-successful Duck Dynasty television show. And now with AMERICAN ENTREPRENEUR, Robertson tells of those among us who-through a combination of vision, luck, and a lot of elbow grease-created businesses that changed the world and shaped the USA.

With concise and informative profiles AMERICAN ENTREPRENEUR weaves a compelling history of remarkable men and women who dreamed big and risked everything to build better lives in the pursuit of the American dream. Using his family business as a starting point, Robertson traces the lineage of influential business founders from the country's very beginnings up through the 21st century. From mom and pop operations to moguls he highlights a wide breadth of entrepreneurial figures including:

. The Native Americans-America's first entrepreneurs-who established a highly sophisticated commercial network across the land in the precolonial days

. Vanderbilt, Carnegie, & Rockefeller: the 19th and 20th Century triumvirate of oil, steel, and railroad tycoons

. Madam C.J. Walker: the first self-made black female millionaire, and a pioneer in the cosmetics industry

. Ruth Handler: one half of renowned toy company Mattel's founding duo

. Oprah, Martha Stewart, and Mary Kay: Household names who crashed through the glass ceiling of the entrepreneurial "boys club"