Your chance to win a copy of JAF’s soon-to-be bestseller “Reboot!”

My friend Jawwad Ahmed Farid – Entrepreneur, Technologist, Teacher, Mentor, Actuary and overall crazy guy – has written a book. Yes  a book! So now he is an author too. Isn’t that cool?

Originally called “The Blue Screen of Death” the publication was available as an e-book. In its reincarnated published form, the book is called “Reboot!”

Jawwad presented me with one of the first copies of the book which has been printed in Singapore and is going to be available for sale at some local outlets in the next couple of weeks (it is seen here sharing space with my MacBook Air).

I have already placed an order for 10 more copies of the book. Why do I need so many copies you might ask?

Well, I am going to present copies of Reboot to ten young entrepreneurs. You could be one of them. What do you have to do to qualify for a copy of this book? Send me an email at jehan(dot)ara(at)gmail(dot)com telling me why you decided to become an entrepreneur and why do you think someone should fund your idea.  The 10 best emails will be sent a copy of the book, and a few of the aspiring/startup entrepreneurs might qualify for an interview on ITLoW if their answers to my follow-up question (which is a secret for now) are interesting enough. Don’t forget to include your mailing address and your phone number. Deadline for entries: September 10, 2009.

Now let me tell you a little bit about why the book is an invaluable addition to your essential library.

Starting with a list of questions Jawwad weaves in Reboot a tale that takes readers in search of the deepest fear of a new entrepreneur – What if I fail?

A touching confession that alternates between the bittersweet reality of a dying venture and the promise of multi million dollar valuations, Reboot is a journey of self discovery that every entrepreneur can relate to. It is a book of questions and answers that will force us to re-examine our personal prejuidices against failure.

In terms of the author’s personal profile, Jawwad Ahmed Farid has been teaching entrepreneurship at SP Jain’s Dubai campus since May 2007. Prior to this he taught the subject at SZABIST in Karachi and ran entrepreneurship workshops for P@SHA in Karachi and Lahore as well as participated as a founding member of the Startup Insiders initiative with P@SHA. He has also been a local mentor in the MITEF Business Acceleration plan and is part of P@SHA’s mentoring network. Reboot is currently used as teaching material at LUMS, FAST ICS – Lahore and at SP Jain Dubai. There have been about 2000 downloads since it was launched as an e-book.

In the author’s own words, “I have run three businesses into the ground in Pakistan and the US as well as run small companies through two major recessions and my approach to teaching the subject is very localized. There are some cultural and social taboos attached with failure in the regional culture and I start with addressing that upfront. Then focus on bootstrapping techniques that get a business to a first customer and revenues within the first six months with as little funding as possible.”

Jawwad’s formal experience is as an entrepreneur or in roles supporting entrepreneurs in small businesses since late 1996. Formal education includes an MBA from Columbia University and a first degree in computer science from FAST ICS, Karachi. He is also a Fellow Society of Actuaries with specialization in Risk and Investments.

To find out more about the book, do visit the book website.