Two weeks ago, I was posted a review copy of the “Patterns of Entrepreneurship Management”, which was a big change in my financial lectures. I was a bit tired of reading about trading patterns, changing curves or perfect set-ups, so I said to myself – why not read a book about managing your own business?
Well, this is a totally different area from what I do and read usually. So Kaplan’s “Patterns of Entrepreneurship Management” was a new type of lecture for me, one which put me under many study cases of how it is to be on your own and start up a business from the scratch. This is a different type of challenge from a life of employment.
The book tries to offer a complete roadmap on starting and growing different businesses. It is a nice toolkit, full of examples or study cases. What impressed me was that no two experiences are the same – indeed, starting a business is every time a totally different story. Even if you have 20 years of experience of doing so, the markets and the ideas change continuously, so entrepreneurship is for me like navigating turbulent waters. You cannot do it properly until…you do it on the water.
The book has quite some interesting chapters:
PART ONE: GETTING STARTED AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
Chapter 1: What is an Entrepreneur?
Chapter 2: The Entrepreneurial Process
Chapter 3: The Art of Innovation—Developing Ideas and Business Opportunities
Chapter 4: Analyzing the Market, Customers, and Competition
Chapter 5: Writing the Winning Business Plan
Chapter 6: Setting Up the Company
PART TWO: MONEY SOURCES – FINDING AND MANAGING THE PROCESS
Chapter 7: Bootstrapping and Financing the Closely Held Company
Chapter 8: Equity Financing for High Growth
Chapter 9: Managing the Money
PART THREE: IMPLEMENTATION
Chapter 10: Discovering Value in Intellectual Property: The Competitive Edge
Chapter 11: Business Models and the Power of Information
Chapter 12: Managing the Team
PART FOUR: COMMUNICATING AND EXITING
Chapter 13: Communicating the Opportunity and Making a Presentation
Chapter 14: Scaling and Exiting the Venture
What I enjoyed mostly was its simple and direct structure – the chapters are easy to read and the book is easy to navigate. In this respect, “Patterns of Entrepreneurship Management” is more of an experiential book rather than the dry cookbook which is usually served on the MBA’s. The many entrepreneur profiles actually give you a vivid picture of what it means to struggle every day with your own idea, and what is the taste of success.
“Patterns of Entrepreneurship Management” comes also packed with a featured case on real-life entrepreneur Wayne McVicker’s Starting Something. McVicker’s award-winning book is condensed into a 90-page casebook available for download on the student page. Follow the engrossing story of software firm-turned-dotcom powerhouse Neoforma. This study case is paired with the text and gives the 3rd edition a more experiential approach.
All in all, a pleasant weekend lecture compared to my thick finance books.