xix
Introduction
Welcome to The Guide to Entrepreneurship: How to Create Wealth for Yourself
and Your Stakeholders. In contrast to academic publications that emphasize
traditional teaching methods, this guide focuses on you, the entrepreneur, and
how to become successful. “Your rst priority is to become rich. Then, you can
afford to become magnanimous.”
At rst glance, this Guide may appear to be a motivational/inspirational
book masquerading as a business tome. That is how I truly feel about
entrepreneurship. One of the transcendental moments in economic theory
occurred in 1979 when David Birch published his seminal study on U.S.
rms from 1969 through 1976 and found to his astonishment that small rms
(<100 employees) accounted for 81% of new hires. His ndings have been
subsequently conrmed by other studies.
This Guide is arranged from the standpoint of the dominant founder or
owner, and provides a how-to delineation of startup activities. To that end, I
have highlighted the covered topics as
◾ Interpretation rather than description
◾ Practical advice rather than theory
◾ Referenced classical works to augment your basic understanding
◾ Startup activities and pitfalls
◾ The startup as a collective of managers (the “Dominant Coalition”)
◾ The founder/entrepreneur as “manager of managers”
xx ◾ Introduction
About This Book
“You don’t have to be a meteorologist to know which way the
wind is blowing.”
The Guide demysties the process of founding a rm from scratch. In writ-
ing this book, I have assumed that you are either (a) thinking of founding
your rm or (b) have already decided to take the plunge. However, are
you entrepreneurial timber? Do you have the leadership skills to raise all
your needed capital? Do you dream of being your own boss and becom-
ing rich in the process? If your answer is “yes” to these questions, then this
book will provide you with a “how-to guide” to entrepreneurial success in
plain English.
Although each chapter stands on its own, the book chapters are arranged
in a sequential, temporal fashion. From soup to nuts as the old saying goes.
In addition, as you progress from chapter to chapter, from an enterprise and
personal standpoint, you should discern the following underlying structure:
Internal components Strategy, tactics, mission, vision
External components Networking, fundraising, alliance-building,
strategic alliances, legal requirements
However, if you are an experienced entrepreneur, you can jump from
chapter to chapter as you please, although I would encourage you to take a
quick glance at the chapters as presented. You may nd some unexpected
golden nuggets.
God created the world in six days. What will you create today?
michael.bright@taylorand-
francis.com
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