Customer Reviews

The Entrepreneurial Imperative: How America's Economic Miracle Will Reshape the World (and Change Your Life)

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I was one of the first people to rush out and get this book. I assumed that a book written by the President of the Kauffman Foundation would have important insights into entrepreneurship. Boy, was I wrong!

The book is riddled with inaccuracies. For example, it says that only Israel is a more entrepreneurial country than the United States when the Kauffman Foundation's own research shows only a middling rate of entrepreneurship in the U.S., below that of Peru and Uganda of all places.

In another example, the book says that the current period is the most entrepreneurial in U.S. history, when, in fact, rates of entrepreneurship in the U.S. have been declining for decades.

But it is not just the facts that are a problem. The book's arguments are flawed too. The idea that U.S. foreign policy should focus on entrepreneurship smacks of the 1950s argument that "what's good for General Motors is good for the country". That seems naive, at best.

Similarly, the book is critical of US technology transfer operations. However, we would be hard pressed to improve a system that gave us a company like Google. Dr. Schramm should read the history of Stanford's involvement with Google before he criticize American universities' technology transfer operations.

Finally, the tone of the book is grating. It is both a polemic for entrepreneurship and a PR job for the Kauffman Foundation. Had I wanted that, I could have saved my money and read the materials that the Foundation gives away for free.

I bought this book because it appeared on Economist's list of recommended books. This was a mistake.

This book is written as a pamphlet, and its central theme is the glorification of American Enterpreneurial Capitalism. It is all about American self-glorification.

Unfortunately, this book is a poor pamphlet. Worse, it has got many of its facts plainly wrong. It is amazing that the CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, one of the largest supporters of entrepreneurship research in the US, would be so ignorant of basic research facts, as well as of economic growth in general.

The book defines entrepreneurship as "the process by which one or more people undertake economic risk to create a new organization...". Entrepreneurs, then, are people who take risk to create new organizations. So far so good. Too bad that this definition is not actually used in the book. Only 7 pages later, Schramm states that "Entrepreneurship is a mindset." It is unfortunate that this seems to be the definition that he really uses throughout his book.

A "mindset" is an infinitely pliable definition. Indeed, Schramm appears able to see this "mindset" whenever he so chooses and not see it when he does not care to. Sometimes Schramm's "entrepreneurship" appears to be best described as innovation. In other times he appears to refer to plain initiative, as in the case of those early "entrepreneurial" American university presidents Schramm appears to admire (now, how many new organizations did UC Berkeley president Daniel Coit Gilman start, and how much economic risk did he undertake during the process?).

Schramm reveals some of his ideological undercurrents by stating that there is only one country on this planet more "entrepreneurial" than the US. You guessed it: Israel. According to Schramm, Israel is the most "entrepreneurial" country on this planet.

Too bad that available data on new business foundings, new business ownership, and nascent entrepreneurs does not support Schramm's contention. Much of this data his own foundation has helped create.

It is also astonishing how Schramm ignores some 25-odd years of research by suggesting that "entrepreneurs" are special people who are distinctively different from the mainstream population. Schramm would be well advised to publish his discovery, as he seems to have succeeded where hundreds of researchers have failed over 25 years.

Schramm's argument rests on a few key premises: (1) America is the best country on this planet (except perhaps Israel); (2) American "Entrepreneurial Capitalism" is the best economic model there is (Schramm's model is, in essence, one of uninhibited market capitalism with little or no regulation and minimal government); (3) America should actively export this model to other countries so that World Peace would become possible. This is breathtakingly ideological and naive, given, e.g., the disaster USA has recently inflicted upon Iraq.

The closest equivalent of Schramm's economic model appears to be late 19th-century US. At least he does not hide his admiration of the robber barons of that age.

He gets too many facts wrong to list them all here. He maintains that America invented entrepreneurial capitalism. I wonder if he is familiar with the history of 18th and 19th-century England. Similarly, Tim Berners-Lee might be interested to learn that Americans invented the internet.

As an economist, Schramm comes across as surprisingly ignorant of mainstream economic growth theories. As his pamphlet is all about the creation of economic wealth, it is surprising that productivity does not feature anywhere in his story.

So, how good is Schramm's model? Schramm might be surprised to learn that in Sweden, whose 'socialist model' Schramm surely despises, a child born into low-income family is much more likely to advance to a higher income class during her life than is a child born into a poor family in the US.

In other words, to realize the 'American Dream', so extolled by Schramm, he would be well advised to move to Sweden.

In summary, this book is a waste of time and money. It is not a good source of facts, it does not accurately describe the entrepreneurial phenomenon, and it does not even begin to uncover the factors underlying economic growth.

I read this book and didn't learn much... Absolutely no substance and not worth my money. I've read tons of books on entrepreneurship, including Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, Michael Gerber, and tons of others. I can't believe I spent money on this vague, abstract book.

The book The Entrepreneurial Imperative by Carl J. Schramm is subtitled "How America's Economic Miracle Will Reshape the World and Change Your Life".

This is not a book on entrepreneurship, but rather a book on why entrepreneurship (practice of, promotion of, as foreign policy) is important to the a public policy for future USA.

Right from page one the thesis is presented directly:

For the United States to survive and continue its economic and political leadership in the world, we must see entrepreneurship as our central comparative advantage. Nothing else can give us the necessary leverage to remain an economic superpower. Nothing else will allow us to continue to enjoy our standard of living. We either support and nature increasingly entrepreneurial activities in all aspect of our society and around the globe or run the very real risk that we will become progressively irrelevant on the world stage and suffer economically at home.

In short, entrepreneurship in business and universities; in our approach to both government and foreign policy; and in our personal lives is the only answer if we hope to continue to thrive.

Aren't there other solutions?

No.

The author offers these definitions:

* Entrepreneurship is the process in which one or more people undertake economic risk to create a new organization that will exploit a new technology or innovative process the generates value to others.
* The Entrepreneur is one who undertakes personal economic risk to create a new organization that will exploit a new technology or innovative process the generates value to others.

Those definitions work for me well enough for me.

I'd like to see what candidates for President in 2008 are going to talk this up - if any.

For foreign policy, this means promoting in entrepreneurial capitalism over democracy promoting (or even business/globalization in general) .

For domestic policy, this means creating environments were entrepreneurship is rewarded, and risks are reduced (less risk = more entrepreneurial activity). What might this mean: National systems of employer independent pension and health insurance systems (not gov run), and new financing and legal mechanisms.

For schools and universities, this means entrepreneurship should be taught and practiced.

This seems like an important book to me. At under 200 pages it is a quick read.

As an entrepreneur, I sometimes feel slowed down by everyday life. It's difficult to remain inspired as I build my company, especially during slow periods (like waiting on other people to finish a portion of the project.) The Entrepreneurial Imperative has kept me focused on my startup. It has validated my work, the risks I'm taking personally and financially, and my commitment to entrepreneurship as a way of life. Schramm describes entrepreneurship as America's greatest asset and explains how it can benefit us in schools, big companies, government, and startups.

Schramm generalizes a lot of things in this work, especially about politics, without fully explaining why. Sometimes I feel like he needs to tell us more to help us understand his claims and opinions. Therefore, I recommend this book to people who not only seek inspiration but to those who are willing to research further what they read in The Entrepreneurial Imperative. Difficult terms and economic concepts are not explained because the Entrepreneurial Imperative is not a "pop-business" book. If you are not an economist, be prepared to look up some words and research some principles so that you can form a strong understanding and opinion of them.

Be prepared to learn and grow with this book, and to question your own understanding of money, business, and politics.

Where will the ideas come from that will spur new industries and new economic growth for America? From the bottom up. My job is to identify innovative and disruptive technologies for Microsoft, then engage the venture capital and entrepreneur community to turn ideas into products. The talented and passionate people I speak to every day confirm the messages in Carl Schramm's book many times over! He's reinforced my belief that in an increasingly global playing field, the country (and company) which best fosters a culture of innovation will win out. Highly recommended reading.

Five Stars!! "The Entrepreneurial Imperative" is an innovative and idea-driven book by Carl J. Schramm, the President and CEO of the prestigious Kauffman Foundation, "the world's leading foundation for entrepreneurship". He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. As such, he is sitting in a 'cat-bird seat', observing and stimulating business activities and innovation for quite a while: "the presumptive center of a wide social network of entrepreneurs, policy makers, academic researcers, and teachers". Some may view the existence of the Kauffman Foundation as an anachronism, but it's in the middle of a business cyclone, conducting seminars and studies, granting fellowships, generating books on activities that many of us don't even consider, but we see and use the results everyday. And this book is a major achievement by Mr. Schramm in explaining his view of the current business economy in the U.S and, hopefully in due time, the world. A business economy of which many of us may not be fully aware. What current economy? Read on.

To many of us, 'Entrepreneurial" business activities are like a mysterious, amorphous cloud where lightning strikes and produces a unique business that makes millions of dollars or a business that fails and is either gobbled up by a merger or disappears."The Entrepreneurial Imperative" is NOT a 'get rich quick' or 'quick business start-up' book, nor is it a formula, but a book describing what the new business economy is and how to generally view it, use it, and expand it. And what dangers there are to it. The old economy of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's was a 'three-part economy' which was characterized by it's size: BIG! Big Business, Big Government, and Big Labor.

The Entrepreneurial Economy is a 4-part economy, based on entrepreneurial capitalism: a "virtuous box", as it were, divided into four equal parts with interactions between each. I'll leave it to you to discover what they are when you read the book. Mr Schramm views entrepreneural business as flowing between those four main areas, affected by many other factors, one of which is the demoted "big labor". He views the entrepreneurial imperative as the key to our maintaining leadership and thriving in this world, with no other solution possible. But he also believes in "exporting" it, so that other economies around the world can thrive. Certainly an all-encompassing statement and based on a unique theory and reality. Business students, MBA's, and Ph.D's will love this 'idea-driven' book, but those in corporations, small businesses, upper-level educational institutions, and government may benefit most from reading it. I have an advanced business degree and own a small business so I have a 'double-vested' interest in accelerating innovative activities and I quickly bought this book. Others, however, may or may not get limited utility from it beyond a historical perspective and the educational experience. Or it may be the book that causes a breakthrough into new areas of business for your company.

Mr Schramm says, some see 'education' and 'technology' as paths to competitive worldwide business success, but we often lag behind other countries in the case of the 'education'', and have the same access to 'technology' as anyone else. Same for our 'financial' and 'manufacturing' skills in this changing and rapidly moving international business world. So the difference must be something else, something unique to our country. The difference is entrepreneurship, which he defines nicely and covers in an entire chapter. The humor and truth of "Entrepreneurs Are From Venus, Managers are From Mars" is also appreciated.

If Mr Schramm's "manifesto" is right (and some may argue with his approach), we must all change our thinking, ingrain his ideas in our institutions, especially the 'big four' areas. And organizations like the Small Business Administration, viewed as having an unceremoniously non-impact based on the subject matter, must also change and adapt. Uniquely, he also addresses a number of 'letters' (on shaded pages) to parents, his own kids, an out-of-work middle manager, and any new President trying to convince them to pick up the entrepreneurial banner and spread the doctrine. This book is a short and succinct must-read for any businessman (new or established) and by members of any business (large or small) in any of the four areas to understand this new world-view of business economy. At the very least, we need to understand the approach. Highly Recommended. Five ENGROSSING Stars!!
(Hardcover, 195 pages)

The author states several instances throughout history that have shaped the way American entrepreneurs differ from other entrepreneurs, and how the fate of America rests in the hands of those in control of the abilities given to the individual entrepreneur.

Carl Schramm shows how the entrepreneurial spirit in all of us will continue to make America the leader in the world economy and serve as a force for positive change throughout the world. Encouraging entrepreneurship will ensure that the 21st Century becomes "another American century." As Schramm points out, this is the most entrepreneurial time in history and every citizen should plan to participate. We live in a period of ongoing change and opportunity. The Entrepreneurial Imperative is a refreshing, inspiring book that should be mandatory reading for business executives, venture capitalists, university administrators and others who care about our country's leadership role in the world.

A friend referred me to this author and book, and I highly recommend it to others. It's not like other business books that offer the "five best ways" or the "10 steps" to being more successful; rather, it is an eye-opening, insightful and smart book about the essential make-up of the American economy and our society -- and how it affects our daily lives. I have a much better sense of how I need to approach my own career, and more importantly, I know I must foster a greater sense in my own children about the importance of taking charge of their own destinies. I believe Mr. Schramm has "named" the secret of American success, and rightly calls on all of us to do our part in keeping America's entrepreneurial spirit alive.