Customer Reviews

The Entrepreneurial Venture (Practice of Management Series)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sahlman provides a very comprehensive volume on the current stage of knowledge of entrepreneurship as a field. In the articles, which are mainly written by a limited number of professors, all important topics related to entrepreneurship are addressed, such as finance, personality, marketing, strategy, culture, and many more. From an academic perspective, it is a 10.

However, I often felt that it was missing more on the practical side. For example, there are a few case studies, but only on certain topics. It was missing more of the "been there, done that" perspective. Definitely there were stories, but in those there was more of a strategic analysis rather than visionary or inspirational.

Overall, this is a very good book to use as reference to certain topics, especially in an academic environment.

The 1999 edition that I read is a collection of 34 Harvard Business Review articles, class discussion papers and case studies written by the four authors (all business school professors) and a few others over the 1980s and 90s.

The chapters written by the four professors have a strong academic/pedagogic orientation. Dealing with basic issues in extreme analytic detail, they frequently belabor the obvious and often come across as though they have all the answers (chapters written by Sahlman were especially bad for this). The book does, however, provide some thought-provoking discussion and a reasonable introduction to the issues of assessing viability, planning and managing a new business, and of attracting resources. Some of the chapters not written by the professors provide a good "textbook" reference for subjects such as patent law, raising venture capital, and management technique in checklist style.

I give the book three stars for its rigorous analysis but not five because of its presumptuous tone and the fact that too many of the chapters lean toward the hypothetical. It lacks the genuine, practitioner-based input this subject deserves.

As an MBA student at Harvard six years ago, I had the opportunity to learn under Professor Sahlman. His class and his books are worth their weight in gold if you intend to either start companies or invest in them. This book brings together some of the best ideas from his colleagues.

This book offers plenty of practical advice. I'm not sure why some of the reviewers think it does not. I suppose Harvard Business School professors who use the word "practitioner" in their title seems a bit boustrophedon.

When I read this book, I learned how to focus my business planning on flexibility not on a spreadsheet that starts from zero and goes to my financial goal line. Other mentors in my life warned me about the time wasting misuse of a business plan, but this book points out both the common errors and how to fix them.

On another point - sales. I have seen other companies sell their ideas into the marketplace while bootstrapping their own financing. This book gives several examples of how to do just that. This is very practical stuff. I am glad I purchased this book and took the time to skim all of it and read some of the articles in depth.

'The Entrepreneurial Venture' is a strong reference that covers both strategic & tactical perspectives of the topic: from planning, launching to managing new venture. Each perspective is rigorously analysed & coherently presented; it would be a '5-star' book if the material is further illustrated by more case studies.