Customer Reviews

Getting Started in Entrepreneurship

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the few books from my MBA program that has truly become a reference guide for me as I am contemplating starting a venture. I would highly recommend the book because it offers the optimal balance of case studies, core business information and extensive additional resources that are all critical to understanding what is necessary for starting a new company. Lastly, I think it is clear that the authors are highly involved in the entrepreneurial world and this comes through in all of the tips and case studies.

I bought the computer version of this book. The software containing the textbook is slow, unmanageable and unintuitive. However, the text is very useful and cases are interesting. From the tests I was given in class, that were taken directly from the book, I can say that the book was not put together in earnest. It appears that the tests/answers were not thoroughly checked and this makes me question the quality of the rest of book. By giving it 4 stars I'm in fact rating the text as opposed to rating my experience with the computer version of the book. I would give that 2 stars at most.

I had always thought of entrepreneurship as one of the most familiar concepts, and yet still quite mystical and beyond the reach of a normal person. I considered launching my own business several times, yet was never sure where to start, how to raise funds and whether to patent my ideas. Most of new businesses fail, so I intuitively felt it had to be more then just a brilliant invention. So while doing my MBA, I took an entrepreneurship class that used this book. It opened my eyes to all other things I was missing.

The book is impressively comprehensive, covering every step of launching a new business, from the inception stage to going public, explaining the main options that exist at each stage, as well as related success factors and risks. I especially appreciate the mix of real life examples, useful references, informational links and detailed to-do check lists that create a hands-on working guide for an entrepreneur. The methodical organization of material makes it very easy to understand and study the driving principles behind entrepreneurial success, which in my opinion, makes it great text book, as well.

Overall, a brilliant book. Easy to read, easy to understand, detailed and comprehensive, yet practical and immediately useful. I'd definitely recommend this book to any entrepreneur looking to avoid becoming the failure statistics or a business student looking to uncover the science behind launching a new business.

As a business consultant and entrepreneur, I have found Patterns of Entrepreneurship Management to provide a comprehensive roadmap for both starting a business venture and for assisting start-ups and small businesses in assessing their business model and business plan. It is essential in avoiding many of the pitfalls that business owners often make that lead to failure. Unlike many other books that brush this topic, Jack Kaplan's book covers the "how to" and provides real world examples and granularity of detail.

I recently participated in Jack's class in the EMBA program at Columbia Business School and found it to be practical, enlightening, and fun. For those of you who will not have the opportunity, read the book. You will not be disappointed.

This book is not only clearly accessible to those who may not be familiar with business jargon and bookkeeping methods, but it is also tremendously insightful for those who are seasoned entrepreneurs. Jack has clearly been through this process many times, and lays out all the steps to starting your own entrepreneurial venture. He also identifies pitfalls and ways to help circumvent them.

In a very straight-forward way, Jack Kaplan's book lays out how you build a business. Jack is a great inspiration as a writer and teacher (I was his student). What I like about him and the book: He helps people become entrepreneurs, plain and simple.

He is not interested in building academic, theoretical models about entrepreneurship. Nor does he make it sound like running your own business is an always-fun, easy-going activity - it is not. BUT you can make lots of money and have lots of fun, if you're willing to put in the hard work, like Jack has done repeatedly himself with great success.

So if you're serious about starting your own business or at least want to seriously explore that option (like me), then this is the book and the man for you.

Toby Moerschen, Class of 2009, Columbia Business School

I consider this book a practical bible for entrepreneurs. I have been referring to this book almost on a daily basis since I began my venture. It covers all aspects of a startup including opportunity evaluation, idea to action transformation, comprehensive business plan, investor pitch, fund raising, valuation, financial management, and exit strategies. This book is an essential step-by-step 360 degree guide for any entrepreneur.

I purchased this book for the Entrepreneurship course for the MBA program at Columbia Business School. There are hundreds of entrepreneurship books out there, but this book is truly differentiated from the rest of the crowd because it is written by Professor Kaplan. Professor Kaplan has taught many of the successful entrepreneurs and top business school students. He has proven track record for his own venture activities. His amazing network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angels, and other entrepreneurship organizations has helped the class to learn tremendously and gain confidence to start our own ventures. For those who can't take his course, getting this book will be like taking his course indirectly. The book will provide detailed concepts required for a successful entrepreneur based on his teaching, real world experience, and industry network. His course, which is accurately summarized in this book, was by far the best course I took at Columbia Business School for my MBA degree. Therefore, I recommend this book with my utmost confidence. This book has saved me from repeating common mistakes for starting my own venture and guided me with step-by-step road map to follow.

This book is a must have for entrepreneurs or those who are considering becoming entrepreneurs. As a recent MBA graduate and entrepreneur, this book helped me make my idea a reality. Detailed chapters on how to structure your company, raise capital, create a business plan, legal issues, protecting your intellectual property, and more provided a step-by-step guide and helped me to avoid making costly mistakes. The advice in the book is written by a man who has done it all before and helped hundreds, if not thousands, of other entrepreneurs with their businesses. The online legal documents that the book references also help entrepreneurs save legal fees by providing ready-made legal documents. This book and its accompanying website are essential for any serious entrepreneur.

The book is great. It covers every issue from writing a business plan to preparing for a public offering. Also, the book is well written and easy to read so you can learn a lot very quickly. The book is also great for those who provide services to entrepreneurs because it addresses their important concerns. The book is definitely worth reading. Enjoy!