Lightspeed Business: Find It, Fund It, Build It, When There's No Margin for Error [Hardcover]

J. Neil Weintraut (Author), Christopher Barr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2001

Leading experts get entrepreneurs and investors up to speed on high-growth business opportunities
The rules of building a new business changed dramatically with the bursting of the dot com bubble. Yet despite the ups and downs of the stock market, the time has never been riper for entrepreneurs and investors. Most industry observers now agree that the next few years will see a dramatic growth of opportunities in wireless and broadband communications, consumer and enterprise marketing, health services, and banking, just to name a few e-business sectors. But, to succeed in this new environment, you have to play by new rules, and sources of expert advice and guidance are few and far between. Coauthored by one of today's most successful and visible entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, Lightspeed Business fills that information vacuum with no-nonsense advice and practical wisdom.
With hard-hitting analysis, invaluable insights, and war stories gleaned from an unparalleled tenure in the trenches, the authors deliver proven money-making ideas, present new rules on how to start, finance, and invest in a successful startup, and explain why conventional business strategies are doomed to failure in this new business environment. Lightspeed Business provides everything investors need to know to recognize a big opportunity and quickly build a successful business.
J. Neil Weintraut (Palo Alto, CA) is the founder and General Partner of 21st Century Internet Venture Partners. Christopher Barr (San Francisco, CA) was the founding Editor in Chief of CNET. Currently, he serves as Vice President and Editor at Large at CNET.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Speed, smarts, and simplicity are the keys to a successful third-generation (3G) technology-related start-up-whether it is an enterprise, infrastructure, broadband, or wireless venture. Lightspeed Business supplies a detailed road map that leads you to the successful start-ups of this new generation. In an era of high-growth business opportunities, this hands-on guide provides entrepreneurs and investors with proven moneymaking ideas and new rules on how to start, finance, and invest in a successful technology-related start-up-especially after the dot-com meltdown.

Venture capitalist J. Neil Weintraut and his coauthor, the founding editor in chief of CNET, Christopher Barr, take you through the basic anatomy of a start-up from opportunity to technology, and come full circle by explaining how start-ups survive and thrive. From strategies to scenario analysis, Lightspeed Business provides a solid framework for all of your start-up needs, including how to recognize the big opportunities, hire the right employees, and choose the proper technology to propel your new venture. Along with the business and financial aspects associated with a start-up, the authors also examine the mind-set that ties strategy, fundamentals, and organization together to produce an unstoppable business.

With Lightspeed Business, you'll learn how to:
* Construct an attractive business offering-including how to convey the value proposition
* Evaluate, manage, and finance a start-up while preparing for an IPO, buyout, or continued growth and success
* Master equity-what it is and how to get it, keep it, and put it to work

While start-ups are well publicized, how to make them successful is not. Filled with real-world business examples and expertise that can only be gleaned from the trenches, Lightspeed Business is the perfect tool for start-up success. With a "finger-on-the-pulse" viewpoint, this comprehensive guide is the only book you need to get up to speed on the high-growth business opportunities provided by third-generation technology-related start-ups.

From the Back Cover

NEW RULES FOR FINDING, BUILDING, AND INVESTING IN A NEW BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

"Lightspeed Business is an enlightening book for future leaders of start-ups. Provocative and useful, the authors clearly instruct today's entrepreneurs on how to use their wisdom and experience to build successful enterprises." Halsey Minor Chairman and CEO, 12 Entrepreneuring, Inc.

"A blueprint for constructing businesses of real, lasting value. Weintraut and Barr draw lessons from what was truly novel and valuable in the recent tech business boom while avoiding the hype and fadishness preached by most start-up gurus. Venture capitalists should require that the book be read by prospective portfolio company managers." Michael Flaherman Investment Committee Chair, CalPERS The world's largest private equity investor

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition (October 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471419729
• ISBN-13: 978-0471419723
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,993,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent primer for entrepreneurs, February 6, 2002

By 

Andrew Mann (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lightspeed Business: Find It, Fund It, Build It, When There's No Margin for Error (Hardcover)

Barr and Weintraut's work gives concrete advice to tomorrow's leaders on how to position and structure their businesses in order to attract venture capital and ultimately, win. The emphasis is on internet startup financing but I think young CEOs targeting other industries may benefit too. The subjects covered vary from really simple observations based on common sense such as the importance of focusing on the customer and why it is important to hire the best folks you can get, to more complicated issues such as how much equity to give to whom and what to expect will happen to the capitalization structure over time.

The book is peppered throughout with specific Internet company war stories from the last decade that well illustrate their insights and keep the prose entertaining and punchy. I would definitely recommend this book for folks interested in founding or working at a startup, especially first-time entrepreneurs that haven't had much experience with venture capitalists.