Customer Reviews

Startups That Work: Surprising Research on What Makes or Breaks a New Company

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The book's unique approach of using what they call "Star Charts" is interesting and innovative. The authors give their advice backed by solid, almost painstaking research of 350 startups they followed over many years.

One of the most aggravating aspects of this book, however, was the sheer repetition -- of stories, of advice, of summarizing other company's history. There are numerous instances of where virtually the same passage is repeated in 3 or 4 different places in the book -- a quote, a snippet of advice, 3 paragraphs of background of a particular startup (really, do we need to be constantly reminded of what company did what? I get it!), of conclusions even.

I felt this was done basically to pad the book. That the book, had it been well-written and properly edited by someone who actually ready it from front-cover to back-cover, it would've been about half its 293 page length (100+ pages of which is an Appendix). So you basically have a 193 page book that should've been about 100 pages.

Is it worth the hefty price? Probably not.

I really had to push myself into finishing the book instead of throwing the book against the wall in frustration.

Why? Because the book offered gems like "Manage your cash. Startups in the bubble years burned through money, but companies today have to be run much more tightly."

I got the sense that the authors were just trying to fill the pages when same quotes were used 2 or 3 times across different chapters like a high school student trying to pad a book report.

Intriguing title but ultimately the authors just served up rehashed conventional wisdom.

author conducted a study of successful startup companies and the factors that they share. good overall information. a bit boring.

This book doesn't have much past good old common sense. Sure they looked at several companies but I didn't read any gems or how-to points that would help any startup that someone with some brains wouldn't figure out on their own. And very annoying, as someone else pointed out, he has plenty of page filler that's exact copies of stories or parts of stories in multiple spots in the book! The Elevator story must have been repeated 3 times. Good that it's selling for very low in the used section because that's what it's worth.

Author Joel Kurtzman, consultant and former editor of the Harvard Business Review, has distilled a mass of research into a handy navigation tool for the intrepid startup entrepreneur. The Global Technology Center at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where Kurtzman was a partner, conducted quantitative research on 350 startup firms and held qualitative interviews with many entrepreneurs and startup CEOs. Kurtzman and co-author Glenn Rifkin present a number of conceptual frameworks based on this research. As an entrepreneur, you can use their frameworks to guide your thinking during the startup process. This book explores structural issues you must address to build a new organization, including setting up a board, forming management and sales teams, forging alliances, acquiring customers and creating business plans. Perhaps because of the particular startups surveyed - mostly technology companies - the book's advice is often carefully hedged against various "ifs", "ands" and "buts." However, the writers ultimately settle on 10 "critical factors" for startups, basing each one on their solid body of research. The first-time entrepreneur will gain much by considering each of these factors - and evaluating them in light of the nine-point business model presented - while seasoned corporate founders will see that the authors' research reinforces lessons they have already learned. We recommend this book to entrepreneurs (particularly in technology), investors, startup CEOs and the directors of new companies.

Weak, weak, so very weak. Just as weak startups should never be started in the first place, some books (about startups, the irony) should never be printed in the first place. A tear for the tree who got cut in order to print this book. Such waste...