The Venture Cafe : Secrets, Strategies, and Stories from America's High-Tech Entrepreneurs [Hardcover]

Teresa Esser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2002

Written for anyone interested in cutting edge entrepreneuship, this work offers an inside account of what business and technology mavericks are really talking about.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...describes the DNA of the dot-com refugees who now are shaping the gene pool of tomorrow's large corporation. -- Christopher Meyer, coauthor of Future Wealth and Blur

"...great stories and wise advice...walks readers through the thicket of starting a company..." -- Daniel H. Pink, author of Free Agent Nation

"...truly fun to read and most valuable..." -- Stan Davis, author of Lessons from the Future and coauthor of Blur

"Demystifies the venture capital industry and the entrepreneurial mind." -- Howard Anderson, co-founder, Battery Venture Capital and founding partner and senior managing director, YankeeTek Ventures

"Eureka! Esser has found it-the essence of high-tech venturing-and delivered it in a great, empowering book...must reading (and re-reading!)." -- Paul Bottino, executive director, Technology & Entrepreneurship Center, Harvard University

"Takes you inside the minds of technology entrepreneurs." -- Guy Kawasaki, CEO, Garage Technology Ventures

About the Author

Teresa Esser is an active member of the MIT entrepreneurial community and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus (March 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446527831
• ISBN-13: 978-0446527835
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,293,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I had read this book before starting a company..., March 12, 2002

By 

"avidreader_2002" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Venture Cafe : Secrets, Strategies, and Stories from America's High-Tech Entrepreneurs (Hardcover)

The Venture Cafe is a really fun book about the stories
and people who make high-tech entrepreneurship happen.
Teresa Esser blends clear-eyed objectivity with wisdom
gleaned from countless conversations with in-the-trenches
high-tech entrepreneurs.

She explains high-tech entrepreneurship in a way that
offers relevant lessons for everyone from would-be
entrepreneurs to seasoned venture capitalists.

Despite the fact that I have been involved with
entrepreneurship for years, I found myself learning
things I never knew. I learned how entrepreneur
Philo T. Farnsworth struggled for years starting in
the early 1920s to develop a business around his
invention of electronic television -- and was nearly
put out of business because of patenting issues
and cutthroat competition. Who would have known
that TV did not come from RCA?

It made me wonder whether today's innovators will
have the knowledge and insights necessary to avoid
what happened to Farnsworth. With this book, they'll
get the knowledge they need.

From practical "how to" insights about structuring a company
or choosing co-founders based on personality,
to funny and personal stories about company founders
themselves, this book is a unique look at the human
part of the entrepreneurship equation - the people
who are driven to succeed against odds that may be stacked
against them, or to take risks and innovate despite a
downturn in the economy.

Often the knowledge a person needs to start a company is
difficult to learn on the job. Had I been able to read
this book beforehand, I would have gained insights
I could only have gathered from experience or
from asking other entrepreneurs.

I loved hearing how other entrepreneurs deal with
what I deal with - the challenges of balancing business
and family, the risks and rewards of leaving the safety
of corporate jobs to strike out on one's own.

These stories are encouraging, engaging and exhilarating.
Reading The Venture Cafe makes me want to start another company!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Stories to Sink Your Teeth Into, March 28, 2002

By 

B. DesLauriers "Healthy Living Tours" (BELLEVUE, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Venture Cafe : Secrets, Strategies, and Stories from America's High-Tech Entrepreneurs (Hardcover)

With a library of too many business books that simply talk theory, I found new sources of wisdom in Venture Cafe. Entrepreneurship reminds me of those pictures of burnt out bodies and equipment scattered along a lone road after Desert Storm. It's hard to imagine how anyone made it through the barrage of weapons fire when all you could see was disaster.

These are war stories dedicated to the hero's of the capital war. Having run that gauntlet myself I can appreciate the dedication and just plain dumb determination needed to succeed in raising capital.

If you want to start a venture using other people's money, then this is a good book to read. You'll learn lessons here that no one will or can tell you. The game has rules that constantly change according to so many variables it can make your head spin. The only constant is your mindset. If you don't have that all-out drive and determination to keep playing you don't even want to consider grabbing that ball.

Just ask anyone who has ever tried to raise money beyond their family and friends. Doesn't matter if you have the greatest idea at the perfect time, if you don't have those 'extras' in place, you loose.

One good example is the 'Catch 22' of CEO acquisition. Without a great management team in place, you don't get funded. Without funding how do you pay a management team?

I personally don't like playing the game, yet I appreciate those who have scored. It forces entrepreneurs to redirect far too much of their valuable time away from crucial tasks into the arena of lions --- who mostly want to devour them alive. To the money people, it's a game whereby they control the ball --- to entrepreneurs who only want a fair chance to prove themselves --- it becomes a survival issue that engulfs their physical, mental, spiritual, economic and relationship lifestyle.

This book exposes the depths of entrepreneurial spirit necessary to even attempt a run at success. Think of it as sage stories from wise mentors.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with Knowledge!, February 25, 2003

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Venture Cafe : Secrets, Strategies, and Stories from America's High-Tech Entrepreneurs (Hardcover)

Teresa Esser has provides an insightful collection of anecdotes, horror stories, case studies and advice from seasoned veterans of the dot-com boom. Though she admits she's not the entrepreneurial type, her marriage to a successful entrepreneur gives her a unique vantage point on the joys and frustrations of starting a high-tech company with little more than a dream. This fun, quick read contains valuable tips on hiring a good lawyer, pitching ideas to VCs and surviving both failure and success. Much of the advice is still practical, even though the Internet bubble has burst. However, some of the interviews retain a bit of the breathless hype of the days when anyone with a domain name could land first-round VC funding. We from getAbstract recommend this book to would-be entrepreneurs, especially corporate types who are thinking of launching their own companies, and to those who want a level-headed view of the mysterious workings of high-tech startups and their funding.