The Entrepreneurial Venture: Readings

'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.

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.

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.