Effectual Entrepreneurship

Praise for the first edition: 'Entrepreneurship is the most powerful tool we have for economic and social value creation and this book is destined to be recognized as the secret weapon all entrepreneurship educators have been waiting for! An accessible and comprehensive guide for all who aspire to both make and find opportunities. Bravo!' - Len Schlesinger, President, Babson College, USA 'Both in form and content, this expansive volume captures the excitement of the entrepreneurial enterprise and the opportunities and challenges presented at each development cycle. Written by European and US academics, this volume is a great starting point to explore notions of innovation and entrepreneurial activity. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels of undergraduate students; practitioners; general readers.' - S. A. Schulman, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CHOICE 'A pragmatic, comprehensive book on entrepreneurship that talks about the key aspects and principles for establishing and sustaining a successful business' - Businessworld 'This work has been absolutely instrumental in the development and continued growth of our company. We apply the 5 principles of effectuation everyday at Forgetful Gentleman. If you've ever thought of being an entrepreneur, this book will literally change your life.' - Nathan Tan, Co-Founder, Forgetful Gentleman, Darden MBA '09 'An entrepreneurial blueprint for those who don't like blueprints. The authors have distilled the essence of entrepreneurship in a new and vital way. Anyone who wants to know what matters to the global and local economies of tomorrow should read this book.' - Jim Zuffoletti, Co-Founder of OpenQ 'I knew that effectuation was a game changer as I witnessed my sixty MBA classmates fight and squirm to digest the material; this topic isn't for those wanting some gentle stretching - it's a majestic contrast to the typical MBA way of thinking. As someone who already exhibited entrepreneurial tendency, effectuation provided an indispensable framework that organized and explained my previously chaotic yet intrinsic style of thinking.' - Ian Ayers, Co-Founder of Nova Global, Founder of Happy Rickshaw and CTO of LightWind Energy

Stuart Read is a Professor of Strategic Management at the Atkinson School of Management, Willamette University. Saras Sarasvathy is the Isidore Horween Research Associate Professor at The Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. Nick Dew is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School. Robert Wiltbank is the CEO of Galois, a software firm based in Portland, Oregon.

Part I: What We Know About Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship 1. Roadmaps, Myths and the Bahamas 2. Good Ideas Are Everywhere 3. Most Ventures Require Little Startup Capital 4. Fail Cheap And Learn Quickly 5. The Plunge Doesnt Have To Be A Plunge At All Part II: How (Expert) Entrepreneurs Think 6. Prediction, Risk and Uncertainty 7. Opportunities Are Created As Well As Discovered 8. Managing Uncertainty Through Control 9. The Effectual Logic Of Expert Entrepreneurs Part III: The Nuts And Bolts Of Venturing: Effectuation In Action 10.The Bird-In-Hand Principle: Start With What You Have 11. Transforming Means into Something Valuable 12. The Affordable Loss Principle: Risk Little, Fail Cheap 13. Using Slack for Bootstrap Financing 14. The Crazy Quilt Principle: Form Partnerships 15. Asking Potential Partners to Make Commitments 16. The Lemonade Principle: Leverage Surprise 17. Putting It Together: The Effectuation Process Part IV: I Am An Entrepreneur Now: How Far Can I Go? 18. Ownership, Equity And Control: Manage Stakeholders 19. Business Plans and Business Models 20. The Venture Grows Up: Create an Entrepreneurial Culture Part V: Applications of Effectuation 21. Brand as Venture Identity: Marketing You 22. Technology 23. Entrepreneurship As a Technology for Social Change Conclusion Directory of "Practically Speaking" Sections By Topic