High-tech Ventures: The Guide For Entrepreneurial Success

I think that "pedantic", as used in another review, is not entirely off the mark - but the insight I gained from this book was well worth it. We have experienced a ludicruous period in high-tech development in the late 1990s - as things return to a more businesslike basis, the approach in this book becomes more appropriate and even vital to survival. If you are considering starting, working at, or investing in a high-tech venture, this book will repay the cost and time spent reading it very, very well.

And I think this will be a timeless classic, much like Graham and Dodd did for value investing. The cases here are certainly dated - the mistakes and things to avoid are timeless.

There are much better books on entrepenuership. Do yourself a favor and get a business book written by businessmen not by engineers who aspire to be philosphers.

Word of caution though. This book isn't really about how to build a successfull business. It's more about how to tell if a given business (or a business decision) is to be successful. Most of the case studies in the book are really annotated examples of falures, as oppose to examples to follow.

Highly recommended.
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It takes a good plan and better execution to turn a startup into a real company--two things that seem to be lacking in most new ventures.

Gordon Bell has created a complete model for the stages of a startup firm. VCs, executives, and ESPECIALLY potential new hires should use these models to estimate the success factor of a startup. I think the 6 characteristics of a successful high-tech CEO are priceless. Of the duds that I've worked for, none of the CEOs could meet these stringent requirements. Are there many people who do? No. Do most startups fail? Yes. I urge anyone looking to join a startup to get this book, and even if you don't feel inclined to read it through, at least see what Bell has to say about the CEO, and then use his criteria to evaluate the leader at the team you are considering joining.

Another one of his observations that rings true to my experience is the danger of 'multiple agendas.' There is something in the nature of an entrepeneur that seems to make it almost impossible to focus on a single product or niche market, at least until it some measure of market success is achieved. I've fought this battle many times, and I've never understood why the VCs and the Board don't reign in their eager young entrepeneurs. I've concluded that it is because they are often ignorant themselves. Being able to spend somebody else's money doesn't automatically confer wisdom.

This book is almost 10 years old, but many of the author's predictions came true. I think he over-estimated the advantages of Japan, but perhaps American business actually learned something from Japan and applied it. If American management had not done that, perhaps Bell's predictions of Japanese economic superiority would have come to pass also.

I did think that it was interesting to read an engineer's perspective on marketing. An intelligent and experienced person often has wise things to say, even about disciplines where they have no formal educational background. I would strongly urge both marketing and engineering people to approach this text with an open mind.

Overall, this is a wise and perceptive book. It provides a good persective on the high-tech startup phenomenom and anyone who wishes to better understand the internal dynamics of a startup would find this an interesting and rewarding read.