{"product_id":"the-founders-dilemmas","title":"The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup (The Kauffman Foundation Innovation and Entrepreneurship #13) by Noam Wasserman","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA guide to the early decisions that can make or break startup ventures\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOften downplayed in the excitement of starting up a new business venture is one of the most important decisions entrepreneurs will face: should they go it alone, or bring in cofounders, hires, and investors to help build the business? More than just financial rewards are at stake. Friendships and relationships can suffer. Bad decisions at the inception of a promising venture lay the foundations for its eventual ruin. \u003ci\u003eThe Founder's Dilemmas\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book to examine the early decisions by entrepreneurs that can make or break a startup and its team.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on a decade of research, Noam Wasserman reveals the common pitfalls founders face and how to avoid them. He looks at whether it is a good idea to cofound with friends or relatives, how and when to split the equity within the founding team, and how to recognize when a successful founder-CEO should exit or be fired. Wasserman explains how to anticipate, avoid, or recover from disastrous mistakes that can splinter a founding team, strip founders of control, and leave founders without a financial payoff for their hard work and innovative ideas. He highlights the need at each step to strike a careful balance between controlling the startup and attracting the best resources to grow it, and demonstrates why the easy short-term choice is often the most perilous in the long term.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Founder's Dilemmas\u003c\/i\u003e draws on the inside stories of founders like Evan Williams of Twitter and Tim Westergren of Pandora, while mining quantitative data on almost ten thousand founders. People problems are the leading cause of failure in startups. This book offers solutions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003eList of Illustrations vii \u003cbr\u003ePart I: Introduction and Pre-founding 1 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter One: Introduction 3 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Two: Career Dilemmas 27 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart II: Founding Team Dilemmas 69 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Three: The Solo-versus-Team Dilemma 73 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Four: Relationship Dilemmas: Flocking Together and Playing with Fire 89 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Five: Role Dilemmas: Positions and Decision Making 117 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Six: Reward Dilemmas: Equity Splits and Cash Compensation 145 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Seven: The Three RsSystem: Alignment and Equilibrium 186 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart III: Beyond the Founding Team: Hires and Investors 205 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Eight: Hiring Dilemmas: The Right Hires at the Right Time 209 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Nine: Investor Dilemmas: Adding Value, Adding Risks 249 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Ten: Failure, Success, and Founder-CEO Succession 297 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart IV: Conclusion 329 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter Eleven: Wealth-versus-Control Dilemmas 331 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments 387 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAppendix A: Quantitative Data 391 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAppendix B: Summary of Startups and People 403 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNotes 425 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBibliography 451 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIndex 467\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Wasserman illustrates his findings with real world examples that translate into immediately applicable advice. But rather than creating a prescriptive list of commandments that would be impossible to follow, he adopts a more holistic approach. Encouraging entrepreneurs to study how others have handled similar challenges in the past, his insights highlight the common ground found in seemingly unique situations.\"-- \u003cstrong\u003e\"ForeWord\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There are plenty of books, lots with stories, anecdotes, and suggestions, but none that are particularly systematic about going through all of the issues. Noam's book is the first I've read--and he totally nails it.\" \u003cb\u003e---Brad Feld, \u003ci\u003eFeld Thoughts\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNoam Wasserman \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eis an associate professor at Harvard Business School.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eby Noam Wasserman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"IPS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46172875325626,"sku":"9780691158303","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0444\/2213\/5968\/files\/imageloader_60e677e6-e41a-40f8-beae-392aca6d07b5.jpg?v=1784309741","url":"https:\/\/naturenurture.shop\/products\/the-founders-dilemmas","provider":"nature+nurture","version":"1.0","type":"link"}