America's Most Successful Startups: Lessons for Entrepreneurs

The diploma thesis of Max Finger and Oliver Samwer which they wrote at their university WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management. http://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-find-Samwers-book-Americas-most-successful-start-ups-An-Entrepreneur-Handbook Contents: 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose of the Study 1.2 Research Design I. CREATING A BUSINESS 2. The Opportunities 2.1 Types of Opportunities 2.1.1 Opportunities based on a Paradigm Shift 2.1.2 Opportunities based on a New Product or Business Model 2.1.3 Opportunities based on a Me-too Product 2.2 Opportunity Recognition 2.2.1 Markets that change 2.2.2 Markets that are badly understood. 2.2.3 Markets that are large 2.2.4 Markets that are fast growing 2.2.5 Markets where the Incumbent Players cannot move 2.2.6 Markets where there is little Competition 2.3 Process of Opportunity Recognition 2.3.1 Intuitive Approach 2.3.2 Analytical Approach 2.4 Refinement Process 2.5 Research Process 2.6 General Advice on the Idea Generation Process 2.7 Evaluation of a Business Idea 3. The Homework 3.1 Defining the Market Need 3.2 Defining the Customer 3.3 Defining the Market Size 3.4 Defining the Market Timing 4. The Window of Opportunity 5. The Background of the Entrepreneur 6. The Founders 7. The Role of the Founder 7.1 Management of the Company 7.2 Ownership of the Company 7.3 Building a Sustainable Business 8. The Ideal Startup II. LAUNCHING THE BUSINESS 9. The Location 10. The Advisors 11. The Support Players 11.1 Legal Counsel 12. Intellectual Property 13. The Funding 13.1 Milestone Financing 13.2 Risk Identification and Elimination 13.3 Sources of Funding 13.3.1 Bootstrapping 13.3.2 Sources of Outside Equity 13.3.2.1 Angel Investors 13.3.2.2 Venture Capital 13.3.2.3 Corporate Investors 13.3.2.4 Initial Public Offering 13.3.2.5 Funding Strategy 13.4 Choosing an Investor 13.5 General Advice on the Funding Process 14. The Culture 14.1 Importance of Culture 14.2 Values 14.3 People 14.3.1 Recruiting People 14.3.2 Attracting People 14.3.3 Finding People 14.3.4 Keeping People 14.3.5 Dismissing People 14.4 Mission 14.5 Information Flow 14.5.1 Free flow of information 14.5.1.1 Open-door, walk-in Meetings 14.5.1.2 Sitting in Cubicles 14.5.1.3 Status Meetings and Reports 14.5.1.4 Personal Whiteboards 14.5.1.5 All-Hands-Meetings 14.5.1.6 CEO Lunches and Employee Breakfasts 14.6 Communication 14.6.1 Formal and Informal Communication 14.6.2 Direct and Open Communication 14.7 Decision Making 14.8 Result Orientation and Management-by-Objectives 14.9 Key Characteristics of a Successful Culture 14.9.1 A Team Work Culture 14.9.2 An Egoless Culture 14.9.3 A Meritocracy of ideas 14.9.4 A Risk Culture 14.9.5 A "no status, no ego, blue-jeans" Culture 14.9.6 A "don't-let-the-others-down" Culture 14.9.7 A Fun Culture 14.9.8 A Family Culture 14.10 Keeping the Culture when the Company is Growing 14.11 Leadership 14.11.1 Building a Vision 14.11.2 Building Teams 14.11.3 Reinforcing the Culture 14.11.4 Creating a Sense of Urgency 14.11.5 Qualities of a Leader 15. The Management Team 16. Technology and Market Orientation 17. The Flexibility 18. The Focus 19. The Execution 20. The Network IIl. GROWING THE BUSINESS 21. The Partners 22. The Game for Mindshare 23. The Breakthrough 24. The First Customers 25. The Competition 26. The Growth Management 26.1 People 26.2 Processes 26.3 Management 26.4 Communication IV. THE ENTREPRENEUR 27. The Motivation 28. The Doubts 29. The Sacriflces 30. The Qualities of an Entrepreneur 30.1 Visionary 30.2 Confidence 30.3 Team Spirit 30.4 Risk attitude 30.5 No Fear of Failure 30.6 Ability to Learn 30.7 Entrepreneurship is very personal 30.8 Sense of Reality 30.9 Persistence 30.10 Commitment 30.11 Experience 30.12 Salesmanship 30.13 Standing of an Entrepreneur 31. Summary 32. Appendix