This book takes a practical and revealing look at innovation and
entrepreneurship by asking a wide sample of proven global
entrepreneurs 'how they did it'. There are always critics who claim
that such an approach is too subjective, the findings cannot be
generalized across the greater population, or there may be issues
of validity and reliability. In response to such arguments I can
only shrug and point in the direction of authors such as Robert Yin
(2003) and David de Vaus (2002) who have written eloquently on this
topic. Stephen Jay Gould (1989), once made the following
observation, 'the surfaces of planets and moons cannot be predicted
from a few general rules. To understand planetary surfaces, we must
learn the particular history of each body as an individual object -
the story of its collisions and catastrophes, more than its steady
accumulations, in other words, its unpredictable single jolts more
than its daily operations under nature's laws'. Similarly we argue
that the life of an entrepreneur must be studied, including the
shocks and calamities, as well as their personalities and
characteristics. Only then can we really understand the forces and
influences that shaped them into what they have become. This book
is an attempt to do exactly that. Our entrepreneurs have been
honest and candid when talking about the bad times as well as the
good. A romanticized view of entrepreneurship helps no one. Our
findings indicate that entrepreneurship is comprised of a
convergence between specific personal attributes and various
environmental elements and opportunity factors - none of which
match those described by Kets de Vries and Goss. Not everyone has
these personal attributes and not every environment is conducive to
entrepreneurial behaviour, but after reading this book you will
agree that entrepreneurship is far less mysterious than many
authors would have us believe. You will also agree that
entrepreneurship is not an outcome of psychotic tendencies. We set
out to demystify the entrepreneurial act by (1) documenting a
number of entrepreneurial journeys - providing inspiration to those
seeking the motivation to venture into the unknown, and (2)
providing a decision aid that can act as a stop/go framework to
test your readiness to proceed with a business idea. This framework
highlights knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes needed to be
an entrepreneur, and it integrates important environmental factors
that link the entrepreneur with his or her business venture. We
interviewed entrepreneurs from Vietnam, Australia, China, New
Zealand and Mongolia who described the manner in which they
recognized and exploited business opportunities and overcame
obstacles in their path to success. Traditionally such studies have
concentrated on Anglo-American entrepreneurs. Our approach is
different. We interviewed entrepreneurs from the various countries
who represent business people from developed to transition
economies that are striving to achieve economic and business growth
against many hardships and obstacles. We included the developing
nations as they are becoming increasingly reliant on this economic
and business expansion (i.e. via migration, trade in commodities
and resources and business links). The perspectives gained from
this study attempt to describe contemporary entrepreneurial
behaviours in the context of rapidly expanding economic systems.
The authors examine the entrepreneurial phenomenon using
inspirational case studies that describe the journey's and
challenges of real, and quite ordinary people who have achieved
extraordinary outcomes with their business ventures. These examples
of business success are set in a variety of countries, including
Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Mongolia, and China.
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