If You Really Want to Change the World: A Guide to Creating, Building, and Sustaining Breakthrough Ventures - Hardcover

Kressel/Winarsky

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1625278292 ISBN 13: 9781625278296

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, 2015

Synopsis

Silicon Valley's latest trend for creating new ventures is based on trial and error: test market needs with new product concepts and a minimum amount of capital, expect that the product may not meet the market need, so fail fast and try another product with the hope that a product-market fit will eventually emerge. But this fail fast, step-and-pivot philosophy is like taking a random walk in the forest without a compass. If You Really Want to Change the World is about helping entrepreneurs find true north. Henry Kressel and Norman Winarsky--technologists, inventors, and investors with stellar track records--provide a guide for those who wish to create a market-leading company that will have a real impact: a disciplined and staged approach they have used to launch, invest in, and develop scores of highly successful companies. If You Really Want to Change the World leads entrepreneurs through the critical stages of venture development, from concept to acquisition or public offering to maintaining a rich culture of innovation in the company. It is a guide by innovators for innovators, with approaches that are practical and timeless. Drawing on the authors' experiences as well as those of their partners from around the world, Kressel and Winarsky share the stories of their triumphs and misses, demonstrate their method in action, and inspire their readers in the process. There are more opportunities now than ever before to build breakthrough companies that touch millions of lives. If this is your goal, let this book be your guide to creating world-changing ventures.

About this title

Review:

2016 Axiom Business Book Bronze Award in ENTREPRENEURSHIP

This book is a breath of fresh air If You Really Want to Change the World is a practical guide to creating and expanding a business. If you are embarking on a venture, pack this book.” Financial Times

Kressel and Winarsky give the reader a wealth of examples to illustrate what works and what doesn’t a standard reference work for business-school courses on entrepreneurship for some years to come.” Asia Times

insight and concrete steps the hopeful can take to advance their dreams of building something meaningful and long-lasting. VentureBeat

Advance Praise for If You Really Want to Change the World:

Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, Stanford W. Ascherman MD Professor, School of Engineering, Stanford University
Kressel and Winarsky have created the definitive road map that injects sanity, creativity, and boldness into the venturing process. This is the book for serious entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors who want to use their time and resources most effectively to create truly breakthrough companies.”

Vinod Khosla, founder, Khosla Ventures
An essential guide to all the stages of a company’s growth.”

Michael Moritz, Chairman, Sequoia Capital
Ever wonder where Siri was born? Or from where Nuance, Fair Isaac, and Intuitive Surgical derive their pedigrees? It is SRI, one of Silicon Valley’s best-kept secrets. If You Really Want to Change the World introduces the purposeful and careful method that SRI and others have used to spawn these and similar companies, and helped turn them into forces that now touch millions of people.”

Alfred Chuang, founder and CEO, Magnet Systems; cofounder and former CEO, BEA Systems
If You Really Want to Change the World is mandatory reading for any entrepreneur who wants to start a company or any investor who wants to invest in one. It will change the way you think about entrepreneurship and what you must endure to become successful."

About the Author:

Henry Kressel served as a senior partner and managing director at Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, for more than thirty years. During his tenure, he successfully led and managed investments, both domestic and international, in diverse fields of technology and services. Collectively, these investments generated many billions of dollars in enterprise value.

Norman Winarsky was President of SRI Ventures at SRI International, a world-renowned research institute. He cofounded and led SRI’s venture strategy and process, which has resulted in more than sixty ventures worth over $20 billion, including companies such as Nuance, Intuitive Surgical, and Siri. For more information visit ifyoureallywanttochangetheworld.com

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1625278292
• ISBN 13: 9781625278296
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256