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Never Bet the Farm

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Never Bet the Farm

How Entrepreneurs Take Risks, Make Decisions – and How You Can, Too

Jossey-Bass,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Forget mythical entrepreneurial secrets. Here's a no-nonsense plan for handling risk and making smart business decisions.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Libraries are filled with inspiring but intimidating tales of business success, but such superhero tricks of business engineering seem beyond the reach of mere mortals. Fortunately, Anthony Iaquinto and Stephen Spinelli Jr. provide 15 principles for entrepreneurs. With detailed examples from established companies, such as Dell and Wal-Mart, and more than 80 pages of background information, they provide instructive nitty-gritty advice. Some of the principles, especially the chapter on "gray areas," may set off your ethical alarms. But, otherwise, this is a good how-to manual for your business. getAbstract recommends this book to actual or armchair entrepreneurs.

Summary

First Principle: The Career Track

As an entrepreneur, you are more than just a business owner. Managing your career is crucial. Viewing entrepreneurship as a career track will help you cope with the inevitable setbacks that come with business ownership. Every successful entrepreneur has faced some form of failure or hardship, including two superstars of success:

  • Oprah Winfrey – This billionaire television personality faced early failure as a TV news anchor. To boost her on-screen appeal, Winfrey underwent an extreme makeover of her hair, which left her bald and defeated. Ultimately, she salvaged her career. She had lost her anchor job in the first place because she emoted on the air and deviated from the script; those very traits were ideal for her next job: Co-host of a morning talk show.
  • Sam Walton – The founder of Wal-Mart launched his first store in Mississippi, but he did not own the property where it was housed. Envious of Walton's retail success, his landlord evicted him and seized the store.

Second Principle: Entrepreneurs Are Just Plain Folks

Heroic myths about business owners paint portraits of super-character...

About the Authors

Anthony L. Iaquinto was an entrepreneur and educator in Japan. He launched several businesses, including a language school. Stephen Spinelli Jr. co-founded a large auto service firm and is vice provost at Babson College, where he teaches entrepreneurship and directs the entrepreneurship center.

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