Thinking of starting your own business in high-tech? Do yourself a huge favor by reading this book first. The authors, both veterans of many start-ups, address topics vital to your start-up success, such as: Finding start-up opportunities Leaving your current employer but keeping your ideas Protecting your intellectual property Managing the five critical elements of a successful start-up Securing start-up financing Dealing successfully with venture capitalists Writing a winning business plan Creating a management team Handling employment and compensation--who to hire and how to pay them Avoiding the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make Understanding company valuation and exit strategies James Swanson and Michael Baird lay out all the basic concepts clearly, step by step. They demystify the start-up process with frank advice, insiders' tips, and "been there" examples. On-point case studies show you what to do--and what to avoid. An expanded list of resources steers you to help when you need it. You'll learn what it takes for you to create and manage a start-up, and the personal characteristics required to be successful in your new venture. In good economies and bad, entrepreneurs will continue to lead the way to new markets, new ventures, and new technologies. With this comprehensive new guide, you have a great start to start-up success! _____________________________ Since 1975 more than 2 million people preparing for their engineering, surveying, architecture, LEED�, interior design, and landscape architecture exams have entrusted their exam prep to PPI. For more information, visit us at www.ppi2pass.com.

This two-volume set has been written primarily for engineers, technicians, and scientists who are contemplating the unknown but attractive world of technological entrepreneurship, a key driver of economic growth in developed countries and critical in stimulating growth in developing countries. The purpose is to prepare these professionals as members of teams focusing on commercializing new technology-based products. The material has also been used to introduce engineering students to the processes involved in technological entrepreneurship. Volume one provides a background of fundamentals and theory to prepare the reader for the venture launch. Topics include the entrepreneurial process, the venture team, developing and marketing high tech products, and launching the new venture. Volume two goes into detail in critical areas such as intellectual property protection, legal forms of organization, financial projections, and business plan preparation and delivery. The primary emphasis is focused on creating lean and agile organizations capable of recognizing opportunities, quickly developing introductory products for small test markets to better define the opportunities, and using the results of those test markets to arrive at a product with wide acceptance capable of driving growth.

Written by an experienced business lawyer in the technology, scientific and engineering community, this publication is for the engineer with an innovative high-tech idea or concept who needs those crucial business insights and strategies to move that idea forward. It offers key analysis on how to leave a current employer, gain access to technologie

This revised and updated edition of Nesheim's underground Silicon Valley bestseller incorporates twenty-three case studies of successful start-ups, including tables of wealth showing how much money founders and investors realized from each venture. The phenomenal success of the initial public offerings (IPOs) of many new internet companies obscures the fact that fewer than six out of 1 million business plans submitted to venture capital firms will ever reach the IPO stage. Many fail, according to start-up expert John Nesheim, because the entrepreneurs did not have access to the invaluable lessons that come from studying the real-world venture experiences of successful companies. Now they do. Acclaimed by entrepreneurs the world over, this practical handbook is filled with hard-to-find information and guidance covering every key phase of a start-up, from idea to IPO: how to create a winning business plan, how to value the firm, how venture capitalists work, how they make their money, where to find alternative sources of funding, how to select a good lawyer, and how to protect intellectual property. Nesheim aims to improve the odds of success for first-time high-tech entrepreneurs, and offers an insider's perspective from firsthand experience on one of the toughest challenges they face -- convincing venture capitalists or investment banks to provide financing. This complete, classic reference tool is essential reading for first-time high-tech entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs already involved in a start-up who want to increase their chances of success to rise to the top.

This two-volume set has been written primarily for engineers, technicians, and scientists who are contemplating the unknown but attractive world of technological entrepreneurship, a key driver of economic growth in developed countries and critical in stimulating growth in developing countries. The purpose is to prepare these professionals as members of teams focusing on commercializing new technology-based products. The material has also been used to introduce engineering students to the processes involved in technological entrepreneurship. Volume one provides a background of fundamentals and theory to prepare the reader for the venture launch. Topics include the entrepreneurial process, the venture team, developing and marketing high tech products, and launching the new venture. Volume two goes into detail in critical areas such as intellectual property protection, legal forms of organization, financial projections, and business plan preparation and delivery. The primary emphasis is focused on creating lean and agile organizations capable of recognizing opportunities, quickly developing introductory products for small test markets to better define the opportunities, and using the results of those test markets to arrive at a product with wide acceptance capable of driving growth.

Managing High-Tech Start-Ups equips engineers with a basic tool-kit for founding a high-tech manufacturing company. It gives would-be entrepreneurs insightful knowledge on how to attack such problems as developing a marketing plan, a sales plan, targets, pricing, hiring a sales force, evaluating marketing results, and correcting problems. The book emphasizes how to correctly identify a problem, so time is spent on its causes and not on its symptoms. Particular emphasis is placed on the marketing aspects of new engineering ventures, since marketing is usually not part of an engineer's experience, yet is so vital in the success or failure of a new venture. The authors take the reader step-by-step through the process of marketing evaluation and developing a product plan.

This book provides actual entrepreneurial stories giving insight into the pitfalls and successes one might find in starting or even continuing with a small high-tech business. Insights into innovative, speculative, and (largely) successful new ventures, as experienced by those who went through the process, are complemented by comments and observations from others in the field including researchers, economists, investors, regional development agencies, technology transfer organizations, and universities.The book is recommended to entrepreneurs in all high technology disciplines and in particular for students and early career professionals. It can be also useful for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in entrepreneurship, which many institutions are currently introducing, and to those who are interested in how a high-tech business might develop.