Books on Entrepreneurship

The ISB Collaborative Blog has come out with their next set of books, now focussed on Entreprenuership. Prof. Venkatraman of ISB has provided the content.

Prof. Venkataraman's List

• Rita McGrath and Ian MacMillan, 2000. The Entrepreneurial Mind-Set. Harvard University Press.
• Clayton Christensen, 1997. The Innovator’s Dilemma. Harvard University Press.
• Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor, 2003. The Innovator’s Solution. Harvard University Press.
• Drucker, Peter. 1985. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Harper & Row: New York.
• Duncan Watts, 2003. Six Degrees. Norton Press.
• Ronald Burt, 1995. Structural Holes (Chapter 1 and 3). Harvard University Press.
• Scott Shane, 2003. A General Theory of Entrepreneurship. Edward Elgar Press.
• Saxenian, Anna Lee, 1994. Regional Advantage. Harvard University Press.
• Bhide, Amar. 2000. The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses. Oxford University Press: New York.
• Sahlman, William, Stevenson, Howard, Roberts, Michael and Bhide, Amar. 1999. The Entrepreneurial Venture, Second Edition. HBS Press: Boston.
• What do venture capitalists do? HBS Case 9-288-015
• Sahlman, Structure and Governance of V.C. Investment, in Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 27 (1990)

There are lot of books which I have not read on this. But from what I have read of some of the authors, Peter Drucker, Amar Bhide and Clayton Christensen do write some excellent stuff.

Amar Bhide provides some great understanding of what an Entrepreneur should do and the thinking process needed there. Some not-so-obvious examples from him.

Christensen has soon come out on the top with his two books on Innovators and Innovation. They are a must read.

Druckers' book on Entrepreneurship is the definitive study of Innovation, the main tool of the Entrepreneur, and should be a must read. I have read it once and have started reading it again. Dave Pollard provides a good condensed article of the main ideas from this book.

One shocking aspect is that Jim Collins is missing from this list. No list on Entreprenuership would be complete without Jim Collins' two books - Built to Last and Good to Great.

I have to say that after Drucker he is the guy whom I have read the most. I have read both his books twice and I think they are a worthy addition to the list.

If you ask me this is the sequence of books I would suggest for a would be Entreprenuer (however my suggestion may not mean much) :

1. The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses by Amar Bhide
2. Innovation and Entreprenuership by Peter Drucker
3. The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
4. Built to Last by Jim Collins
5. The Innovator’s Solution by Clayton Christensen
6. Good to Great by Jim Collins
7. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

I have added "The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker" here because good work habits are important for both Executives and Entreprenuers. They are one of the pillars of a more meaningful life.