Chapter 1

1. How do you define entrepreneurship, new entrepreneurship education and

paradigm?
Entrepreneurship can be defined as the desire of one to make a difference in their lives
and lives others by giving something of value to oneself and others. Entrepreneurship is
a way for individuals to grow and improve their local communities
2. Has entrepreneurship development in academic curricula evolved over the
years? Give examples.
8. What role has venture capital played in this economic transformation?
9. It is often argued that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. How and why has
the entrepreneurial revolution affected this stereotype? What are its implications?
10. What has happened to large and established companies as a result of this surge by
entrepreneurial upstarts?
Chapter 2
1. What is entrepreneurial leadership?
2. What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
3. Define the seven major themes that characterize the mind-sets, attitudes, and actions
of a successful entrepreneur. Which are most important, and why? How can they be
encouraged and developed?
4. Entrepreneurs are made, not born. Why is this so? Do you agree, and why or why
not?
5. Explain what is meant by the apprenticeship concept. Why is it so important to young
entrepreneurs?
6. What is your personal entrepreneurial strategy? How should it change?
7. What is one persons ham is another persons poison. What does this mean?
8. Can you evaluate thoroughly your attraction to entrepreneurship?
9. Who should be an entrepreneur and who should not?
Chapter 3
1. Can you define what is meant by classic entrepreneurship and the high-potential
venture? Why and how are threshold concepts, covering your equity, bootstrapping of
resources, fit, and balance important?
2. How many additional metaphors and paradoxes about entrepreneurship can you
write down?
3. People dont want to be managed, they want to be led. Explain what this means and
its importance and implications for developing your own style and leadership
philosophy.

4. What are the most important determinants of success and failure in new businesses?
Who has the best and worst chances for success, and why?
5. What are the most important things you can do to get the odds in your favor?
6. What criteria and characteristics do high-growth entrepreneurs, venture capitalists,
and private investors seek in evaluating business opportunities? How can these make a
difference?
7. Define and explain the Timmons Model. Apply it and graphically depict, as in the
Google example, the first five years or so of a new company with which you are familiar.
8. What are the most important skills, values, talents, abilities, and mind-sets one needs
to cultivate as an entrepreneur?
Chapter 4
1. In what ways does looking through a sustainability lens change how an entrepreneur
approaches a new venture opportunity?
2. Explain how thinking like a molecule is related to the entrepreneurial process.
3. Why has the clean commerce domain become one of the hottest for venture capital
investors?
4. How has the communications revolution become a major driver of entrepreneurial
thinking and opportunities in sustainable, green business models?
5. How can entrepreneurs use the increasingly stringent product, raw material, and
manufacturing process laws (particularly in Japan and in Europe) to their advantage?
Chapter 5
1. What is the difference between an idea and a good opportunity?
2. Why is it said that ideas are a dime a dozen?
3. What role does experience play in the opportunity creation process, and where do
most good opportunities come from? Why is trial-and-error learning not good enough?
4. List the sources of ideas that are most relevant to your personal interests, and
conduct a search using the Internet.
5. What conditions and changes that may occur in society and the economy spawn and
drive future opportunities? List as many as you can think of as you consider the next 10
years.
6. Evaluate your best idea against the summary criteria in Exhibit 5.8. What appears to
be its potential? What has to happen to convert it into a high-potential business?
7. Draw a value chain and free cash flow chain for an existing business dominated by a
few large players. How can you use the Internet, personal computer, and other
information technology to capture (save) a significant portion of the margins and free
cash flows?
Chapter 7
1. What are the differences among socially responsible ventures, social ventures, and
enterprising nonprofits?
2. Why are corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities not considered to be part of
the domain of social entrepreneurship?
3. What are three characteristics of wicked problems?

4. What is meant by the concept of double bottom line with regard to socially focused
investing?
5. What is an example of a wicked problem facing humanity, and what types of
opportunities might arise for social entrepreneurs in that space?
Chapter 8
1. What is a business plan, for whom is it prepared, and why?
2. What should a complete business plan include?
3. Who should prepare the business plan?
4. How is the plan used by potential investors, and what are the four anchors they are
attempting to validate?
5. What is a dehydrated business plan, and when and why can it be an effective tool?
6. Explain the expression, The numbers in the plan dont matter.
7. How can entrepreneurs use the business plan process to identify the best team
members, directors, and value-added investors?
8. Prepare an outline of a business plan tailored to the specific venture you have in
mind.
Chapter 9
1. What are the differences between an entrepreneurial leader and an administrator or
manager?
2. How do founders grow their ventures beyond $10 million in sales, and why is the
team so important?
3. Define the stages that most companies experience as they grow, and explain the
leadership issues and requirements anticipated at each stage.
4. Describe what is meant by team philosophy and attitudes. Why are these important?
5. What are the most critical questions a lead entrepreneur needs to consider in thinking
through the team issue? Why? What are some common pitfalls in team building?
6. What are the critical rewards, compensation, and incentive issues in putting a team
together? Why are these so crucial and difficult to manage?
7. How does the lead entrepreneur allocate stock ownership and options in the new
venture? Who should get what ownership, and why?
8. Can you compare and describe the principal differences in leadership, management,
and organization between the best growing companies of which you are aware and
large, established companies? Why are there differences?
9. What drives the extent of complexity and difficulty of issues in a growing company?
10. What would be your strategy for changing and creating an entrepreneurial culture in
a large, nonentrepreneurial firm? Is it possible? Why or why not?
Chapter 10
1. What conclusions and insights emerged from the ethics exercise?
2. Why have ethical stereotypes emerged, and how have they changed?
3. Why is ethics so important to entrepreneurial and other success?
4. Why do many entrepreneurs and CEOs believe ethics can and should be taught?
5. What are the most thorny ethical dilemmas that entrepreneurs face, and why?

6. Describe an actual example of how and why taking a high ethical ground results in a
good decision for business.
Chapter 11
1. Entrepreneurs think and act ingeniously when it comes to resources. What does this
mean, and why is it so important?
2. Describe at least two creative bootstrapping resources.
3. Why will the Internet become an increasingly important gateway to controlling
resources?
4. In selecting outside advisors, a board, consultants, and the like, what are the most
important criteria, and why?
Chapter 12
1. Can you describe the difference between the franchisor and the franchisee? How are
these differences strategically aligned to create a competitive advantage?
2. We describe franchising as a pathway to entrepreneurship that provides a spectrum
of entrepreneurial opportunities. What does this mean to you?
3. What are the most important factors in determining whether franchising is an
appropriate method of rapidly growing a concept?
4. What are the five components of the franchise relationship model? Can you describe
the interactive nature of these components?
5. Why do you think the public franchisors consistently outperform the S&P 500?
6. What would be the most attractive aspects of franchising to you? What is the least
attractive part of franchising?
Chapter 13
1. Define the following and explain why they are important: burn rate, free cash flow,
fume something, time to clear, financial management myopia.
2. Why is entrepreneurial finance simultaneously both the least and most important part
of the entrepreneurial process? Explain this paradox.
3. What factors affect the availability, suitability, and cost of various types of financing?
Why are these factors critical?
4. What is meant by free cash flow, and why do entrepreneurs need to understand this?
Chapter 14
1. What is meant by the following, and why are these important: cover your equity;
angels; venture capital; valuation; due diligence; IPO; mezzanine; SBIC; private
placement; Regulation D; Rules 504, 505, and 506; and ESOP?
2. What does one look for in an investor, and why?
3. How can founders prepare for the due diligence and evaluation process?
4. Describe the venture capital investing process and its implications for fund-raising.
5. Most venture capitalists say there is too much money chasing too few deals. Why is
this so? When does this happen? Why and when will it reoccur?
6. What other sources of capital are available, and how are these accessed?
7. Explain the capital markets food chain and its implications for entrepreneurs and
investors.

Chapter 17
1. Why have old hierarchical management paradigms given way to new organizational
paradigms?
2. What special problems and crises can new ventures expect as they grow? Why do
these occur?
3. What role do the organizational culture and climate play in a rapidly growing venture?
4. Why is the rate of growth the central driver of the challenges a growing venture
faces?
5. What do entrepreneurs need to know about how companies get into and out of
trouble? Why?
6. Why do most turnaround specialists invariably discover that management is the root
cause of trouble?
7. Why is it difficult for existing management to detect and to act early on signals of
trouble?
8. What are some key predictors and signals that warn of impending trouble?
9. What diagnosis is done to detect problems, and why and how does cash play the
central role?
10. What are the main components of a turnaround plan, and why are these so
important?
11. What is the chain of greatness, and how can entrepreneurs benefit from this
concept?
Chapter 18
1. What are the entrepreneurial implications of not appreciating or understanding the
role and contribution of families to the economies of our communities and
countries?
2. Describe the advantages of a more formal approach for each of the roles families
play in the entrepreneurial process. Give a few contrasting examples from a family firm
with which you are familiar.
3. Define family enterprising, familiness , and relationship capital and relate each of
them to the Timmons Model of the entrepreneurial process.
4. Choose a family firm with which you are familiar and plot them on the mind-set and
methods model. Describe the firm in light of the mind-set and method definition. Make
six recommendations for what they could do to become more enterprising.
5. How do the six dimensions for family enterprising relate to one another? How do they
enhance family enterprising? Describe how the six dimensions can be used to stimulate
positive family dialogue.
6. If a family is trying to find their competitive advantage, how can the familiness
assessment approach help them? How is the familiness approach a more formal
application of the entrepreneurial process? How can the familiness approach change
the family dialogue?
7. Given the familiness assessment of Backerhaus Veit in the chapter, describe why
Sabine should or should not partner with Toby to implement his business plan. Describe
the familiness action steps that they should take if you say they should launch the

business. Describe the familiness reasons for why they possibly should not launch the
business.
8. Assess a family firm with which you are familiar on the familiness resource and
capabilities continuum. Describe what action steps they need to take to enhance their
competitive advantage as a family organization.