Odds of failure are very high in the business world. Numbers from different sources suggest that around 90% of startups fail in their first 5 years of founding.

Next, 2 common questions that arise from these stats are:

Why do many startups fail?
What can they do to reduce their odds of failing?

The author, Dr. Thomas Eisenmann is in the very right position to answer these questions and write on this topic as he is the professor of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School and teaches classes on Startup Failures, and has been involved in a number of startups himself.

He tries to find common patterns that cause a startup to fail in different stages. The author conducted a survey with around 470 startup founders/CEOs and this book is the result of statistical inferences of this survey + his own knowledge and experience in this area + a number of interviews with a handful of selected case studies for each failure pattern.

The writing style is content-rich and engaging. The ideas, concepts, and solutions that are laid out in the book are well thought out and the way that the book is structured is very close to how actual companies start, face different challenges, and evolve.

Absolutely essential read for entrepreneurs and those who are employed in business-related positions like CEOs, product managers/owners, and business development strategists.

I learned so much on how to reduce the odds of failure and navigate the tricky waters of building a business.

A lifetime’s worth of practical business education and wisdom.

Notes on the next book, straight to you