Startups That Work: The 10 Critical Factors That Will Make or Break a New Company Hardcover - 2005

by Joel Kurtzman; Glenn Rifkin

Every large company was once a startup struggling to survive, yet only a small percentage of all startups are able to thrive in the long run. Entrepreneurs and investors have gut instincts about what startups need to do to beat the odds, but until now there hasn't been any hard research on what separates winners and losers.

Joel Kurtzman and a research team from Price-waterhouseCoopers studied 350 companies and interviewed hundreds of venture capitalists, CEOs, boards of directors, and angel investors over four years. This unprecedented research has led to some very surprising findings about nine key factors, such as market size, competitive position, business model, and cash flow. For instance:

á Speed usually trumps perfection.
á Advanced technology shouldn't be the highest priority, even in tech companies.
á Not all growth is smart growth.

Startups That Work can help small-business people create value while giving venture capitalists and investors the essential information they need to figure out which startups are worth the investment risk.