Who wants to be an entrepreneur? According to the author of this meticulously researched volume, "entrepreneurs who start and build new businesses are more celebrated than studied." Bhide, an HBS Professor currently on leave, sets out to remedy the situation. By sharing the results of his decade-long research on hundreds of successful new businesses, tied in with classic theory, his book enlightens and informs readers be they entrepreneurs, scholars, or even executives at large corporations who'd like to inject a little entrepreneurial spirit into their projects. Bhide's work demystifies the traits people normally ascribe to entrepreneurs so as to demonstrate precisely how a combination of luck, shrewd business skills, guts, and intelligence can launch a successful venture - or not.