Breakthrough Entrepreneurship

The Proven Framework for Building New Businesses

by Bill Murphy

Number of pages: 282

ISBN: 9780983961109

About the Author

Bill Murphy Jr. is an author and journalist in Washington, DC. Previously, Murphy wrote the books “The In-telligent Entrepreneur” and “In a Time of War.” Murphy worked as the lead reporting assistant to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post on “State of Denial” and “The Secret Man.” He also reported from Iraq for the Post.

Editorial Review

You deeply want to become an extraordinary entrepreneur, but you don’t know where to begin. You don’t have enough money; or else you’ve got money, but you wouldn’t feel right risking it. You’re too young; or else you’re too old, and the chance has already passed you by. You can’t seem to come up with the right idea; or else, you’re overwhelmed with ideas and you can’t seem to settle on one.Even the most successful entrepreneurs have moments of self-doubt. It’s only human. The question to be asked is: How can you join the ranks of extraordinary entrepreneurs?

Book Reviews

The authors detail a step-by step framework for readers to brainstorm a winning business idea, test it before they’ve committed too much time and money, and develop it into something great. Using examples of companies large and small (Zipcar, Parenting magazine, Wal-mart, Google), Burgstone and Murphy teach readers to find and fill an unmet customer need, plan for profitability, strive for sustainability, establish credibility, gather necessary resources, lead and manage effectively, and maintain balance.

The book is chocked full of insights into the entrepreneurial process and the ways that entrepreneurs think as they see ideas for creating value to the world around them. That’s not to say, at the same time, that it wasn’t well-written, or that, at times, it didn’t get me thinking so much I thought my hair might burst into flames.

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Wisdom to Share

You deeply want to become an extraordinary entrepreneur, but you don’t know where to begin.

Any giant goal can seem overwhelming, so break up the things you’ll have to achieve as an entrepreneur into small steps.

You are entitled to succeed, but you have to train yourself to believe that you will do so.

You’ll likely need to examine many promising ideas before you hit on one that you might be able to leverage to create a successful new entrepreneurial venture.

Focus on healing Let that be your guide as you try to invent a venture that will make the pain go away.

Entrepreneurs often wind up using customer pain” as a synonym for “customer needs” or “customer problems.”

The more acute the pain or problem, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to offer a compelling solution.

We list pain and pleasure in that order for a reason.

Leaping before looking hard enough is the most easily avoidable mistake that entrepreneurs make.

If you don’t see an obvious cross-pollination idea, sometimes the solution is to let the world do the cross-pollinating for you.

Even the most successful entrepreneurs have moments of self-doubt.