Effectual Entrepreneurship
Whether you come to this book as an entrepreneurship student, a corporate manager, someone seeking regenerative social change, or a seasoned creator of new ventures, you already know that entrepreneurship is the primary engine of growth, innovation, and financial self-reliance.
What you will discover in this book is that there is a science to entrepreneurship—a shared logic that can be observed in expert entrepreneurs across industries, geographic locations, and time. We call this logic effectuation—which means working with things already within your control to co-create valuable new futures with people who want to work with you.
At the heart of the book you will find the four core principles of effectuation that expert entrepreneurs follow when creating new ventures, products, and markets:
- Start with your means
- Set affordable loss
- Form partnerships
- Leverage contingencies
In this book, each of these core principles is explained through cases, stories, thought exercises, and a variety of practical applications.
Presented in the concise, modular, graphical form made popular in previous editions, Effectual Entrepreneurship is perfect both for those seeking to become entrepreneurs, and those already in the thick of things!
A wealth of thought-provoking material, expert advice, and practical techniques resides in these pages and on the accompanying website: www.effectuation.org.
Saras Sarasvathy is the Paul M. Hammaker Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, USA.
Glen B. Wheatley is Managing Director of Best Solutions International Group, entrepreneur, thought and cultural nomad, and adjunct academic at the University of Adelaide, Australia.