Unlikely Entrepreneurs

Is Your Idea Big Enough to Build a Business That Will Last? Learn from Unlikely Entrepreneurs

What does the USA's number one online casket company, a nationally distributed sustainable sausage brand, and the company behind the editing system used by The Matrix have in common? These thriving ventures were founded by unlikely entrepreneurs whose journeys reveal what it takes to succeed in launching and growing a startup.

In Unlikely Entrepreneurs: Wins, Losses and Crucial Advice in Building Great Companies, the authors—who hail from Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management—combine expert insights, elements of the case study method, and an engaging story-telling style to take a deep dive into the key challenges that founders face. They set the stage for each profile-—including those of entrepreneurs helming billion dollar companies to mom-and-pop businesses—whose colorful, unlikely stories showcase entrepreneurial best practices that readers can adopt to succeed.

Throughout the book, the authors weave in lessons from the classrooms of top-ranked business schools and expert insights from venture capitalists, investors, CEOs, business authors, and Ivy league researchers—on what it takes for startups to scale in a competitive marketplace. Topics include, among others:

• How to attain crucial second-hand knowledge of your target audiences’ needs
• Building your Go To Market Playbook
• Why founders must become their company's 'Chief Salesperson'
• Fundraising best practices
• The crucial differences between managing and leading
• Leveraging AI to build your marketing campaigns
• Mastering the art of the pivot to ward off failure

We live in a time of rapid change, and entrepreneurial innovation is needed more now than ever before. Unlikely Entrepreneurs is a must-read for anyone considering launching a business and for those looking to scale their company and expand their offerings.

N. Louis Shipley is a former three-time software CEO and Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management unit at Harvard Business School. He previously lectured at MIT Sloan School of Management. Shipley serves as a Board Director at Wasabi Technologies, Fairmarkit and CustomerGauge. Lou made the founding gift to the Trinity College Entrepreneurship Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Patricia Favreau joined the Media Relations Department at MIT Sloan School of Management in 2005. For more than 20 years she has broken down complex academic research to make it accessible to business audiences around the globe. She began her career as a news correspondent and holds an MFA in creative writing from Lesley University.