The Illusions Of Entrepreneurship explores the myths that entrepreneurs, would-be entrepreneurs, investors, and policy makers live by. We believe that entrepreneurs are special, somehow different to the average man on the street, they know something he doesn’t. The reality is different. We believe that entrepreneurial businesses – start-ups - create more jobs and drive economic growth, but in reality they don’t. We believe America is the land of the entrepreneur, yet in fact Peru has a better claim to the title. The myths go on… Invariably the reality of the situation is very different to that portrayed in the common myth.

Scott Shane is well qualified to write about the subject, he is a Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. He’s written or edited eleven other books and over sixty articles on entrepreneurship and innovation management.

If entrepreneurs, would-be entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers take note then perhaps we could be changing things policy, the types of start-ups we have and the funding mechanisms and actually turning the myths into reality. If you fit into one of those groups then you owe it to yourself and society to read this book and use what it tells you to ensure that you’re entrepreneurial venture has the best chance of succeeding.

Each chapter of the book addresses a myth or set of myths about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial businesses. Despite being based on a lot of academic research it’s a very easy read. If entrepreneurship interests you as much as it does me it’s fascinating stuff. In fact I found it hard to put down once I’d started.

So should you buy it? Quite simply yes, as an entrepreneur the investment you make in this book, might well save you investing far more of your savings in starting the wrong business for the wrong reasons. As an investor it might well save you investing in businesses that are likely to fail. As a policy maker it can only help improve policy and thereby improve our economy.

You can buy it from Amazon UK or Amazon USA.

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