Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0609609505, Hardcover)

Rob Adams--an ex-Marine and former technology executive who now runs an "accelerator venture fund" that works like an entrepreneurial boot camp--offers A Good Hard Kick in the Ass to wake up and shake up today's would-be business owner. The era when virtually any wannabe could turn an intriguing idea and slick presentation into a hefty bankroll is long past, of course. Adams believes the current environment calls instead for a return to elementary but oft-ignored rules expressed here through blunt admonitions (good ideas are a dime a dozen, you don't know your customers as well as you think you do, you don't need big bucks right out of the gate) meant to counter the "startup myths and misconceptions" many hopefuls still harbor. Each chapter breaks down one delusion-busting assertion into specific suggestions (assemble a team with solid "execution intelligence," validate the market, forge a strategy for getting out there quickly) and is fleshed out with the real-life experiences of both big-name techno-ventures and some of the embryonic participants in Adams's AV Labs. Any time you step up to the plate to start a company, you take a chance on striking out, he says, but following these steps should at least get you into the game. --Howard Rothman