Under the Radar: Starting Your Net Business Without Venture Capital (edition 2002)

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0738207748, Paperback)

In an era when venture capital for a proposed Net startup is about as forthcoming as a politician caught in a sex scandal, Under the Radar by economist-turned-entrepreneur Arnold Kling offers timely advice on opening a new cyber-business without such big-time outside money. Combining experiences gleaned from his own self-funded Homefair.com (which he eventually sold for $85 million) along with examples of 25 other online enterprises also financed that way, Kling presents a practical how-to that readers with real ideas and realistic expectations could use to build viable Internet concerns, even in less-than-optimal times. Kling says there are still feasible niches for online businesses aiming between the $5 million entry level and the $1 billion minimum that satisfies venture capitalists--the "under the radar" zone of opportunity of his title--and outlines a route similar to those he and his other sources have used to fill them. One core suggestion does away with the traditional, time-consuming, and usually unproductive process of preparing and continually revising an extensive business plan; instead, he details a more effective program of 12 initial steps (developing the proper team, identifying a personal commitment threshold, recognizing operational milestones that will take you to the next level) that "netstrappers" can combine with internal and more modest funding sources to build a business that outlasts the next shakeout. --Howard Rothman