Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • Archive

    Finding Fertile Ground: Identifying Extraordinary Opportunities for New Ventures

     
    Sound advice for tech entrepreneurs looking to build a successful start-up.
    1/24/2005

    Finding Fertile Ground offers valuable information for entrepreneurs looking to start fresh in the unforgiving world of technology. Although this book focuses on technology start-ups, Shane most values technology that creates something besides a Web page or software—opportunities that exist in biotech, medicine, and energy.

    Most of the ten lessons he presents from his own experience as a teacher cover ground-level business basics that sometimes get overlooked, such as understanding the meaning behind diffusion and the s-shaped curve, not fearing opportunities that others have neglected, and looking at lower-tech opportunities. The book also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the first mover and protecting your intellectual property.

    Shane is professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. An accompanying CD includes chapter summaries and an interview with Shane.— Sara Grant

    Table of Contents:
    Acknowledgements
    Introduction
    Chapter 1: Selecting the Right Industry
    Chapter 2: Identifying Valuable Opportunities
    Chapter 3: Managing Technological Evolution
    Chapter 4: Identifying and Satisfying Real Market Needs
    Chapter 5: Understanding Customer Adoption
    Chapter 6: Exploiting Established Company Weaknesses
    Chapter 7: Managing Intellectual Property
    Chapter 8: Appropriating the Returns to Innovation
    Chapter 9: Choosing the Right Organizational Form
    Chapter 10: Managing Risk and Uncertainty
    Conclusions
    Index
    CD

    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College