Never Bet The Farm Beats The Odds

Never Bet The Farm, a guide for entrepreneurs written by Babson Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship and Global Management Stephen Spinelli, Jr. and Anthony Iaquinto has been named a “Best Business Book of 2006” by Soundview Executive Book Summaries. Twenty-three books were selected by Soundview editors from over 1200 business books published this year.
Never Bet the Farm: How Entrepreneurs Take Risks, Make Decisions and How You Can, Too (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2006), teaches a tough-love approach to entrepreneurship as a career. According to Spinelli, the belief that “failure is not an option” is asking for disappointment. Their book instructs entrepreneurs to prepare for adversity – to be proactive about facing the difficulties of starting a business before it’s off the ground – it’s the most intelligent way to achieve success.

Soundview’s summary of the book: Entrepreneur: Be prepared. Never Bet the Farm celebrates entrepreneurship in its entirety, presenting a framework that can help entrepreneurs reduce risks and simplify decision-making. It is at once both encouraging and cautionary, but neither a textbook how-to nor an inspirational tome lacking substance. “We’re living in a world with unimaginable adversity and invisible threats,” writes Iaquinto. “Why should entrepreneurs be any different from a sailor who stows a well-stocked emergency pack or a mill worker who puts a little bit aside each month for a rainy day or a Boy Scout following his motto, ‘Be prepared’?”

Hear Vice Provost Spinelli discuss the book on this podcast.

Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., is recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial management education. Babson grants BS degrees through its innovative undergraduate program, and grants MBA and custom MS and MBA degrees through the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. Babson Executive Education offers executive development programs to experienced managers worldwide. For information, visit www.babson.edu.