Lessons from the Edge: Survival Skills for Starting and Growing a Company

by Jana Matthews and Peter Economy

Book Overview

Entrepreneurs often struggle with many aspects of business: planning and financing company growth, creating a company vision, recruiting, leading, and managing people, as well as personal costs. In Lessons from the Edge, more than 50 business owners and entrepreneurs offer a wealth of real-life stories--in their own words--that provide rare insights about keeping a company healthy and growing.
Here is a unique collection of first-person accounts...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195168259
• ISBN13: 9780195168259
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Lessons from the Edge Review

Having read many business books, Lessons from the Edge offers a different prospective for entrepreneurs. It is not so much a "how to" book but rather one that highlights the negative consequences of bad decisions. These are life lessons that can be learned from others rather than yourself. I've heard it said that good men learn from their own mistakes but great men learn from the mistakes of others. This is a perfect opportunity to do that kind of learning.Each chapter is a fast read. At the end of each section, there is a summary of important lessons learned.In running my own business, I found some that some chapters were too familiar from my own experience. This is a great book to help you stay away from the "Edge".

There's nothing like learning from the mistakes of others

Jana, Jeff and Peter have done an amazing job of compiling real business mistakes and difficulties into an easy to read, must have reference for the entrepreneur. I for one would much rather learn from the challenges of others before forcing myself to learn the hard way out of ignorance. This book provided over 40 opportunities to do just that. This book goes a long way in filling the gaps in my experience and I would suggest it to every would be and current entrepreneur

Great collection of entrepreneur stories

Jana Matthews and Jeff Dennis do a great job of writing a series of short vignettes about a number of key entrepreneurial themes. In addition to some riveting stories, they do a great job of synthesizing the lessons in short, digestible chunks. Unlike other books of entrepreneurs' stories, Jana and Jeff keep it short, sweet, and to the point, delivering a book that is simultaneously rich in content and easy to get through.

Fantastic Entrepreneurial Stories

"Lessons from the Edge" is one of the best business books I have ever read. Not only does the book contain poignant and true stories of how entrepreneurs overcame huge personal and business obstacles, it provides a summary business lesson after each story and section that enables the reader to draw their own lessons from the book. The prose is tight and a surprisingly quick read.

Finally-Real Life Stories

Congratulations on a great compilation of real life stories. I have been waiting for the book since hearing about it several years ago. I know several of the entrepreneurs you have profiled and each page has some nugget of learning I can apply to my own business and life. This will be a great reference book and part of my library of "keepers". Thank you!