Entrepreneur Journeys Book Review: Positioning & Bootstrapping for Entrepreneurs

Some early reviews have been posted on Amazon of “Positioning: How To Test, Validate, And Bring Your Idea To Market” by Sramana Mitra. I encourage you to post a review there as well. Here are the reviews:

 
“I liked this book very much. It is a book that will help you to understand that markets can be segmented and that only some of those segments are worth pursuing and others are not.

In my humble opinion, this book will be a valuable addition to any entrepreneur who is still trying to master the art of creating quality business plans that can be used to create a successful startup. Positioning is just one aspect of writing a sound business plan, but it is a critical one. 5 stars!”

— Jeff Lippincott, Princeton, NJ

 
“I think the book should be read by all aspiring entrepreneurs. [Sramana] does a fantastic job of demonstrating ways successful startups exploit niches in the market through tackling highly segmented customer base. Her interviews not only convey successful stories but also force you to think out of the box about your own business ideas.”

— J. Cole, Los Angeles, CA

 
“Sramana’s third volume of Entrepreneur Journeysis a very good read. The most useful aspect of this book is the Appendix at the end of the book which provides a fantastic guideline, a collection of simple, yet very effective questions, on how you go about “litmus-testing” your business idea. I believe every business idea should be litmus tested against those questions. Great work, Sramana!”

— Narayanan Raman

 
“Sramana has put together some valuable interviews. She demonstrates her keen insight into the tech world and provides a good framework for entrepreneurs to understand and follow in developing their own vision and ultimately their own business.”

–John Chancellor, New Orleans, LA

 
And reviews of Sramana Mitra’s Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction” continue to pop up. From Kathleen Allen’s review on The Venture Edge blog:

 “You won’t find the usual suspects in this book…the stories are great and the lessons important. One of my favorite quotes came from Murli Thirumale who sold his company Net6 to Citrix for $50 million and then started over with another new company to take advantage of his new-found wisdom. His lesson? ‘We found if we got into a bake-off, we won the taste test. Everybody who tried our product wanted it.  All we had to do was get into the taste test.’  Bottom line: find the quickest, cheapest way to get your product into the customer’s hands and you’ll likely make a sale. If you want to be inspired and find creative ways to get started with less, check out Mitra’s book and her weekly column in Forbes.”

 On his ThoughtsPrevail blog, Himanshu Sheth shares a list of useful tips from the book, adding:

 “In a few words, it is an interesting as well as inspiring read for entrepreneurs who are bootstrapping or wannabe entrepreneurs thinking of bootstrapping.”

 The first three volumes of Sramana Mitra’s “Entrepreneur Journeys” series are now available from Amazon and Smashwords.

This segment is a part in the series : Entrepreneur Journeys Book Review