Whether you come to this book as an entrepreneurship student, a corporate manager, someone seeking regenerative social change, or a seasoned creator of new ventures, you already know that entrepreneurship is the primary engine of growth, innovation, and financial self-reliance.
What you will discover in this book is that there is a science to entrepreneurship—a shared logic that can be observed in expert entrepreneurs across industries, geographic locations, and time. We call this logic effectuation—which means working with things already within your control to co-create valuable new futures with people who want to work with you.
At the heart of the book you will find the four core principles of effectuation that expert entrepreneurs follow when creating new ventures, products, and markets:
Start with your means Set affordable loss Form partnerships Leverage contingencies
In this book, each of these core principles is explained through cases, stories, thought exercises, and a variety of practical applications.
Presented in the concise, modular, graphical form made popular in previous editions, Effectual Entrepreneurship is perfect both for those seeking to become entrepreneurs, and those already in the thick of things!
A wealth of thought-provoking material, expert advice, and practical techniques resides in these pages and on the accompanying website: www.effectuation.org.
By:
Saras Sarasvathy,
Glen B. Wheatley
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 3rd edition
Dimensions:
Height: 280mm,
Width: 210mm,
ISBN: 9781032427300
ISBN 10: 1032427302
Pages: 458
Publication Date: 27 May 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Contents Acknowledgements - insert page number Introduction: The science of entrepreneurship - insert page number How to use this book - insert page number About the Co-Creators - insert page number PART I What we know about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship - insert page number 1 Roadmaps, myths and the Bahamas - insert page number 2 Good ideas are everywhere - insert page number 3 Most ventures require little startup capital- insert page number 4 The plunge doesn’t have to be a plunge at all - insert page number 5 Failing as the way forward - insert page number PART II How (expert) entrepreneurs think - insert page number 6 Prediction, risk and uncertainty - insert page number 7 Opportunities are created as well as discovered - insert page number 8 Managing uncertainty through control - insert page number 9 The effectual logic of expert entrepreneurs - insert page number PART III The nuts and bolts of venturing: Effectuation in action - insert page number 10 The bird-in-hand principle: Start with what you have - insert page number 11 Transforming means into something valuable - insert page number 12 The affordable loss principle: Risk little, fail cheap - insert page number 13 Using slack for bootstrap financing - insert page number 14 The crazy quilt principle: Form partnerships - insert page number 15 Asking potential partners to make commitments - insert page number 16 The lemonade principle: Leverage surprise - insert page number 17 Putting it together: The effectuation process - insert page number PART IV I am an entrepreneur now: How far can I go? - insert page number 18 Ownership, equity and control: Manage stakeholders - insert page number 19 Business plans and business models - insert page number 20 The venture grows up: Create an entrepreneurial culture - insert page number PART V Applications of effectuation - insert page number 21 Brand as venture identity: Marketing you - insert page number 22 Technology: Means, Outcome, or Trap? - insert page number 23 Social Change & Markets in Human Hope - insert page number Conclusion - insert page number List of figures - insert page number Overview of “Practically Speaking” sections - insert page number Overview of “Research Roots” section - insert page number Image acknowledgments - insert page number Index - insert page number
Saras Sarasvathy is the Paul M. Hammaker Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, USA. Glen B. Wheatley is Managing Director of Best Solutions International Group, entrepreneur, thought and cultural nomad, and adjunct academic at the University of Adelaide, Australia.
