"Will America's entrepreneurial spirit continue to define its destiny? What can the rest of the world learn from America's experience? In Launchpad Republic: America's Entrepreneurial Edge and Why it Matters to All of Us, Howard Wolk and John Landry provide an insightful and thought-provoking history of entrepreneurship in the United States, with a focus on the political, legal, and cultural forces that have sustained ""creative destruction"" and propelled the country forward for more than 200 years. In telling this story, the book highlights the critical features that have set America apart from other countries and identifies the key attributes necessary for it to maintain leadership for years to come. Entrepreneurship is a rebellious act, and America's democratic system is unique in enabling new companies to challenge established ones. As a result, the country enjoys not just more robust start-up activity, but also a dynamism that forces big companies to improve—or face the consequences. It protects both property rights and the right to compete in ways not enjoyed elsewhere, encouraging investment and innovation. Aside from assessing how American entrepreneurial capitalism unfolded, the authors address current challenges such as the rise of the ""Big Tech"", concerns about inequality, inclusivity and sustainability, and the evolution toward stakeholder capitalism. They compare the American approach to both Continental Europe's consensus-oriented framework and China's authoritarian model. Launchpad Republic offers readers:
Insights into how America's political, legal and cultural history helped make the country the most dynamic economy in the world since inception A framework for understanding how the country's balanced and limited government, decentralized financial and corporate system, and responsiveness to consumers all served to enable innovation and improved standard of living while avoiding many of the pitfalls of cronyism and protectionism Fascinating comparisons between the United States and other countries, both historical and contemporary, that provide important context to many of today's critical issues A book that covers important topics in an easy to read style, Launchpad Republic belongs in the library of every policy wonk, capitalist, entrepreneur, founder, business leader, amateur historian, and technologist with an interest in how America's relentless entrepreneurial spirit has influenced—and will influence—its destiny."
By:
Howard Wolk,
John Landry
Imprint: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 231mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 31mm
Weight: 499g
ISBN: 9781119900054
ISBN 10: 1119900050
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 11 August 2022
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface xiii Acknowledgments xxi About the Authors xxiii 1 Bigger, Better, Faster, Cheaper 1 Why Entrepreneurship Is More Vibrant and Sustained in the United States Than Elsewhere 2 Gorillas and Guerillas 23 How Start-ups and Established Companies Make Each Other Better 3 European and Colonial Foundations 43 Where America Got Its Crazy Ideas About Property Rights and the Right to Compete 4 Upstart Nation 63 How the Bickering New States Created a Constitution of Competing Interests 5 Building the Entrepreneurial Republic 81 How America Balanced the Race to Get Ahead with the Desire to Stay There 6 The Evolution from Small Business to Big 103 How Upstarts Challenged Incumbents to Create the First Unicorns 7 The Age and Aging of Incumbents 125 What Happens When Giants Fall Asleep 8 The Entrepreneurial Revolution 147 It’s Cool to Get Rich, Man 9 The Inflection Point? 169 Avoiding Pitfalls in Tackling Social Issues 10 Maintaining the Entrepreneurial Advantage 189 Pursuing Shared Prosperity Without Killing the Goose Index 207
HOWARD WOLK is an experienced entrepreneur, company builder and investor. He is co-president of the Cross Country Group, a privately-held firm consisting of start-ups and mature companies. He is a former senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, where he developed and led a study group on entrepreneurship and society. Howard lives in Boston and London with his wife and two daughters. JOHN LANDRY is a business historian and writer, and a former editor at Harvard Business Review. He earned a PhD in economic history from Brown University, and he lives in Providence, R.I. with his wife and two sons.
