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This is a "case story" about a group of students from an
Ivy League school, who stumbled upon a good business idea, scratched and
clawed to establish it, but inevitably failed. While we believed we had
a solid business plan and a strong management team, our company’s
downfall ultimately stemmed from critical entrepreneurship mistakes made
by its founders.
I think this story fulfills a need in college business
curriculums, whereby the plight of student entrepreneurs is often
overlooked. At most schools, young entrepreneurs are seldom featured in
case studies or invited as guest speakers. Instead, students are
bombarded with tales of middle-aged CEOs. While it may sound more
impressive to introduce the founder of Staples, it’s just as important
for students to hear from their peers who took the leap at running a
small business. After all, most college students don’t have a Rolodex
of contacts, 20 years of industry experience, plus a wife, child, and
mortgage to support. On the contrary, they are inexperienced,
rebellious, and driven to succeed. Therefore, I think they should have
the opportunity to learn from entrepreneurs who took the plunge at a
similar age.
I am compelled to share my story because I think most
failed entrepreneurs choose to lick their wounds out of the spotlight.
Consequently, many business programs are left to present a lopsided view
of entrepreneurship, whereby the victories get more attention than do
the failures. I think it’s critical for students also to hear from some
of the failed entrepreneurs so they can benefit from their lessons
learned. In the end, it can only help create a more balanced portrayal
of entrepreneurship.
Like a case
study, I wrote The Entrepreneurial Code to present a series of
entrepreneurship problems that occurred while running my business.
However, I chose to write this in a story format which has certain
advantages. Firstly, I hope students will find the writing to be more
engaging than the typical case study which is usually pretty dry
reading. Secondly, real life problems are seldom presented clearly.
So, the natural flow of the story format is meant to help students
appreciate how erratically events can sometimes unfold. Also, by
writing a case story, I was able to write as many pages as I needed
instead of being limited to the typical 20-page format. Finally, The
Entrepreneurial Code is written by someone who actually lived
through the experiences (as opposed to an independent researcher) and I
hope this adds a level of personal insight that can’t be had from a
generic case study.
After years of
reflection, I wrote The Entrepreneurial Code to help college
students (like I was) to explore the idea of self-employment.
Entrepreneurship is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart and I
hope this manuscript can be a way for others to learn from my
experiences.

Copyright 2005 by Chris
Cononico
All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced in any
form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the
author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. |