One could argue that entrepreneurship is the purest form of business: Building the idea, team and strategy from the ground up, all while having the freedom of being your own boss and setting your own expectations. But this freedom doesn’t come without major roadblocks. The odds of a start up getting past the early stages is slim, and maneuvering around all the unforeseen tribulations makes the odds of a long-term success story slimmer. 

That’s why today’s guest, Tom Eisenmann, is a much needed voice on this topic. In his new book, "Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success", Eisenmann goes through his six patterns of failure that startup’s make throughout their course, and when to take the leap and when to call it quits. 

Eisenmann is the Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He teaches the MBA elective Entrepreneurial Failure and the MS/MBA core courses Technology Venture Immersion and Launch Lab. With colleagues, he launched the MBA electives Making Markets, in which students specify and supervise development of a software application. He also created the January Term Startup Bootcamp for first-year MBAs and the MBA electives Launching Technology Ventures and Managing Networked Business, which surveyed strategies for platform-based businesses that leverage network effects. 

Professor Eisenmann received his Doctorate in Business Administration, MBA, and BA from Harvard University. Prior to entering the HBS Doctoral Program, Eisenmann spent eleven years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he was co-head of the Media and Entertainment Practice. He currently serves as a director on the board of Harvard Business Publishing.

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