Engineering Entrepreneurship from Idea to Business Plan: A Guide for Innovative Engineers and Scientists

ISBN-13: 9781107651647 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 254 str.

Paul Swamidass

Opis

This book is for engineers and scientists who have the aptitude and education to create new products that could become income-producing businesses for themselves and for investors. The book uses short chapters and gets directly to the point without lengthy and distracting essays. The rapid growth in technology-based business plan contests is a clear sign that there are many wealthy inventors looking to make substantial investments in start-ups based on new inventions by inventors, who lack the funds and knowledge to start a business. The key features of this reference enable readers to sharpen their new idea, turn an idea into a commercial product, conduct patent search and complete a provisional patent application, and collect requisite data and prepare a business plan based on a carefully selected business model. Supporting materials are provided on the book's extensive website (www.engineer-entrepreneur-book.com/).

Recenzje

'On balance, this is an easy to follow book which offers a good perspective on how a person interested in technological development should act to surmount all the hurdles and invites the readers to be more confident and to pursue on the road to a new business development … In the book preface, Swamidass states that the book is addressed to innovative engineers and scientists who desire to become income-producing businessman or potential investors. As such, the book meets the expectations, but may also be used by anyone interested in studying to better stimulate their own entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial abilities, potentially leading to business development in technology. I would recommend the book for instructors in entrepreneurship and their students as an important reference, as the book uncovers many of the multifaceted practical aspects of what it takes to become a first-time inventor and first-time business owner. Daniela Cristina Momete, International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship

Spis treści

1. Engineers create value for investors; 2. Introduction to technological innovation; 3. The seven phases of technological innovation; 4. Engineers add value in stages; 5. Disruptive technological innovators: value creators; 6. Ideas: how do you find them?; 7. Turn your idea into a product; 8. Early detection of market potential A. David Mixson; 9. Illustrative case: tennis racquet customer needs survey; 10. What engineers can do for product development; 11. Intellectual property, patents and trade secret; 12. If you cannot afford a patent attorney; 13. Reading and learning from a granted US patent; 14. Patent search and conclusions before drafting a patent application; 15. Pro se US patent applications do succeed; 16. Macroeconomics for innovators in engineering and science; 17. Customers, target markets and marketing; 18. The power of social media marketing Haitham A. Eletrabi; 19. Market analysis resources; 20. Illustrative case: market analysis for tennis racquets; 21. Competition research; 22. Manufacturing and sourcing; 23. Break-even analysis; 24. Sales and distribution - wholesale, direct and other; 25. Reaching your customer: advertising and promotion; 26. Selecting the pre-start-up model; 27. Key decisions: costs estimation and pricing; 28. The business model versus the business plan; 29. The business plan: the end of phase 3; 30. A business plan is a war plan: anything can change; 31. Making the start-up business financially feasible; 32. What angel investors look for in a phase 4 company seeking funding; 33. Ethics in engineering and business professions; 34. Business as a legal entity in the United States; 35. Pre-start-up business organization and management; 36. An illustrative case: Amazon.com as a start-up; 37. Execution phases 4 to 6; 38. Phase 7: six case studies of mature firms; 39. Comparing phase 7 firms from different industries: Apple and Wal-Mart; 40. Teams and teamwork; 41. Leadership issues in start-up business Jay Clark; 42. What we know about entrepreneurs; 43. Creating value as an engineer in India Hephzibah Stephen.