Managing High-Tech Start-Ups

Book excerpt: Managing High-Tech Start-Ups equips engineers with a basic tool-kit for founding a high-tech manufacturing company. It gives would-be entrepreneurs insightful knowledge on how to attack such problems as developing a marketing plan, a sales plan, targets, pricing, hiring a sales force, evaluating marketing results, and correcting problems. The book emphasizes how to correctly identify a problem, so time is spent on its causes and not on its symptoms. Particular emphasis is placed on the marketing aspects of new engineering ventures, since marketing is usually not part of an engineer's experience, yet is so vital in the success or failure of a new venture. The authors take the reader step-by-step through the process of marketing evaluation and developing a product plan.