Every seasoned investor knows that detailed financial projections for a new company are an act of imagination. Nevertheless, most business plans pour far too much ink on the numbers--and far too little on the information that really matters. Why? William Sahlman suggests that a great business plan is one that focuses on a series of questions. These questions relate to the four factors critical to the success of every new venture: the people, the opportunity, the context, and the possibilities for both risk and reward. A great business plan is not easy to compose, Sahlman acknowledges, largely because most entrepreneurs are wild-eyed optimists. But one that asks the right questions is a powerful tool. A better deal, not to mention a better shot at success, awaits entrepreneurs who use it.

Customer Rating:
Summary: How to Write a Great Business Plan
Comment: Thanks HBS for this new addition to 'Harvard Business Review Classics'. It is without a doubt, the most influential pamphlet I have in my library today. When it arrived in the mail, I laughed, I cried, I barely located the work hidden between the receipt and a piece of cardboard that may have been placed in there on accident--I couldn't put it down once I located it and proceeded to read the book (pamphlet)cover to cover in three and a half minutes. I am still trying to figure out what I just read.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Hmmm
Comment: Well, I paid $6.00 for this ebook. I am very disappointed. The "book" is a 12 page adobe file that is basically useless. If I had it to do over, I would have saved the $6.

---