cover image 6 Secrets to Startup Success

6 Secrets to Startup Success

John Bradbury. Amacom, $21.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-8144-1606-8

Millions of Americans start their own businesses each year despite the short and long-term failure rate of entrepreneurial ventures being notoriously (and staggeringly) high. Entrepreneur and consultant Bradbury sets out to discover why so many companies go under, highlighting lack of adequate planning and the entrepreneur's inability to distinguish between the true potential of the venture and their zeal for it, which he calls "The Passion Trap." While Bradbury's project is insightful, it's overly ambitious and attempts to convey too many messages. The real-life illustrations are colorful but repetitive. In addition to chapters arranged around key themes and anecdotes from his client cases, he also introduces various principles, sprinkles lists and questionnaires throughout the chapters, and pre-sents a range of frameworks ("the Basic Cycle of Iteration," "Core Pattern of the Passion Trap"), packing too many concepts into a slim volume. (May)