"Lauson Publishing is dedicated to providing essential and realistic guidance for starting and running your business."
What's New at Lauson?

Reviews

Here is what experts are saying about "Burn Your Business Plan! What Investors Really Want from Entrepreneurs"

"Today, (Gumpert) says, a traditional business plan provides only moderate value...And writing a plan, he warns, can distract entrepreneurs from sales, production, hiring and other important tasks. In the end, the convroversial thesis convinces...You may not burn your plan after reading Gumpert's latest, but you'll see it differently."
- Entrepreneur Magazine

"Subversive stuff. At long last someone has had the insight, and the guts, to say what entrepreneurs like myself only learn late in the game - that spending dozens of hours tweaking a written business plan is a waste of time. Most important, Gumpert provides an alternative game plan for seeking out, and winning, investment."
- Jonathan Carson, founder of Family Education Network, acquired by Pearson in 200 for $175 million

"It's about time someone told the Business Plan Emperor about his tailor. Here is a straightforward presentation about both the good uses and futile uses of the traditional "BP Opus". Gumpert's insights into investor mindsets, bolstered by a backup survey of investors, is a grand contribution to both those who do, and those who teach, entrepreneurship. The sample notes to financial exhibits are worth the whole book."
- Rollie Tillman, Andrew Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of North Carolina

"Gumpert's basic message--that investors are more moved by results and powerful presentations than they are by unsolicited business plans--is quite perceptive. Burn Your Business Plan! is packed with important how-tos on the presentation, web sites, publicity, investor psychology and investor relations. This is essential reading for any entrepreneur in search of investment."
- Lawrence Adolf, Partner Emigrant Capital

"I will be recommending this book to all of the aspiring entrepreneurs I work with. Gumpert has done an excellent job of explaining the real startup process--not the theoretical one embalmed in business school curricula and business-plan books."
- Peter H. Schmidt, Co-founder of the Entrepreneurs' Dinner, a monthly Boston area forum for more than 300 entrepreneurs, and a founder of five technology startups

"Gumpert successfully captures a significant shift in the way leading entrepreneurs are launching companies and attracting investors. He emphasizes the areas where many entrepreneurs should be focusing their limited resources--on bootstrapping, executive summaries, financial projections, and the management team. As he suggests, 'fairy tale' plans are out, and entrepreneurs who expect to succeed in this new environment must make major adjustments in the way they develop and present their plans."
- John R. Thorne, Morgenthaler Professor of Entrepreneurship, Carnegie Mellon University

"David Gumpert has done it again! But this is more than just another superb book. Based on his accumulated wisdom, he has dared challenge the status quo in educating entrepreneurs. Our overemphasis on writing business plans has been exposed--and equally important, he has provided a superior path for the startup entrepreneur."
- Coleman/Denton Thorne, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Executive Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago

"Burn Your Business Plan! provides a refreshing, realistic look at the real role of business plans in the founding and growth of a successful business. Unlike the all-too-common 'How To Write A Business Plan' primers, Gumpert provides the reader with a clear understanding of how to successfully plan a new business venture. This is a welcome new paradigm."
- Jeffrey Shuman, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Bentley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Bentley College

"Burn Your Business Plan! successfully challenges the status quo on the role of business planning in the entrepreneurial process, and provides an important new approach for attracting financing. I know it will provoke spirited discussions in collegiate entrepreneurship classes around the country."
- Elizabeth Gatewood, Jack M. Gill Chair of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Kelley School of Business Indiana University

"A highly engaging and thought-provoking book by a notable business-planning expert--and a breath of fresh air - Gumpert takes entrepreneurs behind the scenes to explain how investors think and make decisions. Burn Your Business Plan! is bound to launch a healthy debate about the role of the business plan in raising capital."
Julian Lange, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Babson College

"Burn Your Business Plan! is right on target in describing the changed landscape for entrepreneurs preparing to approach investors. It makes the invaluable point that professional investors first and foremost want to understand the individuals behind the business, and hear their visions for the future. In this new mix, the business plan assumes the role of backup in communicating the entrepreneur's thinking, rather than the lead role. I recommend this for all entrepreneurs who are serious about raising money."
Bob Marshall, Managing Partner, Selby Ventures