Author: Carl J. Schramm

Publisher: Simon &Schuster
ISBN: 978-1-4767-9435-8

Carl J. Schramm, author of Burn the Business Plan, helped shape the Startup America Act, was contributing member of the President’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and chairman for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Measuring Innovation in the Twenty First Century Economic Advisory Committee. (2018, inside back cover) Schramm has been founder of co-founder (Global Entrepreneur Week – celebrated in over one hundred seventy countries as of this date) of five or more companies and he enjoys being an active participant in venture investing.  He is past President of Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and has taught at Syracuse University, John Hopkins, MIT, and UC Davis. Currently he resides between New York and Florida.

On page 31 (2018) Schramm talks about his time with Ewing Kauffman. He states that he did not think much of business plans. He said, “You have to start a company to learn how to start a company”. To which he adds that no two start-ups are alike. Schramm compares the business styles of Kauffman to that of Steve Jobs (Apple). He says that both men took a varied approach to sales of their products and services and generated a loyal following because of this approach.

Page 54 (2018) highlights what creativity has done for entrepreneurship across the globe. Schramm says “College students, including those studying entrepreneurship, live in an environment that celebrates creative people --- thought of as those who make movies, paint, compose music, design buildings, or write novels or poetry. The most intriguing of those who make lots of money and become famous in the process, which may explain the astonishing number of film majors in universities across America.” That said, not everyone will become rich or famous, but there are a number of millennials who have managed to make quite a bit of money in a short period of time. Most, if not all, have used some form of creativity to leverage that position.

One example of an innovative and resourceful woman was Mrs. Upchurch who had been suffering with debilitating morning sickness throughout the majority of her pregnancies when she sought to find why this was occurring. She discovered that a specific bacteria in the stomach caused this sad phenomena. It was called Helicobacter pylori. Furthermore, it could be controlled and extinguished with antibiotics. Wow!!! A light bulb went off and she decided to share her research and discovery with other women. She launched her internet-based company in 2014, it is called the Pink Stork.  

There are numerous personal examples and enlightening lessons that Schramm found as he moved through his business and entrepreneurial life founding various organizations and teaching others how to do the same. If you want to learn more about how to go about starting your own company and how to look for funding or plan for any pitfalls this might be the book for you.