Models of Opportunity How Entrepreneurs Design Firms to Achieve the Unexpected

Entrepreneurship is changing. Technology and social networks create a smaller world, but widen the opportunity horizon. Today's entrepreneurs build organisations and create value in entirely new ways and with entirely new tools. Rather than just exploit new ideas, innovative entrepreneurs design organisations to make sense of unlikely opportunities. The time has come to overhaul what we know about entrepreneurship and business models. Models of Opportunity links scholarly research on business models and organisational design to the reality of building entrepreneurial firms. It provides actionable advice based on a deeper understanding of how business models function and change. The six insights extend corporate strategy and entrepreneurship in a completely new direction. Case studies of innovative companies across industries demonstrate how visionary entrepreneurs achieve unexpected results. The insights, tools and cases, provide a fresh perspective on emerging trends in entrepreneurship, organisational change and high-growth firms.

List of figures; List of tables; List of boxes; Six insights to achieve the unexpected; 1. Rethink organisation design; 2. Appreciate imperfect opportunities; 3. Remodel for coherence; 4. Build bridges; 5. Inspire the narrative; 6. Embrace the unexpected opportunity; 7. Hindsight; Index.

Gerry George is Professor and Deputy Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London, where he also serves as Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre facilitating its strategic commitments in India for joint research, technology commercialisation and educational programmes. He is Professorial Fellow of the UK's Economic and Social Research Council and Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Journal. He serves on the boards of high technology companies and is actively engaged in guiding start-ups and large companies on technology venturing and entrepreneurship.
Adam J. Bock is Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Edinburgh Business School. He is also an experienced entrepreneur and venture financier. He co-founded three medical device companies and managed three angel investor networks in the United States, facilitating more than $10 million of investment into start-up companies. His research focuses on how innovative entrepreneurs create extraordinary companies. He is the co-author of 'Entrepreneurship in the Research Context' (2009), a web-based e-learning course for nascent scientist entrepreneurs.