Recommended Reading: Books for Brainstorming

Need inspiration, ideas or just nuts-and-bolts instructions on how to start a business? Try these books for small-business brainstorming suggested by Jerome Engel, director of the entrepreneurship program at the Haas School of Management at the University of California, Berkeley, and executive director of its Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Mr. Engel was a founder of Ernst & Young's entrepreneurial-services group and was the firm's national director of capital resources, supervising efforts to raise capital for emerging-business clients. He's also helped several entrepreneurial firms go public and was co-founder of Allbusiness.com, which was sold to an affiliate of General Electric Co. in 2000 and is now privately held.

"The Innovator's Dilemma"
By Clayton M. Christensen
"It's going to teach you how to recognize a real opportunity and how to develop market-entry strategies."

"The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World"
By Peter Schwartz
"It really is a way to take a look at business opportunities in the broad perspective."

"New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur"
By Howard H. Stevenson, Michael J. Roberts and Harold Irving Grousbeck
"Howard Stevenson is one of the great old men of entrepreneurial education…and he really understands the difference between entrepreneurship and management."

"Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers"
By Geoffrey A. Moore
This book "lays out a framework of the challenges of marketing a high-tech device."

"Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure"
By Jerry Kaplan
"It's the story of a company called Go -- burned 10 million and ended up nowhere. But it's a great war story, and there's a lot of learning in it."

"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don't"
By Jim Collins
"It really is how to differentiate a good opportunity from a great one. If you're going to give it your life's energy, you might as well go for something great."

"Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128"
By Annalee Saxenian
"It's a very interesting read and explains why Silicon Valley is the special place it is."

And a must-see movie:

"Startup.com"
Directed by Jehane Noujaim and Chris Hegedus
"A DVD everybody should see. It's a documentary of two guys starting a software firm. Even though it happens in the [dot-com] bubble, it's not just about the bubble, it's about the struggle entrepreneurs face."

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