About the Author

The New Business Road Test brings together, in a single author, the hands-on, "done it before" experience of a three-time entrepreneur with the research expertise found among faculty at only a handful of the world's leading business schools. Simply put, John Mullins has practiced what he preaches and has the entrepreneurial scars to prove it. He learned the way most entrepreneurs learn, from both failure and success.

John served as Vice President in the early high-growth days at a young company with great clothing stores called Gap; founded Pasta Via International and took it public before market and technological changes took the company down; and pioneered chimney-type charcoal starters for American barbecue enthusiasts. From all these experiences and from the extensive research effort that underlies the three editions of this book, John has drawn insights that deliver powerful lessons from which every entrepreneur -- and many investors, for that matter -- can learn. 

As a member of the entrepreneurship faculty at London Business School, John and his colleagues -- most of whom are successful entrepreneurs in their own right -- develop world-class entrepreneurs and train and provide talent for the venture capital industry. As a result, John is uniquely positioned to have written what he hopes you will find an accessible and eye-opening book. Once you have read this third edition, John believes you'll agree that ignoring even one of the seven domains outlined in the book can be a road map to entrepreneurial disaster. Entrepreneurs who start writing a business plan without putting their idea to the new business road test do so at their peril!

For more information about John Mullins' work:

Learn about John's other books, The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers' Cash and Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model.

Visit John’s London Business School faculty page.

Visit John’s personal website.