Entrepreneurs are hungry. But it’s not just because they’re living on ramen and adrenaline. Peter Cohan has found they’re driven by a hunger to create a working world in which they want to live-something they have to do without money or staff. No business strategy guide has addressed this unique combination of aspirations and challenges-until now.

Cohan focuses on six key start-up choices-setting goals, picking markets, raising capital, building teams, gaining market share, and adapting to change-explaining how and why start-ups must make very different choices than established companies. For each area, he provides a decision-making approach and lively case studies of what actual entrepreneurs have done to cook up a thriving business from scratch.