How did this book come to be?

In a word: community.

For A Deliberate Pause, I interviewed more than 200 individuals whose experiences encompass a full range of profiles and perspectives that make up the entrepreneurial universe. These interviewees are part of the conversation you will join by reading this book.

I call them contributors.

They cross boundaries defined by industry, tax status, definition of value, geography, gender, and other limiting demographics. Many are, of course, entrepreneurs. Just as important, they are investors and donors, advisors and teachers of entrepreneurship, with several filling more than one of these roles. About half come from the for-profit world; nearly one-quarter are female; roughly one-fifth are minorities or immigrants.

As you will see, these entrepreneurial contributors belie the stereotypes. They know what makes entrepreneurship work and they eagerly shared what they’ve seen and learned. When you meet them on the pages of A Deliberate Pause, you no doubt will recognize some names from news headlines and others associated with whatever slice of the world you inhabit. Many will be new to you. But regardless of role, background, notoriety, or geography, all of them feel deeply passionate about entrepreneurship. Individually and together, they have a great deal to teach from their own ventures, from advising others, and simply from inhabiting the entrepreneurial universe.

One thing is clear: What these exceptional, thoughtful individuals contribute about entrepreneurship isn’t commonly taught in business schools or noted in trendy business books. This book relates what these veterans and advocates of the entrepreneurial universe believe should be known and talked about but isn’t. Their stories allow you to understand who is behind the powerful force of entrepreneurship, how they go about doing their work, and why they do what they do despite the odds and setbacks.

What was in it for them to be a part of this book?

They want millions more people to understand entrepreneurship better because they know the benefits will accrue to humanity’s progress. And they know it’s time to put that understanding into action.

David Adamson

Bob Allen

Allen Alley

Patty Alper

John Altorfer

Brad Barnhorn

Spencer Beebe

Jeff Bede

David BenDaniel

Mike Bernstein

Jason Berv

Brien Biondi

Ryan Black

Jim Blasingame

PV Boccasam

David Boyer

Don Britton

Telaekah Brooks

Jan Bruce

Kevin Burns

Craig Burris

Bill Campbell

Mary Cantando

Siobhan Canty

Lyles Carr

Carter Cast

Bill Cast

Robin Chase

Michael Chasen

Nick Cho

Duke Chung

Dwayne Clark

Jim Click

Charles Conn

Joe Cracchhiolo

Noah Croom

Doug Davidoff

Mike Devine

Matt Dorman

Cheryl Dorsey

Bill Drayton

Esther Dyson

Robert Egger

Karl Eller

Mary Ann Elliott

Ben Elowitz

Jed Emerson

Doug Epstein

Rafe Esquith

Najlah Feanny Hicks

Brad Feder

Ed Feeney

Charlie Ferris

Will Finnerty

Betsy Flanagan

Gene Foley

David Ford

Gregg Fraley

Mark Frantz

Edie Fraser

Scott Frederick

Betsy Friedlander

Ching Ho Fung

Ken Getz

Melinna Giannini

Tom Gillespie

Martin Goebel

Casey Golden

Maria Gomez

Sandy Gooch

Rick Phalen

Alex Pinchev

Dan Pink

Jared Polis

Eddie Poplowski

Jim Quest

Ken Ramberg

Dennis Ratner

Robert Reffkin

Dave Remick

Gene Reichers

Arjun Rishi

Sandy Robertson

Steve Rogers

Jon Roush

Margarita Rozenfeld

Steve Russell

Carl Safina

Gene Samburg

Jeff Sandefer

Roger Sant

Otto Scharmer

Spencer Schock

Peter Seligmann

Peter Senge

Jim Shaffer

Baiju Shah

Billy Shields

Billy Shore

Michael Shuman

Wayne Silby

Michael Simon

Geoff Smart

Philippe Sommer

Alan Sorkin

Rick Sperling

Vikki Spruill

Reggie Stanley

Jill Stelfox

Michael Strong

Unky Sundt

Mike Sutton

Tom Szaky

Richard Tait

Velan Thillairajah

Carlene Theissen

Rick Toren

Karen Usher

Patrick Von Bargen

Julian Waits

Tom Ward

Danny Warshay

Alice Waters

Ann Webster

Harry Weller

Brad Whitehead

Tien Wong

John Wood

Jim Wrathall

April Young

Muhammad Yunus

John Zitzner

Adamson Editions

Integrity Arts

PixelWorks

Alper Portfolio Group

PermaStarch

Global NutriFoods

EcoTrust

Chesapeake Capital

Cornell, Johnson School

SimplyBits

The Watershed School

Young Entrepreneurs Org

Sambazon

Small Business Advocate

Approva

Troy Systems

Network Alliance

Southeastern University

Body & Soul Magazine

Sage Software

Smart CEO Magazine

Bechtel

The Woman’s Advantage

Greater DC Cares

The McCormick Group

walmart.com

Tri-state Medical IPA

Zipcar

BlackBoard

Murky Coffee

Parature

Aegis Assisted Living

Jim Click Automotive

CitySearch

Nextrio

Godwin Sports

Imagine Companies

Secure Software

Credible Wireless

Echoing Green

Ashoka

Release 1.0

DC Central Kitchen

Eller Outdoor

Arrowhead Global

WetPaint

Blended Value

Evolve Sports

Hobart Elementary

The Heart Gallery

Simply Bits

Feeney & Associates

Mintz Levin

Georgetown University

Start-up Studio

SBA (Former Chair)

Aegis Assisted Living

Jack’s Notebook

Red Shift Ventures

Business Women’s Net

Valhalla Partners

Willmott & Associates

Performix

CISCRP

ABC Codes

In-Q-Tel

Sustainable Northwest

Small Act Network

Mary’s Center

Mrs. Gooch’s

Radio Station Owner

Red Hat

A Whole New Mind

BlueMountain

Anderson Daymon

Cornell University

GoodSearch

Haircuttery

Goldman Sachs

Greater DC Cares

Valhalla Partners

Vastera

Robertson, Stephens & Co

Kellogg Business School

The Nature Conservancy

Incite International

Celedon

Blue Ocean Institute

Kastle Key

Acton MBA

AES

Sloan School

Schock Logistics

Conservation International

The Fifth Discipline

The Leadership Solution

Bioenterprise

Sunrise Assisted Living

Share Our Strength

Going Local

Calvert Funds

UpRoar

ghSMART

Darden School of Business

Social Venture Partners

Mosaic Youth Theatre

Ocean Conservancy

Calvert Funds

DefyWire

Flow Idealism

Sundt Corp

Ctr for Future of Oceans

TerraCycle

Cranium

EAI

Author

CodeRyte

The Personnel Office

Kaufmann Foundation

Braebion

Cornell University

DEW Ventures

Edible School Yard

Harvard Medical School

New Enterprise Associates

Cleveland Foundation

CyberRep

Room to Read

ChildSecure

Comerica

Grameen Bank

E-City Cleveland

There are many voices in the entrepreneurial universe.

My goal with A Deliberate Pause was not to speak for each of my contributors or to try to tell their stories in full.  they can do a much better job of that than anyone else. In fact, many of them have.

If you’d like to learn more about some of the contributors to ADP, you might want to check out the veritable library of books they’ve generated. You’ll find classics, lesser known volumes, and most of all: wisdom.

Contributors’ Bibliography

Laurence Gonzales

Bill Gorog

Bijoy Goswami

David Green

Allen Grossman

Irv Grousbeck

Anil Gupta

Rob Hagen

Travis Hardmon

Verne Harnish

Kristi Hedges

Oran Hesterman

John Holaday

Jeffrey Hollender

Gary Hoover

Dipak Jain

John Jaquette

Charlene Drew Jarvis

Donna Jensen Madier

Dave Jilk

Judy Jobbitt

Craig Johnson

Gary Jonas

Gene Kahn

Julie Kantor

Andy Kapit

Guy Kawasaki

Karen Kerrigan

Raj Khera

Ruth Taylor Kidd

Judy Kirpich

Mary Knebel

Ray Leach

Reggie Van Lee

Mena Lofland

Rich Lyons

Mary MacPherson

Darius Mahdjoubi

Tracy Stone Manning

Steve Mariotti

Art Marks

John May

Mike McCaffery

Rob McGovern

Peter Meehan

Andreas Merkyl

Caren DeWitt Merrick

Jeff Mitchell

Dan T. Moore III

Mario Morino

Mike Morris

Robin Mudge

Gary Mulhair

Will Murray

Gary Myers

Mary Naylor

Cory Neal

Kirk Neiswander

Nell Newman

Stephen O’Connor

Eric Olsen

Jan Olsen

Joel Peterson

Deep Survival

Lexus Nexus

Bootstrap Austin

The Eye Fund

Harvard Business School

Stanford Business School

Smith School of Business

Commerce 5

Natl Capital Child Dvlpmt

Gazelles

Shea Hedges

WK Kellogg Foundation

EntreMed

Seventh Generation

Bookstop

Kellogg Business School

Cornell University

Southeastern University

startup.com

Xaffire

George Mason University

Venture Law Group

20/20 Eye Centers

Cascadian Farms

NFTE

CodeRyte

garage.com

Sm Bus E-ship Council

MailerMailer

Ashoka

Grafik

alarm.com

JumpStart

Booz Allen

Suitland High School

Haas School of Business

BlackBoard

Univ of Texas Austin

Clark Fork Foundation

NFTE

Valhalla Partners

New Vantage Partners

Stanford Mgmt Company

CareerBuilder.com

Newman’s Own Organics

California Environ Assoc

webMethods

Klamath Tribe

Dan T Moore Companies

Legent Technologies

Ocean Optics

BBC

Pioneer Healthcare

Conservation Impact

Artist

VIP Desk

Filmmaker

Case Western University

Newman’s Own organics

New World Publishing

Handwriting Without Tears

Handwriting Without Tears

Trammel Crow Company