High-tech startups are a key driver of job creation throughout the United States, according to research by technology policy coalition Engine and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Though they start lean, new high-tech companies grow rapidly in the early years, adding thousands of jobs along the way. The same is true throughout the world.

In fact, startup mentoring programs are sprawling, accelerators pop up everywhere. Large corporations invest in startups through their corporate venture funds. Open innovation embraces innovative products that are being developed outside the corporate R&D function. From Startup America and Tech City UK to initiatives in many other countries in the world, governments have jumped onto the entrepreneurial bandwagon, too. And many universities have included entrepreneurship into their curricula.

Students and professionals increasingly opt for building their own startup company as their career choice, be it at the beginning, later or even as the last step in their professional development.

But why is it that so many startups fail? And more importantly, how can entrepreneurs become better entrepreneurs and be more successful on their entrepreneurial journey?

In this book Ignition – How to start up a tech startup, Andreas Bauer and Julian Hall illustrate, by taking an outside-in view, the various aspects of entrepreneurship. Through 48 short and easy-to-read essays, they cover the full circle of startup life.