Rocky co-founded a technology company in 2000, acquired key patents and a manufacturing facility, and secured funding from his network of friends and angels. He led the company as CEO for over five years and secured funding from U.S. and international private equity sources. He and his investor-supporters accomplished a reverse merger and took the entity public in the UK on AIM in 2004. He served as the CEO of the public entity and later took the role of CTO and Executive VP, as well as continuing as a Board member.

‍

The Smart Entrepreneur is a book for hard-working and imaginative people – entrepreneurs – who have a passion to create valuable technology, products, and companies. Whether you are an inventor with an idea, an aspiring entrepreneur of any age, or a highly experienced senior leader, your goal is to start with an idea and create a successfully-funded start-up company.

‍

Unlike many business books that only tell the reader what to do in general terms, the focus of this book is on the specific actionable activities and process-oriented details of “how” to execute in a disciplined manner and achieve success.

‍

So, why wouldn’t an investor want you to read this book? Perhaps they would if they believed you would perfectly execute on the idea and plan you presented. However, nothing ever works perfectly. There are a multitude of reasons why the best expectations for a business are never realized. What happens when things don’t go right? In the worst of circumstances investors secure greater control and equity through the funding agreements they originally made with the founders.

‍

The ability of investors to secure greater control and ownership lies at the heart of the entrepreneur’s relationship with an investor. Avoiding pitfalls and preserving founder equity underpins the author’s approach to entrepreneurship.

‍

The goals of this book are to help an entrepreneur: (1) achieve his/her vision, (2) maximize her/his enterprise’s value and return on investment, (3) achieve results efficiently and preserve the equity of founders, (4) avoid catastrophic pitfalls, (5) minimize stress and uncertainty inherent in the processes.

‍

Rocky Richard Arnold is a hands-on executive with a track record of successful accomplishments in business, technology, and science. He provides strategic corporate and capital acquisition advice to early-stage companies founded by entrepreneurs who wish to successfully commercialize high-value creation opportunities, ideas, and/or technologies.

‍

He learned military leadership principles in the U.S. Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program where he was a distinguished graduate (top 5%). He served in the U.S. Army Reserves for eight years ultimately attaining the grade of Captain. He subsequently went on to MIT where he got an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1972 specializing in acoustics and nonlinear vibration.

‍

‍