wo startup company founders and angel investors go inside eighteen companies founded by Harvard Business School graduates, uncovering surprising lessons for success and unexpected pitfalls essential for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Conventional “wisdom” holds that the most successful entrepreneurs in the world areborn with a genius for starting companies, experience one lightning-bolt moment ofinspiration after another, follow a tried-and-true process to scale to a billion dollars,and attract deep-pocketed investors at every turn.

The real story is a bit more unconventional—and much more interesting.