Resources

A guide to finding more information on various topics featured in the Oct. 1996 issue of Inc. magazine.

Resources is the Inc. guide to more information on subjects in this issue

Field Notes,

Hot Starts: Internet Superstart Enlists Locals to Battle Giants

The CitySearch Internet site is most notable for its exquisite interface, which might well measure up to the company's boast of being "the best Java application on the Web." If your computer can handle it, it's well worth the time to download the Java version, though the regular HTML isn't too shabby either. And disregard all the cities that are billed as "coming soon" on the opening map--many of them are red herrings designed to keep competitors in the dark.

Red Tape: Prop 13 Time Bomb Explodes, Start-ups Hit

The pamphlet "Collaborating to Compete in the New Economy: An Economic Strategy for California" is free from the California Department of Trade and Commerce (916-324-8214).

Red Tape: I Feel Your Payroll

Documents related to the White House Conference on Small Business are available at the following Web sites: House Committee on Small Business and Senate Committee on Small Business. The House site features a lengthy study of legislative activity on the 60 initiatives of the White House Conference; it's useful yet frustrating, since initiatives don't equal action.

Red Tape: Slow Fingers Stall FDA Approvals

The Federal Register Web page is quite well run--surprise, surprise--by the Government Printing Office. For a tutorial, including instructions on how to search the Federal Register, go to http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/desc004.html on the Web.

On the Road: After the Revolution, an Embarrassment of Niches

M. B. Christie tells us that the hottest-selling business book in the Czech Republic is the classic American text that defines two forgotten words in the Czech language: Marketing Management, by Philip Kotler. "It's read by students, executives, and entrepreneurs alike in the Czech Republic," says Christie. Victoria Publishing, the Prague-based publisher of the Czech language version, reports that the book has gone through three print runs and sold more than 25,000 copies, twice as many as other top sellers. (The ninth edition is available in the United States from Prentice Hall for $74; call 800-947-7700.) Another popular read in the Czech business community is 525 Ways to Be a Better Manager, by Ron Coleman and Giles Barrie (Ashgate Publishing Co., 800-535-9544, 1990, $39.95), which has sold more than 12,000 copies in Czech.

Keynotes: Forget Patents, Says Stanford Prof

One of the themes of Stanford professor Connie Bagley's The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law is how the speed of products coming to market has changed the viability of intellectual-property laws. The book is due out in January from West Publishing (800-336-6365 or http://west.thomson.com/Default.asp?cookie%5Ftest%3D1).

New Economy: U.S. Business Data Worst in World--and Getting Worse

Bruce Kirchhoff is the author of Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Capitalism: The Economics of Business Firm Formation and Growth (Praeger, 800-225-5800, 1993, $59.95). Those who can wade into this dense and academic book will be joining a highly select group of people. But chapter 5, "Data Systems to Support Dynamic Capitalism," intriguingly elaborates Kirchhoff's thesis that data lie at the heart of the struggle between economic innovation and stasis. Like Peter Drucker, he suggests that you get what you measure: if you measure entrepreneurship in this country more diligently, you'll get more entrepreneurship.