During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, John Lusk and Kyle Harrison chose to go in a different direction from most entrepreneurs: manufacturing and marketing a novelty gift -- a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf club. The Wharton MBA graduates also decided to share their views on the ups-and-downs of entrepreneurship, first in chatty, e-mailed newsletters, and later in a book, The MouseDriver Chronicles.
The newsletter, the book, and the talks Lusk and Harrison give at business schools around the country make it clear they find ownership exciting and empowering, but also fraught with difficulties and lessons. By conveying the humor of the situations, they successfully turn entrepreneurial trials -- there are many -- into charming, funny episodes of what it's really like to start your own business.
