It's supposed to look like a hockey stick: up and to the right. Growth curves of runaway hits are even more dramatic—akin to field hockey sticks—quick start, short dip, followed by an immediate near-vertical climb in a northeasterly direction. It’s a beautiful thing. The problem with growth curves is that they’re like footprints in the sand. You can only see them in hindsight. To make matters more difficult, innovation is a non-linear business. Success does not come in the form of a straight line. As Woody Allen suggests, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” In the world of innovation, there is no single path forward. The only road that all entrepreneurs share is the road less travelled by. But you can still learn from those who went before you—what to do and what not to do—in order to increase your odds of success. Bend the Curve is a book about how to get more out of your big idea from people who know—successful entrepreneurs, the venture capitalists who've funded them, and the experienced mentors of the world's leading new venture accelerator, Techstars. Andrew Razeghi is an alliance partner of Clareo. His consulting work spans industries from consumer-packaged goods to media; technology to financial services; and entertainment to professional sports. A few of his consulting clients include Allstate, The New York Times, Novartis, PepsiCo, Qualcomm and others. Andrew is a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University where he teaches coursework on growth strategy, entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition to advising the executive teams of Fortune 500 and private equity backed companies, Razeghi is a Limited Partner in Techstars, the worlds #1 new venture accelerator. He is an active angel investor in over 40 companies through direct investments as well as through two seed capital funds. He has also served as Vice Chairman of the Wright Centers of Innovation at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC and has provided testimony to the Congress of the United States on driving economic recovery through high-potential entrepreneurship and corporate innovation. His work has appeared in a number of media outlets including BusinessWeek, China Daily, CNN, Fortune, Forbes and Investors Business Daily.