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To start a new venture is indeed a risky and costly undertaking. The odds are against successfully creating something new whether it be a new system, a new product, a new organisational structure, or an entirely new company. The probability for success in new venture creation can be significantly increased and the corresponding risks of failure reduced when the information on the intentions, actions, and potential reactions of the environment are systematically considered in each strategic decision.

The movement of Hungary (and the rest of Eastern Europe for that matter) from a planned to a market‐orientated economy has attracted the attention of the world. This article explores the phenomenon by looking at the political, as well as the entrepreneurs′, perspectives on this change and the problems that need to be overcome. Infrastructure developments needed to facilitate the change are outlined for three crucial areas: education; a supportive business infrastructure; government policy initiatives.

Hungarian management schools face fierce competition and declining interest in management training. By the beginning of the 1990s two main categories have emerged in management education – management development courses and complex degree programmes, such as the International Management Center′s Young Manager Program (started in 1989), and distance learning provided by Open Business Schools which are somewhat new in Hungary. However, these programmes are not without tradition in the country. Experience with degree programmes shows that part‐time programmes are more popular than full‐time. MBA students need more help for readjustment and would like to have a degree with a reputation. Management development courses are expected to be short in time, very pragmatic and entertaining.

To understand the development of a market‐oriented economy in Hungary from a previously‐centrally‐planned one, it is necessary to look at events occurring from 1947 to 1982, and from 1982 to the present, encompassing Hungary's democratic transformation.

Management education in Poland is doing much better than the Polish economy. Centres of excellence are slowly being formed, and there are signs of hope that the whole educational system might act as an important agent of managerial and entrepreneurial change. All existing and stillnewly forming Polish schools of business share some common characteristics: market orientation, use of non‐conventional methods of instruction, reliance on some forms of foreign assistance, a higher level of autonomy than in traditional academic institutions. Indisputable initial success should not be taken, however, as an indication of the maturityof the Polish management education system. The most severe obstacles it encounters are those imposed by a seriously ailing economy. Without a real transformation of the Polish economy a viable system of management education cannot exist, as its efficiency cannot be meaningfully verified.

We consider start-up companies that have been established for rapid growth and are active in the international market. In this study, we examine the conditions required for starting a start-up. We analyze how it is possible to add value to an idea that makes a business unique. First, we’ll show you when to talk about start-up. The starting point is that a start-up company is organized on a community basis. This much greater knowledge is coupled with high-level technological competences. In addition, there is a need for some “big idea,” innovation, which investors see as fantasy. A new niche market must be found where hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide can be served without any geographical constraints. The founder must have a high-risk appetite, and even naughtiness, because the novelty he invented will narrow the market of others and harm the interests of others. Here’s a look at the financing options for start-ups. At the end of this chapter you will find case studies on different start-ups.