National Academy of Engineering & National Academy of Engineering 
Risk and Innovation [PDF ebook] 
The Role and Importance of Small, High-Tech Companies in the U.S. Economy

Smaller, technically-oriented companies often assume types of risk (and an amount of risk) that is not often tolerated by large companies. In the United States both consumers and companies depend on smaller, high-tech companies to explore the commercial application of technology in potential, emerging, and small markets. This book, through comparison of six industries in which small companies play a critical role, explores the principal economic function of small, high-tech companiesto probe, explore, and sometimes develop the frontiers of the U.S. economy in search of unrecognized or otherwise ignored opportunities for economic growth and development.