New Book Offers Business Tips From Criminal Entrepreneurs The Misfit Economy

A new business book is generating a lot of buzz. But you won't find any of its subjects on the cover of Forbes magazine any time soon.

The Misfit Economy: Lessons in Creativity from Pirates, Hackers, Gangsters and Other Informal Entrepreneurs is filled with case studies of criminals and criminal enterprises. Written by Alexa Clay and Kyra Maya Phillips ($26, Simon and Schuster, June 2015), the book offers management lessons from the criminal class.

The authors contend that folks operating outside the law are just as innovative, creative and visionary as any Silicon Valley whiz kid. These "misfits" often find ingenious solutions to many of the same problems encountered by legitimate businesses. Those solutions are applicable to law-abiding businesspeople, too.

Among the topics covered are the way these outsider enterprises are organized for maximum efficiency, managing risk and "catalyzing" innovation.