I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that The Monk and the Riddle will become the best-selling business book of the year. It will end up on the bookshelves of anyone who has considered leaving a comfortable job to start or join a startup. It could even become one of those slender classics, like Silent Spring and Small Is Beautiful, whose moral impact is in reverse proportion to its length.

Randy Komisar's business card reads "Virtual CEO," but he describes himself more as a consigliere to the inventors and entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. An attorney who worked at Apple in its glory days, then led companies such as Claris, Go and LucasArts, Komisar now spends his afternoons advising startup executives. He spends his mornings in a Portola Valley caf, listening to pitches from eager MBAs with the latest schemes for e-commerce. His instincts often determine whether the candidates fly or flop with the venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road in nearby Palo Alto.