Review: The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant

The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant by Tae Kim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An intriguing peek into Jensen Huang's life and career in Nvidia. As a first book into this man, this is quite thorough (at least thus far). I may have to re-read this just to glean the business lessons that can be learned from him.

Living in Taiwan, I see him idolized quite often, so I wanted to get to know the man, flaws and all, but I have to say I admire even his "flaws", if you want to call them that.

All in all a great informative read.


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Review: Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012

Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012 by Carol J. Loomis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reading Warren Buffett's thoughts and speeches is always a breath of fresh air, no matter how financial and intricate the subject matter.

Many of these articles/essays are basically fanmail. But it's still quite interesting to see how writing about Buffett progressed over the years. The writings that are actually by Buffett tend to contain more substance.



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Review: Family Wealth--Keeping It in the Family: How Family Members and Their Advisers Preserve Human, Intellectual, and Financial Assets for Generations

Family Wealth--Keeping It in the Family: How Family Members and Their Advisers Preserve Human, Intellectual, and Financial Assets for Generations by James E. Hughes Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book reminded me of Family Fortunes. I confess I ended up skimming the final parts, since I think it will be more relevant if/when I've actually made my fortune.

Still, a very good set of principles to keep in mind in the meantime.


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Review: The Split: Finding the Opportunities in China's Economy in the New World Order

The Split: Finding the Opportunities in China's Economy in the New World Order by Shaun Rein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As soon as one moves to China it's clear that most of the information about China available internationally is laughably wrong. Even from just across the straight in Taiwan I was amazed at how different things were on the mainland when I moved there in 2016. And since I left, this is the first book I’ve seen that gave what felt like a real update on the country.


All of this is to say this is a much needed book. You’d be hard-pressed to find a book in English (or any language) discussing China from the inside with such knowledge, as well as candor.

To be sure, there is much I disagree with in the book. I believe he gives Xi a pass for many things, first and foremost as regards Taiwan (Xi forever refuses to even listen to the idea of independence, which isn’t touched upon, as well as the trade bans and constant political/social/military pressure on Taiwan), the trade bans/sanctions with East Asia, and economic coercion in general.

The target is people in the business community, but it might be good for some people in the state department to read this as well. Some great insight.


4.5 stars



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Review: IBM: The Rise and Fall and Reinvention of a Global Icon

IBM: The Rise and Fall and Reinvention of a Global Icon by James W. Cortada
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an almost impossible task from the beginning. In essence it is the biography of a company that is not only extremely old, but is still ongoing and that (apparently) does not grant outsiders access to its historical records.

Still, pretty much all of this was new to me, and I found the story of its ups and downs throughout the years, and the people involved, to be eye-opening and very interesting.


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Review: $100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No

$100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No by Alex Hormozi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I took copious notes, which I have started using in my business. I'm giving it 5 stars for now because I found it jam packed with useful advice, much of which was different and quite relevant to me. Of course, we'll see how it goes when I apply it.

In essence this seemed to be about as useful as information can be considering it doesn't focus on any one particular type of business. If I'm able to apply it well and it starts paying dividends, I will definitely be checking out his other books.

Some of my personal notes (they may not make sense without the book as reference):

Lower time delay and you raise perceived likelihood of achievement and effort required. 

Find every problem you can for the customer. The more problems, the better because you can solve more of them.

The longer you wait to make your offer, the more Demand you create, and the more you can charge

Create scarcity to increase demand. Urgency to increase demand. Bonuses to increase demand.

Offer something for limited slots (e.g. Sold out soon). Offer again the following month.

Scarcity:

Only accepting x clients. (An exclusive seminar. Then personal zoom call or email for a premium)

Urgency: I had a client just drop out, so there’s space on Monday.  Let’s get you started on this discount we have going on now. 

Never raise the price without letting people know first. 

Arbitrage opportunity: This is an opportunity. Most people don’t know about so jumping right now to find out about it.

Never ever offer discounts, only offer bonus add-ons. Always explain the bonus in detail and the bonus to be equal or even more valuable than the main offer. 

This will increase the perceived value of the main offer. I will add on XYZ bonus if you purchase today because I reward action takers. 

Great templates and tools and downloadable or anything that takes a while to create but is worth a lot. Offer these as a bonus. Use every webinar and similar as bonuses as well.

Guarantee: they f you don’t get value, your money back. The only way not to get help is not to buy (Or something like: as long as you updated your information as per the instructions, etc. If you have no results, then either money back or I will work with you until you find a job)

Or give no guarantee and say all sales are final because you show proprietary boxes. That also shows confidence.

Find a good way to track for guarantees. Make sure they followed steps you laid out.

Naming: 

      Rhyming, alliteration

Attention

Discrimination 

Purpose

Timing 

Method

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Review: Buyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into your Customer's Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business

Buyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into your Customer's Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business by Adele Revella
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Seems like great information, but focused on larger companies with a budget and resources for full studies/focus groups/etc. or for professional marketers who get paid by companies to do precisely this work.

It is a bit more difficult and less relevant for the entrepreneur/small business operating a shoestring.


Having said that, the 5 rings seem like good insight and I took notes on those. I will see if I can apply them independently to my business.




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Review: Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt

Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had recently started watching Succession, but then lost interest. Watching a show about family members who happened to have inherited wealth fighting over it just didn't interest me. 

For some reason, however, I found this book enthralling. So much so that I may give Succession another chance. 

The Vanderbilt family spawned some very interesting characters, to say the least, as well as some unique stories. 

It's also a good cautionary tale as to how not to maintain wealth over many generations. 

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Review: Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon by Colin Bryar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting book, although pretty useless if you're looking for a book on Entrepreneurship. The authors joined Amazon when it was still young, but already very much an established (and publicly traded) company, so the issues they discuss have to do with huge workforces and extraordinary budgets. 

Interesting how much the culture of "Jeff" seems to be pervasive here as well. It almost sounds like Bezos commissioned this, and it makes me wonder what the effect has been at Amazon of Andy Jassy taking over. 

Also, ironic that, with all the Amazon products discussed, there was no mention of Audible, which I used to listen to this, or Goodreads, where I'm writing this review. 

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Review: To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others

To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The premise seems to be the whole “Everything you do is selling. Even if you’re not directly selling a product/service, you’re trying to convince someone of something, so you’re selling”. This is similar to a recent book I read on negotiation that stated everything we do is a negotiation. I imagine you could make the same argument re: marketing. In fact, I could probably make it re: management, operations, etc. 

Some of the usual topics for my business book bingo card: Prisoner’s dilemma, behavioral economics (No Daniel Kahneman, but Richard Thaler was mentioned), shoutout to other authors (Cialdini, Heath brothers, etc.), that study where the customers were given fewer choices at the supermarket and bought more products (I forget the details, but it’s always the same study). 

But that doesn’t mean it didn’t have interesting aspects. I appreciated the criticism of Joseph Girard. I remember we had to read his book for our marketing class, and it already seemed outdated back then. Nowadays it has probably lost all relevance if no one updates it. 

Some of the notes I took (for my use. In other words, as his points pertain to my business):

Get rid of extra choices being offered on the website

List the positive but then add one small negative at the end.

Don’t emphasize what you did, but what you can do (i.e. this could be the next big thing)

Show a clear way to get it done (i.e. clearly detail the next steps to take in order to get it done). 

Find a slogan that rhymes

Find 1 word to describe the business

The Email subject should be very detailed (on cold emails)

Don’t upsell, but “upserve”

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Review: How to Become a People Magnet: 62 Life-Changing Tips to Attract Everyone You Meet

How to Become a People Magnet: 62 Life-Changing Tips to Attract Everyone You Meet by Marc Reklau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This would make a good online list, a la Kevin Kelly. Very sales-oriented. Ways to sound/look nice and make the other person like you. If you've read other business/sales books, or studied sales, you've probably heard all of these. Still, might be good to review. 

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Review: Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success

Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success by Shane Snow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As with many business/self-help books, this is a list that could've been a good blog post. The author adds examples, many of which are personal anecdotes. 

The examples, as well as the points he makes, seem good enough, and I took notes. But as with any business book, this lacks the list of people who followed every single step he mentions and still didn't attain success. Of course, anything like that would defeat the purpose, and it is impossible to literally analyze every single person who followed these same steps, but it would still help. 

Obviously I know there aren't "Step-by-step" instructions that guarantee success in business, but it seems like this fact could at least be addressed. You can definitely study masters, catch the wave, find a superconnector, 10x it, etc. and still not attain success. 

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Review: Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World

Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World by Emily Balcetis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The author’s journey to play the drums well enough to have a private concert is an interesting anecdote that would’ve made a great article (or Ted talk, with subsequent performance). As a book it’s just dragged out and, frankly, unrelatable to most readers. 

Having said that there are some decent takeaways, which I wish had been given more focus:

- Apparently pushing something bad (like junk food) from your mind doesn’t work as well as actually thinking about eating it in terms of avoiding it in the near future. This seemed counterintuitive to me, but very interesting. 

- Narrow your focus: Focus on smaller, more immediate goals rather than the big final outcome. 

- Think back to the bad points/mistakes as much as the good points. This helps you avoid them in the future. 

These weren’t the 4 takeaways given by the author, but they were from my notes. 

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Review: I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works

I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works by Ramit Sethi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This all seems to be very sound advice, and this book will be very useful and probably a must-read if:

1. You are young-ish (ideally below 30, definitely below 40)

2. You work for a company (there is a section on entrepreneur options, but it seems haphazard and just an add-on)

3. You live in the US. RothIRAs, 401Ks and other tax strategies are key to this book, and obviously non-Americans don't have access to these. The best you can do is see if there are any equivalents in your own country. 

Having said that, this is all definitely legitimate and good advice.

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Review: Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen

Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was quite a good book, but I'm not sure I'd classify it as a business book. I'm sure the concepts can be applied to business, but none of the examples are really from the business world (unless you count the author buying a new computer chord to keep in his bag for working out of coffee shops). 

The story about Roscoe Pickering is sort of heart breaking. He seriously argued drivers should be allowed to carry babies in their arms while driving. And he won. And babies died because of that. Shame he never had to pay for it. 

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Review: Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Re-read in 2023:

I don't think I'm going to read this anymore. It's just mildly annoying, but much too oversimplified or just plain incorrect. Also my BS detector seemed to go off quite a bit more than usual at this re-reading. As an example, he mentions an NBA star who lost all his money and worked at a car wash. I did a bunch of searching and wasn't able to come up with anyone who fits that description. 

Previous review:

This book still annoys me but it's still worth reading from time to time.

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Review: How to Get Paid for What You Know: Turning Your Knowledge, Passion, and Experience into an Online Income Stream in Your Spare Time

How to Get Paid for What You Know: Turning Your Knowledge, Passion, and Experience into an Online Income Stream in Your Spare Time by Graham Cochrane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I took copious notes, especially toward the end (the first part is mostly about convincing you you can do it, and why you should do it, and how to pick your topic, etc.). 

I feel like I shouldn't rate it until I've applied the notes, so we'll see. I'll give it 4 stars for now, since I've been in the game for a bit and his advice seems solid (plus he's done this before). If his methods work for me, I'll increase it to 5. 

I'm curious about Kajabi too. I'm hoping it's as good as he claims, and he wasn't just pushing it in order to get the commission. I'm using Thinkific for now and the prices seem comparable. 

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Review: The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business: Make Great Money. Work the Way You Like. Have the Life You Want.

The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business: Make Great Money. Work the Way You Like. Have the Life You Want. by Elaine Pofeldt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a re-read for me. It would be a great (and sorely needed) book, but it's just a collection of case studies. Even a final chapter with conclusions and tentative guidelines would've been excellent. Seems like a missed opportunity. Too bad. 

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Review: Morgan: American Financier

Morgan: American Financier by Jean Strouse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I see some complaints that this book doesn't concentrate enough on finance and discusses Morgan the person too much. I wonder what a biography is supposed to do, if not discuss the person. My background is in finance and economics, but learning about the person shows me the why behind many of his decisions and statements.

Having said that, the economics and finance of the time were super interesting, and the financial world was obviously very different back then. 

This book is a massive endeavor, and I found some parts more interesting than others (I confess the list of artworks, and how and why he bought them, didn't interest me as much). But overall it was an extremely informative look into the life of a man who, beyond being rich, was extremely influential during his time. Pretty much single-handedly reversing the financial panic of 1907 (we probably could've used someone like him in 1929, or 2008 for that matter). 

Incredible to think it took 15 years to research/write this book. Although I can't help wondering how much the "House of Morgan" coming out in 1999 had to do with that. 

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Review: Walmart in China

Walmart in China by Anita Chan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I actually thought this would be the story of Walmart in China, i.e. how it entered, who was involved, how it is structured, who is in charge, how it has changed over time, etc. Basically like a biography of the company in China. It isn't that at all. It is a collection of essays grouped by subject matter. The first section discusses factories in China used by Walmart USA, and the subsequent ones discuss various aspects of Walmart China. 

There were some interesting tidbits, such as how many parallels there seemed to be between Walmart's culture/ethos and Mao's communist ethos. Things such as trying to get rid of hierarchies, the slogans, the cult of personality, putting the masses at the top, and the infringements upon it. 

Also there was an interesting aside on the origin of the term "sweatshop" (p. 72)

Some notes I took:

"Walt Disney's large retail business has its headquarters, not in Los Angeles, but in Rogers, Arkansas, right next door to Bentonville." (p. 14)

"between 2001 and 2006 Walmart accounted for 9.3 percent of total US imports from China" (p. 29)

"Today, 80 percent of its thousands of global suppliers are based in China and 70 percent of the merchandise sold in Walmart stores is assembled from China" (p. 36)

"The inverted pyramid - putting the masses at the top - is strikingly evocative of the revolutionary class hierarchy of Maoist Socialism" (p. 122)

All-in-all I can't say I recommend it, despite the interesting points. It would have been nice to at least include a precursory history of the company in China, or describe what impact it has on the Chinese economy, what difference it has made, what difference its unionization has made, etc. etc.

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