Familiar but sound advice on building a business for the long haul.
Aviation insurance executive Hampson writes about the “butterfly effect” of thoughtful, community-minded entrepreneurship.
The author offers his perspective on starting a business by delving into his own varied experiences as an owner of different kinds of businesses. At one time, he writes, the New Hampshire native owned a restaurant in South Africa; today, he’s the head of a large firm, Schrager Hampson Aviation Insurance Group, in his home state. The author is very much a believer in building a business around one’s passions, noting that “This passion will fuel you through the tough times.” For example, Hampson’s deep love of flying informed his present career choice, which combines the practical need for pilot insurance and his personal desire to both be his own boss and work in an industry that means a great deal to him. He believes that employers gain a competitive advantage by taking time to figure out which job applicants share their enthusiasm for the work. These employees will help the company develop niche expertise, he notes, which can help it stand out from others in the field. Hampson asserts that building responsible companies through this method helps to cultivate a more general social civility. As such, he doesn’t advocate for a cutthroat, survival-of-the-fittest vision of the economy; instead, Hampson believes that entrepreneurs should be focused on sustainability. Rather than going for a quick buck in the vein of private equity, Hampson encourages entrepreneurs to “be the tortoise” and focus on creating a business for the future.
Hampson doesn’t offer a playbook of specifics for building a company in these pages. Instead, his text is more of an odds-and-ends collection of entrepreneurial wisdom drawn from a successful career. Intriguingly, the author notes that he didn’t come by this wisdom through college-level business coursework. He’s someone who learned how to run a business by doing it and shares what he’s learned in these pages. That said, much of the book will feel like familiar advice to regular readers of entrepreneurship guides that use the language of self-help and self-actualization, as this volume does. Some of the tips Hampson offers, such as “develop your team” and “continue learning,” are certainly solid, but they won’t be news to many readers. Still, he does present some information that readers won’t find elsewhere, particularly due to his significant focus on his own personal life and on the role that family plays in his business; indeed, the fact that family is a central aspect of the author’s life comes across clearly. In certain respects, this aspect effectively helps to personalize the work, but the many pictures of Hampson’s friends and family, particularly from the recent past, add little to the book. Overall, though, this work collects the stories of a thoughtful businessperson in a highly readable package. Although some readers will find some elements predictable, it’s a fine, forward-looking overview of the ups and downs of creating a sustainable company.
Familiar but sound advice on building a business for the long haul.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2025
ISBN: 9781967458295
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.
Want to get ahead in business? Consult a dictionary.
By Wharton School professor Berger’s account, much of the art of persuasion lies in the art of choosing the right word. Want to jump ahead of others waiting in line to use a photocopy machine, even if they’re grizzled New Yorkers? Throw a because into the equation (“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”), and you’re likely to get your way. Want someone to do your copying for you? Then change your verbs to nouns: not “Can you help me?” but “Can you be a helper?” As Berger notes, there’s a subtle psychological shift at play when a person becomes not a mere instrument in helping but instead acquires an identity as a helper. It’s the little things, one supposes, and the author offers some interesting strategies that eager readers will want to try out. Instead of alienating a listener with the omniscient should, as in “You should do this,” try could instead: “Well, you could…” induces all concerned “to recognize that there might be other possibilities.” Berger’s counsel that one should use abstractions contradicts his admonition to use concrete language, and it doesn’t help matters to say that each is appropriate to a particular situation, while grammarians will wince at his suggestion that a nerve-calming exercise to “try talking to yourself in the third person (‘You can do it!’)” in fact invokes the second person. Still, there are plenty of useful insights, particularly for students of advertising and public speaking. It’s intriguing to note that appeals to God are less effective in securing a loan than a simple affirmative such as “I pay all bills…on time”), and it’s helpful to keep in mind that “the right words used at the right time can have immense power.”
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780063204935
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper Business
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection...
A Dumpster diver–turned-CEO details her rise to success and her business philosophy.
In this memoir/business book, Amoruso, CEO of the Internet clothing store Nasty Gal, offers advice to young women entrepreneurs who seek an alternative path to fame and fortune. Beginning with a lengthy discussion of her suburban childhood and rebellious teen years, the author describes her experiences living hand to mouth, hitchhiking, shoplifting and dropping out of school. Her life turned around when, bored at work one night, she decided to sell a few pieces of vintage clothing on eBay. Fast-forward seven years, and Amoruso was running a $100 million company with 350 employees. While her success is admirable, most of her advice is based on her own limited experiences and includes such hackneyed lines as, “When you accept yourself, it’s surprising how much other people will accept you, too.” At more than 200 pages, the book is overlong, and much of what the author discusses could be summarized in a few tweets. In fact, much of it probably has been: One of the most interesting sections in the book is her description of how she uses social media. Amoruso has a spiritual side, as well, and she describes her belief in “chaos magic” and “sigils,” a kind of wishful-thinking exercise involving abstract words. The book also includes sidebars featuring guest “girlbosses” (bloggers, Internet entrepreneurs) who share equally clichéd suggestions for business success. Some of the guidance Amoruso offers for interviews (don’t dress like you’re going to a nightclub), getting fired (don’t call anyone names) and finding your fashion style (be careful which trends you follow) will be helpful to her readers, including the sage advice, “You’re not special.”
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection or insight.Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16927-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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