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ALWAYS TRUST YOUR CAPE

HOW I LIVED THE AMERICAN DREAM

An upbeat and experience-driven call for entrepreneurs to up their game.

Moore presents a rule-based manual for achieving entrepreneurial success.

The author opens his nonfiction debut with his contention that entrepreneurs are the pioneers of today’s business world, as they “hire the most people, drive the economy, create innovation, promote research and development, and shape new products and services.” Drawing on his experience building his own business, he positions his narrative as a guidebook to help others achieve the success that he repeatedly assures them is within their reach. After starting with an inaccurate quote (Mark Twain never actually said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why”), Moore takes readers through his own adventures in the business world, from serving as a financial advisor at Smith Barney to helping run the financial streaming news network JAGFN until its demise to running his own company, VANQUISH (its specialty, as reported in the author’s ominous business-speak, being “animal mitigation”). While narrating these adventures, Moore highlights many of the invaluable lessons he’s learned along the way about trusting his instincts, always being ready to learn, and improving his leadership skills. He conveys these lessons with the verve and directness of a self-described eternal optimist, always sticking to what he calls his basic approach to life: “Wisdom does not come by accident. It does, however, come by experience.” The problem some readers may have with his book is embodied in this quote—everyone has met (and most likely worked for) people who have plenty of experience with little wisdom to show for it. Those willing to overlook such claims (and cliches like “Never think small. Always think big”) will find some inspiring stories in these pages.

An upbeat and experience-driven call for entrepreneurs to up their game.

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023

ISBN: 9781642257786

Page Count: 278

Publisher: Advantage Media Group

Review Posted Online: July 10, 2023

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MAGIC WORDS

WHAT TO SAY TO GET YOUR WAY

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

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#GIRLBOSS

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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