SHAKE THE WORLD

A mixture of job-search recommendations, self-help advice, anyone-can-succeed-in-business inspiration and mini-biographies of young entrepreneurs.

Reilly is president of The Guild Agency Speakers Bureau and Intellectual Talent Management, where he brands and markets individuals with reputations as cutting-edge thinkers. While reflecting on his own youthful success, the author decided to interview other young outside-the-box entrepreneurs, most of whom have found a way to combine philanthropy with for-profit capitalism. Interview subjects include Blake Mycoskie of TOMS, Jessica Jackley of ProFounder, Chad Troutwine of Veritas Prep, and Tony Hsieh of Zappos. The insights are mingled in chapters whose themes are sometimes difficult to discern. While Reilly touches on the occasional early-in-life failures of his interview subjects as a demonstration of how failure can build character, he is primarily uncritical of those subjects and sometimes seems starry-eyed as he chronicles their generosities. The author makes the obvious but worthwhile point that none of the subjects was born to greatness, and he posits that their humility in the wake of success might have been a lifelong quality that contributed greatly to individual success. The book is especially relevant because, as Reilly notes, economic recessions can accelerate entrepreneurial ventures as those out of work seek fresh paths into the capitalistic culture. The pursuit of graduate and law degrees often makes sense during economic downturns. However, those credentials are not an automatic ticket to success—sometimes what has been conveyed in classroom settings stifles innovative thinking.

Abstract, sometimes cryptic platitudes studded with inspirational gems.