A forceful, helpful, and smoothly readable collection of nuggets of CEO wisdom for entrepreneurs.
A famous CEO and entrepreneur offers his observations about life and business.
Thalheimer, the founder and former CEO of The Sharper Image when it was dominating its corner of the retail market—$750 million a year in revenues, 200 stores, 4,000 employees, and, of course, the famous catalog—now runs The Sharper Fund, a private investment fund. In these pages, he conveys all the lessons he’s learned along the way on matters large and small, everything from relevant technology to hiring and firing, cash flow, corporate savings, and many aspects of customer service. As he touches on each of these subjects, the author draws on his long experience in order to dispense some insights—acknowledging up front that his fellow entrepreneurs at any level of development will find some of these tips more useful than others. “Short and personal (but not too personal) conversations keep you in touch with the human side of the people you work with,” he writes at one point, spelling out what might otherwise be taken as a given. “Check in with them every month or so.” Thalheimer’s tone is brisk and very inviting; he comes across as an ideal boss, the type readers may have dreamed of encountering, the kind who’s always open to chatting and yet is still firm in leading. Readers of this category of business literature will be prepared for bromides, and they’ll certainly encounter plenty of them here. Like most CEOs looking back on their early endeavors, the author often resorts to truisms, such as “When you start, you need people around you who get things done,” and “It is crucial that you treat suppliers with respect.” Both the obvious observations and the original tips are always couched in a friendly, authoritative tone—Thalheimer is certainly correct in predicting that even experienced entrepreneurs will find thought-provoking ideas in these pages.
A forceful, helpful, and smoothly readable collection of nuggets of CEO wisdom for entrepreneurs.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5445-1791-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A satisfyingly heartfelt tribute to a thoroughly remarkable man.
Investigative reporter Franklin recounts the life of the free-spirited millionaire entrepreneur who used his fabulous wealth in the fight to save nature.
One constant in the epic life of North Face founder Doug Tompkins (1943-2015) was his enduring love of the outdoors. The son of a successful antiques dealer, he grew up in the countryside of Millbrook, New York (Timothy Leary was a neighbor), where he cultivated his love of the natural world. His contrarian ways eventually led to his expulsion from high school just weeks before graduation. Tompkins headed West, where he baled hay in Montana, raced Olympic skiers in the Rockies, and took up rock climbing in California. He also “hitchhiked by airplane throughout South America.” Tompkins ended up in San Francisco, where, by the mid-1960s, the skiing and climbing supplies business he started with the help of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard suddenly began to boom. He was a charismatic businessman, and every one of his ventures after that—from his wife’s Plain Jane dress company to his own Esprit clothing brand—was successful. But his Midas touch never changed his passion for travel and adventure—e.g., flying his Cessna, sometimes with his family, but often, to the detriment of his marriage, solo. In the early 1990s, Tompkins bought property in southern Chile and fell in love with its pristine beauty. His outrage over the resource extraction–based nature of the Chilean government’s policies fueled his desire to protect the land. In the years that followed, he became an outspoken, sometimes reviled conservationist dedicated to using his fortune to transform thousands of acres of Patagonia into national parks. The great strengths of this timely, well-researched book lie not just in the author’s detailed characterization of Tompkins’ complex personality, but also in the celebration of his singularly dynamic crusade to save the environment.
A satisfyingly heartfelt tribute to a thoroughly remarkable man.Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-296412-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
Gucci demonstrates all the bravado and ferocious self-confidence that he counsels—and the photos are a nice bonus.
A hip-hop star who went on his first international tour wearing an ankle monitor explains how to succeed.
“The words you are about to read can help you,” writes Gucci. “That’s because there is truth in them. These are words of wisdom, like the Bible and its proverbs.” Unquestionably, Gucci likes to aim high, as many of his proverbs attest: “Stop Underestimating Yourself”; “Whatever You’re Thinking, Think Bigger”; “Nobody Cares. Work Harder”; “When They Sleep, I’m Grinding”; “Do More, Get More.” And never forget, “Women Are Brilliant.” Gucci not only shares his recipes for success. As in a cookbook that shows pictures of the end result, the author includes dozens of dazzling photos of himself and his beautiful wife, among them a series on his surprise wedding proposal at an Atlanta Hawks game. After the success of his bestselling debut, The Autobiography of Gucci Mane, Gucci has realized there is money to be made in the book business. In addition to the Bible, he has his eye on Malcolm Gladwell and his reported $5 million advances. While he is “cool with Malcolm Gladwell being more celebrated than me as an author…the difference between Malcolm Gladwell and me is that I’m going to make more money because I’m going to make so many books for my following….You can enjoy this book or not, but I’m going to make my fifty-second book, my hundred and eighth book.” Many readers will hope that one of them will be a diet book, as the 100-plus pounds Gucci has lost and kept off are a frequent topic—alas, he doesn’t reveal his weight loss secrets here. Until the next book, try to live the Gucci Mane way. “Avoid lazy and miserable people,” and “Find something to be excited about every day.”
Gucci demonstrates all the bravado and ferocious self-confidence that he counsels—and the photos are a nice bonus.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-982146-78-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
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