I’ll be participating in an online chat in this Meebo room on Tuesday June 12th from 11:30 AM – 12 noon PT. It’s sponsored by Entrepreneur27, a Silicon Valley under-age-27 group. We’ll be talking all things entrepreneurship. Feel free to come to ask questions!
Monthly Archives: June 2007
When a Book Changes Your Life, It Says More About You Than the Book
I went bowling last week for first time in five years. As a friend and I waited for our lane, I was telling him about the book Chasing Daylight. A woman standing nearby overheard us and jumped in.
This being San Francisco, the chances of her being a technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist, or trans-gendered sex therapist living in a Berkeley commune were very high. In this case, she turned out to work at Hummer Winblad, the local venture fund.
She said, "My boss told me to read Chasing Daylight because it changed his life."
Chasing Daylight had a big impact on me, too. But it won’t on everybody.
I believe that when a book changes your life, it says more about you (and what was going on in your life at the time) than the book. A life-changing book (or movie, or trip) is probably well done, but you were also probably really looking for a life-changing experience. So you got one.
Related Post: We overvalue the impact of singular moments.
Immediate, Incautious Intimacy: A Trait of the Privileged?
"It’s a peculiar trait of the privileged: immediate, incautious intimacy."
This is from the excellent movie Notes on a Scandal. When I heard it, I paused the film and jotted it down. How true! I have heard this point before. At a summer camp, say, the rich girls by sundown have talked about their first sexual experience whereas the less-well-off are still chatting about their favorite movies. Why does this dynamic exist?
The movie "Notes on a Scandal," by the way, is well worth watching. By its description you might pigeonhole it into the generic "infidelity" category — a movie about an affair, with a twist that appeals to male teens everywhere since it’s an attractive female teacher sleeping with her male student. It is far more complicated, though, and explores the theme of loneliness in stunning fashion.
As part of my quest to watch some of the best movies ever made (I watch so few movies – 4 so far in 2007 – that I want each to be awesome), I also recently rented The Shawshank Redemption. I had high expectations and the film met them. There’s a reason it’s #2 on the IMDb Top 250 list.
Looking for a Graduation Gift?
Do you know someone who’s graduating this spring? Have a teenage nephew? Consider giving the book My Start-Up Life. It can make the perfect gift for any grad interested in leadership, business, or technology.
“My Start-up Life is the best gift you can buy your teenage son or daughter…it will give them confidence in their own abilities and courage to take on new challenges….It is Harry Potter meets Good to Great.”
— Auren Hoffman, CEO, RapLeaf
“What makes his book interesting to me…is that it bypasses the rah-rah, self-congratulation common among the young entrepreneur set, instead capturing, with remarkable lucidity, the complexities of trying to balance being a teenager and running a business. It also replaces the generic advice endemic to the genre (“follow your dreams and it will all work out”) with practical mediations on issues such as the role of luck in big successes and the proper care and feeding of mentors. In the end, this is a serious guide that goes a long way toward deconstructing and explaining what exactly allows the Bens of the world to do what they do.”
— Calvin Newport, PhD Candidate, MIT; Author, How to Become a Straight-A Student
“Casnocha’s debut is a fast read that chronicles his successes and failures in a way that makes them accessible to a student of entrepreneurship at any age. From his tricks-of-the-trade (printing business cards for his advisors) to the shock of his tribulations (including the disaster that kicked “Judy from Bellbeach” off her professional list-serv) to the laugh-out-loud moments of this bildungsroman (parlaying the lesson of learning to “say no” into a prom date), this book entertains and teaches the whole way through.”
— Benjamin Abram, Student, Duke University
“Ben’s first book is well written and explores the early stages of his business ventures. A great read for anyone interested in leadership and/or business.”
— Lindsay Eierman, Student, University of Pennsylvania
“Ben’s message not only to established entrepreneurs, but to entrepreneurs-to-be, is full of inspiration when dealing with the new 21st century world. I am including this book in my course Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers as a must-read reference”.
— Dr. Alberto Correa, Professor, The University of Texas at El Paso
How to Be Happy: Wear Running Shoes
I had the pleasure of meeting Gretchen Rubin in New York last week. She’s delightful, and writes a great blog on happiness.
Her post yesterday really hits home: running shoes are usually more comfortable than dress shoes, and comfortable feet can offer a serious happiness boost.
I hate dress shoes, but I wear them when I must. Last week I had a meeting which called for nice shoes. Apparently, people still dress up on the east coast. I wore brand new dress shoes and four hours later I was limping around Manhattan, the shoe having carved a round hole in the back of my ankle. Disaster.
A week and ten bloodied pairs of socks later, I’m still recovering.
Listen to Gretchen. Wear running shoes. They’re more comfortable.