Plenty of good ideas

How they started How 30 good ideas became great businesses BY David Lester<br /><br />I devour business books but this one looks like a cut an paste job. It is trying to appeal to a large audience but it is set out like a reference book.<br /><br />A good business book should mix facts with anecdotes and personal stories. It claims that their criteria for choosing was they were started by individuals, they are successful and they are a household name. Perhaps I hadn't been paying attention but they were a few I had not heard of . Out of 30 there were nineteen I had really heard of.<br /><br />The good ones have been well covered elsewhere such as Dyson, Friends Reunited and Moneysupermarket .com.<br /><br />People who think about starting businesses but ever get round to it cite two reasons ! I need a good idea 2 someone will steal my good idea. Perhaps there are no new ideas just variations on a theme. Even modern phenomena like Bebo never claimed to be the first just one of the more successful. Very rarely if ever does someone come up with a world beating new idea. even Dyson was just developing a better vacuum cleaner.<br /><br />Another reviewer has commented on the section on what we can learn from these businesses as a group? that is 1 The X Factor 2 Minimal personal reward financially 4 Do what it says on the tin 5 Keep it simple 6 Work hard than you might think possible 7 Kept trying and believing 8 Who needs money? 8 Ambition 9 So what?<br /><br /> Can I make a plea for business book writers and journalist to stop telling us that X ! Quit the rat race" to start his own business. It is rubbish and boring.<br /><br />Maybe a book for people who do not read the business pages but there are better books out there on ideas and how to start your own business. Business appears to have become the new Rock and Roll but on The Apprentice we see it is a lot harder than you think. Perfectly bright intelligent hard working people do not seem to be able to get it right.<br /><br />They are uplifting stories but like the apprentices you should try just a basic business to start with to see if you have the staying power. The vast majority of the population will not make it in business because they are not hard working enough, do not have enough ambition and have an inability to work consistently every day.<br /><br />A reasonable enough book but it did not inspire me to read it from cover to cover. I dipped into the ones that I liked.<br /><br /><br /><br />

The reality of delivering projects

An excellent book covering the critical but often unspoken aspects of project delivery that go beyond methodology. The format is easy to read and includes practical tips and lessons. Those new to project management will find it an ideal reference based upon real life project experience. Experienced project managers will find it includes things you already do but didn't realise the benefits and quite a few new approaches to improve performance. Recommended.

Excellent, highly rated!

I'm new to investments and purchased this due to the previous glowing reviews. I was not disappointed; the book is well written and most importantly, very practical. It tells you exactly what to look for when purchasing stocks, when to sell, how to read the market and a whole lot more. It does push the IBD website and paper fairly heavily, but in fairness I think it would be difficult and very time consuming to pick CANSLIM stocks manually without the use of a website like IBD. There are thousands of stocks out there... do you want to narrow them down yourself, or let someone else do the hard work?

A book to start the naive thinking!

I am not sure what to make of this book. I read through it and found that I was at all times interested in the subject matter.<br /><br />The thing is - the book only helped me put things into perspective, with regard to dates and names. The book did not really help enlighten me or give me a new perspective on the way the world operates.<br /><br />Hence the title of my review. If you are one of those people who goes through life blithely and has no idea why western nations are distrusted or even hated in the developing world - read this book.<br /><br />If you have actually been awake for the past few decades and understand that capatilism is not necessarily the best model - rather, it is the model that is the best financed [is there a paradox there?], you will find that this book gives you nothing new.<br /><br />The book has a sentence that advises the reader of the fact the information in the book may be out of date by the time the reader finishes reading the book. This is my issue with the book.<br /><br />Who really did not know that the Iraq wars [both] were for reasons other than world peace? Who really has never seen the connection between politics and corporations? Who really was surprised that the US government divided up the"rebuilding Iraq" contracts between US contractors?<br /><br />Maybe it is because we live in the Michael Moore era, maybe it is because I live in Europe, where we are more inclined to ask questions and where criticism of the head of state are not consider unpatriotic. Who knows? What I do know is that this book does not tell you anything new.<br /><br />What the book does do is make for an interesting biography.<br /><br />The author does not really deserve any applause for his convenient turn away from corruption - as he managed to spend decades continuing his ways, making money, long before he decided to spill his confession.<br /><br />What would impress me more would be if I found out that all proceeds from the sale of this book went towards some sort of third world relief.<br /><br />3-stars. An interesting read.

Outstanding!

SIMPLY MUST READ MATERIAL FOR NOVICE AND EXPERIENCED INVESTORS ALIKE. WONDERFULLY WRITTEN ,HUMOROUS ,AND VERY COMPREHENSIVE. I'VE RECOMMENDED THIS BOOK TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS WITHOUT HESITATION. WORTH MUCH MUCH MORE THAN IT'S SELLING PRICE.AM AWAITING EAGERLY FOR MR. KELLY'S FUTURE WORK IN THE AREA OF STOCK INVESTING!

The reputation is well deserved

Back in 1997, a friend and colleague introduced me to the markets for the very first times, futures markets at that. He told me that to become a successful trader, I needed to read far and wide. I was given, as an introduction, two suggestions,"Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" and anything by Jack D Schwager. I got hold of the first one ok (an awesome book, read in one day on a cold wet day at Phillip Island) but the other never made the priority. Until now, nearly ten years later. I grabbed Schwager's three volumes on the"market wizards" in one fell swoop and after reading this volume can't believe I never purchased it earlier. Whilst the trading scenarios are now dated the insights into trading are very relevant and I gleaned many insights into trading that had previously eluded me. Schwager's interview style and writing ability is first rate (for an American), and I enjoy his laid back, humourous approach. This is a valuable volume and a must for all serious traders.

Brilliant

I have been trading for many years, and here is a brilliant book that focuses on one of the least understood trading skills needed to be succesfull. The book is not an easy read, but the effort put in will be well worth the results. Its just a question of attitude!!

Excellent

An excellent book. Most people hear loads of finacial terms every day, but don't really know what they mean. They maybe semi understand.

It is not at all hard to learn the basics of economics. It's a subject where if you can grasp about say, 7 rules, then you can figure out what's going on with all the others without bothering too much.

This book concentrates on expressing these rules with simple examples in plain english, which is all you need to understand a great deal of financial jargon.

Buy this book and be a veritable fountain of knowledge for the rest of your life!

Two words- BUY IT!

For anyone who's serious about their financial health, this is a must read. Easily explained, graphically delivered so that you know the importance of being on the right hand side of the quadrant if you want to be financially free. Essentially, these are the main points of the quadrant:<br /><br />E = employee = you own a job<br />S = Self-employed = you control a job<br />I = Investor = Money works for you<br />B = Business Owner = Business Systems work for you<br /><br />Its surprising how many people don't understand these simple concepts and they continue to go about their lives unhappy about their 9-5 job, wanting more money or more time.<br /><br />It's simple to follow the advice in this book and change the patterns you are in. RK is proving to be one of the best Financial Freedom Gurus of our time!

Excellent comprehensive overview of psychology

Following on from Tom Butler-Bowdon's previous volumes in the"50 Classics" series, this first class collection of summaries of key psychology books and authors continues in the same broad, accessible, but also in-depth, style. <br /><br />As the sub-title says, psychology is all about who we are, how we think, what we do. In other words, what it means to be human. Topics covered include the unconscious mind, happiness and mental health, the study of personality, motivation, love, creativity and relationships. <br /><br />With key"in a nutshell" comments, the author cuts to the essential message of each writer, while addressing more complex subtleties in the accompanying text. As with Tom's other books, there is a very wide range of carefully chosen authors. I had come across several here in an academic context, but in general the emphasis is on popular psychology,"Psychology for nonpsychologists" as the jacket puts it. The range includes RD Laing, Oliver Sacks, Fritz Perls, Ivan Pavlov, Eric Berne, to pick a few random names. The founding fathers such as William James and Sigmund Freud are covered, alongside over a century's worth of contributions right up to Malcolm Gladwell with his 2005 bestseller on the importance of first impressions and split-second judgment.<br /><br />There is a huge amount of psychological and self-development literature available these days. It can be difficult to know where to begin but each volume in the"50 Classics" is an excellent starting point."50 Psychology Classics" is another winner in the series and I wholeheartedly recommend it! <br />

If you are implementing a KPI based reporting system buy this book

I read this book in order to get up to speed on KPI based reporting systems prior to implementing one. There are excellent suggestions and guidlines that steer you in the right direction. The authors writing style is excellent.

Excellent advice for the beginner

A study of the history of supply and demand of the commodities is essential reading for nayone wanting to trade. But don't forget the basics that apply to ALL trading, namely CUT YOUR LOSSES! Obviously commodities is more about supply and demand than stocks and bonds, so when the spot price is higher than the futures price, current demand is greater than supply and price will rise. Great book which should be part of every traders library.

Great Introduction

This book is a great introduction into the world of stocks and shares. It's up to date and provides plenty of in-depth information, suited to the more astute investor, but still covers the basic points and is easy enough to read and get to grips with for the beginner.
Deserved of it's 5 stars rating.

So so

The lack of structure is definately a problem, especially if this was your first exposure to Six Sigma. I bought it as a supporting reference manaual to some materials I had from a structured inhouse training course. As a supporting guide to other reference materials it does have some use.

The best first book to read

This is the book I wish I read when I began investing a few years ago. It will set anyone off in the right steps and mind set for investing. It also has a good section at the end where the author has rate some other investment books. The book will also serve as a good reference that you can refer back to when analyzing your investment technique/system. Note, this book is well worth the read for investors of any level of experience.

Unexpected

I started feeling that this book was not for me. I was looking for something which might give me practical insight into a real and increasingly urgent problem. However, after getting into it, I started to see the light at least midway along the tunnel. Use this book to get on the right lines. It is actually nicely quirky and challenging. You will learn more from it than you at first realise.