Review: Regulatory Hacking: A Playbook for Startups

Regulatory Hacking: A Playbook for Startups by Evan Burfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was expecting a slightly targeted version of a “how to start a business” book, but this exceeded my expectations. The author provides plenty of background into the unique issues with starting a business that deals with government regulations. He begins by providing a kind of roadmap to identifying audience and influencers, and he refers to this initial research throughout the rest of the book. The business examples he includes range from those selling directly to government to those selling to other businesses in a highly regulated industry, including international examples. I found the focus on the role of influence in many aspects of selling in a regulated environment or to government to be valuable. By the way, the advice offered in this book is not just for startups – it looks especially useful for existing companies selling a product into a new, “regulated” market, as the example of Kidde carbon monoxide detectors in the book shows. Well done.

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Review: Sidehustle: How to Start a Business for Less Than $1,000

Sidehustle: How to Start a Business for Less Than $1,000 by Tyler Basu
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

A strange book. This is really a compilation of three books by different authors. The books are all about entrepreneurship. These books approach “how to start a business” differently, so you do get some variety when you read this. One book is all about examples of businesses people have started, while the other books are more about the process , one kind of a how to book (with lots of detail that may not be pertinent -- mostly about internet based business using web-based presentations, content marketing, SEO, and the like) and one a business parable covering starting a business. If you have read any books about starting a business, this will all feel familiar. They are each reasonably good places to start. I’d consider each book to be similar to many others out there. Combining these books was somewhat questionable in value to the reader. I am not sure the reader needs to read these together, and I assume this was done to make money by repackaging existing books, giving them a new life. I was very surprised that there was little to no content related specifically to the title of this collection, “Side Hustle”. I don't know if it was even mentioned. Obviously this was named to take advantage of current interest in side hustles, driven by Chris Guillebeau and others. Yet the content is all about starting businesses, with nothing about starting businesses while working on a full time job. You’d expect discussion of integrating an existing job with the side hustle, and coming up with interesting ideas to make money, but this collection doesn’t really cover it. Bait and switch. Under a different and truthful name, this would be worthy of more stars. Entrepreneurs should understand the value of setting and meeting expectations.

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Review: How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up

How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up by Emilie Wapnick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The writer uses a low key style to talk about people that don’t focus long term on one career. I liked the way the author wrote, and I liked her organization around the different ways people approach variety – all at once, major and minor focuses, sequential, etc. Beyond that organization, and the repeated acknowledgement that there are many people that fall into these categories, I didn’t get much out of the book. I can see that some readers craving that acknowledgement that “they are not alone” will benefit with a read of this kind of book. It is relatively short for a career book.

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Review: Norwood

Norwood by Charles Portis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Norwood is the kind of fellow I knew growing up. You’d run across them at a minor league baseball game, or working at a carnival, or you’d see them walking 10 miles home because the car broke down and that’s what you do. They have stories, and they have --- not so much opinions as thoughts that they like to share. This story became a bit too annoying by introducing one eccentric character after another, ending with a midget, a chicken, and an army buddy that gladly pays Norwood back. All unlikely characters. I found this fun, but requiring of much effort to suspend disbelief.

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Review: Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas

Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas by John Pollack
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ah, analogies. This is like a survey class on analogies. The author describes the various uses of analogies and provides some interesting anecdotes about how analogies have been used and misused in a variety of situations. This was not a how-to book. The author doesn’t suggest how to use analogies, or answer usage questions (I always wonder using analogies in sales how to, or even whether to, discuss where the analogy I’m presenting breaks down – it’s not covered here). I was disheartened to learn that analogies are no longer tested for in college prep tests, and agree with the author’s worry that not focusing on understanding the power of analogy can make for weaker thinkers. The anecdotes here were well written and entertaining, and made this a nice book to listen to.

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Review: Packing My Library: An Elegy and Ten Digressions

Packing My Library: An Elegy and Ten Digressions by Alberto Manguel
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The author riffs about books, given an impending move requiring his large library to be packed. His ruminations cover the physical book, and also book’s meanings. He also delves into history and libraries and organizing. It’s like one of those late nights shooting the breeze in college with buddies, but with an intellectual with one thing on his mind….books. I found the audiobook pleasant as background, but it didn’t draw me in deeply. It had its moments.

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Review: The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener by John le Carré
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting in how this both, to use baseball terminology, hits home runs and strikes out. First, I must fall on my sword and admit that I listened to an abridged audio version of this book. I tend not to do that, as I find that often the abridgement hurts. It hurts the story, it hurts the flow. This was one of the problems here – the story was confused. At times, you couldn’t tell you had moved into what in a visually read book was a new chapter. Instead, you were often jarred into realizing you were reading about another characters perceptions, thinking you were continuing along with the previous character. This abridgement, unfortunately, has these problems. Sometimes, to the benefit of a book, an abridgement cuts out some storylines that aren’t necessary for the main story, and cuts out characters. Here, it seems like some plotlines were excised, and perhaps some introductory descriptions of new characters, but there were a large number of characters to keep track of here. The choices for this abridgement seemed a bit weak. This is surprising because the author seems to have been involved – he’s the narrator. As a narrator, le Carre was great. His pacing is methodical, his character voices are distinct, interesting, and funny when they were supposed to be. As for the story itself, I found myself intrigued by the way le Carre has moved beyond traditional spy stories while keeping his hand in. While a great example of an author/narrator’s art, the abridgement difficulties hurt this too much to whole-heartedly recommend.

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