A while ago I heard someone say that everyone should read at least 100 books in their lifetime. I’ve set myself the goal of reaching that milestone before I turn 40.
As you can probably guess, there are two great businessmen I mention quite often: Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs. Not a week goes by without me reading something interesting taken from Steve Jobs, the only authorised biography, written by Walter Isaacson. I still hadn’t had the pleasure of reading it, although its more than 700 pages are a little intimidating.
Sticking with the same theme, next comes Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success, by Ken Segall, who was creative director at an advertising agency that played an important part in Apple’s launches. Some say it is an excellent companion to the official Jobs biography, because it comes from someone who lived through Apple’s growth first-hand.
Ken Segall says that those of us who are not geniuses can still draw some ideas from the many secrets and ways of thinking of Steve Jobs that played a major role in turning Apple into the most valuable company on the planet.
Some may think otherwise, but although Jobs was a fanatical perfectionist who had hardly any furniture in his house because he couldn’t find furniture he liked, Apple’s CEO loved simplicity. In fact, he used to say that the simplest things were sometimes the hardest to achieve.
And finally, a book that was recommended to me, and that I was asked to suggest above all to those who are thinking about business ideas: What Would Google Do? Written by Jeff Jarvis, it seems to idolise Google.
He starts from one premise: whatever you do, if that business is highly profitable, Google will end up doing it better than you, and for free as well.
So the book tries to think up business ideas the way Google itself would. At first glance it sounds very interesting, and it is recommended above all for entrepreneurs who are thinking of starting a technology-based business (a startup).
Featured image: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
.jpg){kind=link}