Book Review: Getting it Right the First Time

In one of my ventures we have debated the concept of rolling out a new company aggressively or conservatively, and a thousand other strategic points as one can imagine.  A partner of mine appreciated this book and asked that I read it.

The book focuses on how to bring a company to market in today’s highly competitive market.  The authors had access to hundreds of startups and based their conclusions on these interactions.  The book is extremely fast to read, and buzzing past the regular market rhetoric that is found in such books there are a few gems to be had in this text.  I particularly enjoyed the business value discussions and the thoughts on narrowing down your focus.  A random Do and Don’t section when dealing with analysts is provided too.

Bottom Line:  There are many other books that one should have in their library before this book, but on a quick flight to NYC for a 2.5 hour flight this one book will be a worthwhile read.

Best,
James

Book Review: The Intelligent Investor

CLASSIC!  I have enjoyed numerous analytical books that examined the ups and downs of the market – including a random walk and then a NON-random walk down Wall Street.  Mr. Graham’s book is the defacto standard when it comes to investing – specifically value investing.

The edition I read was his final volume with commentary added by Jason Zweig.  The commentary added about 30% more content, but was very valuable.  The examples from Graham’s last edition focus on the early 70s, and while they are eerily similar in problems to our current situation the updated commentary provides an added bit of perspective.

Bottom line:  READ THIS BOOK.  It is a long read and will take a good deal of time – not only is it 548 pages long, but you will want to look up details about the companies and ideas that he presents.  Yes – I will be rereading this book in the distant future.

Best,

James