Missing from this article: you have something worthwhile to say. Honestly, I don't think I have anything to justify a book length treatment at this time. Okay, I'm not an entrepreneur, just an engineer at a startup, but I don't see the founders having all that much time to be sitting around writing books either.
As a contrary opinion, I nearly didn't read this exactly because it's by Altucher. I almost always get to the end of something he's written and think - well, there's 5 minutes of my life I'll never see again, and which gave me absolutely nothing.
This, however, actually has useful, actionable information. It's the first thing I've (knowingly) read by him that was worth the time it took.
there's 5 minutes of my life I'll never see again, and which gave me absolutely nothing.
This reminds me of the following story: Euclid of Alexandria, when asked by one of his students of what use was the study of geometry, asked his slave to give the student a threepence, "since he must always make gain of what he learns".
Except that I've tried, really tried, to find something of value in his writings, and while it's well-written and possibly entertaining in a schadenfreude or car-crash way, it adds nothing of worth to my life.
Maybe it's me, but after years of clicking on the links, reading carefully, trying to find anything vaguely relevant to me, and then rueing the wasted time, I'm giving up.
Please, if you think I'm wrong, point me at stuff you think is worth reading, not just as a way of spending time, but as a way of profiting from that time. At least the study of geometry gives problem-solving and analytical skills in return for the time spent.
Please, if you think I'm wrong, point me at stuff you think is worth reading, not just as a way of spending time, but as a way of profiting from that time.
Well, from James stuff what I got was a glimpse of how (at least some) business deals (investing, selling your company) are done in the raw, what the other side might bluff about and in what ways, etc. Things you don't easily find elsewhere as candidly.
As for the stories about his childhood, affairs etc, those are not "to profit from" in the way you want, but are fun in a more "literary(-ish)" way.
At least the study of geometry gives problem-solving and analytical skills in return for the time spent.
Sure, but note that the point of Euclid (in the story above) was that it is beneath someone to want to always profit from what he studies.
He wanted one to study math for the "fun of knowledge" itself, so to speak, not as a means to gain problem-solving and analytical skills.
Thanks for your response - I appreciate the insight.
... a glimpse of how (at least some) business deals ... are done in the raw, what the other side might bluff about and in what ways, etc. Things you don't easily find elsewhere as candidly.
I've read several of those and never learned anything. I've never played in the stakes he talks about, but I've had sufficiently similar experiences, so I guess I'm just the wrong audience.
As for the stories about his childhood, affairs etc, those are not "to profit from" in the way you want, but are fun in a more "literary(-ish)" way.
Each to his own - I find them less than entertaining, amusing, engaging, or interesting.
... the point of Euclid (in the story above) was that it is beneath someone to want to always profit from what he studies.
I disagree. I believe the point is that the profit is not always in the immediate use of the learning, nor in the direct application, and if you can't see that then you might as well go do something you're better suited to. Studying geometry has the potential to make you better, to give you skills. I did a Ph.D. in Pure Math, and I certainly didn't do it for the direct profit. I did it to make me better, and because it was interesting. I learned, I grew, I gained skills. There was value.
I find James' stories uninteresting, and I don't feel that they're making me better in any way at all. I don't demand that what I read is instantly actionable, or immediately applicable, but I like to feel that I'm learning something, and that somehow it's making me better.
And I don't. As they say - "À chacun son goût" - each to his own taste. I'm pleased you get something out of them - I just wanted to point out that there are people who feel differently. He is not "my taste."
Related to this, what are good book authoring tools? Or at least the ones you use for writing stuff that can be exported to pdf, html or printed out. I'm talking things in the line of Tex, Docbook, etc.
