book review | wealthymatters

Hard Drive: Bill Gates And The Making Of The Microsoft Empire

August 23, 2013 Leave a comment

wealthymatters This is a biography of Bill Gates by James Wallace and Jim Erickson.It focuses on the early years of Bill Gates and Microsoft.

I have just now finished the book and recommend it if you are interested in his early formative years in Lakeside,his early moneymaking attempts,his forming a software company with Paul Allen during his Harvard days,his early tendency to just get a product out of the door etc, you might find the book useful.

The book also highlights Bill’s weaknesses such as his squeaky voice,dandruff,poor personal hygiene,poor people skills,a compulsive need to win no matter the cost and no matter the trivialness of the contest.etc

The book will also allow you to glimpse the drive and determination that made Microsoft what it is today and propelled Gates to the top of the Forbes List.With Bill business always came first and you will get to see the hard ball Bill played to make Microsoft numero-uno in software,

But be warned,the book is dated and stops with Windows 3.0.So read it for the focus on the eairly years.

Filed under Entrepreneurship Tagged with Bill Gates, Biography, book review, Hard Drive: Bill Gates And The Making Of The Microsoft Empire, James Wallace, Jim Erickson, Microsoft, Windows

Gone Fishing With Buffett

July 5, 2013 2 Comments

Warren Buffet follows his own investment method and has stuck to it through thick and thin to made a lot of money. The key principles of this investment method, as described by Sean Seah in his book Gone Fishing with Buffett are as follows:

1. Investment Rule Number 1: Never Lose Money
Investment Rule Number 2: Never Forget Rule Number 1.

2. Risk comes from ignorance.

3. Buy businesses with good and exceptional economics and buy them at a sensible price. Repeat until wealthy.

4. The stock market is the only place where people who drive BMWs take advice from people who take the train.

5. If you need complicated maths for investing, Buffett would probably be distributing newspapers today. Read more of this post

Filed under Paper Assets Tagged with book on investing, book review, Book Value, competitive adavntage, debt/equity ratio, EPS, free cash flow, Gone Fishing With Buffett, investing in IPOs, operating cash flow, postaday, reputation and integrity, Risk, Sean Seah, share investing, STEP Analysis, stock investing, value investing, Warren Buffett's investing method, when to sell stocks

JP Morgan Summer 2013 Reading List

June 28, 2013 Leave a comment

Since the post on last year’s list is still popular ,I thought I’d do one on this year’s list too.

Following are the titles that made it to this year’s list:

Creating Room To Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy is by John Wood called the Andrew Carnegie of the developing world.John Wood left Microsoft determined to put books—and learning—within the reach of every child. In this book, Wood shares his business model for making a difference. From launching the Room to Read nonprofit to navigating the process of translating books into dozens of languages, the challenges of running one of the world’s top NGOs are deftly tackled by the man who has helped millions discover the joy of reading. Read more of this post

Filed under Tidbits Tagged with Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live Work and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger and Kenneth Cukier, book list, book review, Clive Davis, Creating Room To Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy by John Wood, Edward Hopper, Hopper Drawing Carter Foster, JP Morgan Summer 2013 Reading List, Kiss Your But Goodbye: How to Get Beyond the One Word That Stands Between You and Success by Joe Azelby and Bob Azelby, Lean In: Women Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, My Beloved World: Sonia Sotomayor, postaday, reading list, Room to Read, Share: The Cookbook That Celebrates Our Common Humanity, Sheryl Sandberg, Sonia Sotomayor, The $10 Trillion Dollar Prize: Captivating the Newly Affluent in China and India by Michael J. Siverstein Abheek Singhi Carol Liao David Michael, The Soundtrack Of My Life: Clive Davis, U.S. Justice Sotomayor, Women for Women International

Chetan Bhagat – One Night @ The Call Centre

May 7, 2013 3 Comments

wealthymatters Last week I joined a new library and this was the first book I checked out. Chetan Bhagat is the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history and he was featured in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.Fast Company USA numbers him among the 100 most creative people in business. Chetan is today a very successful motivational speaker.After a mechanical Engineering degree from IIT Delhi and an IIM (A) MBA,Chetan worked in Hong Kong as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.He quit investment banking to start writing to make change happen India.His is believed to be the voice of India’s rising entrepreneurial class.After reading the book I can see why Chetan is India’s paperback king.Do read the book if you get a chance.Till then,here are my takeaways from the book:

“So, to impress you I have to break the same laws of physics I made?”-God

The most important call in the world – The inner call,the little voice inside that wants to talk to you.But you can only hear it when you are at peace. The voice tells you what you really want.It is easy to ignore-because you are distracted or busy or just too comfortable in life.You can ignore it until life brings you to a dead end and there is nothing ahead but a dark hole.Sometimes the voice isn’t subtle,it shouts and bites you. Read more of this post

Filed under Entrepreneurship, Tool Kit Tagged with book review, Chetan Bhagat, Deutsche Bank, Fast Company USA, Goldman Sachs, IIM(A) MBA, IIT Delhi, investment banker, investment banking, motivational speaker, One Night @ The Call Centre, postaday, Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world

Strategic Giving

April 4, 2013 1 Comment

Adam Grant, 31, is the youngest-tenured and highest rated professor at Wharton.He is the author of a new book titled “Give and Take – A Revolutionary Approach to Success” which will be released on April 9.

Grant’s research divides people into three categories:

Givers: Give without expectation of immediate gain; they never seem too busy to help.
Matchers: Go through life with a master chit list in mind, giving when they see how they will get something of equal value back and to people who can help them.
Takers: Seek to come out ahead in every exchange; they manage up and are defensive about their turn

Most people fall into the matcher category — but givers, Grant says, are over represented at both ends of the spectrum of success: they are the doormats who go nowhere or burn out, and they are the stars whose giving motivates them or distinguishes them as leaders.

Much of Grant’s book sets out to establish the difference between the givers who are exploited and those who end up as models of achievement. The most successful givers, Grant explains, are those who rate high in concern for others but also in self-interest. And they are strategic in their giving — they give to other givers and matchers, so that their work has the maximum desired effect; they are cautious about giving to takers; they give in ways that reinforce their social ties; and they consolidate their giving into chunks, so that the impact is intense enough to be gratifying.