Miha Rekar
Too long. Hindsight is 20/20. Still, an interesting read. 20 mile march might be the most valuable thesis.
The book starts off promisingly but soon veers into subjective territory. As a biography, one would expect a balanced and objective perspective, yet this book disappoints in that regard. It covers Musk's life and achievements for three-quarters of its length, but the final quarter feels like a day-to-day Twitter chronicle. This section, while perhaps relevant at the time of publication, seems unlikely to hold long-term interest.
As the narrative progresses, Isaacson appears increasingly enamored with his subject, bordering on fanboy territory. This bias tints many of the stories within, undermining the book's credibility. A glaring example of this is the fabricated tale of a Ukrainian submarine and Starlink, making it clear no one fact checked anything.
The lack of editorial rigor is evident not just in these inaccuracies but also in the book's unwieldy length. It seems as if there was a rush to publish, leading to a compromise in quality. This is particularly disappointing considering my already tempered expectations from Isaacson, following his horrible biography of Steve Jobs.
The book does offer some intriguing insights and is worth a read or skim. However, I advise taking its contents with a big spoon of salt.
books #enron #energy #capitalism
Very long and detailed read about one of the greatest business collapse stories at the end of the 20th century. It shows exactly what can happen when the only thing that matters is stock price and you have incredibly smart people who are willing and capable to do anything to play the market. Sad, but real.
Also interesting contrast with the Rockafeller's biography that I recently read. The incentives were there and they played hard against the competition, but at least they had the decency to be honest and play by the market rules which were transparent.
Finally read this cult book. I completely understand why people love it. But it was not for me. All this made up units that make absolutely no sense drove me up the wall even though I understand the entire point was that they make no sense. Oh well.
It's a classic, I know. But I didn't find it very enjoyable. The fact that every chapter starts with “Sun Tzu says” surely didn't help. Like we get it, the guy wrote the manual, stop with the repetition already.
It's a short book, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of warfare, and providing wisdom on strategy, tactics, and leadership. The main point is that using deception is what achieves victory.
Outside of select few fields, I think we've grown past this as humanity. I hope, at least. We should be aiming for collaboration, not war.
This book is exactly what's wrong with the world / business today. A ton of pop-science, hacking your way to success, total focus on sales, instead of delivery,... It's the exact opposite of my world view defined by Dieter Rams: “less, but better”.
That said, I still recommend you read this. Not as a recipe book but as an antidote to people who come to you with this frame of mind.