Copy This! - Book Review

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

It is hard for me to trust advice from people who make a living dispensing advice. The business book world seems to be full of these types of gurus. In fact I gave up "Getting Things Done" half way through to switch to this book. To me, it is more interesting to learn from actual success stories.

Of course, advice books written by ex-executives of successful companies are prone to egotistical rambling but at least it lets you see inside the head of someone who actually did it.

"Copy This!", by Kinko's founder Paul Orfalea is 60% brilliant and 40% B.S. I'll you decide for yourself which parts are which. Never-the-less, the whole thing is good food for thought and a great conversation starter. In my humble opinion, the value of a good book depends more on the conversations that it starts than the amount of it that you agree with. With that in mind, I recommend the book.

Interesting discussions around building and managing teams, managing cash flow, fostering a company culture, etc...

I've been listening to the audiobook version on my iPod during my walks around Issaquah. The audiobook includes an interview at the end, be sure to catch it if you buy that version. To buy it from iTunes, click the button: