The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny & Terror by Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky, the famous Soviet dissident and Jewish refusnik, writes eloquently about what it means to live in a fear society and how every man has a right to live in a free society. rather than the distinctions of democracies, capitalist societies, etc., the book dwells more on enabling people to be more free.

Summation: this is a must-read book for anyone trying to understand the world today. Sharansky gives much of his own history from Soviet times and makes parallels to today’s world. this is available on audiobook which is a good medium for this book.

Trading Up: The New American Luxury – by Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske

i read this book with fascination as it is very important for the Silicon Valley 100 (an influence marketing company).

this is a well-written book filled with examples of how consumers “trade up” — essentially opt for luxury items for things they feel passionate about. that might be a $4 coffee from Starbucks, a $40 bra from Victoria Secret, a $4000 set of clubs from Callaway, or a $40,000 car from BMW.

Summation: if you are in marketing or product development, this is a book worth reading (and is a really fast read).

The World Is Flat : A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Friedman

This is a must read if you don’t live in Silicon Valley — you’ll learn a lot (if you never heard of a wiki or RSS then this is a good book for you).

A good reminder if you do read in Silicon Valley.

Friedman continues to be the master of anecdotes … and this long book is full of great stories.

This book was given to me by Scott Bonds and is a quick read. The premise and content of the book is a good reminder on building relationships. And while I agree with most of the content of the book, there are a few small points that I would differ with:

What’s your mission:
Ferrazzistates that you need to know where you are headed and should plan your life accordingly. Set goals, achieve goals. This is the model for most ambitious people. But it is not the model for ALL ambitious people.
A: As Ferrazzistates, the majority of ambitious people set goals and work backwards from that goal. In college, Bill Clinton wanted to be President by age 50. so he worked backwards from that goal. These are generally people I call “ladder climbers.”
B: but some ambitious people don’t set career goals. They just be. They embrace choas. And yet they are still somehow successful. That’s generally the model of the ambitious people in Silicon Valley.

Do Your Homework:
Ferrazzistates: “Whom you meet, how you meet them … should not be left to chance.” this again goes more with the ladder climber mentality. But by embracing choas, you can just take advantage of who you meet. Rather than setting a goal (like “I want to meet Richard Branson”), you can just say “I want to meet interesting people”

In general, it is good to meet people that you can help. You probably can’t help Richard Branson much — the meeting with him would be a one way street pointed at you. Instead, you might rather meet a newly graduated MBA student who you might be able to offer some advice and connections for.

I find interactions much more sucessful when I start them by helping others.

And you don’t need to play golf.

David Teten and Scott Allen just published a very interesting book called The Virtual Handshake. They were kind enough to send me an advanced copy and I went through it all in one day.

This is a very good primer for someone learning to use the Internet to build relationships. In fact, people like my mother should read it — it will allow her to network better online with people that might publish her new children’s book.

I encourage you to check out their book and their blog at www.TheVirtualHandshake.com