Mastering the Art of Business

I was hesitant to buy this one thinking it would be a buzz book with poor content. I had no clue who Gary Vaynerchuk was; for all I knew he could be just a guy that pretends to be successful like I’ve seen so many times on the web (no offense). But after reading the first two pages I decided to give it a try. I liked this guy Gary’s writing style. Quite frankly, this book was enlightening – a must read for anyone that wants to push further, much further, in life, and have a blast throughout.

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion

The book provides insight as to how you can make money from your life’s passion by building a strong brand identity and working like a dog. As pointed out frequently in the book, it doesn’t matter if you’re working like crazy because it’s your passion in the first place. You love it and breathe it, so why not make it your everyday job.

I again bought this book in a little bookstore at an airport – this time the Seattle Tacoma airport. The store had very few entrepreneurship or business books and I just couldn’t find anything that seemed interesting. Just while I was leaving, utterly disappointed, I see a little book at the bottom of the shelf with a green and black cover page. In big bold green letters it says “CRUSH IT!”. I wasn’t sure what it was referring to, but it was interesting enough for me to kneel down, pick it up, look at the back and read the first two pages. I was convinced to give it a try.

Value
The first sentence that really caught my attentions is the following:

“Yes, we’ve seen a lot of people close up shop in the past years, but if they had offered a relevant and differentiated product or service, had been adaptable, and most of all had known how to tell their story, they wouldn’t have had to close.”

I think the reason why it did get my attention is because I can relate to it. I have no problem admitting that I was in the past, and more than once, one of those entrepreneurs that provided not so relevant products. Although our product was actually quite amazing, referring to one company in particular, there was just no real market for it. We then expanded our product portfolio with yet another amazing-to-be product, but again not so relevant, at the time, for the targeted market. One of the problems is that we were a bunch of innovators in love with the technology but not sufficiently focused on business; concrete business, the stuff that gets you clients and revenue. Even now I tend to drift back in that habit. Recently I’ve been doing research on operations management for the software industry. I’ve gained tremendous insight, but I’ve been focusing perhaps too much on strategy and concepts rather than on concrete actionable measures that provide good ROI.

Hard work
Then there was this part that really had me laugh. In fact, I had to IM this same excerpt to my wife the moment I typed it out in my reading notes (Which reminds me, I have to get myself an e-reader like the Kindle).

“If you already have a full-time job, you can get a lot done between 7:00 P.M. and 2:00 A.M. (9:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M. if you’ve got kids)…”

I don’t know how many times I’ve done work during those hours. That’s when I’m most productive. Actually I’m on the plane now and it’s 2:00 AM. My eyes are red and burning but I can’t stop writing, I’m on a role.

The real you
The author repeatedly talks about “your DNA” and authenticity; being yourself. And I agree that it is critical to find what you were born to do and be authentic about who you are. I’ve personally been struggling with that one – not authenticity but finding what I was born to do. I love so many things and do pretty well in many as well. But when I think about it, what I really like and what I’m really good at is learning.

“You Brand”
A big emphasis of the book is on building your personal brand. Your brand has to be authentic to who you are and about your passion. At one point the author relates anecdotes from his past experience:

“…experience in the store told me that people were dying for someone to take the mystery out of wine buying and make it fun.”

What’s interesting is that I was just yesterday at a wine tasting soiree at a colleague’s home who I respect and admire greatly. She’s smart, full of energy, and attentive to details. She also has a passion for wine. This was my second wine tasting event. The first one I had been to seemed typical for a newbie like myself; taste a wine, try to describe it and determine what kind it is. This was boring and unappealing to me, not to mention an unsuccessful attempt at sophistication. On the other hand, yesterday’s wine tasting was completely the opposing pole. You could see the different wines lined up along with a detailed description of its body, flavors, and finish. The game consisted in matching your glass to the bottle. I had 5 glasses; three reds and two whites. I was sure to get them all wrong. After all, I barely know anything about wine. So I went along and tasted each glass one after the other. Then I took one glass, and went up to the bottle lineup and read the descriptions. My first try was with a red and I just couldn’t figure it out. So I switched for one of my glass of white wine. It should be easier, there are only 2 whites. So I take a white and start drinking it while reading the descriptions. While I taste the wine I notice a funky flavor after each sip that I just can’t quite figure out. Sure enough, the Sauvignon Blanc was described to have a “wet stone” finish. Wow, that’s exactly it. That’s what the funky taste is.
To make a long story short, although I had no knowledge of wine per say, I ended up correctly identifying all 5 wines and quite quickly. On top of that, I had a tone of fun and because of this nice little soiree, I have truly discovered the pleasures of wine tasting. That’s exactly to the author’s point – take out pretention and make it fun and authentic.

Direction
“If you don’t plan ahead and decide where you want to go, you’re in big trouble.”

I can’t agree more. How can you be successful if you don’t know where you’re going. You might have a few successes here and there, but how can you be fully driven and passionate about meeting your objectives if you don’t know what those are. That’s actually a topic I’ve been discussing quite often with my wife for the past 2 years. I’ve been struggling at truly identifying where I want to be. The problem is that I love a lot of things and above all I like learning new things. This book has actually helped me tremendously.

Conclusion
As I was reading, my mind was all over the place, but at the same time it was all getting clearer. I was thinking of past, present, future, bringing all my thoughts together in what seemed to be a clear direction. This is truly a good book to read.

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion