Book Review of “Chasing Daylight” by Gene O’Kelly

May 9th, 2007 4 Comments

Imagine: You’re a 53-year-old CEO of a well-respected international consultancy that spans the industrialized world. As a matter of profession, you socialize with and advise chieftains of multi-billion-dollar firms, and your life is scheduled out eighteen months in advance, optimized to the nth degree from dawn to midnight, juggling the obligations of a family and the demands of a job where your thoughts and insights are constantly sought by colleagues, subordinates, clients and compatriots. Retirement to a golf resort is still over a decade away - until then, every moment brings new challenges, new opportunities and you are primed to handle them with the same energy and focused attention that got you where you are.

Life is good.

Now imagine: a doctor’s visit. You’ve been in excellent health your whole life and expect your recent headaches to be a minor annoyance to be chased away by time or the right handful of pills.

“I have bad news. You have inoperable brain cancer. You have three to six months. I’m sorry.”

Like a rain of lit kerosene on a well-manicured garden, Gene O’Kelly’s meticulously-planned, ordered life was torched in an instant, and he now has to compress the balance of his life into 100 days.

What would you do?

Book Review: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout

May 2nd, 2007 12 Comments Noah

Welcome to Noah Kagan’s Okdork! I am really glad you found me. Don’t go just yet. If you’re killing time at work, enjoy marketing, online communities and other business things; then you are at the right place.

You should check out my Okdork Virgin Guide to get started.

If you like what you read why don’t [...]

Book Review: Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes

April 25th, 2007 18 Comments Noah

Bottom Line: Luke warm. There are a few case studies and a few principles of creating Buzz but not the magic secret. I think that happens through 1/2 hard-work, 1/2 luck & 1/2 randomness. Yea, 150%. Skimming this book in a library/book-store may do you good. All the key take-aways are below…

I got BuzzMarketing by [...]

Book Review: The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

April 11th, 2007 13 Comments Noah

If there’s a legitimate reason why this book isn’t required reading in business schools, I’d really love to hear it. My undergrad work was in Sport and Leisure studies, so learning about business was something I did on my own through trial and error and book reading. I was never into reading until [...]

Book Review: Call to Action by Bryan Eisenberg

March 14th, 2007 9 Comments Noah

There was a point after working at Facebook that I figured I am the web business god. I could create any web business and all my judgments were spot on. Damn, I was so wrong. I lacked a key thing that I am sure so many people over look. Measuring and testing! I recently started [...]

Book Review: Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich

December 27th, 2006 6 Comments Noah

Quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors, Ben Mezrich writes another tale about Ivy league students doing amazing things. This is a tale about a Princeton student taking an uncertain Japanese job over a traditional NYC banking gig. It chronicles his experience with one of the biggest trades ever, Geisha houses and dealing with [...]