18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fluff and inspiration is pretty much all we get in this book. Not something that I can recommend to my SCORE clients. Oh well..., April 8, 2009
This review is from: The Big Idea: How to Make Your Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True, From the Aha Moment to Your First Million (Hardcover)
Simply fluff. That's what I have to say about this book. Sure, there is an outline. And it is reasonably well written. But it doesn't have a whole lot of sound advice in it as far as I am concerned. The author has his own popular TV show and this book comes across simply as a marketing tool for the TV show. It has 21 chapters and 3 appendices as follows:
1. Calling all dreamers
2. No experience necessary
3. Why make someone else rich?
4. Make love, not work
5. There's gotta be a better way
6. Why didn't I think of that?
7. Break out of the box
8. Change the world with a simple idea
9. Why not me?
10. The gut check moment
11. They told me I'd never make it
12. Saved by a big idea
13. Who said it was too late?
14. From zero to millions
15. Fueled by mom power
16. All in the family
17. People to people
18. Dollars & sense
19. Perfect pitch
20. Make trade show magic
21. The hungry millionaire
A. The big idea blueprint
B. The big idea toolbox
C. The big idea community
The author said he was not much of a student in high school. What a bunch of bunk - he got in and graduated from an Ivy League school. He says he's an authority on "The Big Idea." To me that means he is a startup specialist. But his background involved taking over the family business which was already established before he got hold of it. But the biggest problem I had with this book was Appendix A which claims to include a 12-step roadmap to launching one's business. It reads as follows:
Step 1. Write your mission statement
Step 2. Describe your product or service idea
Step 3. Conduct market research
Step 4. Create your business plan
Step 5. Build your network
Step 6. Formalize your idea
Step 7. Create a prototype
Step 8. Hold focus groups
Step 9. Find a manufacturer & distributor
Step 10. Launch your Web site
Step 11. Pubicize your idea
Step 12. Pitch potential suppliers/customers
Seems like this roadmap is for an inventor who wants to create a profitable widget. I would have liked the book more if it catered to ANY small business startup. That includes services businesses, consulting businesses, retail businesses, etc. But the roadmap as presented is flawed. I think normally you start with your idea, then you do some research which may include some focus groups, then you create a prototype, then you do your business plan that includes: (1) a mission statement, (2) your formalized idea, (3) list of people to network with, (4) operations issues, (5) marketing issues. After one has the business plan, then they launch the business according to the dictates of the plan. It is the plan that is the roadmap. The plan is not just a step in a roadmap.
This book goes heavy on fluff and inspiration and light on nuts and bolts necessary to actually launch a startup. As a result I cannot give it a particularly good star rating. 3 stars!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suprisingly Exceptional, January 10, 2009
This review is from: The Big Idea: How to Make Your Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True, From the Aha Moment to Your First Million (Hardcover)
Because I enjoy occasionally watching Donny Deutsch's TV show by the same name, I thought I would try the book. I expected that I likely would get a ghost written pabulum of basic business information. I was very pleasantly surprised that I got so, so much more.
Like with his TV show, Deutsch crisply communicates a wonderful blend of possibility thinking and entrepreneurial support. There are people who do each of the two subjects better, but no one who combines the two as effectively as does the author. Think Dr. Robert Schuller (Possibility Thinking) meets Michael Gerber (E Myth).
The book has many power points, but for me the strongest takeaway was Deutsch's mantra that many of the best ideas come from a simple notion that we all have "there must be a better way." Before reading this book, my frame of reference for innovation was more oriented to scientific discoveries (because my consulting work intersects with the venture capital field). The author is very convincing that there are abundant opportunities that arise without deep research. Instead they come from that aha moment when we have identified a better way, and then back-up that moment by taking the resulting product or service to market.
The book also does an excellent job of laying out the hurdles in transforming an innovation into entrepreneurial success. And, it does so with that same hi-speed, interesting communication that is a hallmark of the author's TV show.
I enjoyed the book so much that I also bought the audio reading by Deutsch. It is one of the five best audios I have ever heard (and I have listened to 100's). The combination of the books excellent content and Deutsch's captivating reading style makes for an audio that kept my interest throughout the four CD's.
Given the quality of Deutsch's TV show, I should have expected that his book would be as special. Shame on me for thinking otherwise. Kudos to the author for demonstrating multi-media excellence.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional And Timely Book From The Biggest Proponent Of Entrepreneurs In America Today, January 12, 2009
This review is from: The Big Idea: How to Make Your Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True, From the Aha Moment to Your First Million (Hardcover)
Love him or hate him, Donny Deutsch is the mouthpiece of and for entrepreneurs everywhere. On his show, The Big Idea on CNBC he showed again and again how anyone can make good no matter where they start or where they are at. He takes that one step further with the book and puts his ideas and his guests ideas into a workable blueprint.
This book is very good.
It is full of hard hitting, implementable insights about how to make things happen. Donny is nothing if not someone who knows how to make things happen and he shows you again and again not just how he did it but how others are doing it too.
One of the things I really enjoy about this book is that it champions the little guy or woman. It shows how anyone can make it. The book inspires you to try harder and think about success in ways you probably haven't.
There were several sections that I thought were exceptional. The section about writing your second story. It really highlights how NOW is the time to do something, not yesterday and not tomorrow, but right now. The section about making your mark and promoting yourself was invaluable too and Donny knows a thing or two about promoting himself (and he's got the goods to back it up).
If you are starting a business or if you've found yourself wondering about your next step read this book, it will give you dozens of ideas you can implement now.
A must read for every Entrepreneur, small business owner or person wondering about starting a business.
Dave Lakhani
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