Customer Reviews

The Dream: How I Learned the Risks and Rewards of Entrepreneurship and Made Millions

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really like this book. I can relate to the struggles to become independent from my parents, and the difficulty in accepting who I am and how different I am from a lot of people. I like some of the lessons, especially on the importance of knowing your DNA, and working on your strengths. I do computer programming so reading about his story was also really nice for me to see some of the ways a businessman/salesman thinks. This was an easy and good read as well.

I liked this book. It is another of those business books written by an entrepreneur who made a lot of money by creating a company or two and then wrote a book explaining how he did it and what he learned a long the way. There were 7 chapters.

The author's story was interesting. At least I found it to be. But I would have liked the book better if the author had expanded on his Chapter 7 that covered "The Lessons of Entrepreneurship." I group those lessons below in five different categories as follows:

I. LEADERSHIP SKILLS
>>Do your homework
>>Never compromise your morality
>>Watch your back
>>Own your mistakes
>>Don't expect perfection, but strive for it
>>Be fearless
>>Pick your battles
II. PEOPLE SKILLS
>>Perception is reality
>>Learn to listen
>>Adjust your attitude
>>Grow a thick skin
>>Forget noble motivations
>>Be nice to people on the way up
III. TIME MANAGEMENT
>>Don't procrastinate
>>Don't do anything by half measures
>>Expect the unexpected
IV. BUSINESS SKILLS
>>Never lose sight of the competition
>>Trust your gut
>>Listen to your heart
>>Don't get emotional
>>Be frugal
V. OPERATIONS
>>Always negotiate from a position of strength
>>Hire the smartest people you can find
>>When it comes to staffing your company, don't be frugal
>>Figure out what you are good at

If you are young and a want-be entrepreneur, then I recommend you consider giving this book a read. The author was young when he started his entrepreneurial journey. And the numerous lessons he cites in the book and I cite above are definitely important lessons one should learn preferably before, but maybe during, their journey to starting a company.

You may not make as much money starting and selling your first company as the author did. But the lessons he talks about are universal. 4 stars!

What a great story! It's wonderful to read about someone living the American dream. From immigrating from India as a child to dropping out of high school to becoming a self-made millionaire while still a teenager, Gurbaksh's story is inspiring and motivational, as well as an excellent read.

This book moved right along, in fact, many of the subjects could have benefited from deeper explication. For instance, Mr. G mentions when he decided to give his employees stock options, he only gave them to some of his employees.

One is left with the question Why? because the author had just stated his principle to hire only the best and brightest. Why then were some left out? Could he describe his decision-making process on inclusion and exclusion? This would have been good information to include not only for employees but also for employers, and also to provide clues as to how he reasoned and made decisions.

Also, I couldn't help drawing parallels with this book and with "Call Me Ted" Ted Turner's recently published autobiography. In that, they both felt like outsiders growing up (Mr. G because of religion and ethnicity, Turner because he was sent to Ivy-league schools but was a Southerner).Both also seemed sartorially challenged, Turner from apparent innate bad taste, Mr. G because of shopping at dollar stores!
Both had a single-minded dedication to their business (very narrow interests, Turner in sailing, G in cars) and both sold their businesses.

This question of them selling their businesses is one that intrigues me and yet neither Mr. G nor Turner expanded on this subject. Both were extremely successful businessmen, heads of their companies, able (as Mr. G says) to rule as complete dictators. Yet they both sold out, then complained about not have complete control once their companies were owned by others! Duh!

If you want autonomy, don't sell out! At least Mr. G did recognize this need to be in charge; Turner never seemed to figure it out, just whined on and on about how AOL/Time Warner shafted him.

A final note on Mr. G: yes it was a good book, and he readily shared both his failures and successes. I would have liked to see a tiny bit of appreciation though, for instance, for the country which gave him a home and made it possible for him to accumulate unimaginable riches. Mr. G discusses his father's surgery but never mentions that this was probably paid for by the taxpayers since he did not have health insurance at that time.

Mr. G complains about being picked on and ostracized, but never seems to appreciate that EVERYONE who has ANY physical difference, be it red hair, a physical handicap or a big nose will be picked on in school.

Otherwise, it was a good book with lots of insight for young businessmen.

I'm truly impressed by what Gurbaksh has achieved. Being an Indian myself, i understand what it is like to have strict parents and go through some of the things he talks about in the book. He captured my attention completely from start to finish and i finished the book in one sitting (never been able to read that much at once before!). If you're passionate and want to make your mark in business, this book can show you what it takes. He achieved his potential against all odds and this is something that most of us fail to do. He did have a few things in his favour, but you get lucky only if you look. It's a story of blood, sweat, tears and sweet success in the end. I aspire to be like him one day.

p.s. - Gurbaksh if you're reading this, I'm 19, born and raised in India and currently doing my undergrad in the UK. Please let me get an internship at Gwallet! I'd do anything to get that chance! Thank you. [..]

... Impatience is a virtue, according to Gurbaksh Chahal, Indian-born entrepreneur, multi-millionaire, and author of The Dream: How I Learned the Risks and Rewards of Entrepreneurship and Made Millions.

In clear, quicksilver prose, Chahal captures the ups, downs, and eventual moonshot of a business deal that served as coda on his journey from outcast immigrant to rockstar Internet entrepreneur. Given the long odds of millionaire-dom most people are up against, Chahal writes convincingly that The Dream is within anyone's grasp if the person is willing to put in the work and withstand the pain of growth.

Don't let the subtitle fool you. This book is completely the opposite of what you would expect a Trump or Kiyosaki to write. In lieu of the telltale bombast and self-promoting piffle of the insecure, Chahal delivers introspective and open snapshots of his life, adolescent awkwardness and all.

As the other reviewers note, if you can at least fog a mirror, this book will motivate you.

If an immigrant, Sikh, high school dropout can succeed wildly in this country, the reasoning goes, why can't you? But do note it was neither laziness nor intellectual inadequacy that prompted Chahal's departure from that rote facts factory that we know as high school. Instead, it was the realization that the keys to his success awaited beyond the confining wall of institutionalized education. He wanted in on this thing called the Internet that he saw minting overnight millionaires (much of the action takes place during and immediately after the 1998-2000 dotcom craze). And being locked in a classroom, force-fed an irrelevant curriculum was about as far from the action as you could get.

His impatience got the best of him. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Just in case you haven't read it, I won't spoil the plot for you here. But here are a few takeaways.

1) Chahal was no "luckier" than any of us privileged enough to live in the United States or other countries based on free enterprise. He did break rules (but besides purchasing a fake ID to appear older to potential investors, he says he always acted within the law), and his businesses broke or at least shifted paradigms. If you simply do what's expected and what you're told, your chances of breakout success like his are almost non-existent. Make your own luck by becoming the absolute best at what you love. Original? No. But ask how many people actually do it.

2) Persist and always, always get up after defeat. I can be a bit of a sentimental sap, so my reaction may be atypical, BUT, my corneas got quite damp when Chahal mentioned the example of dogged persistence set by his stern but quietly loving father. At one point, his non-demonstrative dad is practically destroyed and in tears after a stock market blip wipes out the family savings. Days later, the father recovers emotionally, and reaffirms as family patriarch his commitment to buy a proper house removed from the projects: The family must work even harder, and be even more frugal, he commands; "Sacrifices must be made."

3) Sometimes you do need patience, at least until you can negotiate from a position of strength. Desperation combined perhaps with naivete leads young "G," as Chahal is known, at several points to make costly business mistakes. But when he does, he absorbs the inherent lesson and refers to Point Number 2, above.

The Dream contains too many wonderful writing gems for me to attempt listing here. Chahal makes completely palpable his terror as an "outsider" among hostile grammar school classmates and also the victorious thrill of catching bargains early on when his family is poor and frugal by necessity. Chahal is honest, too, about what I can only imagine are the burdensome worries of being super-rich. Like never knowing if people -- especially the opposite sex -- appreciate you for you or for your bulging bank balance. Knowing that his family came to America with $25, the lament rings sincere.

As an example of fluid and dynamic writing, and as a manual on living a no-limits life, I heartily recommend you read The Dream. I would love to see this as a Hollywood (or Bollywood) film one day -- it's that much of an experience.

P.S.: To the Ivy League MBA investor who smugly insisted BlueLithium was going nowhere ... dude, did you ever blow it!!!

I enjoyed this book because it gave me insight into the Sikh culture. The lessons learned on how C.P.A networks work was insightful as well. This book is written by a young man who has accomplished a lot to say the least, that said I hope we haven't seen the last of him.

I bought this book and then just saw the author on Oprah, what a story. It is inspiring and makes me believe that I can accomplish anything if I combine a good business plan and a passion for business.

I liked this book and read this book in 2 hrs. I was delighted by the fact that somebody from simple background dreamt high and went thro' all odds to fulfill them.Watching the interviews on TV makes it seem that Gurbaksh made quick bucks by selling his companies to big players but it is only when you read the book that each of his deal was so complicated and he went thro' hardships to defend his credibility even he had proved his success.
Great work Gurbaksh....

So I bought this book on Friday, and today Sunday, am done reading it...not only did I find this to be an easy read, but also very inspiring.

What I think I really liked about the book was his honesty...I was just amazed at how forthright he was in this book about everything that has happened in his life. And I know that he is being honest because right around the start of the millenium, I met G a number of times and got to know him very well, well before he had become famous. He was however rich already then. I used to do a party called Kohi-noor, and I actually did a grand opening party for his Planet Bollywood Restaurant in Milpitas. And that it burned down 4 months after it opened, and there were all these allegations about him being involved in an insurance scam. I did not believe it then, and dont now, and was glad to read all about it in his book. G very candidly also talks about how he went about starting his business, what exactly he did, and how he made it a success.

Read this book, if you have any entrepreneurial instincts, or if you want to get some wonderful ideas about how to make a successful business. All through the book he writes in very well the lessons that he learned from each effort or failure. Failures after all are a necessary stepping stone to achieving success.

And finally a word to G...well done with this book. Write or chat me on FB, and let's get together for a drink for old times sake !