Customer Reviews

Launch Fever: An entrepreneur's journey into the secrets of launching rockets, a new business and living a happier life.

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found Launch Fever to be a very inspirational book. I especially enjoyed his experience of starting a medical device company and successfully launching the company securing venture capital funding and bringing on a professional management team. It was extremely insightful that although the author being an engineer he saw the importance of sales and marketing to launching his new venture. His experiences initially with the Boston venture capitalist and their preoccupation on how to take the product to market was very enlighting. I also enjoyed his chapter on Balancing Act. His focus on a balanced life style blending the demands of job and raising a family were very educational. I also enjoyed the homespun philosophy of his mother. Great book! I highly recommend it.

The book was fun, interesting and a good lesson on "never give up". My 18 year old son is going through the same school issues as Mr. Taylor did. Often bright, inquisitive kids finds it difficult to adjust in a setting where the focus is staying quiet and little hands-on learning. They just don't see how it relates to real world applications. Yet when given the opportunity to do what they really love they are shining stars. I put it by my son's bedside and asked him to read the 1800 word summary. Maybe it'll inspire him and encourage him to read the whole book!

So says the poster that hung on his dorm wall, and led to his amazing progression as an engineer, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and NASA controller. Any one of these careers could make an interesting book, put the lot in one person and you have a masterpiece.
Combined with his self-declared 'C+ average' background and southern childhood, the journey of hard work and leaps of faith cannot fail to fascinate. From renting his first garage room complete with cockroaches and wonderful descriptive passages of Cocoa Beach and working on the very beginning of the space shuttle program, to selling handbags, obtaining a pilots licence, diving in the Bahamas, experiencing zero-G, marriage, dissecting cadavers, designing medical experiments, having a daughter, obtaining patents, building an extremely successful company, this is about following your instincts and living life to the max.
It contains great advice for entrepreneurs, how to take a product to market, people seeking venture capital, as well as balancing work/life, and fantastic reading for anyone interested in the space shuttle program.

After reading Launch Fever I felt as if the author truly let the reader inside his personal world. Tim's easy going writing style was most fluid as he took the reader on a journey through life and entrepreneur-ism to the real world of business. I especially liked the NASA insider's view and the lessons learned. A timely read with great advise from the guy on the street with his ear to the ground and his mind in the heavens.

Mr. Taylor's work is both inspirational and yet very informative for all the entrepreneurs in us. He lightly describes growing up in the deep south while aspiring for the beyond. His accomplishments and failures outlined are truly practical guides for the dreamer.

Mr. Taylor has written a superb book. His tale is eloquently voiced through friendly, fast paced, and informative prose and I was moved and inspired by this testament to the entrepreneurial spirit.
This book is refreshing. The story guides one through youthful adventures and aspirations in the heart of southern culture. Then, the reader is granted top security clearance into the NASA space programs and its corresponding highs and lows. Perhaps most intriguing is when Mr. Taylor invites the reader to step inside the world of venture capital, describing the fundamentals and necessary semantics. I certainly regard this book as a benchmark representation of finding both the Spirit, and the "Spirit of the Deal".

This was an excellent book with a number of twists and turns. Gives a layman the insiders view of the Space shuttle program with emotion and incite. There is a good inspirational part of the book that helps entrepreneurs to get organized. Tim did a marvellous job of expresses his feelings to his reading audience.

I am not a book reader, but I found this one easy to read. It made me reflect on my own life and realize that I can do so much more with my life than I am. If you're looking for some inspiration in your life, then pick up this book.

Tim's story is told simply and is clearly written from the heart. I found it hard to put down, with it's combination of overcoming hardships, insights into the fabulous world of shuttle operations at NASA, inspiration and dedication to follow a dream and the laugh-out-loud humour all told in Tim's inimitable fashion.

I can't wait for his next work - and if you haven't already read Launch Fever - do it now!

I started reading this book on a flight from Birmingham to Madison. As I started on the first page of the book, Mr. Taylor got me hooked on to the book with his humble opening and inspirational message. As I read through the book, being an engineer myself, I could relate to several of his life experiences. His advise at the end of each of the chapter is simple in wording but full of wisodm and practical experience. I could not keep the book down even for a minute till I finished this book. Great read for anyone, especially an engineer who wants to be an entrepreneur.