Customer Reviews

The Ride of a Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers Way

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I first learned about Paul Teutel, his family, and his business several years ago through my son's fascination with everything motorized and "cool." We wached the reality TV series "American Chopper" together. My son liked the bikes and the characters, and I liked the characters and the bikes (some a lot more than others).

For the uininitiated, Orange County Choppers is a behemoth of a brand built by a unique man who has worked for himself almost his entire adult life. In fact, his biography is so fascinating that I found myself wishing to read more about him and his family; I had to remind myself that this book is a business philosophy book, not a biography.

Mr. Teutel credits his mega-success to relentless hard work and a passion for perfection. Most of his business principles are as well-known and as they are difficult to live by daily. Surround yourself with good people and reward them well, treat everyone with integrity, and embrace change while adhering to core values. The book is peppered with vignettes fo business decisions made, partners acquired and replaced, and descriptions fo situatinos that illustrate the points well. The book also includes a set of glossy photos of Teutel history and motorcycles.

Teutel posits that "everyone" expecte dhim to end up dead or in jail from an early age. His childhood in a very dysfunctional family included an addiction to alcohol and drugs at the age of 15 than lasted 20 years. His father and grandfather demanded relentless labor from young Paul. His father demanded, and Teutel paid, rent to his family during his adolescence. Merchant marine boot camp (at age 18) gave him his first opportunity to set a goal and achieve it.

Goal-orientedness coupled with hard work is a powerful combination which Teutel weakened with alcohol and drugs until he was 35. He credits Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with helping him achieve abstinence from drugs and alcohol for 24 years.. Demanding sobriety of hs partners and employees changed his iron works business and positioned it for growth. He turned over the iron works business and set to building motorcycles as a hobby in the early 1990s.

Ultimately, he invested his $120,000 retirement in the business that became Orange County Choppers (OCC). OCC is now an international brand operated from a 100,000+ square foot headquarters in suburban New York.

Teutel is ambivalent about his family's involvement in his business. One son took over the iron works and is apparently doing well. Two sons, Paul, Jr. and Michael, work with Dad at OCC. "American Chopper" viewers know the stormy relationship they have. While Dad always wanted his business to be a family business, he observes that things come too easily to Paul, Jr., making him casual if not lazy about deadlines and organization. "Mikey" is a lovable youngest brother with multiple interests and a good sense of humor but little ambition. Dad says that family businesses are the backbone of the economy, but that family can't be managed in the workplace like other employees, and that hurts the family members. He acknowledges the connundrum and apparently sees it as one of the few design problems he was unable to resolve.

One of the book's key messages is that it's never too late to resolve to be better - to become focused, passionate, and goal-oriented to pursue success. Hmm...my now-teenage son might read this book before a lot of other self-help/business success books. That's a good thing.

I purchased this book in great anticipation hoping to learn more about the success of this "family" business. This book is no more than a basic high school business study. There is no magic revelation as to the real reason this "family" business succeeded. The book makes NO mention of the relationship he has with the Discovery Channel and now TLC. Had it not been for the TV series I doubt most of us would know anything about OCC. He makes maybe a 3 paragraph mention of each Paulie and Mickey and gave no credit to either one for the success of OCC. Those two added personality to the show and the business and it now appears they are expendable. This man takes full credit for his masterful business plan and business acumen. He saw the bright white guiding light after he sobered up which he makes mention of in the book. But dumb luck played a major role for OCC success and again had it not been for the TV shows I am sure he would still be in his garage. I would have liked to have know how Discovery and OCC got together. I want to know what happened to Vince, Nubs and others. I am especially not happy with how little (if any) credit he gave to Pauli who is a class A fabricator and built some of most creative choppers in the world. About half way into this stupid book I really wanted to just can it. But I had the flu and nothing else to do but suffer through it. But I did leave it in the hotel trash bin. Don't waste your money on this self centered self proclaimed business expert. He did not write this, he can't even speak a complete sentence.

This book chronicles Paul Teutel Sr.'s life well. The book was probably not written by him, but certainly he was VERY involved. He probably told his stories to a writer who cleaned up his language just a little bit.

All in all, I thought the book was great. Teutel reveals a lot about himself, personally and business wise. He talks about his childhood (or lack of), his relationship with his parents and how he got to where he is. I felt very little detail was left out and got a real sense of who he was, despite the book not being incredibly long. The book was written very well and was Easy to read. The book also did not seem propaganda, and allowed the reader to form their own opinion on Teutel.

His life certainly has been interesting, and this book is short, sweet and to the point. If you are an OCC fan or hater, a must (quick) read.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I read business books, I read biographies, and I'm a big fan of the Tuttles & American Chopper.

What perplexes me is how short the book can be, yet be so repetitive. And why so is much left out? Senior aims to write a book to help the small business owner, akin to Jack Welch's "Winning." He's certainly qualified, having grown first Orange County Ironworks and then OCC, but oddly absent from the book is perhaps the most pivotal moment in the shop's history -- getting on Discovery & the creation of American Chopper. The growth through the period, the expansion of bringing things in-house, expanding into a production line, what's involved in a custom bike... none of it's there.

Likewise the discussion about employees relations. He talks about a few cases, good & bad. He talks about Rick & how employees are like family & need to be treated as such. But no mention of one of one of the employees that was there for most of the beginning, Vinnie. I'd like to hear Paul's take on it, for better or worse, etc.

I think a much interesting book would have been one that simply chronicled the rise of OCC, and the Tuttles in conjunction with it. Hopefully they write that one day.

All said, it's a short book. If you're a fan & interested in business, it's probably still worth reading, just be ready for disappointment.

Being a big fan of Americann Chopper I was looking forward to this book hoping it would shed some insgight on wht Paul sr. is the way he is & why he treats his kids the way he does, the show doesn't always portray him in the best light when it comes ti family matters.

After reading the book, which is an easy read I got though it in about 3 days I had many questions answered & came away undersatnding Paul Sr. & his ways more than I had.

The book is more about running a business & the way to go about it using Pauls life as the back ground, it's not so much about Building bikes & forging steel in the Iron works industry, it's about him, the book briefly touchs on every aspect of his life & experiances just enough to keep you intrested & leave you wanting to know while giving the reader what amounts to simple yet very effective life when it comes to runing a business.

Being a Business owner myself I found myself at time nodding my head in agreement with just about everything I read. Paul makes it sound so simple, & to a certain extent it really is.

This isn't Shakespere, it was thrown together rather quickly, but it's effective enough to get the point across without boring the reader to sleep. The book can be an insipration to some.

It's always a good read to see someone who pulls themselves up by their own boot straps and makes a success of their life. I get upset though when I watch the ranting and raving, especially at family, on the show. Paul Sr, just look at what you've accomplished. Be proud and enjoy and quit all this bickering. It's below you and the vocation you've chosen.

My wife and I religiously watch the "OCC" TV series, and we expected the book to be more like the show, so we were somewhat disappointed. The book is about Mr.Teutul's experiences in life and what made him the successful businessman that he has become. While there are things we can all learn from "The Ride of a Lifetime" if we were about to persue a small business career with a desire to become something more, the book left us a bit flat. We appreciate all the obstacles in Mr.Teutul's life that he overcame and is now the big, likable, chopper-riding teddybear-come-businessman, but the book proved a bit overbearing and repetitious. Mr.Teutul, you have built some of the most beautiful bikes in the world. THAT is your calling.

Glad I checked this out at the library instead of buying...not a book I would care to have in my collection...I like the show and the family but I was happy when I finished this book...it was all about how great Senior thinks he is...yes he has done well and overcome many obstacles but he owes a great deal more to Junior than he is willing to admit...seems like the show and Seniors relationship with Junior and Mikey are taking a turn south...sad.

With "The Ride of a Lifetime" Paul Teutul, SR. comes across- as he does on television as well- as a "real" man with real problems, obstacles, hurdles and (more than anything) belief in overcoming and moving past it all. Whether it be overcoming a design problem or overcoming his previous addictions Teutul has mastered what it takes to rise above and succeed in both life and business.
It is literally remarkable that this man of simple means and a less than appealing childhood could rise up from so many negatives throughout his first 35 years of life and become such a well known business personality, loving father (you can see it is there, even when he screams at Paul Jr. and Mikey) and caring person (whether he wants to admit it or not, many of Paul's and his son's charity events prove that his heart is as big as his biceps).

As a writer and magazine publisher myself, I come in contact with quite a few first written works and I must say that whatever this book may lack in writing style or experience it far makes up in real, helpful, down-to-earth information that, in my opinion, would be some pretty useful required reading in both business and life.
Kudos to Paul for becoming all he can be while helping his sons to also get where they are going and breaking the cycle in which he was once a part of in his earlier years.

I would actually love to have this product packaged with my first title,
"Wisdom & Wisecracks for the Aspiring Business Owner" (by Will Estell) and give these two books (maybe even free!) to everyday normal people of all ages who aspire to become more in the world of business while maintaining balance in life and family. I have a feeling these two simple to read books from simple guys from simple pasts would work wonders for many. I say buy and read "The Ride of a Lifetime" today and it will make you a better person tomorrow.

Will Estell
Author,
Oxford, AL
Wisdom & Wisecracks for the Aspiring Business Owner
The Ride of a Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers Way

This book is well-written with good "life-experience" tips on running a business.Paul Sr. tells how he started building bikes in his basement and takes the reader through his rise to the top of the custom-built bike industry.Pictures of his bikes through the years are included.Thumbs up!!!