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This book by Richard Branson, although a number one bestseller is more towards the genre of an autobiography than a purely entrepreneurial book. No doubt the journey of this man is inspiring - He started working when in school, he was extremely bold to make the decision to enter the airline business in a monopoly market, his adventure and near death experiences, how he dealth with the personal attacks, his extremely playful marketing strategies etc. But this book focuses much more on the adventures, the controversy and the aftermath of him setting up the Virgin empire. I was looking to read and understand more about his entrepreneurial journey in detail focusing on the expansion side but unfortunately those become missing especially in the later half. The first few chapters are no doubt interesting with extremely useful business lessons. My biggest lesson from this man was - how to have immense amount of courage, his boldness in any business decision is noteworthy - he wanted to take a challenge because it sounded like fun, no jokes. I would recommend read his other books before purchasing this one though.

A highly recommended read for anyone who wants to enter into the start up space. Marc describes his journey from brainstorming ideas to coming with the idea of rental DVDs. The candid nature of the start up ecosystem, with a humorous take on Silicon Valley, the early days of Netflix and the journey of making extremely hard decisions (dropping DVD sales to focus on the rental business even though they were only 3percent of the revenue for example, getting laughed by Blockbuster for the 50million dollar valuation) are just interesting snippets. Netflix has a 200 BILLION dollar valuation right now, btw. Throughout this whole journey, you will learn a lot, most importantly, to believe in your idea and START by taking the leap of faith. An interesting read about a beautiful story filled with obstacles. Maybe Netflix can release a documentary around the same :)

By Robert Iger, the 6th CEO of Walt Disney Company Iger was named the Times 2019 businessperson of the year and to know why take a flip through this book. Not exactly a memoir of Iger's read., but indeed a great read for all people in positions of leadership. Iger describes his career trajectory leading him to become the CEO of the biggest media company and explain in detail his style of leadership and the future he charted for the company which transformed Disney (when he started as the CEO, the company was under heavy wall street and board scrutiny)in during the most disruptive time in the media industry. Reading this book explains the importance being visionary, providing a clear path for other employees to follow to stay motivated, embracing technology, need of changing fast in this fast paced world, focusing on long term growth instead of sort term profits, importance of talent personnel and the likes of it. But the most impactful lesson is the ability to take big risks and believe in your instinct even when the others are very publicly criticizing you. It was being of his visionary plan for Disney's future and focus on quality that the company is so highly valued today. Another highlight of the book is each acquisition that Disney undertook : Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilms (Star Wars) and 21st Century fox is described in detail : the steps taken to preserve the culture of each company yet integrate it to achieve highest synergies. It also explains how Disney entered into the future of media by owning their first streaming platform. All in all, a great read - Another inspiration to pick up this book instantly : He is the man who gave Blank Panther the go-ahead, wakanda forever is basically because of his vision that a black man leads a superhero Marvel film. Also, he was great friends with Steve Jobs and speaks a lot and his Pixar deal. Lastly, it is also one of the books on business that Bill Gates recommended provides a realistic picture of how big companies work.

I recently came across this man, created by the buzz of Shark Tank, intrigued by this bold truth teller man and gave his autobiography a read, which turned to be bittersweet. With all due respect to the career and journey of the man which is nonetheless inspiring, this book is not. More than that, if you are a fan of this genre of books or are exploring here, there are so many better books to start from, this book should not be a priority. He describes his educational background, the investment deals he cracked as a member of Kotak IB Team and how that shaped his investment raising abilities which later came to his aid during his BharatPe Stint. He then goes on to describe about his career at Amex, Grofers and PC Jewellers. Of particular interest is his career defining moments at Grofers, a legal case filed by a customer for an order of Rs. 500 that had Grofers spend over 25 Lacs to get it settled at Supreme Court. His start at BharatPe, fund raising journey there and how he built a 3 Billion Dollar Valuation is a chapter worth read. Other than that, the book soon takes a turn towards how he was a victim of treachery by other employees of the company and revolves around the details pf such. Whether he be right or wrong, a reader wanting to learn more about entrepreneurship shouldn't be involved so much in this messy affair, especially when an outsider knows very little. Unfortunately, I need to compare this book with others in this genre. In other books, the entrepreneur explains how they survived or how they lost something in their valuable journeys. For example, in Shoe Dog, Knight would explain how he was disappointed when Tiger Onitsuka gave him a hard time in shoe distribution in the USA. There is nothing inspirational in this sense. All in all, imagine Steve Jobs writing a book narrating each incident on how John Sculley fired him. This is what the book is.

FROMT THE PERSPECTIVE OF AN ENTREPRENEUR FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR Confused where to start your book reading journey from? Don't know which genre to pick? If you want the motivation to start your venture, I'd recommend reading any autobiography instead of a motivational book. Not that the content in the motivational books is irrelevant according to me, the impact of autobiographies much more profound. As an example, I read one motivational book ( a very famous and renowned one indeed) and an autobiography. I cant recall the lessons learned from the first one (normal case : the impact of such books is short lived) but the journey of the entrepreneur from the second book is still very clear, very real, very inspiring, VERY MOTIVATING. Going the ups and downs of the journey of the entrepreneur, reading their innovative, visionary, futuristic, thought provoking mindset, seeing them fight against all odds, looking at them success is ALL THE MOTIVATION you would need at one place, far more than any other motivational book. If you are still confused, read SHOEDOG, A memoir by the Creator of Nike and it will clear all our confusion up.

One of the most celebrated CEO's of all times, it is an interesting read for both 2nd generation entrepreneurs who want to scale their businesses and fuel growth. The book also gives a very raw reality of how the corporate life looks like. Nooyi's book focuses on her early life, the changes she faced as an immigrant and speaks in detail about the code of professionalism and maintaining work life balance. Her visionary and thought provoking leadership is inspiring, the transformation of PepSi Co under her guidance is inspiring. Highly driven missions like PwP (Performance with Purpose and other initiatives give an insight into the futuristic leader’s mind. Her importance on culture and diversity of the company is appreciated. Her management style is also a lot to learn from. Charting out the growth trajectory of one of the biggest companies in the world in regards to the changing times of health awareness and her success in this journey would be the key highlight of the book. In one of the most heart touching moments of the book, Nooyi explains how she wrote a letter of appreciation to the parents of working employees which brought tears in many of their faces. Give it a try, definitely worth the read.

If you are a business junkie, not fitting in the 9-5 am of the corporate slavery and CREATE a product, an idea, a brand, a legacy this is the book for you by THE PERSON, THE UNDERDOG OF SHOEDOG. The most candid autobiography ever, it will give the most realistic picture of the path, struggles, uncertainties of not just creating a brand but creating a new idea, a new, celebrating victory, athleticism and innovation. Knight vividly recounts the struggles and breakthroughs that he and his team faced as they transformed a small start-up into a global sportswear giant. His humble journey, rebelling against his father, selling his car to venture out as the first distributor of Japanese shoes, selling and living out of his basement, chided by bankers every moment for living on the edge, getting sued, starting over, dealing with production and supply problems, encountering THE RAINY DAY where he was unable to pay Nike employees, going behind the bankers to get his first factory, dealing with the FEDs, the internal conflict about going public, the partnerships that changed the face of athletics, the unforgettable Nike swish logo and many more such tale are present in the most raw form, a humble reminder of what the path to success looks like. Everything you need to know about human emotions and entrepreneurship- determination, fight, hard work, failure, loss, perseverance, jealousy, law, injustice, government, competition, innovation, growth, equity vs cash, team building, relationships, quality, advertisement, global expansion, production, logistics, supply, factory development and all the other intricacies is present right here in its rawest form. It is the Gita for you if you also aspire to venture in this space, a journey not to be missed from a man not to be unforgotten. It is the bestseller for a reason, there is a reason everyone in the WSJ is reading it, I want you to find it out.

Given a choice, would you keep historic artefacts and art at their point of discovery or shift them to a world renowned nation the most developed world? As immoral as it sounds, some people still choose the latter on the grounds that protecting artefacts is more important than its cultural significance. The developed nations have greater ability to preserve, protect and showcase these artefacts given their advanced infrastructure and technology. Moreover, driven by the fact that every artefact has its own story and it can be told by anywhere, these nations have greater reach and the ability to create tourism and a globalised impact for these artefacts throught he creation of world renowned museums. However, no matter how subjective the concept of morality may be, should we be okay with transferring the right to monetise the artefacts to people not belonging to the same history and culture? Should we be okay with taking away the context and story out of the artefact and transport it to a foreign museum? Promoting such a narrative is the same as promoting neo colonialisation, taking away the glory and might of the very same culture and denying the same people an extremely rich history they were once proud of.

Should religious preachers abandon the concept of ‘Test of God’ in preaching to struggling communitites? Given the abstract nature of the debate, there is no yes n answer to the question, there are multitude layers of religion, philosophy and beleif that come into play. The obvious seems that such concepts make people complacent, creating a falsed sense of illusion as a result of which they start gaslighting themselves. Not only that, it reduces the much needed altruism and limits help to othe rpeople by promoting the narrative that struggling must struggle. Insead of priotitsing the truth and reducing structural discrimination and putting the onus on the oppressor, it is a convenient way to shift the onus to the already suffering - who no wthink they deserve their traumatic life. Many believe it is a false way of manipulating karma and fooling people. However a few set believe that instead of internalising damage, such narratives creates a sense of hope - hope to strive towards starting and fulfilling duties and the hope to come out of the situation. More importantly it promotes a benevolent society by motivating the oppressed to stay moral, not commit heinous crimes and promote good values within the community leading to the greater good. It creates a sense of satisfaction and acceptance for many who deal with situations they have no control over, situations they cant change and leads to collectivatisation and mobilisation through the promotion of religion as a sense of belonging and a divine obligation. Were you a religious leader, would you do the same?

The IT girl has it all - she is taking leaps and bounds in her career, takes vacation twice a year, and lives a fabolous life swearing by her skincare and haircare. Every girl today dreams to be the IT girl. With the rise of such trends, there has also been a rise of the backslash received towards these trends - promoting an unrealistic lifestyle and setting unrealistic standards, stereotyping women, affecting mental health, promoting toxicity of social media and glorifying an expensive way of living which the majority of women cant afford. My question to you is - In a world where collectivisation of women is the prime need for the common good, where women still don't have agency where standards for women already exist, where patriarchy is a means of life and the counterfactual for women is to ace household work and leaves monetary needs to their male counteracts, are the rise of such trends really that toxic? Is it not better to at least try to change the standards or to live the utopic dream where one day no standards and objectifications for women will exist at all? Given the harsh realities exposed, such trends do seem like a better replacement if not ideal. Apart from motivating teenage girls to build a carer, it promotes women to live a healthy lifestyle, have a healthy work life balance and take the agency for themselves. As said, a small change today leads to a large change in the future. So women, do you want to become the 'IT GIRL'?

With H&M, Adidas, Target and other multinational brands launching their exclusive pride collection, creating awareness to remove the general stigma celebrating “Love is Love” through OOT pride marches, we might think the world has moved towards acceptance, inclusion and become a better place to live. There is more representation, accessibility and choice in a commercial world for the LGBTQIA+ community. However the shrewd use of social capital by these profit mongering capitalistic enterprises needs to be looked at and the question should really be - Has Rainbow Capitalism done more harm or good for the LGBTQIA+ movement? If one digs deep, these companies in the name of inclusion have in fact gone to control the narrative of the movement they care not about, glorified trauma and standardized the very movement they claim to support. These companies, in the name of profit making, set up their factories in third world countries for cheap labour and in countries which are anti-community revealing their double standards. Adidas launching their pride collection but at the same time sponsoring the World Cup in Russia (a very anti-LGBTQIA+ country) is just one example among many. Moreover, commercialisation of pride marches, a gimmick for the privileged, goes against the basic nature of the movement which is to support inclusion and accessibility. Now, does rainbow T-shirts still seem a sign of acceptance or another game of hollow gesture for the capitalists to push their agenda of commercialisation?

If we were to live in a world of utopia, should we support the glorification and the pedestalization of the middle class? A mediocre middle class lifestyle, as one might see, seems devoid of any thrill or adventure, you have the same routine life for over a decade, you take trips once every 3-4 years from your hard earned savings and you can always be called in by your boss at work. In the most practical sense and given its practical nature, glorification of the mediocre might make sense. It makes sense to put the narrative that it is okay to fail, to struggle for money, to not have your best day everyday, to find solace in little things , to work under someone else for the rest of our lives because that is the reality of the majority people- not because they are lazy but because most of them lack the resources which only the privileged have access to. In reality, the world glorification has implication of an innate choice that has to be made- If everyone were to be glorified, no one would in reality be glorified. That being said, glorification of the mediocre naturally leads to villinisation of ambition - the same ambition that motivated human beings to break their barriers and achieve the unthinkable. Moreover, in the very niche sense, such glorification would hurt the systematically oppressed the most and create a trickle down effect who would then be okay to live the life they are born with, who would then not aim for the highest goals, less agency to break out of hierarchy leading to the death of any aspirational value left in the world. Given the above intersectionality, what would you prefer?