Book Report: Start Somthng That Matter, by Blake Mycoskie

I bought "Start Something That Matters" after seeing his sharing on Facebook about the incredible story behind TOMS Shoes. Apparently the book is no longer available in Hong Kong's bookstores, so he offered to buy in bulk from overseas and try to get some discount with bulk purchase. I was really intrigued by the overall premise of the TOMS shoes story and decided to get one copy. I remember I was in the midst of career switching, I have just recently decided to pursue an entrepreneurial career path at that point of my life. (Special thanks to Alan Li for introducing the book and helping to coordinate the logistics)

However, having a long list of to-read books and frequently having new books cutting the queue on my list meant that I only have a chance to begin reading late 2013/early 2014. Finally finishing the book by the end of my CNY vacation (on the plane from Penang to HK).

It was written in a light tone, started with the story of how Blake started TOMS shoes. in his trip to Argentina. For the rest of the books, he present the important steps to the path of a for-profit business that benefits the society. He frequently quotes stories from his mentors, peers, friends and family to illustrate his messages.

Having been in the entrepreneurial path for a little more than a year by now, a lot of his messages tend to be no brainer for me. For example, how he spent an entire chapter on facing fear and be resourceful without resources. Don't get me wrong these are very important, but the way Blake put it, it appears to be not as interesting to me personally who are already doing these things more or less. The redundant advices and encouragement made the book a little slow in the middle, and because of that, at some point I really feel like putting down the book.I hope that the other readers who are some how on the fence about pursuing entrepreneurship might benefit from his encouragement.

As mentioned earlier, Blake also incorporated a lot of short stories of different businesses in between his messages. But sometimes it felt a little "all over the place" and I found it a little distracting to the overall flow of his message. But it is not too bad, and I love the stories (as viewed individually). 

On the other hand, I really love the one-to-one model presented in the book and executed by TOMS Shoes (and eventually OneShot).I can see that he is passionate about having more business adopting this model. I am also convinced by him that it is possible, and in fact probably more sensible, to create a charitable/social activism that is based on a for-profit model. TOMS Shoes, NatGeo and hopefully more business could build around to be socially responsible, and being for profit means that they can sustain their own operation without the need to constantly seek for operation.

Also, maybe I should get a pair of TOMS.

Follow up reading:
-Understand how Netflix could abandon sick leaves and vacation leaves system.
-4-hour work week
-Inside Larry and Sergy's Brain