Menu
If you know me, you know that I’m a book worm and love to read. As a law student, obviously, this trait has proven useful since the pages and pages of law cases and material have not seemed as torturous to me. These days, however, it is rare for me to find time to read for leisure.
So, of course, the second I was asked to do a book review of “A Rogue’s Guide to Acquisition: Principles from the Final Frontier,” (hereafter referred to “A Rogue’s Guide” in this article) I leaped at the chance. Why? Because technically, this was reading for work and not leisure! (Yup readers, I found a loophole!) The book is non-fiction and is business based. However, I’d say it falls in the “thriller” genre, because scarily, you make actually learn something! (*insert gasp*)
“A Rogue’s Guide” is written by Ranak Jones and Jayesh Mehta, with the forward by Anish Sikri. The book has featured on Bill Gates’ blog for being one of his “Great Summer Reads” books. Since Bill Gates is one of my idols, I was even more excited to read the book and do the review. While at times, the book read like a sci-fi book, underneath the nerdiness, are several principles to help you stay afloat in the business world.
This book is meant to get you to hit the ground running. As the authors state, “This is not a book for the successful, but for the ones who want to become successful“. Keep this notion in the back of your mind when reading it.
At times, I felt it was a bit too simplistically written with some concepts making you go “d’uh” (like “never pay more for an acquisition than you have to”). However, my reactions are most likely because I am not the target audience. I have a science, computer science, and law background. Plus, I’m a sci-fi geek.
Nevertheless, this simplistic nature is also the book’s biggest strength. As mentioned above, the target audience is an individual who is completely new to the world of business, and thereby, is also unaware of the basics of survival in that world. So, it is a major strength of this book that anyone can pick it up and immediately connect to the content as well as find a lesson that can help them in the real world. The commentary by the authors in each chapter will keep you reading! Best of all, you will find that it is a very quick read!
Once you open the book you will notice that it begins with point #21. The authors explain that the first 20 were mysteriously lost. I bet some aliens beamed these factors up to keep us humans from knowing about them! Some of the words in the book may be unfamiliar to those uninitiated to the world of sci-fi. However, the authors suggest that these individuals look up the words and, in fact, they encourage you to research and look up as much as you can to truly grow and learn.
What makes the book truly work, is the style in that it is written in. The authors share concepts with humor and sarcasm. The authors, Jayesh and Ranak, manage to explain complex principles relating to selling, advertising, purchasing, ethics, trust, motivation, customer service, and more, all in a manner that the common man can understand. They strip away all the layers and expose the business world in an honest manner. Even in the forward, by Anish, you will find resources that can help you in the world of business.
When reading it, you will forget that you’re actually learning and reading a non-fiction book! So, overall, I’d say definitely pick up this book. Worth at least one read, and maybe even more!
