Young and Successful (Carmack & Musk)

07/13/03 00:00:00    

By Michael Mealling

p. Many in the industry/hobby/cause have followed the likes of John Carmack of Id Software and Armadillo Aerospace and Elon Musk of PayPal and SpaceX. We see a model that is apparently working: figure out how to make a lot of money at another business so you can afford to make space happen for yourself in your own way. The interesting thing is how young they both are (even Jeff Bezos is considered young by most entrepreneurial types).

p. As one who is in the same age bracket as both Elon and John I often ask myself why I'm not doing the same thing they are? What are they doing that I'm not? Do they have extra contacts? Knowledge? Lack of fear? The book Young and Successful attempts to answer that question. As far as business books are concerned it doesn't contain anything new. But from the point of view of a 'life evaluation' moment for 30-somethings its pretty good. Its definitely going on my list of “books to re-read with a few beers and a blank piece of paper once a month” list (up there with Atlas Shrugged and Good to Great). Go get it and read it.