Books : The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living
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by: Randy Komisar
List Price: $20.00Amazon.com's Price: $13.60 You Save: $6.40 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 650
EAN: 9781578516445
ISBN: 1578516447
Label: Harvard Business School Press
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2001-07
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Sales Rank: 31711
Studio: Harvard Business School Press
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life . . . ?
It's a question most of us consider only hypothetically-opting instead to 'do what we have to do' to earn a living. But in the critically acclaimed bestseller The Monk and the Riddle, entrepreneurial sage Randy Komisar asks us to answer it for real. The book's timeless advice-to make work pay not just in cash, but in experience, satisfaction, and joy-will be embraced by anyone who wants success to come not just from what they do, but from who they are. At once a fictional tale of Komisar's encounters with a would-be entrepreneur and a personal account of how Komisar found meaning not in work's rewards but in work itself, the book illustrates what's wrong with the mainstream thinking that we should sacrifice our lives to make a living. Described by Fortune.com as 'part personal essay, part fictional narrative and part meditation on the nature of work and life,' The Monk and the Riddle is essential reading on the art of creating a life while making a living.
Amazon.com Review:
Prospective entrepreneurs may think they know everything there is to know about starting a business in Silicon Valley. They can draw up business plans, have meetings with venture capitalists, maybe even get funded and actually launch a start-up. However, in The Monk and the Riddle, Silicon Valley sage Randy Komisar reasons that's only half the equation for success. And it may not be the important half. Komisar has worked with a number of companies--Apple, LucasArts Entertainment (the gaming division of George Lucas's empire), and WebTV among them--and has come to a rather startling conclusion: if you can't see yourself doing this business for the rest of your life, don't start it. In other words, he wants to see passion and purpose in business, not just spreadsheets and a by-the-numbers business model.
To illustrate, Komisar takes the reader through a hypothetical Silicon Valley start-up, with an eager entrepreneur named Lenny trying to get funding for an online casket-selling business. As Komisar helps Lenny find the real purpose of the business, the passion behind the revenue projections, he reflects back on his life as an entrepreneur. Komisar emerges as a master storyteller, the kind of guy you'd feel honored to share a bottle of wine with. And you believe his conclusion: 'When all is said and done, the journey is the reward.' It's great if you've made billions on the journey, but the important thing is that you do something you can truly throw yourself into. --Lou Schuler
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Use these principles to find the job of your dreams!
`The Monk and the Riddle', a short book by Randy Komisar, guides the job seeker or entrepreneur towards making the most of their passion. Kosimar shows us the strength that passion has to pull us towards success and happiness.
Komisar, an experienced consultant, shares the advice given to him along his own path to success by telling the story of Lenny, a struggling Internet entrepreneur who, just as he is about to give up, instead turns to Komisar for guidance.
We see ... Read More
Rating:  - Riddle: Who spends good money on a bad book? Answer: Me
If I had to sum it up, I'd say it's 1/100th E-myth (by Michael Gerber)--a great book by the way; 1/100th Laws of Success (by Napoleon Hill); 1/100th Money and the Meaning of Life (by Jacob Needleman)--which I do not recommend; and 97/100ths fluff, to borrow the commonly used word of my college English teacher when referring to such works. I give this book 2.5 stars only becuase the venture capital story line is a little interesting.
But, this is not a book for the entrepreneur. It's ... Read More
Rating: - I'll sum it up in one paragraph
You can't be happy in life, being an entrepreneur, unless you find a way to find meaning into you business. Venture Capital, post "the bust", is very hard to come by; finding meaning in your business will be a key component in providing you with the drive necessary to overcome the many obstacles inherent with owning your own business. VC's know this and want to see it when your giving your spiel before they fork over the cash. There you go; save your money. Define it and use it as your central ... Read More
Rating: - Quick Read, Great Idea!
After reading 4- hour work week by Tim Ferris, I am a big fan of NOT living the Deferred Life Plan. Tim recommends this book so I read it in a few hours. Other critics like to say negative things about what the book wasn't, but I am going to tell you about what it was.
It was a little slow in the middle due to all the story telling about the his life and experiences intermingled with a few characters he was currently dealing with.
It was enlightening on how the VC business ... Read More
Rating: - Metaphysical Capitalism
Liked the author, enjoyed the insight into the world of venture capitalism but this book could have been an article in a magazine. It seemed to me like a long walk for a short pay-off. I get the point but felt like the author was purposely stringing you along for some bigger pay-off that did not happen.
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