Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat

This is one of the best business books I have read in a long time. It is imminently practical and based on common sense. In a nutshell, the book discusses the importance of taking action but intelligent action) and accelerating failures. As an attorney, I have seen so many people spend all their focus on creating corporations, printing business cards, creating expensive web sites, hiring 'branding experts' and marketing consultants, all before they make their first sale. Most successful entrepreneurs take a more action oriented approach where they first get some business in the door and then worry about improving things. I highly recommend the book.

Interesting book, with good ideas, especially in the opening chapters. The structure of the book is discussing how to move a business through each "phase" of it's life, bracketed in terms of gross revenues. This is good for a publisher, I suppose, since it appeals to someone in every category of business...from a $25k/year starter, to a $200m corporation. However, from the reader's point of view, it means that one section will likely be VERY relevant, and all others won't. I have some passing intellectual curiousity about the best strategy to move my business from $10m/year to $50m/year, but right now only the first part (getting to $1m/yr in revenue) is really practical for my business...everything else is interesting, but I can't apply it. It seems like everyone will have this problem...one of two of the "bracketed" how-to lessons will be interesting and relevant, and the others won't really affect you.

All in all, worthwhile, but don't expect to enjoy the entire book...just the parts that match the current state of your business.

Anyone who is starting as an entrepreneur or is in Stage 1 of his business (i.e. revenue less than i million), will find this book extremely useful. The bulk of the material on this book is for this class of entrepreneurs. There is also a lot of information for Stage 2 businesses (revenue from 1 to 10 million). There is also some information for bigger businesses, although not much.

I find this audio awesome because Michael Masterson speaks from experience and not from theory. There is nothing like tapping onto the experience of a seasoned serial entrepreneur.

After listenning to this, the entire business plan for my business venture became crystal clear.

For those who are not entrepreneurs or are not planning to start a business, will not be able to relate to this book. But for those who are just starting out, this is a GEM! And for those already having running businesses, this would also be helpful as it can give you insights you never imagined.

I really, really like how merciless the author is in identifying the most important things an entrepreneur needs to attend to while reaching for growth and glory. I won't spill the beans in this review, but suffice it to say that 3 years into my own journey, this book hit me square between the eyes with messages/lessons I really needed to hear.

The book is not written to simply motivate us and give us encouragement; it's a blueprint for how to THINK about what we're doing on a day to day basis.

The tag line would read: Entrepreneurs, pay attention!

The only drawback for me is the author's references to his vast experience building businesses in multiple and various industries, though only giving examples from a very select 2 or 3. I don't mind if he's only been in 2 or 3 industries; I only mind the grand-standing without delivering substance on the claim. This is a very small detraction for me, but worth mentioning so others may not feel the same level of surprise as I did.

Overall, I am really grateful to have listened to this book!

Very interesting way to look at things, opposite to many people's normal way of working. You cannot plan everything and expect perfection from the first try. Experience will teach you how to improve aim after you have fired. Good reading from a person with lots of experience to earn enough credibility.

This was a great 'read'. While the business ideas are broad they really get you in the right mindset for what ever stage of business you are in.

I listen to this book often simply to reinforce that things I should be thinking about when looking at my business from the outside in.

For anyone starting a business, this is a must read.

I think there are a lot of applicable (even if not wholly original) ideas in the book: distinct stages in the life of a company, doing a Minimum Viable Product (using language from the Lean Start-Up), getting out of the way of your own employees, etc. It mostly felt like a mash-up of 4 Hour Workweek and The Lean Start-Up, with some Rich Dad thrown in. There was more "become rich and don't work much" hype than I'd prefer. Overall, a pretty worthwhile read, especially if you haven't read similar books already, but not really a gamechanger for me.

I found the advice entertaining, important and motivating. Definitely one of the better books I have listened to. The material lends itself to an audiobook well.

The author does a good job discussing marketing and different stages in business development, and vibrantly illustrates these principles in action. In this sense, it might be a good first book on business development for some.

I found some of his other claims, however, somewhat unbelievable and not really so practical. The author claims to be the founder of many hundred million dollar companies. He says he started an investment newsletter which was phenomenally successful the first year, then published 4 more newsletters and in two more years "had sales in excess of $35 million dollars". If he was able to achieve this in such a short time frame, great.

He also seems to think he should test everything before marketing it, probably good advice, although possibly not to the degree he suggests. He gives the example of a toy manufacturer who wanted to see if a different color product made with cheaper paint would sell as well as the original toy. Masterson advocates the toy maker should have "tested marketing the product with the colored paint to see if there was any degradation in product quality and sales, " this, after going through a complete production run of the product costing millions of dollars.

I think the author is likely a successful writer and seminar giver although I am skeptical about his knowledge of the hard nosed business world.

equal but different for the obvious reason

He was able to speak directly to what business owners are going through.

Great business book provides understanding, action and encouragement. I would highly recommend reading it if you are a business owner.