“Irrationally Passionate” by Jason Kothari – a Book Review
I am writing a review after a long time to be frank, the professional assignments has taken a toll on the passionate reader in me and this was the time for me to wake up, smell the coffee, er read the book in a weeks time and deliver this review.
Entrepreneurship is close to my heart and it continues to be. And when Blogadda mailed me to review my book I took it as a challenge to myself to read and write a review in seven days, which was a habit some time ago. It was a great experience to do it all over again especially with a book like ‘Irrationally Passionate.
So let’s go to the book in review, the author looks straight at you in the cover and he continues to talk the same way throughout the book. It was a kind of sensation that you go through watching a movie, you wanted to finish the book once you started, I finished this in three sessions. A very straight from the heart storytelling and I think that was the core of the book, he was personal and one to one taking you along the journey how he managed to pull off those entrepreneurial ventures even when he was in college.
That Valiant episode is a testament of the Silicon valley culture that’s now creeping in for good in the Indian ecosystem. He is a bit philosophical but I like the way he translates that to reality and that I think make us think very hard. eventually that is the core of his success, seeing through the things in a philosophical and yet a practical and pragmatic way.
The language is very personal and makes you travel with him, like say he was traveling with Nikesh Arora, I could almost feel sitting in the car. The power of narration is excellent. The way chapters have been listed is also easy to read. I would also like to state in case you want to read one of the chapters you won’t feel left out from the earlier story. I loved the way the chapters were titled and it meant a lot of things and had deep connotations that you can’t miss in the story that is revealed.
It was also nice to read the behind the door happenings at Housing.com. That was one of the most watched startup stories that had it’s up and down in a way no other startup was covered, perhaps the PR of its early days stuck so much that it was its Achilles heel when it was in downward spiral.
The best part of the storytelling is the depiction of the personal front how the human side of the big entrepreneurs is quite never known, you never know what you do as a child perhaps might be a precursor to what you do in the life as an adult. Well I am talking about the Chess board episode in Agra where he negotiated a sale with a local seller getting it for Rs. 50 when it had started with a Rs.400 initially.
Thanks Jason for taking us inside the mind of an entrepreneur and taking us through some of the greatest moments in Indian entrepreneurial history. Thanks for those cab rides, boardroom discussions, phone calls and more than that for the inspiration to see things as they are. I loved the way how the entrepreneur in him evaluated the exit strategy and more.
We need more stories that will help the entrepreneurs to see things in new light. Thanks Blogadda for this opportunity.
This is a part of Blogadda book review program.
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