A poignant and potent self-help business book.
A serial entrepreneur shares her personal successes and failures in an introspective debut.
Fitzsimmons isn’t negative about startups. After all, she managed to launch six firms herself, five of which are still in business, including her current virtual-reality venture, Custom Reality Services. But two main themes of her book are that being an entrepreneur “is a struggle against reality” and that “failure is synonymous with iteration”—concepts that will test the mettle of even the most optimistic dreamer. That said, Fitzsimmons’ “field guide” is steeped in personal insights, many of which show how she forged success out of failure, and she supplements these with stories of other entrepreneurs who overcame adversity. Unlike typical how-to business books, this manual concentrates almost exclusively on developing the self, as evidenced by such chapter titles as “Self-Awareness,” “Sighting Your Summit,” “Self-Belief,” and “Focus.” Indeed, there’s a very personal slant to the book, overall; Fitzsimmons offers numerous accounts of her family, her health problems, and business setbacks. But there’s also a clear sense of growth and progress as the author upliftingly notes how all of her experiences helped to strengthen her along the way. Fitzsimmons’ self-analysis is engaging, but so too is her authoritative counsel as well as her well-designed self-help exercises. The author also shares useful tools, such as “The Relationship Matrix” and “The Decision Matrix,” to help readers navigate entrepreneurial waters. Her perspective should be invaluable to novice entrepreneurs who may not fully understand the challenges that lie ahead of them. A chapter on seeking funding is compelling, if not surprising; Fitzsimmons makes it clear that she’s not a fan of venture capital for most startups. A unique aspect of the book is the author’s emphasis on confronting self-imposed conditions, such as “entrenchment”: “when our startup is draining our life force, it is easy to entrench and think that persevering is our only option.”
A poignant and potent self-help business book.Pub Date: April 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5445-0285-4
Page Count: 342
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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