|
Browse categories
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 Customer Reviews
junk, 02 Aug 2008
As one other reviewer said: could have been written by anyone who kept a diary. I have lost interest after 3 chapters ( the trading floor had traders AND Market makers ????)
Save your money and buy liars poker instead.
City worker, beware...., 29 Jul 2008
What I find rather hilarious is that 90% of the negative reviews written about this book are written by past and present city workers who are obviously furious at the brutal, honest and hilarious portrayal of the average city 'fat cats' that Geraint has achieved so immaculately.
I would tell anyone else to not be swayed by these negative reviews - the book is truly unique and will make you laugh until it hurts. Its definately one on the funniest things I have read in a long time, and I salute Geraint for taking the courage to walk away from it all and expose the b******s for what they really are.
Interesting but not really that clever, 22 Jul 2008
Upon opening the book I was disappointed to read the disclaimer that it was purely a work of fiction based on his city experience. I was expecting a whistle blower's account but instead got a jaded hippy's story of what life might have been like.
Throughout the book I find myself taking a dislike to the greedy, selfish, drug addicted, hypocrite that is Steve the would-be anti-hero. The book isn't well written either with frequent bad language and crude saying taking the place of good sentences.
Disappointment and dislike aside I made it through the whole book and found the author's discussion on stock market crashes and bubbles over the last decade particularly interesting and insightful. For this reason the book is worth a read and I give it an honest 3/5.
Bloody Brilliant, 21 Jul 2008
I couldn't care less if this book is about fact or fiction. All I know is that I bought it at the airport and red 150 pages while waiting in the departure lounge. Another 100 pages on the plane, and a final 53 pages before going to sleep. Any book that keeps me reading has got to be worth a look.
Should be called 'City ego' - Geraint Anderson's autobiography, 15 Jul 2008
The inlay to this book tells us the author 'breaks the Square Mile's code of silence to reveal explosive secrets about what life is really like' but all I really discovered here was how big an ego one cityboy (like hundreds of others) can have.
The essence of the book is basically :
1. His brother got him a job in the city
2. He snorted cocaine
3. He lied his way from job to job, in the process gaining ludicrous bonuses and pay increases
4. How his main aim for 6 years was to outdo a fellow analyst, betting a £100k on it
5. Then at the end stick in some paragraphs about world peace and how the city is a place of greed and backstabbing (as if we did not know !)
I found nothing really new in the book having worked in the city for 13 years. Many people could have written this story. (if you keep a diary and are a city analyst/trader you may as well submit it to the publisher !).
The author gives us his life story of his time in the city over 300 pages but tends to give us history lessons (events in Corporate America and Black Monday) which have no correlation to the flow of the book.
Geraint Anderson is a classic story of working the system to his benefit, having fun on the way, sacrificing those around him and then leaving the city as he 'felt uncomfortable' with it, despite having earnt a fortune from it. Smells of double standards to me.
This is more for the airport folks who want to sit on a beach and not have to read anything in depth. A simple read which as mentioned has not really revealed any secrets at all.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Customer Reviews
junk, 02 Aug 2008
As one other reviewer said: could have been written by anyone who kept a diary. I have lost interest after 3 chapters ( the trading floor had traders AND Market makers ????)
Save your money and buy liars poker instead.
City worker, beware...., 29 Jul 2008
What I find rather hilarious is that 90% of the negative reviews written about this book are written by past and present city workers who are obviously furious at the brutal, honest and hilarious portrayal of the average city 'fat cats' that Geraint has achieved so immaculately.
I would tell anyone else to not be swayed by these negative reviews - the book is truly unique and will make you laugh until it hurts. Its definately one on the funniest things I have read in a long time, and I salute Geraint for taking the courage to walk away from it all and expose the b******s for what they really are.
Interesting but not really that clever, 22 Jul 2008
Upon opening the book I was disappointed to read the disclaimer that it was purely a work of fiction based on his city experience. I was expecting a whistle blower's account but instead got a jaded hippy's story of what life might have been like.
Throughout the book I find myself taking a dislike to the greedy, selfish, drug addicted, hypocrite that is Steve the would-be anti-hero. The book isn't well written either with frequent bad language and crude saying taking the place of good sentences.
Disappointment and dislike aside I made it through the whole book and found the author's discussion on stock market crashes and bubbles over the last decade particularly interesting and insightful. For this reason the book is worth a read and I give it an honest 3/5.
Bloody Brilliant, 21 Jul 2008
I couldn't care less if this book is about fact or fiction. All I know is that I bought it at the airport and red 150 pages while waiting in the departure lounge. Another 100 pages on the plane, and a final 53 pages before going to sleep. Any book that keeps me reading has got to be worth a look.
Should be called 'City ego' - Geraint Anderson's autobiography, 15 Jul 2008
The inlay to this book tells us the author 'breaks the Square Mile's code of silence to reveal explosive secrets about what life is really like' but all I really discovered here was how big an ego one cityboy (like hundreds of others) can have.
The essence of the book is basically :
1. His brother got him a job in the city
2. He snorted cocaine
3. He lied his way from job to job, in the process gaining ludicrous bonuses and pay increases
4. How his main aim for 6 years was to outdo a fellow analyst, betting a £100k on it
5. Then at the end stick in some paragraphs about world peace and how the city is a place of greed and backstabbing (as if we did not know !)
I found nothing really new in the book having worked in the city for 13 years. Many people could have written this story. (if you keep a diary and are a city analyst/trader you may as well submit it to the publisher !).
The author gives us his life story of his time in the city over 300 pages but tends to give us history lessons (events in Corporate America and Black Monday) which have no correlation to the flow of the book.
Geraint Anderson is a classic story of working the system to his benefit, having fun on the way, sacrificing those around him and then leaving the city as he 'felt uncomfortable' with it, despite having earnt a fortune from it. Smells of double standards to me.
This is more for the airport folks who want to sit on a beach and not have to read anything in depth. A simple read which as mentioned has not really revealed any secrets at all.
What's the difference between a risk and an issue?, 10 Jul 2008
As the title suggests and the other reviewers have agreed, this is a great book about project management. At around 150 pages, it is quite short and although it is written in a light-hearted and engaging way it doesn't feel short on content. Real world advice is given in the areas listed below and you also get a feel for how the authors see these different pieces fitting together to support one another (i.e. running a lessons learned log alongside the risk and issues logs - facilitating early utilisation of new knowledge and removing the `chore' perception from an end of project lessons learned debrief). But if you would like really detailed information regarding any of them you may still end up buying supplemental materials, which is something that the authors admit and something I certainly intend to do:
* Project planning
* Risk and issue management
* Delivering quality
* Resource management
* Leading effective teams
* Productive meetings
* Facilitation skills
* Making use of lessons learned
Having started to study the Prince2 Manual, this book has been a welcome relief from its' very dry presentation, and at the same time a very good complement to the ideas and method set out within Prince2. As such I would certainly recommend Brilliant Project Management to anyone studying for Prince2 (which assume would also apply to MSP or other such methodologies); or for anyone new to project management; or for someone with experience under their belt but with a desire to raise the bar, be it in terms of performance, satisfaction, consistency or a combination of aforementioned.
Plain and simple language, 19 Jun 2008
I read it in a week, simple, plain and easy language.
Must buy for PMs.
I agree with the 5 stars for the other reviews!, 15 Jan 2008
Just to say, I've done my Prince2, read up on Scrum and Agile methods etc etc, but this book filled in the gaps - not just theory, but *practice* !!!
Practical, concise, and in my view essential.
A very clear and useful book, 03 Oct 2007
A colleague recommended this book to me and I've used it to help me with a bit of a runaway project I was landed with. The chapter on planning really hit home, it made me sit down and think again. I could see myself falling into the all pitfalls they described. It's given me a list of points to work through and some confidence that I'm going in the right direction now.
I've also used a lot of the ideas in the chapter dedicated to risks and issues. I've had plenty of these to deal with! I smiled and nodded my head when I read about people who see dealing with r&i as a boring administrative exercise. The book provides simple ways to turn this into a very useful exercise, how to get them under control and how to deal with the problems that matter.
I was in firefighting mode when I first read the book so I tended to dip into certain chapters. But now things are back on track I'm taking a more leisurely stroll through the book again. The advice on people management is paying dividends now, especially as I was coming close to making one of classic mistakes they described. Reading the chapter on lessons learned was very useful too, yet another area I paid very little attention too previously.
As a general point, the book helps you to think ahead and try to avoid storing problems up for yourself. The book has got loads of check-lists and "top tips" - which are practical and make the advice easy to take on board. Whilst there's nothing on project management tools (e.g. PRINCE) this is probably a plus point. You know that the advice comes from experience rather than trotting out dry theory.
Why it worked for me, 30 May 2007
I found this book particularly useful having been away from Project Management for about a six months as it gave me a quick overview of all the main areas of Project Management.
I was about to be given a new project and the handover to me was looming..... the chapter on planning was very helpful as it provided me with a healthcheck to run through when the project was handed over to me and a thorough checklist re what should be included in a project plan.
The book is easy to read as it concentrates on practise rather than theory, which is my biggest complaint with other project management books.
I would thorougly recommend this book to fellow project managers as a useful reminder of art of project management to dip in and out of as required.
|
|
|
 |
"Dragons' Den": Success, from Pitch to Profit
|
Duncan BannatyneDeborah MeadenPeter JonesRichard FarleighTheo PaphitisJames Caan;
;
|
|
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
|
*Amazon: £3.04
|
|
|
Customer Reviews
junk, 02 Aug 2008
As one other reviewer said: could have been written by anyone who kept a diary. I have lost interest after 3 chapters ( the trading floor had traders AND Market makers ????)
Save your money and buy liars poker instead.
City worker, beware...., 29 Jul 2008
What I find rather hilarious is that 90% of the negative reviews written about this book are written by past and present city workers who are obviously furious at the brutal, honest and hilarious portrayal of the average city 'fat cats' that Geraint has achieved so immaculately.
I would tell anyone else to not be swayed by these negative reviews - the book is truly unique and will make you laugh until it hurts. Its definately one on the funniest things I have read in a long time, and I salute Geraint for taking the courage to walk away from it all and expose the b******s for what they really are.
Interesting but not really that clever, 22 Jul 2008
Upon opening the book I was disappointed to read the disclaimer that it was purely a work of fiction based on his city experience. I was expecting a whistle blower's account but instead got a jaded hippy's story of what life might have been like.
Throughout the book I find myself taking a dislike to the greedy, selfish, drug addicted, hypocrite that is Steve the would-be anti-hero. The book isn't well written either with frequent bad language and crude saying taking the place of good sentences.
Disappointment and dislike aside I made it through the whole book and found the author's discussion on stock market crashes and bubbles over the last decade particularly interesting and insightful. For this reason the book is worth a read and I give it an honest 3/5.
Bloody Brilliant, 21 Jul 2008
I couldn't care less if this book is about fact or fiction. All I know is that I bought it at the airport and red 150 pages while waiting in the departure lounge. Another 100 pages on the plane, and a final 53 pages before going to sleep. Any book that keeps me reading has got to be worth a look.
Should be called 'City ego' - Geraint Anderson's autobiography, 15 Jul 2008
The inlay to this book tells us the author 'breaks the Square Mile's code of silence to reveal explosive secrets about what life is really like' but all I really discovered here was how big an ego one cityboy (like hundreds of others) can have.
The essence of the book is basically :
1. His brother got him a job in the city
2. He snorted cocaine
3. He lied his way from job to job, in the process gaining ludicrous bonuses and pay increases
4. How his main aim for 6 years was to outdo a fellow analyst, betting a £100k on it
5. Then at the end stick in some paragraphs about world peace and how the city is a place of greed and backstabbing (as if we did not know !)
I found nothing really new in the book having worked in the city for 13 years. Many people could have written this story. (if you keep a diary and are a city analyst/trader you may as well submit it to the publisher !).
The author gives us his life story of his time in the city over 300 pages but tends to give us history lessons (events in Corporate America and Black Monday) which have no correlation to the flow of the book.
Geraint Anderson is a classic story of working the system to his benefit, having fun on the way, sacrificing those around him and then leaving the city as he 'felt uncomfortable' with it, despite having earnt a fortune from it. Smells of double standards to me.
This is more for the airport folks who want to sit on a beach and not have to read anything in depth. A simple read which as mentioned has not really revealed any secrets at all.
What's the difference between a risk and an issue?, 10 Jul 2008
As the title suggests and the other reviewers have agreed, this is a great book about project management. At around 150 pages, it is quite short and although it is written in a light-hearted and engaging way it doesn't feel short on content. Real world advice is given in the areas listed below and you also get a feel for how the authors see these different pieces fitting together to support one another (i.e. running a lessons learned log alongside the risk and issues logs - facilitating early utilisation of new knowledge and removing the `chore' perception from an end of project lessons learned debrief). But if you would like really detailed information regarding any of them you may still end up buying supplemental materials, which is something that the authors admit and something I certainly intend to do:
* Project planning
* Risk and issue management
* Delivering quality
* Resource management
* Leading effective teams
* Productive meetings
* Facilitation skills
* Making use of lessons learned
Having started to study the Prince2 Manual, this book has been a welcome relief from its' very dry presentation, and at the same time a very good complement to the ideas and method set out within Prince2. As such I would certainly recommend Brilliant Project Management to anyone studying for Prince2 (which assume would also apply to MSP or other such methodologies); or for anyone new to project management; or for someone with experience under their belt but with a desire to raise the bar, be it in terms of performance, satisfaction, consistency or a combination of aforementioned.
Plain and simple language, 19 Jun 2008
I read it in a week, simple, plain and easy language.
Must buy for PMs.
I agree with the 5 stars for the other reviews!, 15 Jan 2008
Just to say, I've done my Prince2, read up on Scrum and Agile methods etc etc, but this book filled in the gaps - not just theory, but *practice* !!!
Practical, concise, and in my view essential.
A very clear and useful book, 03 Oct 2007
A colleague recommended this book to me and I've used it to help me with a bit of a runaway project I was landed with. The chapter on planning really hit home, it made me sit down and think again. I could see myself falling into the all pitfalls they described. It's given me a list of points to work through and some confidence that I'm going in the right direction now.
I've also used a lot of the ideas in the chapter dedicated to risks and issues. I've had plenty of these to deal with! I smiled and nodded my head when I read about people who see dealing with r&i as a boring administrative exercise. The book provides simple ways to turn this into a very useful exercise, how to get them under control and how to deal with the problems that matter.
I was in firefighting mode when I first read the book so I tended to dip into certain chapters. But now things are back on track I'm taking a more leisurely stroll through the book again. The advice on people management is paying dividends now, especially as I was coming close to making one of classic mistakes they described. Reading the chapter on lessons learned was very useful too, yet another area I paid very little attention too previously.
As a general point, the book helps you to think ahead and try to avoid storing problems up for yourself. The book has got loads of check-lists and "top tips" - which are practical and make the advice easy to take on board. Whilst there's nothing on project management tools (e.g. PRINCE) this is probably a plus point. You know that the advice comes from experience rather than trotting out dry theory.
Why it worked for me, 30 May 2007
I found this book particularly useful having been away from Project Management for about a six months as it gave me a quick overview of all the main areas of Project Management.
I was about to be given a new project and the handover to me was looming..... the chapter on planning was very helpful as it provided me with a healthcheck to run through when the project was handed over to me and a thorough checklist re what should be included in a project plan.
The book is easy to read as it concentrates on practise rather than theory, which is my biggest complaint with other project management books.
I would thorougly recommend this book to fellow project managers as a useful reminder of art of project management to dip in and out of as required.
From Riches to Riches, 20 Feb 2008
Not living in the UK, I actually hadn't seen the programme and the book was a christmas gift. It's an easy read telling some good stories - and let's face it, who doesn't like a good story? I found the dragons' backgrounds very interesting and some of their values very close to mine. Lots of ideas in there for the budding entrepreneur. Would I actually go on the show with my own ideas - I'm not so sure. Would I contact certain dragons with a solid business proposition - I hope so.
Educational?, 05 Feb 2008
This book probably is good in its content but unfortunately you soon realise that it is riddled with spelling errors and mistakes! Maybe its me being picky but surely when you spend £10 on a book you should expect the basics to be right. I lost count of how many spelling mistakes there were which suggests it was written and put together rather hastily.
This just serves to annoy the reader from start to finish.
Good but short, 07 Nov 2007
This is intresting however large font and information repeated mean that you don't get a massive amount of information from this book. However the advice and background on the Dragon's is intresting. Ewan's econimics section is very good and if you like the TV program then you should like this book.
Applied Language Solutions, "The one that got away", 08 Oct 2007
After reading the new Dragons Den book, I thought that like the programme it was extremely enjoyable. After watching the series, I was really interested in finding out more about the entrepreneurs and what happened next and the book helped me do exactly that.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a whole chapter dedicated to the company I work for, Applied Language Solutions and its founder, Gavin Wheeldon. The Dragons chose not to invest in Gavin's translation company but yet we have proved to be one of the most successful companies to appear before the dragons so far, "The one that got away." I thought it was commendable of the dragons to include both their successes and the investment opportunities they missed. It made the book a more interesting and believable read.
I would definitely recommend this book. If you are a fan of the programme or looking for tips on how to be the next Duncan Bannatyne this is the book for you.
LINGsCARS in DD Book! Hey, read about me! - Ling, 30 Sep 2007
Well, I have just received my pre-launch copy of this book. What a book! I have just re-read the whole thing again. Apart from the fact that I am the subject of one chapter (entirely accurate BBC content and perfect research about LINGsCARS.com, I must say - I have no quibbles with anything written about me), this whole book brilliantly inspires you and me with more ideas about being successful in business.
I really enjoyed my time on Dragons' Den and my business has more than doubled, since I went on the programme. It's a shame I haven't had the chance of first-hand advice from Richard Farleigh and Duncan Bannatyne since the show, but reading this book nearly makes up for that.
While I was in the BBC Dragons' Den warehouse filming, these two Dragons (Richard and Duncan) gave me more ideas about improvements to my contract hire and leasing, new car sales business. They suggested cross-selling insurance. I took them up on it and now earn over £1000 a month in referral commission purely from their idea. Thanks to these two Dragons! Many more ideas like this are contained in this book.
As an immigrant to the UK from China, I wish I had read a book like this 10 years ago! I would say - just buy it and read it again and again, especially at the discounted Amazon price. If anyone wants to contact me, anything @lingscars.com works.
Ling Valentine
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Customer Reviews
junk, 02 Aug 2008
As one other reviewer said: could have been written by anyone who kept a diary. I have lost interest after 3 chapters ( the trading floor had traders AND Market makers ????)
Save your money and buy liars poker instead.
City worker, beware...., 29 Jul 2008
What I find rather hilarious is that 90% of the negative reviews written about this book are written by past and present city workers who are obviously furious at the brutal, honest and hilarious portrayal of the average city 'fat cats' that Geraint has achieved so immaculately.
I would tell anyone else to not be swayed by these negative reviews - the book is truly unique and will make you laugh until it hurts. Its definately one on the funniest things I have read in a long time, and I salute Geraint for taking the courage to walk away from it all and expose the b******s for what they really are.
Interesting but not really that clever, 22 Jul 2008
Upon opening the book I was disappointed to read the disclaimer that it was purely a work of fiction based on his city experience. I was expecting a whistle blower's account but instead got a jaded hippy's story of what life might have been like.
Throughout the book I find myself taking a dislike to the greedy, selfish, drug addicted, hypocrite that is Steve the would-be anti-hero. The book isn't well written either with frequent bad language and crude saying taking the place of good sentences.
Disappointment and dislike aside I made it through the whole book and found the author's discussion on stock market crashes and bubbles over the last decade particularly interesting and insightful. For this reason the book is worth a read and I give it an honest 3/5.
Bloody Brilliant, 21 Jul 2008
I couldn't care less if this book is about fact or fiction. All I know is that I bought it at the airport and red 150 pages while waiting in the departure lounge. Another 100 pages on the plane, and a final 53 pages before going to sleep. Any book that keeps me reading has got to be worth a look.
Should be called 'City ego' - Geraint Anderson's autobiography, 15 Jul 2008
The inlay to this book tells us the author 'breaks the Square Mile's code of silence to reveal explosive secrets about what life is really like' but all I really discovered here was how big an ego one cityboy (like hundreds of others) can have.
The essence of the book is basically :
1. His brother got him a job in the city
2. He snorted cocaine
3. He lied his way from job to job, in the process gaining ludicrous bonuses and pay increases
4. How his main aim for 6 years was to outdo a fellow analyst, betting a £100k on it
5. Then at the end stick in some paragraphs about world peace and how the city is a place of greed and backstabbing (as if we did not know !)
I found nothing really new in the book having worked in the city for 13 years. Many people could have written this story. (if you keep a diary and are a city analyst/trader you may as well submit it to the publisher !).
The author gives us his life story of his time in the city over 300 pages but tends to give us history lessons (events in Corporate America and Black Monday) which have no correlation to the flow of the book.
Geraint Anderson is a classic story of working the system to his benefit, having fun on the way, sacrificing those around him and then leaving the city as he 'felt uncomfortable' with it, despite having earnt a fortune from it. Smells of double standards to me.
This is more for the airport folks who want to sit on a beach and not have to read anything in depth. A simple read which as mentioned has not really revealed any secrets at all.
What's the difference between a risk and an issue?, 10 Jul 2008
As the title suggests and the other reviewers have agreed, this is a great book about project management. At around 150 pages, it is quite short and although it is written in a light-hearted and engaging way it doesn't feel short on content. Real world advice is given in the areas listed below and you also get a feel for how the authors see these different pieces fitting together to support one another (i.e. running a lessons learned log alongside the risk and issues logs - facilitating early utilisation of new knowledge and removing the `chore' perception from an end of project lessons learned debrief). But if you would like really detailed information regarding any of them you may still end up buying supplemental materials, which is something that the authors admit and something I certainly intend to do:
* Project planning
* Risk and issue management
* Delivering quality
* Resource management
* Leading effective teams
* Productive meetings
* Facilitation skills
* Making use of lessons learned
Having started to study the Prince2 Manual, this book has been a welcome relief from its' very dry presentation, and at the same time a very good complement to the ideas and method set out within Prince2. As such I would certainly recommend Brilliant Project Management to anyone studying for Prince2 (which assume would also apply to MSP or other such methodologies); or for anyone new to project management; or for someone with experience under their belt but with a desire to raise the bar, be it in terms of performance, satisfaction, consistency or a combination of aforementioned.
Plain and simple language, 19 Jun 2008
I read it in a week, simple, plain and easy language.
Must buy for PMs.
I agree with the 5 stars for the other reviews!, 15 Jan 2008
Just to say, I've done my Prince2, read up on Scrum and Agile methods etc etc, but this book filled in the gaps - not just theory, but *practice* !!!
Practical, concise, and in my view essential.
A very clear and useful book, 03 Oct 2007
A colleague recommended this book to me and I've used it to help me with a bit of a runaway project I was landed with. The chapter on planning really hit home, it made me sit down and think again. I could see myself falling into the all pitfalls they described. It's given me a list of points to work through and some confidence that I'm going in the right direction now.
I've also used a lot of the ideas in the chapter dedicated to risks and issues. I've had plenty of these to deal with! I smiled and nodded my head when I read about people who see dealing with r&i as a boring administrative exercise. The book provides simple ways to turn this into a very useful exercise, how to get them under control and how to deal with the problems that matter.
I was in firefighting mode when I first read the book so I tended to dip into certain chapters. But now things are back on track I'm taking a more leisurely stroll through the book again. The advice on people management is paying dividends now, especially as I was coming close to making one of classic mistakes they described. Reading the chapter on lessons learned was very useful too, yet another area I paid very little attention too previously.
As a general point, the book helps you to think ahead and try to avoid storing problems up for yourself. The book has got loads of check-lists and "top tips" - which are practical and make the advice easy to take on board. Whilst there's nothing on project management tools (e.g. PRINCE) this is probably a plus point. You know that the advice comes from experience rather than trotting out dry theory.
Why it worked for me, 30 May 2007
I found this book particularly useful having been away from Project Management for about a six months as it gave me a quick overview of all the main areas of Project Management.
I was about to be given a new project and the handover to me was looming..... the chapter on planning was very helpful as it provided me with a healthcheck to run through when the project was handed over to me and a thorough checklist re what should be included in a project plan.
The book is easy to read as it concentrates on practise rather than theory, which is my biggest complaint with other project management books.
I would thorougly recommend this book to fellow project managers as a useful reminder of art of project management to dip in and out of as required.
From Riches to Riches, 20 Feb 2008
Not living in the UK, I actually hadn't seen the programme and the book was a christmas gift. It's an easy read telling some good stories - and let's face it, who doesn't like a good story? I found the dragons' backgrounds very interesting and some of their values very close to mine. Lots of ideas in there for the budding entrepreneur. Would I actually go on the show with my own ideas - I'm not so sure. Would I contact certain dragons with a solid business proposition - I hope so.
Educational?, 05 Feb 2008
This book probably is good in its content but unfortunately you soon realise that it is riddled with spelling errors and mistakes! Maybe its me being picky but surely when you spend £10 on a book you should expect the basics to be right. I lost count of how many spelling mistakes there were which suggests it was written and put together rather hastily.
This just serves to annoy the reader from start to finish.
Good but short, 07 Nov 2007
This is intresting however large font and information repeated mean that you don't get a massive amount of information from this book. However the advice and background on the Dragon's is intresting. Ewan's econimics section is very good and if you like the TV program then you should like this book.
Applied Language Solutions, "The one that got away", 08 Oct 2007
After reading the new Dragons Den book, I thought that like the programme it was extremely enjoyable. After watching the series, I was really interested in finding out more about the entrepreneurs and what happened next and the book helped me do exactly that.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a whole chapter dedicated to the company I work for, Applied Language Solutions and its founder, Gavin Wheeldon. The Dragons chose not to invest in Gavin's translation company but yet we have proved to be one of the most successful companies to appear before the dragons so far, "The one that got away." I thought it was commendable of the dragons to include both their successes and the investment opportunities they missed. It made the book a more interesting and believable read.
I would definitely recommend this book. If you are a fan of the programme or looking for tips on how to be the next Duncan Bannatyne this is the book for you.
LINGsCARS in DD Book! Hey, read about me! - Ling, 30 Sep 2007
Well, I have just received my pre-launch copy of this book. What a book! I have just re-read the whole thing again. Apart from the fact that I am the subject of one chapter (entirely accurate BBC content and perfect research about LINGsCARS.com, I must say - I have no quibbles with anything written about me), this whole book brilliantly inspires you and me with more ideas about being successful in business.
I really enjoyed my time on Dragons' Den and my business has more than doubled, since I went on the programme. It's a shame I haven't had the chance of first-hand advice from Richard Farleigh and Duncan Bannatyne since the show, but reading this book nearly makes up for that.
While I was in the BBC Dragons' Den warehouse filming, these two Dragons (Richard and Duncan) gave me more ideas about improvements to my contract hire and leasing, new car sales business. They suggested cross-selling insurance. I took them up on it and now earn over £1000 a month in referral commission purely from their idea. Thanks to these two Dragons! Many more ideas like this are contained in this book.
As an immigrant to the UK from China, I wish I had read a book like this 10 years ago! I would say - just buy it and read it again and again, especially at the discounted Amazon price. If anyone wants to contact me, anything @lingscars.com works.
Ling Valentine
Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.
good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)
Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.
Great., 05 Mar 2008
Although I have yet to find the time, spare cash or the confidence to start trading I do think that this book will prove invaluable to me when I finally do. The advice is not going to guarantee you a fortune over night or even guarantee you success. However it will make the whole world of stocks and shares much less of a mystery whilst providing you with some very useful hints tips and information. Looking over some of my friend's dealings and losses I now understand approximately where they may have gone wrong. Had they read this book first they may have saved themselves some money. Even such seemingly simple advice about setting loss stops and never buying into the `falling knife' stocks is very helpful. The author includes many examples of winning and losing scenarios as well as pointers on where deals often go wrong.
As other reviewers have said the book is very easy to read in a sitting or two, and also amusing in places.
I will be passing this on to my unsuccessful share dealing friends, and recommend it to anyone still in their early days of dealing.
Bloody Awesome!!!, 04 Feb 2008
I have just finished this book and by 'just', i mean 2 minutes ago. Secondly, i have never written a review as normally can't be arsed for that kind of thing, however, i am moved by this book!
As an absolte newbie to this world, i found it extremely informative, written in plain English rather than 'over using' ridiculous amounts of complicated financial terminology.
Following this read, two things are going to happen;
1) I am going to start trading in shares
2) I am going to one of Robbies (The Naked Trader Himself) seminars for a full days 'education'.
Most importantly though, the book is excellently executed in that it has the same magnetic hold as when reading a novel and this just makes the inormation sink in that much easier!
WELL DONE MR NT!
In summary..........
If you want to get in to shares - this is an absolute must!!!!!!!!!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Customer Reviews
junk, 02 Aug 2008
As one other reviewer said: could have been written by anyone who kept a diary. I have lost interest after 3 chapters ( the trading floor had traders AND Market makers ????)
Save your money and buy liars poker instead.
City worker, beware...., 29 Jul 2008
What I find rather hilarious is that 90% of the negative reviews written about this book are written by past and present city workers who are obviously furious at the brutal, honest and hilarious portrayal of the average city 'fat cats' that Geraint has achieved so immaculately.
I would tell anyone else to not be swayed by these negative reviews - the book is truly unique and will make you laugh until it hurts. Its definately one on the funniest things I have read in a long time, and I salute Geraint for taking the courage to walk away from it all and expose the b******s for what they really are.
Interesting but not really that clever, 22 Jul 2008
Upon opening the book I was disappointed to read the disclaimer that it was purely a work of fiction based on his city experience. I was expecting a whistle blower's account but instead got a jaded hippy's story of what life might have been like.
Throughout the book I find myself taking a dislike to the greedy, selfish, drug addicted, hypocrite that is Steve the would-be anti-hero. The book isn't well written either with frequent bad language and crude saying taking the place of good sentences.
Disappointment and dislike aside I made it through the whole book and found the author's discussion on stock market crashes and bubbles over the last decade particularly interesting and insightful. For this reason the book is worth a read and I give it an honest 3/5.
Bloody Brilliant, 21 Jul 2008
I couldn't care less if this book is about fact or fiction. All I know is that I bought it at the airport and red 150 pages while waiting in the departure lounge. Another 100 pages on the plane, and a final 53 pages before going to sleep. Any book that keeps me reading has got to be worth a look.
Should be called 'City ego' - Geraint Anderson's autobiography, 15 Jul 2008
The inlay to this book tells us the author 'breaks the Square Mile's code of silence to reveal explosive secrets about what life is really like' but all I really discovered here was how big an ego one cityboy (like hundreds of others) can have.
The essence of the book is basically :
1. His brother got him a job in the city
2. He snorted cocaine
3. He lied his way from job to job, in the process gaining ludicrous bonuses and pay increases
4. How his main aim for 6 years was to outdo a fellow analyst, betting a £100k on it
5. Then at the end stick in some paragraphs about world peace and how the city is a place of greed and backstabbing (as if we did not know !)
I found nothing really new in the book having worked in the city for 13 years. Many people could have written this story. (if you keep a diary and are a city analyst/trader you may as well submit it to the publisher !).
The author gives us his life story of his time in the city over 300 pages but tends to give us history lessons (events in Corporate America and Black Monday) which have no correlation to the flow of the book.
Geraint Anderson is a classic story of working the system to his benefit, having fun on the way, sacrificing those around him and then leaving the city as he 'felt uncomfortable' with it, despite having earnt a fortune from it. Smells of double standards to me.
This is more for the airport folks who want to sit on a beach and not have to read anything in depth. A simple read which as mentioned has not really revealed any secrets at all.
What's the difference between a risk and an issue?, 10 Jul 2008
As the title suggests and the other reviewers have agreed, this is a great book about project management. At around 150 pages, it is quite short and although it is written in a light-hearted and engaging way it doesn't feel short on content. Real world advice is given in the areas listed below and you also get a feel for how the authors see these different pieces fitting together to support one another (i.e. running a lessons learned log alongside the risk and issues logs - facilitating early utilisation of new knowledge and removing the `chore' perception from an end of project lessons learned debrief). But if you would like really detailed information regarding any of them you may still end up buying supplemental materials, which is something that the authors admit and something I certainly intend to do:
* Project planning
* Risk and issue management
* Delivering quality
* Resource management
* Leading effective teams
* Productive meetings
* Facilitation skills
* Making use of lessons learned
Having started to study the Prince2 Manual, this book has been a welcome relief from its' very dry presentation, and at the same time a very good complement to the ideas and method set out within Prince2. As such I would certainly recommend Brilliant Project Management to anyone studying for Prince2 (which assume would also apply to MSP or other such methodologies); or for anyone new to project management; or for someone with experience under their belt but with a desire to raise the bar, be it in terms of performance, satisfaction, consistency or a combination of aforementioned.
Plain and simple language, 19 Jun 2008
I read it in a week, simple, plain and easy language.
Must buy for PMs.
I agree with the 5 stars for the other reviews!, 15 Jan 2008
Just to say, I've done my Prince2, read up on Scrum and Agile methods etc etc, but this book filled in the gaps - not just theory, but *practice* !!!
Practical, concise, and in my view essential.
A very clear and useful book, 03 Oct 2007
A colleague recommended this book to me and I've used it to help me with a bit of a runaway project I was landed with. The chapter on planning really hit home, it made me sit down and think again. I could see myself falling into the all pitfalls they described. It's given me a list of points to work through and some confidence that I'm going in the right direction now.
I've also used a lot of the ideas in the chapter dedicated to risks and issues. I've had plenty of these to deal with! I smiled and nodded my head when I read about people who see dealing with r&i as a boring administrative exercise. The book provides simple ways to turn this into a very useful exercise, how to get them under control and how to deal with the problems that matter.
I was in firefighting mode when I first read the book so I tended to dip into certain chapters. But now things are back on track I'm taking a more leisurely stroll through the book again. The advice on people management is paying dividends now, especially as I was coming close to making one of classic mistakes they described. Reading the chapter on lessons learned was very useful too, yet another area I paid very little attention too previously.
As a general point, the book helps you to think ahead and try to avoid storing problems up for yourself. The book has got loads of check-lists and "top tips" - which are practical and make the advice easy to take on board. Whilst there's nothing on project management tools (e.g. PRINCE) this is probably a plus point. You know that the advice comes from experience rather than trotting out dry theory.
Why it worked for me, 30 May 2007
I found this book particularly useful having been away from Project Management for about a six months as it gave me a quick overview of all the main areas of Project Management.
I was about to be given a new project and the handover to me was looming..... the chapter on planning was very helpful as it provided me with a healthcheck to run through when the project was handed over to me and a thorough checklist re what should be included in a project plan.
The book is easy to read as it concentrates on practise rather than theory, which is my biggest complaint with other project management books.
I would thorougly recommend this book to fellow project managers as a useful reminder of art of project management to dip in and out of as required.
From Riches to Riches, 20 Feb 2008
Not living in the UK, I actually hadn't seen the programme and the book was a christmas gift. It's an easy read telling some good stories - and let's face it, who doesn't like a good story? I found the dragons' backgrounds very interesting and some of their values very close to mine. Lots of ideas in there for the budding entrepreneur. Would I actually go on the show with my own ideas - I'm not so sure. Would I contact certain dragons with a solid business proposition - I hope so.
Educational?, 05 Feb 2008
This book probably is good in its content but unfortunately you soon realise that it is riddled with spelling errors and mistakes! Maybe its me being picky but surely when you spend £10 on a book you should expect the basics to be right. I lost count of how many spelling mistakes there were which suggests it was written and put together rather hastily.
This just serves to annoy the reader from start to finish.
Good but short, 07 Nov 2007
This is intresting however large font and information repeated mean that you don't get a massive amount of information from this book. However the advice and background on the Dragon's is intresting. Ewan's econimics section is very good and if you like the TV program then you should like this book.
Applied Language Solutions, "The one that got away", 08 Oct 2007
After reading the new Dragons Den book, I thought that like the programme it was extremely enjoyable. After watching the series, I was really interested in finding out more about the entrepreneurs and what happened next and the book helped me do exactly that.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a whole chapter dedicated to the company I work for, Applied Language Solutions and its founder, Gavin Wheeldon. The Dragons chose not to invest in Gavin's translation company but yet we have proved to be one of the most successful companies to appear before the dragons so far, "The one that got away." I thought it was commendable of the dragons to include both their successes and the investment opportunities they missed. It made the book a more interesting and believable read.
I would definitely recommend this book. If you are a fan of the programme or looking for tips on how to be the next Duncan Bannatyne this is the book for you.
LINGsCARS in DD Book! Hey, read about me! - Ling, 30 Sep 2007
Well, I have just received my pre-launch copy of this book. What a book! I have just re-read the whole thing again. Apart from the fact that I am the subject of one chapter (entirely accurate BBC content and perfect research about LINGsCARS.com, I must say - I have no quibbles with anything written about me), this whole book brilliantly inspires you and me with more ideas about being successful in business.
I really enjoyed my time on Dragons' Den and my business has more than doubled, since I went on the programme. It's a shame I haven't had the chance of first-hand advice from Richard Farleigh and Duncan Bannatyne since the show, but reading this book nearly makes up for that.
While I was in the BBC Dragons' Den warehouse filming, these two Dragons (Richard and Duncan) gave me more ideas about improvements to my contract hire and leasing, new car sales business. They suggested cross-selling insurance. I took them up on it and now earn over £1000 a month in referral commission purely from their idea. Thanks to these two Dragons! Many more ideas like this are contained in this book.
As an immigrant to the UK from China, I wish I had read a book like this 10 years ago! I would say - just buy it and read it again and again, especially at the discounted Amazon price. If anyone wants to contact me, anything @lingscars.com works.
Ling Valentine
Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.
good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)
Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.
Great., 05 Mar 2008
Although I have yet to find the time, spare cash or the confidence to start trading I do think that this book will prove invaluable to me when I finally do. The advice is not going to guarantee you a fortune over night or even guarantee you success. However it will make the whole world of stocks and shares much less of a mystery whilst providing you with some very useful hints tips and information. Looking over some of my friend's dealings and losses I now understand approximately where they may have gone wrong. Had they read this book first they may have saved themselves some money. Even such seemingly simple advice about setting loss stops and never buying into the `falling knife' stocks is very helpful. The author includes many examples of winning and losing scenarios as well as pointers on where deals often go wrong.
As other reviewers have said the book is very easy to read in a sitting or two, and also amusing in places.
I will be passing this on to my unsuccessful share dealing friends, and recommend it to anyone still in their early days of dealing.
Bloody Awesome!!!, 04 Feb 2008
I have just finished this book and by 'just', i mean 2 minutes ago. Secondly, i have never written a review as normally can't be arsed for that kind of thing, however, i am moved by this book!
As an absolte newbie to this world, i found it extremely informative, written in plain English rather than 'over using' ridiculous amounts of complicated financial terminology.
Following this read, two things are going to happen;
1) I am going to start trading in shares
2) I am going to one of Robbies (The Naked Trader Himself) seminars for a full days 'education'.
Most importantly though, the book is excellently executed in that it has the same magnetic hold as when reading a novel and this just makes the inormation sink in that much easier!
WELL DONE MR NT!
In summary..........
If you want to get in to shares - this is an absolute must!!!!!!!!!!!
Uninspiring, 22 Feb 2008
As someone keen to learn from entrepreneurs I didn't find this book useful; it is too brief and lacking in substance to be of any real use in that respect. I like Richard Branson and feel that he surely has much more insight to offer than is contained within this short book, so I will probably buy his full autobiography.
To coin an old cliché "short and sweet", 20 Jan 2008
Having not read Richard Branson's biog, I would have to assume that many of the stories of inspiration he uses have been well covered before. To me it was new material and added lots of insight into a great business mind.
A short book that I read in just two sittings. I only put it down the first time because I had to go to work! Best 'three quid' I have spent recently.
Get the full story!, 04 Jan 2008
I have read Richard Branson biography, Losing my Virginity only recently and so this book contains nothing new...too bad i bought this one. Although cheap it's not really worth the money i have to admit. Go for his book, Losing my Virginity and you will get your money's worth! I don't understand the marketing strategy, if they even had one with this one!
Quick read, shallow story ...., 05 Dec 2007
I'm reviewing this book, not the man. The book is so concise (big print, designed for emergent readers) that even though you get through it cover to cover in just two hours there is very little satisfaction to be had.
It's a collection of snippets. Those who composed it do not even do us the service of keeping it to a decent chronological flow. It leaps back and forth chapter by chapter.
In compressing so many deeds into so few pages, I was left with the perception that Richard Branson was very smug; I did this good deed, then I had this great adventure, then I set up and sold a big business for a large profit, then I brokered a hostage-saving deal with Saddam Hussein, then I persuaded Elton John to sing at Princess Diana's funeral. I am sure that he is not the smug man that this book might lead you to believe. I would guess that you'd be better served (and learn more) by reading a fuller story.
PS I had to laugh at the Scottish reviewer of this book who worked out that he'd gotten just two words to the penny! Laugh out Loud!!
Easy way to learn from the best, 12 Nov 2007
There's no debate about it- Sir Richard Branson is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time and a role model for so many.
Im a big believer that if you want to be like the best, you need to learn from the best. This book helps you do just that.
Great business and life concepts are easily explained. And at a bargain price- what more do you want?
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Customer Reviews
junk, 02 Aug 2008
As one other reviewer said: could have been written by anyone who kept a diary. I have lost interest after 3 chapters ( the trading floor had traders AND Market makers ????)
Save your money and buy liars poker instead.
City worker, beware...., 29 Jul 2008
What I find rather hilarious is that 90% of the negative reviews written about this book are written by past and present city workers who are obviously furious at the brutal, honest and hilarious portrayal of the average city 'fat cats' that Geraint has achieved so immaculately.
I would tell anyone else to not be swayed by these negative reviews - the book is truly unique and will make you laugh until it hurts. Its definately one on the funniest things I have read in a long time, and I salute Geraint for taking the courage to walk away from it all and expose the b******s for what they really are.
Interesting but not really that clever, 22 Jul 2008
Upon opening the book I was disappointed to read the disclaimer that it was purely a work of fiction based on his city experience. I was expecting a whistle blower's account but instead got a jaded hippy's story of what life might have been like.
Throughout the book I find myself taking a dislike to the greedy, selfish, drug addicted, hypocrite that is Steve the would-be anti-hero. The book isn't well written either with frequent bad language and crude saying taking the place of good sentences.
Disappointment and dislike aside I made it through the whole book and found the author's discussion on stock market crashes and bubbles over the last decade particularly interesting and insightful. For this reason the book is worth a read and I give it an honest 3/5.
Bloody Brilliant, 21 Jul 2008
I couldn't care less if this book is about fact or fiction. All I know is that I bought it at the airport and red 150 pages while waiting in the departure lounge. Another 100 pages on the plane, and a final 53 pages before going to sleep. Any book that keeps me reading has got to be worth a look.
Should be called 'City ego' - Geraint Anderson's autobiography, 15 Jul 2008
The inlay to this book tells us the author 'breaks the Square Mile's code of silence to reveal explosive secrets about what life is really like' but all I really discovered here was how big an ego one cityboy (like hundreds of others) can have.
The essence of the book is basically :
1. His brother got him a job in the city
2. He snorted cocaine
3. He lied his way from job to job, in the process gaining ludicrous bonuses and pay increases
4. How his main aim for 6 years was to outdo a fellow analyst, betting a £100k on it
5. Then at the end stick in some paragraphs about world peace and how the city is a place of greed and backstabbing (as if we did not know !)
I found nothing really new in the book having worked in the city for 13 years. Many people could have written this story. (if you keep a diary and are a city analyst/trader you may as well submit it to the publisher !).
The author gives us his life story of his time in the city over 300 pages but tends to give us history lessons (events in Corporate America and Black Monday) which have no correlation to the flow of the book.
Geraint Anderson is a classic story of working the system to his benefit, having fun on the way, sacrificing those around him and then leaving the city as he 'felt uncomfortable' with it, despite having earnt a fortune from it. Smells of double standards to me.
This is more for the airport folks who want to sit on a beach and not have to read anything in depth. A simple read which as mentioned has not really revealed any secrets at all.
What's the difference between a risk and an issue?, 10 Jul 2008
As the title suggests and the other reviewers have agreed, this is a great book about project management. At around 150 pages, it is quite short and although it is written in a light-hearted and engaging way it doesn't feel short on content. Real world advice is given in the areas listed below and you also get a feel for how the authors see these different pieces fitting together to support one another (i.e. running a lessons learned log alongside the risk and issues logs - facilitating early utilisation of new knowledge and removing the `chore' perception from an end of project lessons learned debrief). But if you would like really detailed information regarding any of them you may still end up buying supplemental materials, which is something that the authors admit and something I certainly intend to do:
* Project planning
* Risk and issue management
* Delivering quality
* Resource management
* Leading effective teams
* Productive meetings
* Facilitation skills
* Making use of lessons learned
Having started to study the Prince2 Manual, this book has been a welcome relief from its' very dry presentation, and at the same time a very good complement to the ideas and method set out within Prince2. As such I would certainly recommend Brilliant Project Management to anyone studying for Prince2 (which assume would also apply to MSP or other such methodologies); or for anyone new to project management; or for someone with experience under their belt but with a desire to raise the bar, be it in terms of performance, satisfaction, consistency or a combination of aforementioned.
Plain and simple language, 19 Jun 2008
I read it in a week, simple, plain and easy language.
Must buy for PMs.
I agree with the 5 stars for the other reviews!, 15 Jan 2008
Just to say, I've done my Prince2, read up on Scrum and Agile methods etc etc, but this book filled in the gaps - not just theory, but *practice* !!!
Practical, concise, and in my view essential.
A very clear and useful book, 03 Oct 2007
A colleague recommended this book to me and I've used it to help me with a bit of a runaway project I was landed with. The chapter on planning really hit home, it made me sit down and think again. I could see myself falling into the all pitfalls they described. It's given me a list of points to work through and some confidence that I'm going in the right direction now.
I've also used a lot of the ideas in the chapter dedicated to risks and issues. I've had plenty of these to deal with! I smiled and nodded my head when I read about people who see dealing with r&i as a boring administrative exercise. The book provides simple ways to turn this into a very useful exercise, how to get them under control and how to deal with the problems that matter.
I was in firefighting mode when I first read the book so I tended to dip into certain chapters. But now things are back on track I'm taking a more leisurely stroll through the book again. The advice on people management is paying dividends now, especially as I was coming close to making one of classic mistakes they described. Reading the chapter on lessons learned was very useful too, yet another area I paid very little attention too previously.
As a general point, the book helps you to think ahead and try to avoid storing problems up for yourself. The book has got loads of check-lists and "top tips" - which are practical and make the advice easy to take on board. Whilst there's nothing on project management tools (e.g. PRINCE) this is probably a plus point. You know that the advice comes from experience rather than trotting out dry theory.
Why it worked for me, 30 May 2007
I found this book particularly useful having been away from Project Management for about a six months as it gave me a quick overview of all the main areas of Project Management.
I was about to be given a new project and the handover to me was looming..... the chapter on planning was very helpful as it provided me with a healthcheck to run through when the project was handed over to me and a thorough checklist re what should be included in a project plan.
The book is easy to read as it concentrates on practise rather than theory, which is my biggest complaint with other project management books.
I would thorougly recommend this book to fellow project managers as a useful reminder of art of project management to dip in and out of as required.
From Riches to Riches, 20 Feb 2008
Not living in the UK, I actually hadn't seen the programme and the book was a christmas gift. It's an easy read telling some good stories - and let's face it, who doesn't like a good story? I found the dragons' backgrounds very interesting and some of their values very close to mine. Lots of ideas in there for the budding entrepreneur. Would I actually go on the show with my own ideas - I'm not so sure. Would I contact certain dragons with a solid business proposition - I hope so.
Educational?, 05 Feb 2008
This book probably is good in its content but unfortunately you soon realise that it is riddled with spelling errors and mistakes! Maybe its me being picky but surely when you spend £10 on a book you should expect the basics to be right. I lost count of how many spelling mistakes there were which suggests it was written and put together rather hastily.
This just serves to annoy the reader from start to finish.
Good but short, 07 Nov 2007
This is intresting however large font and information repeated mean that you don't get a massive amount of information from this book. However the advice and background on the Dragon's is intresting. Ewan's econimics section is very good and if you like the TV program then you should like this book.
Applied Language Solutions, "The one that got away", 08 Oct 2007
After reading the new Dragons Den book, I thought that like the programme it was extremely enjoyable. After watching the series, I was really interested in finding out more about the entrepreneurs and what happened next and the book helped me do exactly that.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a whole chapter dedicated to the company I work for, Applied Language Solutions and its founder, Gavin Wheeldon. The Dragons chose not to invest in Gavin's translation company but yet we have proved to be one of the most successful companies to appear before the dragons so far, "The one that got away." I thought it was commendable of the dragons to include both their successes and the investment opportunities they missed. It made the book a more interesting and believable read.
I would definitely recommend this book. If you are a fan of the programme or looking for tips on how to be the next Duncan Bannatyne this is the book for you.
LINGsCARS in DD Book! Hey, read about me! - Ling, 30 Sep 2007
Well, I have just received my pre-launch copy of this book. What a book! I have just re-read the whole thing again. Apart from the fact that I am the subject of one chapter (entirely accurate BBC content and perfect research about LINGsCARS.com, I must say - I have no quibbles with anything written about me), this whole book brilliantly inspires you and me with more ideas about being successful in business.
I really enjoyed my time on Dragons' Den and my business has more than doubled, since I went on the programme. It's a shame I haven't had the chance of first-hand advice from Richard Farleigh and Duncan Bannatyne since the show, but reading this book nearly makes up for that.
While I was in the BBC Dragons' Den warehouse filming, these two Dragons (Richard and Duncan) gave me more ideas about improvements to my contract hire and leasing, new car sales business. They suggested cross-selling insurance. I took them up on it and now earn over £1000 a month in referral commission purely from their idea. Thanks to these two Dragons! Many more ideas like this are contained in this book.
As an immigrant to the UK from China, I wish I had read a book like this 10 years ago! I would say - just buy it and read it again and again, especially at the discounted Amazon price. If anyone wants to contact me, anything @lingscars.com works.
Ling Valentine
Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.
good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)
Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.
Great., 05 Mar 2008
Although I have yet to find the time, spare cash or the confidence to start trading I do think that this book will prove invaluable to me when I finally do. The advice is not going to guarantee you a fortune over night or even guarantee you success. However it will make the whole world of stocks and shares much less of a mystery whilst providing you with some very useful hints tips and information. Looking over some of my friend's dealings and losses I now understand approximately where they may have gone wrong. Had they read this book first they may have saved themselves some money. Even such seemingly simple advice about setting loss stops and never buying into the `falling knife' stocks is very helpful. The author includes many examples of winning and losing scenarios as well as pointers on where deals often go wrong.
As other reviewers have said the book is very easy to read in a sitting or two, and also amusing in places.
I will be passing this on to my unsuccessful share dealing friends, and recommend it to anyone still in their early days of dealing.
Bloody Awesome!!!, 04 Feb 2008
I have just finished this book and by 'just', i mean 2 minutes ago. Secondly, i have never written a review as normally can't be arsed for that kind of thing, however, i am moved by this book!
As an absolte newbie to this world, i found it extremely informative, written in plain English rather than 'over using' ridiculous amounts of complicated financial terminology.
Following this read, two things are going to happen;
1) I am going to start trading in shares
2) I am going to one of Robbies (The Naked Trader Himself) seminars for a full days 'education'.
Most importantly though, the book is excellently executed in that it has the same magnetic hold as when reading a novel and this just makes the inormation sink in that much easier!
WELL DONE MR NT!
In summary..........
If you want to get in to shares - this is an absolute must!!!!!!!!!!!
Uninspiring, 22 Feb 2008
As someone keen to learn from entrepreneurs I didn't find this book useful; it is too brief and lacking in substance to be of any real use in that respect. I like Richard Branson and feel that he surely has much more insight to offer than is contained within this short book, so I will probably buy his full autobiography.
To coin an old cliché "short and sweet", 20 Jan 2008
Having not read Richard Branson's biog, I would have to assume that many of the stories of inspiration he uses have been well covered before. To me it was new material and added lots of insight into a great business mind.
A short book that I read in just two sittings. I only put it down the first time because I had to go to work! Best 'three quid' I have spent recently.
Get the full story!, 04 Jan 2008
I have read Richard Branson biography, Losing my Virginity only recently and so this book contains nothing new...too bad i bought this one. Although cheap it's not really worth the money i have to admit. Go for his book, Losing my Virginity and you will get your money's worth! I don't understand the marketing strategy, if they even had one with this one!
Quick read, shallow story ...., 05 Dec 2007
I'm reviewing this book, not the man. The book is so concise (big print, designed for emergent readers) that even though you get through it cover to cover in just two hours there is very little satisfaction to be had.
It's a collection of snippets. Those who composed it do not even do us the service of keeping it to a decent chronological flow. It leaps back and forth chapter by chapter.
In compressing so many deeds into so few pages, I was left with the perception that Richard Branson was very smug; I did this good deed, then I had this great adventure, then I set up and sold a big business for a large profit, then I brokered a hostage-saving deal with Saddam Hussein, then I persuaded Elton John to sing at Princess Diana's funeral. I am sure that he is not the smug man that this book might lead you to believe. I would guess that you'd be better served (and learn more) by reading a fuller story.
PS I had to laugh at the Scottish reviewer of this book who worked out that he'd gotten just two words to the penny! Laugh out Loud!!
Easy way to learn from the best, 12 Nov 2007
There's no debate about it- Sir Richard Branson is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time and a role model for so many.
Im a big believer that if you want to be like the best, you need to learn from the best. This book helps you do just that.
Great business and life concepts are easily explained. And at a bargain price- what more do you want?
Malcolm is the man, 11 Jul 2008
This book is brilliant, and the perfect guide to get you started on the right foot with Spread Betting. Even if you do find some of the concepts a little tricky at first, stick with it, and all will become clear.
Some might think Malcolm is a little patronising or just pointing out the plain obvious at times, personally I just think he's thorough. 100% recommended!
A useful guide for making money, 18 Mar 2008
This book is a thoughtful guide to making money through spread betting. This is particularly useful at present when many people are burning through having geared long positions in a difficult market. Malcolm suggests ways of controlling risk while not being tied to a particular market direction. If the advice is followed, more people will be able to sleep easy!
Essential reading if you spreadbet, 06 Feb 2008
After reading this book my spreadbetting improved drastically. Anyone who follows the principles in this book will have the edge over others who do not.
The book is an honest attemmpt to teach people how to become profitable at spreadbetting from someone who already is. It is laid out in a logical format and is very readable.
If you spreadbet you really need to read this book!
Too short for the money!, 27 Nov 2007
I agree with some of what has been written in the other reviews but the important bits are all too short for the money.
There seems to be as many chapters as there are pages and there are many white pages. And, a few of the chapters are just a page or two long.
If you didn't know... a computer is useful for spread betting these days. Wow! Thanks Malcolm.
A MUST HAVE FOR ALL SPREADBETTERS, 04 Oct 2007
I bought this book a few months ago when I started spreadbetting. It has been an invaluable resource and I am always referring to it. Every page has valuable information and I keep on re-reading certain parts. It teaches the fact that spread betting is not a game and you have to have a systematic approach otherwise you'll lose money. You may still gain from studying technical analysis in more detail though this is also covered somewhat in the book.Highly recommended.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Customer Reviews
junk, 02 Aug 2008
As one other reviewer said: could have been written by anyone who kept a diary. I have lost interest after 3 chapters ( the trading floor had traders AND Market makers ????)
Save your money and buy liars poker instead.
City worker, beware...., 29 Jul 2008
What I find rather hilarious is that 90% of the negative reviews written about this book are written by past and present city workers who are obviously furious at the brutal, honest and hilarious portrayal of the average city 'fat cats' that Geraint has achieved so immaculately.
I would tell anyone else to not be swayed by these negative reviews - the book is truly unique and will make you laugh until it hurts. Its definately one on the funniest things I have read in a long time, and I salute Geraint for taking the courage to walk away from it all and expose the b******s for what they really are.
Interesting but not really that clever, 22 Jul 2008
Upon opening the book I was disappointed to read the disclaimer that it was purely a work of fiction based on his city experience. I was expecting a whistle blower's account but instead got a jaded hippy's story of what life might have been like.
Throughout the book I find myself taking a dislike to the greedy, selfish, drug addicted, hypocrite that is Steve the would-be anti-hero. The book isn't well written either with frequent bad language and crude saying taking the place of good sentences.
Disappointment and dislike aside I made it through the whole book and found the author's discussion on stock market crashes and bubbles over the last decade particularly interesting and insightful. For this reason the book is worth a read and I give it an honest 3/5.
Bloody Brilliant, 21 Jul 2008
I couldn't care less if this book is about fact or fiction. All I know is that I bought it at the airport and red 150 pages while waiting in the departure lounge. Another 100 pages on the plane, and a final 53 pages before going to sleep. Any book that keeps me reading has got to be worth a look.
Should be called 'City ego' - Geraint Anderson's autobiography, 15 Jul 2008
The inlay to this book tells us the author 'breaks the Square Mile's code of silence to reveal explosive secrets about what life is really like' but all I really discovered here was how big an ego one cityboy (like hundreds of others) can have.
The essence of the book is basically :
1. His brother got him a job in the city
2. He snorted cocaine
3. He lied his way from job to job, in the process gaining ludicrous bonuses and pay increases
4. How his main aim for 6 years was to outdo a fellow analyst, betting a £100k on it
5. Then at the end stick in some paragraphs about world peace and how the city is a place of greed and backstabbing (as if we did not know !)
I found nothing really new in the book having worked in the city for 13 years. Many people could have written this story. (if you keep a diary and are a city analyst/trader you may as well submit it to the publisher !).
The author gives us his life story of his time in the city over 300 pages but tends to give us history lessons (events in Corporate America and Black Monday) which have no correlation to the flow of the book.
Geraint Anderson is a classic story of working the system to his benefit, having fun on the way, sacrificing those around him and then leaving the city as he 'felt uncomfortable' with it, despite having earnt a fortune from it. Smells of double standards to me.
This is more for the airport folks who want to sit on a beach and not have to read anything in depth. A simple read which as mentioned has not really revealed any secrets at all.
What's the difference between a risk and an issue?, 10 Jul 2008
As the title suggests and the other reviewers have agreed, this is a great book about project management. At around 150 pages, it is quite short and although it is written in a light-hearted and engaging way it doesn't feel short on content. Real world advice is given in the areas listed below and you also get a feel for how the authors see these different pieces fitting together to support one another (i.e. running a lessons learned log alongside the risk and issues logs - facilitating early utilisation of new knowledge and removing the `chore' perception from an end of project lessons learned debrief). But if you would like really detailed information regarding any of them you may still end up buying supplemental materials, which is something that the authors admit and something I certainly intend to do:
* Project planning
* Risk and issue management
* Delivering quality
* Resource management
* Leading effective teams
* Productive meetings
* Facilitation skills
* Making use of lessons learned
Having started to study the Prince2 Manual, this book has been a welcome relief from its' very dry presentation, and at the same time a very good complement to the ideas and method set out within Prince2. As such I would certainly recommend Brilliant Project Management to anyone studying for Prince2 (which assume would also apply to MSP or other such methodologies); or for anyone new to project management; or for someone with experience under their belt but with a desire to raise the bar, be it in terms of performance, satisfaction, consistency or a combination of aforementioned.
Plain and simple language, 19 Jun 2008
I read it in a week, simple, plain and easy language.
Must buy for PMs.
I agree with the 5 stars for the other reviews!, 15 Jan 2008
Just to say, I've done my Prince2, read up on Scrum and Agile methods etc etc, but this book filled in the gaps - not just theory, but *practice* !!!
Practical, concise, and in my view essential.
A very clear and useful book, 03 Oct 2007
A colleague recommended this book to me and I've used it to help me with a bit of a runaway project I was landed with. The chapter on planning really hit home, it made me sit down and think again. I could see myself falling into the all pitfalls they described. It's given me a list of points to work through and some confidence that I'm going in the right direction now.
I've also used a lot of the ideas in the chapter dedicated to risks and issues. I've had plenty of these to deal with! I smiled and nodded my head when I read about people who see dealing with r&i as a boring administrative exercise. The book provides simple ways to turn this into a very useful exercise, how to get them under control and how to deal with the problems that matter.
I was in firefighting mode when I first read the book so I tended to dip into certain chapters. But now things are back on track I'm taking a more leisurely stroll through the book again. The advice on people management is paying dividends now, especially as I was coming close to making one of classic mistakes they described. Reading the chapter on lessons learned was very useful too, yet another area I paid very little attention too previously.
As a general point, the book helps you to think ahead and try to avoid storing problems up for yourself. The book has got loads of check-lists and "top tips" - which are practical and make the advice easy to take on board. Whilst there's nothing on project management tools (e.g. PRINCE) this is probably a plus point. You know that the advice comes from experience rather than trotting out dry theory.
Why it worked for me, 30 May 2007
I found this book particularly useful having been away from Project Management for about a six months as it gave me a quick overview of all the main areas of Project Management.
I was about to be given a new project and the handover to me was looming..... the chapter on planning was very helpful as it provided me with a healthcheck to run through when the project was handed over to me and a thorough checklist re what should be included in a project plan.
The book is easy to read as it concentrates on practise rather than theory, which is my biggest complaint with other project management books.
I would thorougly recommend this book to fellow project managers as a useful reminder of art of project management to dip in and out of as required.
From Riches to Riches, 20 Feb 2008
Not living in the UK, I actually hadn't seen the programme and the book was a christmas gift. It's an easy read telling some good stories - and let's face it, who doesn't like a good story? I found the dragons' backgrounds very interesting and some of their values very close to mine. Lots of ideas in there for the budding entrepreneur. Would I actually go on the show with my own ideas - I'm not so sure. Would I contact certain dragons with a solid business proposition - I hope so.
Educational?, 05 Feb 2008
This book probably is good in its content but unfortunately you soon realise that it is riddled with spelling errors and mistakes! Maybe its me being picky but surely when you spend £10 on a book you should expect the basics to be right. I lost count of how many spelling mistakes there were which suggests it was written and put together rather hastily.
This just serves to annoy the reader from start to finish.
Good but short, 07 Nov 2007
This is intresting however large font and information repeated mean that you don't get a massive amount of information from this book. However the advice and background on the Dragon's is intresting. Ewan's econimics section is very good and if you like the TV program then you should like this book.
Applied Language Solutions, "The one that got away", 08 Oct 2007
After reading the new Dragons Den book, I thought that like the programme it was extremely enjoyable. After watching the series, I was really interested in finding out more about the entrepreneurs and what happened next and the book helped me do exactly that.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a whole chapter dedicated to the company I work for, Applied Language Solutions and its founder, Gavin Wheeldon. The Dragons chose not to invest in Gavin's translation company but yet we have proved to be one of the most successful companies to appear before the dragons so far, "The one that got away." I thought it was commendable of the dragons to include both their successes and the investment opportunities they missed. It made the book a more interesting and believable read.
I would definitely recommend this book. If you are a fan of the programme or looking for tips on how to be the next Duncan Bannatyne this is the book for you.
LINGsCARS in DD Book! Hey, read about me! - Ling, 30 Sep 2007
Well, I have just received my pre-launch copy of this book. What a book! I have just re-read the whole thing again. Apart from the fact that I am the subject of one chapter (entirely accurate BBC content and perfect research about LINGsCARS.com, I must say - I have no quibbles with anything written about me), this whole book brilliantly inspires you and me with more ideas about being successful in business.
I really enjoyed my time on Dragons' Den and my business has more than doubled, since I went on the programme. It's a shame I haven't had the chance of first-hand advice from Richard Farleigh and Duncan Bannatyne since the show, but reading this book nearly makes up for that.
While I was in the BBC Dragons' Den warehouse filming, these two Dragons (Richard and Duncan) gave me more ideas about improvements to my contract hire and leasing, new car sales business. They suggested cross-selling insurance. I took them up on it and now earn over £1000 a month in referral commission purely from their idea. Thanks to these two Dragons! Many more ideas like this are contained in this book.
As an immigrant to the UK from China, I wish I had read a book like this 10 years ago! I would say - just buy it and read it again and again, especially at the discounted Amazon price. If anyone wants to contact me, anything @lingscars.com works.
Ling Valentine
Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.
good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)
Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.
Great., 05 Mar 2008
Although I have yet to find the time, spare cash or the confidence to start trading I do think that this book will prove invaluable to me when I finally do. The advice is not going to guarantee you a fortune over night or even guarantee you success. However it will make the whole world of stocks and shares much less of a mystery whilst providing you with some very useful hints tips and information. Looking over some of my friend's dealings and losses I now understand approximately where they may have gone wrong. Had they read this book first they may have saved themselves some money. Even such seemingly simple advice about setting loss stops and never buying into the `falling knife' stocks is very helpful. The author includes many examples of winning and losing scenarios as well as pointers on where deals often go wrong.
As other reviewers have said the book is very easy to read in a sitting or two, and also amusing in places.
I will be passing this on to my unsuccessful share dealing friends, and recommend it to anyone still in their early days of dealing.
Bloody Awesome!!!, 04 Feb 2008
I have just finished this book and by 'just', i mean 2 minutes ago. Secondly, i have never written a review as normally can't be arsed for that kind of thing, however, i am moved by this book!
As an absolte newbie to this world, i found it extremely informative, written in plain English rather than 'over using' ridiculous amounts of complicated financial terminology.
Following this read, two things are going to happen;
1) I am going to start trading in shares
2) I am going to one of Robbies (The Naked Trader Himself) seminars for a full days 'education'.
Most importantly though, the book is excellently executed in that it has the same magnetic hold as when reading a novel and this just makes the inormation sink in that much easier!
WELL DONE MR NT!
In summary..........
If you want to get in to shares - this is an absolute must!!!!!!!!!!!
Uninspiring, 22 Feb 2008
As someone keen to learn from entrepreneurs I didn't find this book useful; it is too brief and lacking in substance to be of any real use in that respect. I like Richard Branson and feel that he surely has much more insight to offer than is contained within this short book, so I will probably buy his full autobiography.
To coin an old cliché "short and sweet" | | |