The Mitch’s Notes Project: 52 Business Book Summaries for Startup CEOs
Harvey Specter’s Outlines. I wanted to be Harvey Specter. That’s not exactly true because I started law school before the show ever aired, but the idea of Harvey was the embodiment of why I went to law school in the first place. During an in-house internship at the then highest-profile startup in Utah, the idea of Harvey died. In its place grew the reality that CEOs tend to be the charismatic, problem-solving, high-iq/eq business savants. I took the GMAT two weeks later and added the MBA to the JD in order to associate as closely as possible with those types of CEO leaders. The problem was I still had two years of law school left. I owe a significant part of my remaining success in law school to the sharing of outlines. Outlines, those beautiful, blessed creations of billable-hour-machines-to-be helped see me through some dark law school days. Today, I’m setting out to create outlines for the real Harvey Specters of the world — startup CEOs.
The BHAG. I will read (at least) 52 business books in 2019. These books will be sourced from resident expert colleagues, trusted industry resources, and recommendations from readers. Each book will cover a topic that contributes to business success, and will be curated for growth-oriented CEOs. These books will cover topics including marketing, sales, recruiting, innovation, product development, and so on.
What’s In It For You? The end result will be individual book outlines, broader domain summaries, tools, frameworks, and high-level insights. Hopefully they will help you optimize the conditions for success in your businesses. The key competency for successful CEOs is the ability to problem solve and efficiently overcome obstacles. In writing, I hope to incrementally add to your ability in that regard.
Why Me? I am the perfect type of person to curate this information. Not because I have the answers. In fact, I pledge that the blog will be an “investorsplaining” free zone. But because I am willing to grind to help you find a few. I love what I get to do — help open-minded, growth-oriented CEOs solve problems. This blog will be an extension of those collaborations.
Harvey Specter Mentality for CEOs. Until I get around to posting again, enjoy these rules for success from Harvey Specter himself.