Book Review: When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead — The Story of Jerry Weintraub

Book Review

When I Stop Talking, You Will Know I’m Dead

Damn!…. That is my reaction after closing this book. When I picked it up from the library because of Tai Lopez’s recommended books I was a little bit skeptical but hey, I play ball. I had no idea who this Jerry Weintraub was. Wow… all’s I can say is this guy has had one hell of a life! Even if half the stories aren’t 100% accurate how can you dispute that Jerry Weintraub is one of the most fascinating people from the last 50 years? He isn’t perfect. He admits that but who is? Here are the lessons from Jerry Weintraub and Rich Cohen’s book When I Stop Talking You’ll Know I’m Dead.

Yearbook Knocking on Celebrities Doors in NYC — What can you even say to this guy? Graduating high school he took his high school yearbook and knocked on their doors….to their homes…..to get them to sign his yearbook! What would happen if you tried that today? Arrested or kicked out by security most likely. The great lengths this guy would go to even at a young age is remarkable to me.
Relationships are the Only Thing That Matter in Business and Life — Taking care of people and treating them fairly is a trend throughout the book. Jerry can be a bit surly but it is evident that he deeply cares about the people around him. This sets him up for lifelong success. He believes in the people around them and empowers them to take advantage of their skills. What can I learn from this? Don’t be afraid to give a damn about people and help them out.
People Will Pay for Their Lives to be Easier — People will pay for products or services that make their lives easier. If you can make people able to do something faster or more efficiently we can all agree that people will buy it. How can you make people’s lives easier in your industry? Is that the key to the most successful products or services?
As Soon as You Feel Comfortable Its Time to Start Over — Have you ever become complacent? What would happen if you took Jerry’s advice and as soon as you got comfortable in a position you moved on or up? It is understandable that people achieve a level of comfort and don’t want to risk everything that have earned. What if when you got comfortable you decided to make a change?
High Opinion of Everyone — Maintaining a high opinion of everyone you deal with is difficult to do. I am guilty being unable to do this. I have had poor opinions of people, sometimes without good justification. I have worked on improving because life is too short to hold things against people. What would happen if you let things go? What would happen if you had a high opinion of everyone around you? I am not saying be blind to peoples faults but to instead accept them for the way they are and see the best in them.
Having an Inventory — Inventory is defined as savings in the book. Jerry is taught this lesson by his father. Always have more coming in then going out and you will have a happy life. He’s talking about debt and everything combined in the going out category. How awesome would that be to have more money coming in then you have debt and expenses? How close are you to having an inventory? What steps would you have to take to build one?
Don’t Get Attached to the World Because it Will Change — This is very accurate, especially in todays tech world. This is a lesson that I could learn. Things are likely to change regularly and it is better to accept that then let your world be turned upside down when it does. What are you attached to right now that will likely change?
Be Willing to Be Lucky — Keep putting yourself in situations where you can get lucky and eventually its bound to happen. What do you do to put yourself in an opportunity to make your own luck?
The Four Seasons — Jerry helped the Four Seasons go on tour at a young age and it is crazy to imagine. Taking one of the coolest groups on tour in your 20s would be a crazy experience. Jerry learns a lot of lessons along the way and he used his hustle and wit to do an awesome job.
An Idea is Crazy Until Someone Pulls It Off — Really good advice Jerry. Think about the personal computer. The MP3 player. Name your invention. What kind of ideas do you have that people think are crazy? Would they still be crazy if you pulled them off?
My Life Has Been a Succession of Mentors — If you have the right mentors they can open so many doors for you. They will help you to learn from their mistakes that they have made. Where are you going to find your mentors? Find mentors that are where you would like to be and see if they are ok with helping you out. Many will be humbled and be glad to help.
A Lot Depends on Who Will Open Doors For You — Back to mentors and relationships. A lot of where you go in life will ride on who you know and what opportunities they are willing to give you. It goes both ways. Who are you opening doors for?
Life is Strange… You Travel so Far, Do so Much, But the People You Look For at the End are Often the People You Looked For at the Beginning — I believe he met family but I am not quite sure. It was an interesting point to me but I am unsure of the exact meaning. He could be speaking about old friends as well.
If You Work With the People You Love Which of Course isn’t Always Possible the Hard Times Become an Epic Adventure — I have heard both sides of the argument and I tend to like this side better. Yeah, you risk losing a relationship but if you can pull it off, imagine what it would be like to work with your friends everyday? This is a point I am going to have to think about applying.
Frank Sinatra Live at the Garden, “You Got Me Into This, I’m Getting You Out of It.” — A very powerful statement from the man himself. Jerry got the huge live show set up with Sinatra and was panicking last minute. Sinatra was his friend as well as his client. He had his back all the way and did everything he could to reward Jerry’s trust. Do you know anybody that would do that for you? I try to be the person. When people put faith in my I’ll be damned if I let them down.
Remember Where the Engine Lies, With the Artist — The artist is the creator. Without the artist what do you have? Are you the artist or are you selling the artist? When was the last time you showed appreciation for the artist?
We Weren’t Interested in Niche Marketing We Wanted Them All — This point refers to when Jerry helped take Elvis on tour. They wanted everyone to buy Elvis. This is a crazy notion to me that I think could only work in the entertainment industry. Of course there were people that didn’t like Elvis so did they get them all? Would you do better to broaden the audience served by your product or service?
Firing “Ferguson, When the Problem isn’t the Problem — While Jerry was working with John Denver he wanted to fire Jerry because of poor hotels service, etc. Jerry knew that there wasn’t a real problem with the hotels but with John’s attitude. He used that information to create a fictional character that didn’t actually get fired but helped to solve the problem. After firing Ferguson, John’s issues went away and he was happy with Jerry again. Is there anything that you think is a problem but the problem is really your perception of it?
Booking Carnegie Hall and Playing a Record — Jerry booked Carnegie Hall to….play…a…record….. He sold all the tickets to the show, letting the audience assume they were going to hear the band live. That takes some serious courage and thick skin to deal with the repercussions. This is a very creative way to get people in front of your product. How can you creatively get people to see yours? (Preferably without deceiving people.)
Arthur Wirtz — Let me break down this scenario. Arthur Wirtz controls Chicago. Jerry has a meeting with him. Arthur makes Jerry wait for hours and is rude to him when he walks into his office. Jerry tells him he doesn’t need him and tells him off for treating him that way. This earns Arthur’s respect. They then spend the next several hours working out a deal to bring shows to Chicago. Arthur then stops Jerry to say then need board approval. Jerry flips out. Arthur walks him into the board room that is empty, pounds the gavel, and states that they have accepted the contract. Arthur states that the lesson here is to always own your own business and don’t go public. It makes things easier and shorter. WOW…. Can you imagine being in Jerry’s shoes? I would be in shock after the boardroom incident. Crazy!
Elvis’s Death — Jerry went to Elvis’s house after he died and there were people everywhere mourning. The days ran together for Jerry and he makes a few comments about how big of a tragedy it was to lose “The King” and the sad end to a great man. Remember, relationships are the most important to this guy and he loves everybody around him. He lost a lot of people and it always effected him deeply. This chapter showed me the humanity of Jerry even though I could see how some would perceive him as cold.
Being a Parent — Jerry talks about his mistakes as a parent and how much he loves his children and grandchildren. He knows that he hasn’t been perfect and because of his success he thinks he ruined his kids work ethic. They never had to earn it like he did. What if you were handed everything you wanted tomorrow? Would you appreciate as much then if you earned it?
Being Successful Means Choosing Who to Call Back — Jerry quit the music business because he was putting out small fires everyday. He got to the point where he was successful enough where he wanted to spend time with people he cared about. This is when you know you are living a good life, the day you spend your time with the people you want and can afford to avoid the rest. How close are you to choosing who you call back? How can you get there?
The Best People Include You, Enlarge You, Make You Recognize the Best Qualities in Yourself — I cannot think of a more true point about the best people. If I could do anything better it would be this. I have picked out a lot of flaws in people but what if I tried to bring out their best qualities instead? I can think of one friend of mine that is great at this. Love him or hate him my friend Taylor kills it at bringing out the best in people. He’s had to deal with me on some bad days and earned a lot of my respect for that. How can you bring out the best in people?
If You Find Something You Love Keep Doing It — Jerry quits producing movies and starts managing a movie producing business. The business goes under and Jerry losses everything. If you haven’t read The E-myth Revisted by Michael Gerber then I highly recommend an up close and personal view to the lesson Jerry learned. The simplest way I can put this lesson is don’t run a bakery if you love to bake. Continue to be a baker.
Companies Are a Dime a Dozen — Companies come and go every day but the talent and lessons don’t. This is a very good point. A lot of people become down and depressed when things don’t go well. Don’t lose the lesson and remember you have skills now that you wouldn’t have had before if you didn’t try.
Death of Parents — Towards the end of the book, Jerry’s parents pass away. He says something along the line of a man with no parents is like a man with no country to belong to. Just drifting. The impact of the death of his parents even at a very old age still had a strong emotional impact on him. I think about my relationship with my parents and I know that it is going to be a very difficult day for me when I lose one of them. I will do everything I can to have a great relationship with them and let them know how much they mean to me until that day comes. That way when the day does come I can look back on the memories thankful for the opportunity for the time I had with them and the lessons they have taught me.

Well, Jerry and Rich touche. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. It was entertaining as it was valuable in life lessons. I hope that you take the opportunity to pick up the book and read it for yourself. You won’t regret it.