Review of Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod

Overall Ranking: 8/10

The first book I purchased on my new Kindle was Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod. I bought it based on this review by Derek Sivers. On the whole, I liked it very much. In fact, I read it in one sitting. Here are my thoughts:

What the book is not:

• A step by step manual for doing anything
• A specific guide to doing anything
• Case studies

What the book is:

• A collection of generalized lessons learned from 20 odd years in the creative business
• Extremely well written
• Largely a collection of aphorisms, similar to the work of Eric Hoffer
  
• Highly motivational

I think I'll just let the items I highlighted tell the story of the book (thank you Kindle) -I recommend it to everyone.

My Highlights

The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be able to give you.

If somebody in your industry is more successful than you, it’s probably because he works harder at it than you do. Sure, maybe he’s more inherently talented, more adept at networking, but I don’t consider that an excuse. Over time, that advantage counts for less and less. Which is why the world is full of highly talented, network-savvy, failed mediocrities.

Nor can you bully a subordinate into becoming a genius.

Creating an economically viable entity where lack of original thought is handsomely rewarded creates a rich, fertile environment for parasites to breed.

So now we have millions upon millions of human tapeworms thriving in the Western world, making love to their PowerPoint presentations, feasting on the creativity of others.

So now we have millions upon millions of human tapeworms thriving in the Western world, making love to their PowerPoint presentations, feasting on the creativity of others.

All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.d3665701B0026NBZFI

Every kid underestimates his competition, and overestimates his chances.d3665701B0026NBZFI

Art suffers the moment other people start paying for it. The more you need the money, the more people will tell you what to do. The less control you will have. The more bullshit you will have to swallow. The less joy it will bring. Know this and plan accordingly.d3665701B0026NBZFI

I think one of the main reasons I stayed in advertising for so many years is simply because hearing “Change that ad” ticks me off a lot less than “Change that cartoon.”d3665701B0026NBZFI

We think we’re “Providing a superior integrated logistic system” or “Helping America to really taste Freshness.” In fact we’re just pissed off and want to get the hell out of the cave and kill the woolly mammoth.d3665701B0026NBZFI

Your business either lets you go hunt the woolly mammoth or it doesn’t.d3665701B0026NBZFI

Every form of media is a set of fundamental compromises; one is not “higher” than the others.d3665701B0026NBZFI

Well, a cartoon only needs one person to make it. Same with a piece of writing. No Big Group Hug required. So all this sex-fueled socialism was rather alien to me, even if parts of it seemed very appealing.d3665701B0026NBZFI

It’s hard to sell out if nobody has bought in.d3665701B0026NBZFI

MAKING A BIG DEAL OVER YOUR CREATIVE shtick to other people is the kiss of death.d3665701B0026NBZFI

To me, it’s not about whether Tom Clancy sells truckloads of books or a Nobel Prize winner sells diddly-squat. Those are just ciphers, external distractions. To me, it’s about what you are going to do with the short time you have left on this earth. Different criteria altogether.d3665701B0026NBZFI

Writer’s block is just a symptom of feeling like you have nothing to say, combined with the rather weird idea that you should feel the need to say something.d3665701B0026NBZFI

PEOPLE ARE FOND OF SPOUTING OUT THE OLD cliché about how Van Gogh never sold a painting in his lifetime. Somehow his example serves to justify to us, decades later, that there is merit in utter failure. Perhaps, but the man did commit suicide.d3665701B0026NBZFI

Part of being creative is learning how to protect your freedom. That includes freedom from avarice.d3665701B0026NBZFI

There’s a famous old quip: “A lot of people in business say they have twenty years’ experience, when in fact all they really have is one year’s experience, repeated twenty times.”d3665701B0026NBZFI

THE LATE BRITISH BILLIONAIRE JAMES GOLD-SMITH once quipped, “When a man marries his mistress, he immediately creates a vacancy.”

Upon reading over this, MacLeod really is a lot like Eric Hoffer. Anyway, go get it and read it.

The Web Startup Success Guide by Bob Walsh

I recently read the Web Startup Success Guide by Bob Walsh and liked it. It was chock full of useful information and helpful tips about how to go from a programmer to an actual Owner. In the words of Michael Gerber, it helps you work on your business, and not in it.

Brief Thoughts

• The Venture capital chapter was quite informative, and reinforced my thought of "Are you sure you need this" regarding VC funding.
• The Social Media marketing chapter was excellent, and I have sent the link to the book to many of my friends in the advertising and marketing biz to help them get a handle on how to handle FaceBook, Twitter, and the rest
• For the most part the interviews were useful and informative, particularly Joel Spolsky's interview. For my purposes, a couple of them could have been removed with no damage doen to the book, but I imagine they applied to someone.
• The interview with David Allen was informative as well. Conversations about the GTD methodology tend to resemble Ayn Rand discussions on philosophy too much, but this interview worked for it's purposes

I recommend this book to everyone starting an ISV (like me!), or thinking about starting one. My only quibble is that there was no central guide to the links mentioned in the book, either as an appendix to the book or online. There were numerous mentions of useful websites, but it is easy to lose them as they are spread out all over the book. This is a minor quibble though. If you're reading this, and this applies to you, go ahead and buy it. You'll be glad you did.

Cross posted at the Digital Tool Factory blog.