4 Aug, 2008
I recommend reading…
Posted by Bhavin Turakhia
I have been planning to begin blogging about the books I read, atleast the good ones. I have always been an avid reader and used to devour 2-3 books every month in the days before Directi. Nowadays I do not have the luxury of time, but manage to read one book a month (thanks to my ever-increasing travel schedule and the fact that I am never going to be able to sleep on planes until the A380s with the wider fully flatbeds begin flying to NYC and SFO - which may not be too faraway considering that Emirates has ordered 50 of them 
).
Back to the topic at hand - I strongly recommend the below two books which I read in the last few weeks -
Smart and Gets Things Done: Joel Spolsky’s Concise Guide to Finding the Best Technical Talent (Hardcover) - Short and informative guide to recruiting tech talent. I read it cover to cover and enjoyed it thoroughly. While the book focuses on recruiting tech talent, most of the principles apply to any recruitment exercise. I would strongly recommend this to anyone involved in recruiting from functional heads to hiring managers
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea (Hardcover) - An amazing business parable with a simple, yet profound lesson on how building a successful business is about focusing on giving and not getting - an obviously simple fact, that all of us forget while living in what we have been trained to [wrongly] believe is a dog-eats-dog world. (Directians: We are buying 200 copies of this one so you can get yours from the library pretty soon)
Bhavin,
Your sense of taste in books is amazing. I remember the day when you gave me “Who moved my Cheese” by Dr. Spencer Johnson. It is an amazing book and like your previous choices, I will make sure I read the ones you have recommended.
P.S: Thanks for being my inspiration.
Regards,
Nainil Chheda
@nainil: thanx … stay tuned for further reccos
Hey Bhavin!
I must say, I’m awe-inspired reading about you and your entrepreneurial adventure! I am a young yet dynamic teenager who dreams of being an entrepreneur! As such, being an Indian, I love to dream high!
I wish you even greater success and may your quest to reach the zenith be achieved!
aj: thanks for the kind comments. send me a pm with your contact details - we can stay in touch. i wish you success in your entrepreneurial pursuits
I started reading “Beautiful Code” recently, very promising so far. You might like it too.
Excellent recommendations btw, Havent read “Joel Spoksys” book yet, added to top of stack!
@shreyas: have heard about beautiful code. will definitely check itout. We maintain a short list of interesting dev-focussed books at http://wiki.directi.com/x/3wAa. These serve as textbooks for individuals who join Directi.
Another great list is one prepared by Joel Spotsky. You can check it out in our bookmarks section - http://wiki.directi.com/x/DQCd
You might’ve probably read this, but one book I highly recommend is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.
While the book doesn’t contain any “magic pill” which will help someone become rich, it contains the line which is the mantra of all successful individuals:
“I’m going to do this (could be anything), *no matter what it takes*”…
The “no matter what it takes” is almost always the difference between the merely talented, and the actually successful guys….highly recommended
@anupam: great recommendation. have read it … a long time ago. Other titles in a similar vein are all books by Tony Robbins, (especially Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power) Wayne Dyer, Norman Vincent Peale etc
Hi,
My name is Jimmy Amlani and i have a domain name http://www.ismsics.com with directi since a long time i am facing problem with permissions in ftp and till date my issue is not resolved. I have already raised 3 support tickets for the same and i am in contact with my accounts manager Ashton Yale but all efforts seems hopeless and am very disappointed. Plz reply me my reseller id is 121277.
Expecting positive reply from your side for a long term venture.
Jimmy Amlani
+91 9820949678
Thanks for recommending the Go-Giver…quite liked it. Another great read on similar lines is Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret” which talks of the Universe’s law of attraction..how we bring into our lives whatever we focus on the most.
@chandini: have read it. i dont subscribe to everything in the book - but i do believe in a modified version of the philosophy and principle. the secret states “if you desire something really bad … the universe shall conspire to give it to you”. my modified version of it is “if you desire something really bad … your concious and subconcious actions will significantly increase the probability of it occurring wherein the probability is directly proportional to the extent of your desire :)”
HI BHAVIN ,
I am amazed and awe-inspired by your success story. I feel I am writing to the future FORBES #1 Billionaire .I am a 26 yr old business man from hyderabad, I read about Directi in the latest issue of Money today , It really felt gr8 . Thought shud know more about u guys . Thanks for your recommendations , I will definetly buy them.
Was it ‘THINK AND GROW RICH’ ,by HILL that made all the difference ??
ALL THE BEST !
@manish: thanks for the kind words. i would attribute a fair bit of what i have learned to an inordinate number of biographies i have read … pretty much every single biography/autobiography that exists - of every fortune 500 company
Hello Bhavin ,
Thx for your recommendations … M an ex employee of directi … dying to join back but i guess no openings for buss dev .. You have always managed to inspire me … will always cherish my memories with Rclub … Thx for giving me such a fulfilling experience …would love to read your biography /autobiography …any plans in near future ?? wish you all the best to being a billion dollar company ..
Hi Bhavin
Greetings from Wales! Like yourself I really enjoyed the Go Giver and managed to read in two sessions. I also took on board some of what ws said and passed the book on to a friend. I would also recommend, if you haven’t yet, reading Groundswell - all about Social Technologies.
regards
Alun
Wow! That would indeed be an honor, to have a person of your calibre by my side!!
Please let me know how I can contact you personally.
Would you like to be interviewed by a teen-mag?
Bhavin you might wanna try out anobii.com
Thats how i mostly keep track of what i have read and such,