One of the books I borrowed from my friends Jessica was this one called The Perfect Store: Inside eBay.  It is the story of the evolution of ebay from the beginning, until very recently.  I read it as part of my “bus series” (my slang for reading it on the bus) and it worked well for that purpose (educational, but not enough fun to read at home).  I liked that the author, Adam Cohen, told a story about eBay and how it evolved.  And there were some great takeaways.  Some of my favorites were:

1. Spend money like it is your own.  This is a big deal for any startup.  Being very frugal with money is so important in a startup since every little bit adds up.  I think the mantra of thinking about money like your own really embodies the importance of ownership in the company, as well as encouraging people not to waste money.  One of my biggest pet peeves is employees who order fancy meal (they would never normally order) on the company dime.
2. The importance of community and users.  One of the things emphasized throughout the book was how important the site users (or your customers) are in any aspect of your business.  Many times throughout the book the author gave examples of hard decisions and some of them made without the input of the community.  Almost every time this happened the executive staff regretted not soliciting feedback from their users.  With every business, your customers are your most important asset and making them feel heard and important is a great way to increase loyalty.
3. The competition may be bigger and have more funding, but you can still win.  In the early days of eBay Cohen tells the story of eBay’s competitors and how they managed to thrive and triumph despite the stiff competition in the market place (and the continued stories of fear of bigger competitors like Amazon, Yahoo, and possibly AOL).  I love stories when David is able to beat Goliath.

I like hearing stories about startups and how they evolve (and eventually win out).  There are always lots of little lessons and when things go crazy (and you start thinking to yourself, “how could this be normal?”) it makes you feel better to know that other companies have similar stories.  There is so much that goes into taking a business from a small fledging idea to a market leader, and lots of learnings to be had along the way.  And of course eBay’s story is extraordinary, and Cohen tells it interestingly–he includes amusing tales of some of eBay’s first customers and it makes the story entertaining.

This is definitely worth a read if you are working in a startup, want to start a business, or just love eBay

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One of the book I borrowed from my friends for my Hawaiian vacation was called Garlic and Sapphires, it was written by Ruth Reichl who is the current editor at Gourmet magazine and was the NY Times food critic prior to that.  This book details her journey and tenure at the renowned paper. Throughout the book she features some of her reviews, the stories that went into generating the reviews (including her disguises) and some favorite recipes.

I really enjoyed her stories, I thought she was a great food critic because she had a way of describing food that could make you visualize it and almost taste it.  I felt like the story was dry at times with no particular story line or outcome–and while there was some of Ruth’s personal stories and professional development I felt like it was hard to tell if she had really changed.  Had she learned any real lessons from her stories and experiences?  I am sure she did, but it wasn’t really carried through in the story.

Although there was one particular part of her tales that really stuck with me.  As a food critic her job is to review fancy restaurants (obviously), in some special restaurants (ones, that to me sounded like the space needle or canlis in the Seattle area) where lesser fortunate people save up their money for one memorable night in these places.  When she would tell these stories of how these people acted and were treated in these places (not by her per se, but wait staff, etc) my heart just ached.  See, growing up we were so poor and Red Lobster was the nicest restaurant that we ever went to as kids.  When I finally got older I remember saving my money to attend these types of fancy establishments–not knowing what fork to use, the difference between one wine or another (I am still not particularly good at this), and being confused by the ingredients in the entree descriptions.  I also remember being treated just like those people.  Of course now, that would never happen–I am almost always treated with respect and I have eaten enough different kinds of foods in fancy places that I don’t feel out of place anymore.  Although reading the book certainly took me back to that place and helped me remember those feelings.

On a positive note though, some of the recipes look downright delicious.  I can’t wait to make the lamb dinner, which includes carmelized brussel sprouts and scalloped potatoes.  I am hoping to do that this weekend and if it turns out I will post pictures and recipes.

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