Book picks similar to
Against All Odds: A Story Of Courage, Perseverance And Hope by Dhirubhai Ambani
biographies
biography
entrepreneurship
indian-authors
Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey
Diamond Dallas Page - 2000
From his earliest recollections, Page Falkinburg wanted to be like the Saturday afternoon heroes that he watched on TV from the floor of his grandmother's living room. He defied the odds and swayed his critics along the way, climbing the ladder of the largest spectator entertainment sports production in the world today. It was in 1985 that I met a guy who told me his name was Page ... like a book. Like most people who meet him, I knew that there was something very different about Page Falkinburg. He is cocky, and at the same time, he's humble. He is "over the top," but somehow remains "down to earth." One of the toughest "sons of bitches" you'll ever meet, Page can shock you with his sensitivity and compassion. He is an example of good old-fashioned hard work and personal commitment, but at the same time, is able to help create and better the futures of others. Almost fifteen years later, Positively Page serves as a look at that unforgettable guy who possessed the power to rise above adversity and reach his dream.
Flying High: My Story: From AirAsia to QPR
Tony Fernandes - 2014
Tony Fernandes has accomplished amazing things - and who's to say what he can go on to achieve?' Sir Richard BransonThe inspiring story of business hero and Apprentice Asia star Tony FernandesAs a boy, Tony Fernandes wanted to be a pilot, a footballer or a racing driver. By 2011 he'd gone one better: founding his own airline and his own formula one team, and becoming Chairman of Queens Park Rangers, helping them reach the Premier League again after a 15-year absence from the top flight.Flying High is the memoir of an exceptional business leader; the man who created Asia's first budget airline, democratizing air travel in Asia and building AirAsia into a multi-billion-dollar company in the process.Published as Tony returns as the face of the second series of Apprentice Asia, this inspiring personal story will be a major global publishing event.Tony Fernandes studied at Epsom College, UK, and the London School of Accountancy. He worked for Virgin Communications and Warner Music before acquiring AirAsia and relaunching it as Asia's first low-cost carrier in 2001/2. He is currently Group CEO of AirAsia, Chairman of QPR football club and owner of the Caterham F1 team.Tony has been awarded a CBE, titled twice by the King of Malaysia and awarded the Legion d'Honneur by the French government. He has also received awards from major business media outlets including theInternational Herald Tribune, Business Times, Business Week, Fast Company and Forbes.
Alias David Bowie : a biography
Peter L. Gillman - 1987
Raised in a poor South London family with a history of mental illness, David Robert Jones was to become an emblem of his time whose fame rivaled that of Elvis Presley and the Beatles. He sang some of the most haunting pop songs of the 1970s and starred in some of the strangest plays and films of the period (The Elephant Man, The Hunger, The Man Who Fell to Earth). Androgynous, Jekyll and Hyde by turns, susceptible to cocaine and paranoia, casting off a series of managers and involved in complex lawsuits, Bowie eventually deserted Britain and America and moved to a house near the Berlin Wall. The Gillmans' formidable research enables them to smash many Bowie myths, but their sympathy for him and his disturbed family is evident, and they deal fairly with his wife, agents and lovers. Still, only obsessed Bowie fans will have the stamina to get all the way through this depressing 500-page odyssey. Photos. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Street Player: My Chicago Story
Danny Seraphine - 2010
In this no-holds-barred memoir, legendary rocker Danny Seraphine shares his dramatic—and often shocking—experiences as the popular supergroup's cofounder and longtime drummer. He reveals behind-the-scenes anecdotes about Chicago’s beginnings as the house band at Los Angeles's legendary Whisky A Go Go, where they were discovered by music icons Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, and personal insights about the group’s many comebacks and reinventions over the years.Offers a lively inside account of the music and history of the perennially popular band Chicago, one of the most successful American bands ever with over 122 million albums sold, by the band’s cofounder and longtime drummer Danny SeraphineIncludes riveting tales and rare photographs from Seraphine's time on the road touring with performers including Dennis and Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Bruce SpringsteenCandidly tackles many rumors about Chicago, including Mafia ties, accounting and payola scandals, and major drug abuseDiscusses the mysterious circumstances surrounding Seraphine's 1990 firing from the band as well as his comeback with his critically acclaimed new band, California Transit AuthorityWhether you're a diehard Chicago fan or just love a well-told rock-and-roll memoir, Street Player will entertain and surprise you.
Kiss and Tell
Shannon Tweed - 2004
Kiss and Tell is the surprising other side of the story from one of the world's most beautiful women.
Idea Man
Paul Allen - 2011
In 2007 and 2008, Time named Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft, one of the hundred most influential people in the world. Since he made his fortune, his impact has been felt in science, technology, business, medicine, sports, music, and philanthropy. His passion, curiosity, and intellectual rigor-combined with the resources to launch and support new initiatives-have literally changed the world. In 2009 Allen discovered that he had lymphoma, lending urgency to his desire to share his story for the first time. In this long-awaited memoir, Allen explains how he has solved problems, what he's learned from his many endeavors-both the triumphs and the failures-and his compelling vision for the future. He reflects candidly on an extraordinary life. The book also features previously untold stories about everything from the true origins of Microsoft to Allen's role in the dawn of private space travel (with SpaceShipOne) and in discoveries at the frontiers of brain science. With honesty, humor, and insight, Allen tells the story of a life of ideas made real.
The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time
Subhash Chandra - 2016
Hailing from a small town in Haryana, where his family ran grain mills, Chandra has been a perennial outsider, repeatedly aiming high and breaking into businesses where he was considered an interloper.Starting work as a teen to pay off family debts, Chandra had to rely on bluff, gumption and sheer hard toil to turn things around. A little bit of luck and political patronage saw him make a fortune in rice exports to the erstwhile USSR.Always a risk-taker, Chandra then had the vision of getting into broadcasting early, even as established media players failed to see its potential. His Zee TV, India's first private Indian TV channel, changed the rules of the game and tickled the fancy of a public starved of entertainment.Several gutsy initiatives followed, though not all of them were successful. Chandra's attempts to launch satellite telephony and a cricket league came a cropper. But the man continues to reinvent himself; he is now also focusing on infrastructure and smart cities.This is an unusually candid memoir of a truly desi self-made businessman who came to Delhi at age twenty with seventeen rupees in his pocket. Today, he has a net worth of $6.3 billion and annual group revenues of about $3 billion.
21 Years Gone: The Autobiography
Jack Osbourne - 2006
By the time Jack was 16, he was addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs, was hanging out with rock stars in LA and living a life that any teenager would aspire to—and then the reality show The Osbournes turned him into a global celebrity. As much as Jack enjoyed his fame, underneath it all he was still an awkward teenager, using his sense of humor as a protective shield. With fame and money came greater access to drugs and soon his addictions took a firmer hold on him and his behavior was soon out of control. In 21 Years Gone Jack writes with brutal frankness about his descent into addiction and the low point he reached when his mother Sharon was diagnosed with cancer. Scared that his she might die, Jack retreated further into his alcoholic shell, hating who he was, hating what he did. When Sharon realized what was happening she told Jack he had to go into rehab and slowly he turned his life around. Discovering a passion for extreme sports, he went from overweight and unfit to the lean young man he is today—courtesy of such adventures as running with the bulls in Pamplona, fighting a Thai martial arts expert, and scaling El Capitan, one of the world's toughest climbs.
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
Brad Stone - 2013
But its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, wasn't content with being a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become the everything store, offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low prices. To do so, he developed a corporate culture of relentless ambition and secrecy that's never been cracked. Until now. Brad Stone enjoyed unprecedented access to current and former Amazon employees and Bezos family members, giving readers the first in-depth, fly-on-the-wall account of life at Amazon. Compared to tech's other elite innovators--Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg--Bezos is a private man. But he stands out for his restless pursuit of new markets, leading Amazon into risky new ventures like the Kindle and cloud computing, and transforming retail in the same way Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing.The Everything Store will be the revealing, definitive biography of the company that placed one of the first and largest bets on the Internet and forever changed the way we shop and read.
Mary Kay: You Can Have It All: Lifetime Wisdom from America's Foremost Woman Entrepreneur
Mary Kay Ash - 1995
Following her priorities—God first, family second, and career third—and some sound, savvy business strategies, she managed to create a multibillion-dollar international company as well as a fulfilling life that reflects her values. Here she reveals to you how she did it, how thousands of other women have done it, and how you can do it, too!Mary Kay accomplished all her goals without any special advantage—without trying to be a "superwoman." Instead, she rediscovered the timeless secrets of true success and happiness and applied them in her life. These are the secrets she now shares with you.In Mary Kay: You Can Have It All, you will discover how to:• Become more confident personally and professionally• Deal with the male ego • Plan your work and work your plan• Do well by doing good• And much, much more!Mary Kay will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book to the Mary Kay Ash Center for Cancer Immunotherapy Research at St. Paul Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.Mary Kay Ash is the founder and chairman emeritus of Mary Kay Cosmetics Inc., listed among Fortune magazine's Most Admired Corporations in America and boasting annual retail sales of more than $1.5 billion.Also available in Paperback.
The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness
Gucci Mane - 2020
I wanted to write this book to give you a tool set. This book should touch people who are going through something. It’s not going to be easy. But study these words, and put them into action. I want this book to keep you motivated. I want you to keep coming back to it for guidance and inspiration. You can put it on your shelf and keep going to The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness. This book is a challenge. Don’t underestimate yourself. Don’t think that what you’re saying is not important. Don’t think you can’t achieve the impossible. Everyone needs some game, so here it is. The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness is for the world. Enjoy.”In this inspiring follow up to his iconic memoir, Gucci Mane gifts us with his playbook for living your best life. Packed with stunning photographs, The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness distills the legend’s timeless wisdom into a one-of-a-kind motivational guidebook. Gucci Mane emerged transformed after a turbulent life of violence, crime, and addiction to become a dazzling embodiment of the power of positivity, focus, and hard-work. Using examples from his life of unparalleled success, Gucci Mane looks inward and upward to offer his blueprint for greatness. A must read for anyone with big ambitions and bigger dreams.
The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett And I Built Our Company
David Packard - 1995
After graduation, Hewlett and Packard decided to throw their lots in together. They tossed a coin to decide whose name should go first on the notice of incorporation, then cast about in search of products to sell. Today, the one-car garage in Palo Alto that housed their first workshop is a California historic landmark: the birthplace of Silicon Valley. And Hewlett-Packard has produced thousands of innovative products for millions of customers throughout the world. Their little company employs 98,400 people and boasts constantly increasing sales that reached $25 billion in 1994.While there are many successful companies, there is only one Hewlett-Packard, because from the very beginning, Hewlett and Packard had a way of doing things that was contrary to the prevailing management strategies. In defining the objectives for their company, Packard and Hewlett wanted more than profits, revenue growth and a constant stream of new, happy customers.Hewlett-Packard' s success owes a great deal to many factors, including openness to change, an unrelenting will to win, the virtue of sustained hard work and a company-wide commitment to community involvement. As a result, HP now is universally acclaimed as the world' s most admired technology company; its wildly successful approach to business has been immortalized as "The HP Way."In this book, David Packard tells the simple yet extraordinary story of his life' s work and of the truly exceptional company that he and Bill Hewlett started in a garage 55 years ago.
The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It
Sharrie Williams - 2010
Mabel’s simple beauty trick ignited Tom Lyle’s imagination and he started what would become a billion-dollar business, one that remains a viable American icon after nearly a century. He named it Maybelline in her honor.Throughout the 20th century, the Maybelline Company inflated, collapsed, endured, and thrived in tandem with the nation’s upheavals—as did the family that nurtured it. Setting up shop first in Chicago, Williams later, to avoid unwanted scrutiny of his private life, cloistered himself behind the gates of his Rudolph Valentino Villa and ran his empire from a distance. Now after nearly a century of silence, this true story celebrates the life of an American entrepreneur, a man whose vision rocketed him to success along with the woman held in his orbit, Evelyn Boecher—who became his lifelong fascination and muse.Captivated by her “roaring charisma,” he affectionately called her the “real Miss Maybelline” and based many of his advertising campaigns on the woman she represented: commandingly beautiful, hard-boiled and daring. Evelyn masterminded a life of vanity, but would fall prey to fortune hunters and a mysterious murder that even today remains unsolved. A fascinating and inspiring story, a tale both epic and intimate, alive with the clash, the hustle, the music, and dance of American enterprise.