Product Description

What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life . . . ?

It's a question most of us consider only hypothetically-opting instead to "do what we have to do" to earn a living. But in the critically acclaimed bestseller The Monk and the Riddle, entrepreneurial sage Randy Komisar asks us to answer it for real. The book's timeless advice-to make work pay not just in cash, but in experience, satisfaction, and joy-will be embraced by anyone who wants success to come not just from what they do, but from who they are. At once a fictional tale of Komisar's encounters with a would-be entrepreneur and a personal account of how Komisar found meaning not in work's rewards but in work itself, the book illustrates what's wrong with the mainstream thinking that we should sacrifice our lives to make a living. Described by Fortune.com as "part personal essay, part fictional narrative and part meditation on the nature of work and life," The Monk and the Riddle is essential reading on the art of creating a life while making a living.

"Belongs in a category by itself . . . The best thing I've read all year."
-San Francisco Examiner

"A timely book."
-USA Today

"A self-help manual and business fable rolled into one."
-The Times, London

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24548 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Amazon.com
Prospective entrepreneurs may think they know everything there is to know about starting a business in Silicon Valley. They can draw up business plans, have meetings with venture capitalists, maybe even get funded and actually launch a start-up. However, in The Monk and the Riddle, Silicon Valley sage Randy Komisar reasons that's only half the equation for success. And it may not be the important half. Komisar has worked with a number of companies--Apple, LucasArts Entertainment (the gaming division of George Lucas's empire), and WebTV among them--and has come to a rather startling conclusion: if you can't see yourself doing this business for the rest of your life, don't start it. In other words, he wants to see passion and purpose in business, not just spreadsheets and a by-the-numbers business model.

To illustrate, Komisar takes the reader through a hypothetical Silicon Valley start-up, with an eager entrepreneur named Lenny trying to get funding for an online casket-selling business. As Komisar helps Lenny find the real purpose of the business, the passion behind the revenue projections, he reflects back on his life as an entrepreneur. Komisar emerges as a master storyteller, the kind of guy you'd feel honored to share a bottle of wine with. And you believe his conclusion: "When all is said and done, the journey is the reward." It's great if you've made billions on the journey, but the important thing is that you do something you can truly throw yourself into. --Lou Schuler

From Booklist
Komisar is among a new breed of executives who have been called "virtual CEO's." Unlike consultants, they not only advise but actually work for companies that tend to be very small high-tech or Internet start-ups. In addition to working currently for seven such companies, Komisar has worked with WebTV and TiVo, was the "real" CEO at LucasArts Entertainment, and was one of the founders of Claris Corporation. With the assistance of freelance writer Kent Lineback, who has produced numerous films and videos for the Harvard Business School, Komisar here intertwines the story of his own career with that of two fictional entrepreneurs. The purpose is to show how deals are made and businesses get started in Silicon Valley. Komisar's many experiences allow him to speak firsthand about how venture capitalists and headhunters think and operate. He also warns that passion and vision are just as important as a well-crafted business plan. Throughout, we also get a strong dose of Komisar's own philosophy of success and fulfillment, a philosophy that might best be called Zen capitalism. David Rouse

Download Description
Transcending the typical leadership book model of lists and frameworks on how to succeed in business, The Monk and the Riddle is a lively and humorous narrative about the education of a unique Silicon Valley insider. Currently a virtual CEO who provides leadership on-demand to several renowned companies, Komisar's unique role was recently described as a combined professional mentor, minister without portfolio, in-your-face investor, troubleshooter, and door opener. But even more interesting than what he does is how and why he does it. Komisar has found a way to turn an ambitious and challenging worklife into his life's work. The book is at once a portal into the inner workings of Silicon Valley--from how startups get launched, to how venture capitalists do their deals, to how head-hunters make their matches--and a deeply personal account of how one mover and shaker found a payoff bigger than money. The Monk and the Riddle imparts valuable lessons about the differences between leadership and management, passion and commitment, and the meaning of professional and personal success. When all is said and done, writes Komisar, the journey is the reward.

Customer Reviews

I'll sum it up in one paragraph
You can't be happy in life, being an entrepreneur, unless you find a way to find meaning into you business. Venture Capital, post "the bust", is very hard to come by; finding meaning in your business will be a key component in providing you with the drive necessary to overcome the many obstacles inherent with owning your own business. VC's know this and want to see it when your giving your spiel before they fork over the cash. There you go; save your money. Define it and use it as your central drive in life and business. I was a little duped into buying the book. Babson College requires it for one of their entrepreneurship classes. What's with professors making you buy books that tell you what they (the professors) can tell you in just one paragraph?

Quick Read, Great Idea!
After reading 4- hour work week by Tim Ferris, I am a big fan of NOT living the Deferred Life Plan. Tim recommends this book so I read it in a few hours. Other critics like to say negative things about what the book wasn't, but I am going to tell you about what it was.

It was a little slow in the middle due to all the story telling about the his life and experiences intermingled with a few characters he was currently dealing with.

It was enlightening on how the VC business works and what one goes through when deciding on who to invest in. My favorite quote in the middle was that Randy believes in the "Romance not the Finance." The bottom line has to be more about something than just making $!

But most of all it hits home for so many people who are doing what they have to do now, so they can do what they want to do later. Chapter 9: The Gamble is where it gets good. I found the words he uses to describe the differences of business risks and personal risks to be exactly where I am in life (28 with a great job that I could continue to make $, but have to compromise my creativity, work with people I don't respect, working for a company who's core values are different than mine, and doing something I don't care about). Or seek out that other career that is not so certain but is my passion and I could see myself doing it for life.

Thanks Tim and Randy for the words. I am a Whole Lifer Now!

RC

Metaphysical Capitalism
Liked the author, enjoyed the insight into the world of venture capitalism but this book could have been an article in a magazine. It seemed to me like a long walk for a short pay-off. I get the point but felt like the author was purposely stringing you along for some bigger pay-off that did not happen.