Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed
Alexis Ohanian
Business Plus/Hatchette Book Group (2013)

More heat than light

What follows is a review of this book, not an evaluation of its author, although In Part I, Alexis Ohanian provides some biographical information about his experiences with as a startup co-founder (with Steve Huffman) of reddit, hipmunk, and Breadpig. This is the “memoir” component. In Part II, he shifts his attention to information, insights, and counsel that he hopes will be of interest and value to those among his readers who aspire to launch a new enterprise. This is the advice component. “I’ll break it all down so that you can do it too — everything from taking that great idea you had last night over drinks to closing that first round of funding that’ll let you quit your job and turn that cocktail concoction into a real business.” In the final Part, he shares what he believes to be the most important do’s and don’ts concerning online entrepreneurship. “Whether you want to embrace the Internet for fun, profit, or the good of humankind (or all or any of the above), this book has you covered.”

I agree with Ohanian: Don’t launch a new business unless you have a product and/or service that people really want and no one else offers it.
I agree with Thomas Edison: “Vision without execution is hallucination.”
I do not agree with Ohanian that” the 21st century will be made, not managed.” Whatever is made MUST be managed. Why else make it?

“I’m writing this book to inspire as much as to inform.” I think there are several points that should be kept in mind when deciding whether or not to make the investment that obtaining and then reading this book require. First, Ohanian’s account of his own experiences is highly subjective. All I know about him is what he shares in the book. Presumably his successes, thus far, are directly related to a unique combination of talent, mindset, temperament, work ethic, formal education, and at least an element of luck. Also, many of his recommendations have little (if any) relevance and potential application (even with some modification) within the offline world of business. However, some of the material (e.g. suggested questions when interviewing) is outstanding and has wide and deep value.

These are among the dozens of business subjects of special interest me, also listed to suggest the scope of Ohanian’s coverage.

o A Perfect Marketplace of Ideas (Pages 6-8)
o Sometimes You Just Have to Stand Up (25-32)
o Reddit (61-62, 68, 80 & 109)
o hipmunk (70-74, 77, & 144)
o How to Win Deals and Interest Industry Titans” (76-80)
o Creation of Breadpig (87)
o Identify Genuine Need, and Know What You’re Doing (94-98)
o Ignore Thy Competition (107-110)
o Traction (125-127)
o There’s Nothing Fun About Funding (141-144)
o How America Gets Her Swagger Back (146-151)
o With Our Powers Combined (167-173)
o ‘We Trusted People Too Much” (192-196)
o Lies, Damned Lies, and the Entertainment Industry (214-219)
o It’s Up to Us to Keep the Internet Free (and Keep This Book Relevant) (229-231)

Better advice on almost all of these subjects is readily available elsewhere. Those who are determined to achieve success will locate it without any advice from me.

For various Amazon websites, I rated rate this book Five Stars as a manifesto, as a call to action, for those with a great idea to proceed without permission, especially from those defending the status quo who are most threatened by the idea if (HUGE “if”) it does indeed prove to be disruptive. I rate it Three Stars as an operations manual for achieving a success with a great idea. Alexis Ohanian provides more heat than light. His material is sometimes very entertaining but inconsistently informative. However, some material (e.g. questions to ask potential hires) is first-rate.

Years ago during an interview, Rod Steiger was asked if young people ever requested career advice. “Oh sure, all the time. So I look them in the eye and ask, ‘Do you want to be an actor or do you have to be an actor?’ The longer it takes them to answer, the less likely they’ll ever make it.” I have the same attitude toward aspiring entrepreneurs.