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Book notes: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing book summary by Marlo Yonocruz

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout

Synopsis: As Al Ries and Jack Trout – the world-renowned marketing consultants and best-selling authors of Positioning – note, you can build an impressive airplane, but it will never leave the ground if you ignore the laws of physics, especially gravity. Why then, they ask, shouldn’t there also be laws of marketing that must be followed to launch and maintain winning brands? In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Ries and Trout offer a compendium of 22 innovative rules for understanding and succeeding in the international marketplace. From the Law of Leadership, to The Law of the Category, to The Law of the Mind, these valuable insights stand the test of time and present a clear path to successful products. Violate them at your own risk.

Opening thoughts:

This book was recommended by Tim Ferriss as great book that he’s applied in his own businesses and has credited to his success. Coming from someone who I see as extremely successful and whom I highly admire, this was an easy sell.

Key ideas/notes:

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Book notes: Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

Never Eat Alone book summary by Marlo Yonocruz

Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And the Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi

Synopsis: Do you want to get ahead in life? Climb the ladder to personal success? The secret, master networker Keith Ferrazzi claims, is in reaching out to other people. As Ferrazzi discovered in early life, what distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships – so that everyone wins.

Opening thoughts:

Again, this was a book I heard on a Tim Ferriss podcast recommended by Ramit Sethi. If I remember correctly, this was one of the three books he recommended for budding entrepreneurs.

At first, I thought this book would be about why you should eat with other people and the benefits. But as the second part of the title suggests, it’ll probably focus on strategies for success based on building relationships. I imagine that there will be a ton of good tactics on developing relationships.

Key ideas/notes:

Why fitness bootcamp is the worst thing ever

Several months back, a coworker of mine was telling me about this fitness bootcamp she was doing at OC Fit. It sounded pretty intense, but she kept going so I assumed she liked it.

Last week, we found a Groupon for 21 days of unlimited classes for $17. That’s a pretty amazing deal considering the price of the monthly membership. Sure, why not. We decided to buy it.

When we got there, the first thing I noticed was the loud, high energy, clubbing-type music. Lots of sweaty people around the gym were lifting weights, then shuffling between workouts each time the 50-second buzzer went off.

I found where the Irvine masochists hang out.

It felt like going clubbing, but without the dancing or fun. It was similar to when we went to Soul Cycle a couple weeks back.

To be honest, it didn’t look that bad. They weren’t going a hundred miles an hour, so I figured I could keep up.

I was wrong.

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Movie review: The Accountant

The Accountant movie review by Marlo Yonocruz

[Warning: spoiler alert]

Synopsis: Christian Wolff is a math savante with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King, starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise. -IMDb

Development & story:

I’ll admit, I never expected to walk out of the theater so satisfied and wanting to see more. I will say that the buildup towards the action did take a while. In retrospect, however, I can see that this was necessary to balance out the accountant side of Wolff with the trained killer side. I’m glad the action didn’t overshadow the development of his character. While it took longer than expected, it was definitely worth the wait. The backlog of reveals and plot twists at the end completely destroyed any expectations I had going in.

The plot is so multi-layered, it’s almost hard to keep up, but not enough to lose any enjoyment. However, that’s probably one of the reason I’d like to watch it again. There’s so many great scenes and moments. It’s similar to rewatching a movie like The Matrix where each revisit reveals more depth than the first time around. A great movie for intellectuals who enjoy the bigger ideas like myself.

Stone cold killer as accountant? Cool. He’s a high functioning autisic, using a weakness as a strength? Awesome. He seems very quirky and awkward but wants to helps people? Love it. Strong themes of family, compassion, and overcoming adversity? My feels.

Characters & acting:

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Book notes: When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead by Jerry Weintraub

When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead book summary by Marlo Yonocruz

When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man by Jerry Weintraub

Synopsis: Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed him–the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York’s Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood–he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door. “All life was a theater and I wanted to put it up on a stage,” he writes. “I wanted to set the world under a marquee that read: ‘Jerry Weintraub Presents.'”

Initial thoughts:

I think the first time I saw this book was on Tai Lopez’s top book recommendations. I didn’t put it on my reading list then, but I think it popped up on my Amazon suggestions so I decided to pick it up for this month. I think the reason I was hesitant at first was because I didn’t know who Jerry Weintraub was. The book cover and title sounded interesting, nonetheless.

I usually have good experiences with biographies and autobiographies of successful people. Total Recall is still one of my favorite books actually. I knew the value would come from learning all the life lessons and thought processes of people like him.

Key ideas:

Movie review: Queen of Katwe

Warning: spoiler alert!

Synopsis: A young girl from Uganda trains to become a world chess champion.

Initial thoughts:

Disney.True story. Academy Award winners. High rating on Rotton Tomatoes. I’m in. Disney is consistently good at tugging on my heartstrings, especially when it comes to themes of overcoming adversity and family.

Storyline/Development:

In hindsight, there shouldn’t be any expectations for anything creative with the story development. Young girl stands out as special, shows promise, encounters resistance, gains friends and momentum, bigger setbacks, faces root problems, breakthrough, climax, then happiness and rainbows.

While I wasn’t expecting to be impressed with any unique plot twists, I knew that Disney would be masterful at executing the five acts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This was no different.

Ending thoughts:

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Book notes: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

The Checklist Manifesto book summary by Marlo Yonocruz

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

Synopsis: We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies‚ and neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.

In riveting stories, Gawande explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from homeland security to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.

Initial thoughts:

I put this book on my Audible wish-list primarily because I heard Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, recommend the book on a podcast with Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Workweek. I follow and look up to both of them, so it was one of those easy decisions to read.

While the title and main idea seems pretty straightforward, I figured if these two authors recommended it, I knew it would have more nuggets than its face value.

Key ideas:

Movie review: Kubo and the Two Strings

Warning: spoiler alert!

Initial thoughts:

To be honest, the main reason I went to go watch this movie was because of the ridiculously high ratings it received on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t think I heard or saw any advertising about this movie outside of an email newsletter from Univsersal Studios promoting some screening event of the movie. My girlfriend also wanted to see it because she loves animated and epic movies like this. 😁

Aesthetics:

Hands down, this movie is a visual masterpiece. Absolutely loved the animation and visual storytelling. It was such a magical journey from start to finish, from the origami street show that Kubo put on, until the final fight scene with the Moon King.

Story:

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