July Book Club

I try to read three books a month. I don't always never accomplish it but the fact I make it a stated goal deserves respect.

Ryen Russillo, one of my favorite podcasters, started a book club interviewing authors on recent books he's read. I don't have a podcast but I do have a blog that only my Mom reads so I figured I'd start sharing a couple quick reviews on recent books I've read.

1) Going Down Tobacco Road

Captures the history of the "Gold Leaf" dating back to the 1900s. Takes you through the rise of RJ Reynolds and the eventual fall via take-private from KKR and merger with Nabsico.

Tobacco may have been the most successful industry in America since the turn of the century. Despite being the target of regulators and governments, the tobacco business and the stock prices chugged along without interruption for decades. A single dollar invested in RJ Reynolds in 1900 would be worth $6 million today. Of course, nobody invest that long but the point remains, the tobacco business has been a compounding machine.

I went to college in Missouri (where everyone dips) ... if the money my friends spent on dip was invested in tobacco stocks they'd all be millionaires!

2) Powerhouse - The Untold Story of Creative Artists Agency

A great overview of the past fifty years in Hollywood. For any Entourage fans, you'll feel like you're watching the show over again.

Written by the same author as Those Guys Have All the Fun (story of ESPN), takes you through the history of CAA from multiple points of view.

The founding team of CAA (led by Michael Ovitz) left William Morris Agency to spin up their own competitor. They became the most successful agency in Hollywood for a time until the founding guard started in-fighting with the new guard. Great stories of Sylvester Stallone, Bill Murray, Tom Cruise and countless other Hollywood royalty.

3) The Nature of the Game

Great book for the golf junkie's among us ... of which i am one (yours truly is a 23 handicap, trending down from a 24 handicap i might add!)

Mike Keiser has a fascinating story. He started Recycled Paper Greetings (a card company) in Chicago with his college roommate. They competed against Hallmark but rather than attack the "special occasion" vertical they made goofy cards with independent creators that helped them create a niche in an entrenched industry. The company became wildly successful, they sold it for nice chunk of change, and Mike became a golf course entrepreneur.

Mike searched the Top 100 golf courses in the world and decided to go play a few. Most of that list resides in Scotland or Ireland - links golf baby! For the uninitiated, links golf is a golf course built on a pile of dirt. Much like his greetings card business and the niche he created, he realized there was an opportunity to bring links golf to the US.

After scouting locations similar to Scotland stateside (next to an ocean, sandy soil, dunes, undulating surfaces) he came across a perfect location in Bandon, Oregon. He created Bandon Dunes in 1999, added five more courses there and built an entire links style golf empire throughout the world ... from Nova Scotia to Australia and most recently, Sand Valley, Wisconsin.

I'm going to write separately about Mike Keiser and everything he's done in the coming weeks - to interesting not too.

4) The Bond King

The story of Bill Gross and the rise of Pimco from backwoods bond shop to asset management juggernaut.

This book could be made into a TV show - Bill Gross is one of a kind; he went from counting cards in Vegas to creating one the worlds largest buyers of bonds. Obsessed with his individual performance against his benchmark drove him to the point of obsession; he dominated the market for decades until the point of his undoing.

From fighting with Mohammad El-Erian to pretending he got a hole-in one (nobody saw it!) so he could match one of his wives accomplishments. Interesting read.

Will be back again next month to review a few more ... maybe.