| The Fabulous Showman: The Life and Times of P.T. Barnum by Irving Wallace http://www.amazon.com/Fabulous-Showman-Life-Times-Barnum/dp/... Barnum was masterful at using the media of his day to promote his various business enterprises: "I am indebted to the press of the United States for almost every dollar which I possess and for every success as an amusement manager which I have ever achieved. The very great popularity which I have attained both at home and abroad I ascribe almost entirely to the liberal and persistent use of the public journals of this country." A great read for startup people, even though it's a biography of a 19th-century personality. Chock full of timeless advice and quotes, to whit: "Without promotion something terrible happens... Nothing!" "Every crowd has a silver lining." "Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant." "Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done." "If I shoot at the sun I may hit a star." |