Luke Johnson is a man with energy and drive. After graduating from Oxford he became an analyst in the City before launching a career as an investor and entrepreneur. Within six years he took Pizza Express from 12 restaurants to 250.

Johnson went on to successfully launch and invest in many other businesses, and he now sits on the boards of a diverse range of businesses and organisations. For eight years he wrote a weekly business column for the Sunday Telegraph, and it is from these articles (84 of them) that this easy-to-read book is constructed.

The range of subjects includes business history, investing, world economics, successful entrepreneurs and business failures. However, these broad descriptions don’t do justice to the varied and fascinating content of these concise articles. The highlights include the story of the Nobel Prize creator who also invented dynamite, the piece on GEC/Marconi before the great fall, and about the many inspiring successful business men and women, including the female founder of the A to Z maps who pounded the London streets for 18 hours a day to log every alley, road and avenue to pursue her dream.

Johnson’s articles are as relevant today as when they were written. They offer a plethora of quotes, advice and inspiration for people in business. There is the odd exception: the reader will wonder why a 2003 article discussing the P/E ratios of estate agents has been included.

Does the format of regurgitating newspaper articles spanning the past seven years actually work? Surprisingly yes, at least in this case. It is readable, fascinating and largely timeless. However, on occasions it does fail to sufficiently update the story and the reader is left to wonder, “well, what happened next?”.

Entrepreneurs in my experience are not huge book devourers, perhaps largely due to time constraints, but this book is clearly made with this market in mind. Johnson covers a multitude of topics, is easy to read, and lists all the books referred to, enabling those with sufficient time and interest to dig a little further into some of the wonders the author uncovers.

Rating:
7/10

Reviewed by Alan Taylor
www.actiongallery.mfbiz.com

Tags: business failures, luke johnson, serial entrepreneur, book review, pizza express, sunday telegraph, nobel prize, the maverick,

Real FD specials