Just finished reading The Real Deal, by James Caan. For those of you who dont know, he is more popular cos of his TV role as the most recent dragon in BBC’s Dragon Den.
Jimmy C, as he called himself stylishly built very successful recruitment companies and sold them, raking in millions of pounds, before starting a private equity firm, assist entrepreneurs build successful businesses.
The book, which was his autobiography, was quite a different from the books I have read recently.
Going from Barack Obama’s Dreams of my Father, which was a very detailed, deep, intelligently-written and heavily worded narrative to James Caan’s From Brick Lane to Dragons Den, I felt a Fresher and Gentler voice; Simplistic andHumanistic words – I found it quite refreshing adjusting to his style, even though I have been used to the more complex set of prose.
But what do you expect when one is the most prominent US polical figure and the later a renowned UK businessman.
The book is good, perfect for the business mind. I learnt how one can watch what other people are doing and do the opposite. James took quite a lot of chances during his life, and incredibly at a very young age, and its hard to find successful people, who built their businesses from scratch.
Born Nazeem Khan, he took up the name James Caan, after watching him in the movie. James thought it sounded cool. Guess where he chills out every now and then? Cannes, south of France, in his yatch. After visiting this cote d’azur paradise in 2005, I quite envy Jimmy C, and have a future goal to have a holiday home there as well. Why not?
His extended bio is shown below, with some more info about his book:
JAMES Caan is one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs. Dropping out of school at just sixteen, he started his business life with no qualifications and two pieces of advice: ‘observe the masses and do the opposite’ and ‘always look for opportunities where both parties benefit’.
Armed with just these two pieces of fatherly wisdom, extraordinary charm and the yellow pages, James Caan built a market-leading business with a turnover of more than £130 million from a broom cupboard.
The Real Deal is the incredible story of James’ remarkable life. From his childhood as a Pakistani immigrant to the phenomenal success of his first company, this book traces James Caan’s journey to both financial and personal maturity.
It deals with his fear at realising his goals too early, and offers a frank account of what success at 30 really means.
The Real Deal brings us bang up to the present, including the truth about his role on Dragons’ Den, what his charity work in Kashmir means to him, and how he has come to completely re-evaluate what money is really worth.
