The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future Jonathan Fields has an inspiring review review of Chris Guillebeau’s new book, “The $100 Startup.”  Johnathan’s FTC disclosure at the bottom is hilarious and worth reading even if you have no interest in Chris’ book.

It is a really good book.  There are tons of interesting stories about people who have succeeded that started with nothing.  There are also lots of practical ideas for launching, pricing products, while also genuinely engaging with your customers and a true desire to help them.  The accompanying website for the book also has some nice summaries from different sections of the book that look useful.

I also recommend Andrew Warner’s interview with Chris Guillebeau on Mixergy.  It gives you a sense of who Chris is and what he is about.  I saw Chris speak at Powells Books earlier this month and enjoyed the insights and perspective he gave.  He really seems like the real deal.

Reading The $100 Startup further confirmed my desire to launch something.  I am still searching for that “something.”  I just know that I want to see a more direct relationship between what I create and do and how it impacts people.  I’d also like one measure of its success to be money earned from doing it.

It’s been really satisfying to create Affordable Binding Equipment.com from scratch and see traffic and corresponding sales grow from nothing to a decent level each month.  In turn, these quality products have reached more people and created a better livelihood for the person who creates them–everybody benefits.

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