Last night I read the first chapter of "Never Eat Alone." I loved this
book the first time I half-read it, and now I'm beginning to remember
why.

The first section of the book is called "The Mind Set," and very
appropriately so. The author does a terrific job of drawing you into
the idea that success in business is all about networks of people who
like to work together. If you're a part of one of these networks,
you'll succeed, almost by default.

Ok, that's overstating it a bit, but the point is that success does in
fact breed success. I've found this to be true in my own life. I've
talked about running my own business for most of my life, but I didn't
become an entrepreneur in any true sense until I started making friends
and regularly associating with entrepreneurs.

Here are a few parts I highlighted in Chapter 1:

"Poverty, I realized, wasn't only a lack of financial resources; it was
isolation from the kind of people that could help you make more of
yourself."

"Success in any field, but especially business, is about working with people,
not against them. No tabulation of dollars and cents can account for
one immutable fact: Business is a human enterprise, driven and
determined by people."

"...I learned that the outrageous number of misperceptions clouding
those who are active relationship-builders is equaled only by the
misperceptions of how relationship-building is done properly."

"...real networking (is) about finding ways to make other people more successful."

I'm intentionally skipping a lot of good stuff here, and this is why
you should buy this book and read it along with me. I'm sure that this
sort of statement will become a staple as I continue these reviews.

This chapter is essentially the thesis statement for the rest of the
book, and I love how direct and illuminating it is. Ferrazzi wastes no
time in getting to his point: If you're serious about being successful
in business, you must bring others along for the ride. It's not optional, and only serious applicants need apply.

The lone, brooding self-made millionaire is a mythical beast. Bruce Wayne is dead.