Ride of a Lifetime

Thoughts

I’ve always been intrigued with Disney, way more they bought Pixar, Marvel, or Lucasfilm. As a kid I think I was always into a good story even today, with my interest in a show, movie, or a video game. Long gone has my love for multiplayer disappeared, give me some good characters I can get behind. Well, Disney was always that in my mind as well as a modern marvel. The other aspect of Disney that always fascinated me was the immersive experiences they built like Disney World etc.. I would always watch those documentaries on YouTube, Netflix, or anywhere else and be so enamoured by the sheer work, digging, and effort it takes to operate any of the parks.

Now I didn’t know much about the business side of Disney, especially the inner workings of it. I knew they were always at the forefront of a lot of media today, with their strict copyrights, great animation, and again inventory of characters. This book written by now CEO, Bob Iger, talks about his come up in the company from a first person perspective. It’s cool to hear from the man himself about different deals that he worked on, how he got to his role, and the risks he took along the way.

It’s so cool to see that he made a lot of these bets so early into his tenure as CEO and had a vision for what Disney could be. What strikes me most is the elegant writing of the book, he shares his personal lessons, and always maintained a respect for every employee or big wig he did business with. His compassion and personality stuck out at each of the chapters, and you can tell that he was just being himself, doing what felt right, and always putting the business first in any situation.

I devoured this book in maybe 4-5 days during my morning commute. He has a great way with the word economy, using the minimal amount of words to get through each story. Each of the chapters set the stage for a different deal or point in time during Bob’s career.

This book doubles as a great business education book and a fun biography of Disney from Bob, arguably the most successful CEO of the company. You get to hear his thoughts about each of the deals that he proposed, as well as some lessons that he learned along the way.