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Irrationally Passionate: My Turnaround from Rebel to Entrepreneur by Jason Kothari - Book Review

It's been quite long since I did a book review, that's not good from my end, a lot of catching up is needed, so let's start with today. Last week I came across this book, at first glance it felt like every other entrepreneur biography cum self-help kind of book, but after observing it for some minutes it felt worth giving a try. To let you guys know, I have great respect for entrepreneurs & business personalities, who've erected such big empires & fortunes out of nothing. It was their sheer passion, dedication & hard-work which made all this possible,. Every once in a while, I do love to read such success stories because I get to learn a lot from them and to be honest the book Irrationally Passionate by Jason Kothari is one such story. So let's not waste time and begin.

jason-kothari-book

Book Details

Book Name: Irrationally Passionate: My Turnaround from Rebel to Entrepreneur
Author: Jason Kothari
Publisher: HarperBusiness (HarperCollins)
No. of Pages: 268
Released On: March 11, 2020
Genre: Biography, Business, Motivational.
ISBN No: 978-9353572655

Available in Hardcover & Kindle from Amazon India.

My Rating out of 5: 


About the Book

Born into an upper-middle-class Gujarati family in Hong Kong, Jason Kothari had a tough time since childhood which included moving around the globe, living in foreign lands, having no sense of belonging, stints with racism, bullying, and cultural shocks. His only solace was comic books because they were a welcome escape from reality. In between all this, an entrepreneur was taking shape. 

While studying at Wharton College, Jason Kothari scraped together money from family and friends to save his childhood favorite comic book company, Valiant Entertainment, from bankruptcy and brought it back to life. A few years later, he transformed Valiant into the third-largest superhero entertainment company in the world after Marvel and DC Comics and sold it for $100 million. Jason Kothari became a renowned professional turnaround leader & business personality,  he is known for transforming distressed Indian internet companies like Housing.com, FreeCharge, and Snapdeal, etc. Helping them save billions of dollars in value. He also became an adviser for giants like technology investor Softbank and real estate developer Emaar, who have invested billions of dollars in India.

Irrationally Passionate is the inside story of how a rebel, train-wreck kid transformed himself into a successful young entrepreneur and business leader who became one of the top ten paid executives in India while only in his 30's. From getting his first job as an assistant to Jackie Chan in Hong Kong to learning strategy from champion Muay Thai fighters in Thailand to tackling huge personal setbacks, to becoming a CEO in 60 seconds, among many other such stories. This book has something for everyone, whether you're a student or a parent or an entrepreneur or even corporate CEOs, everyone will relate to it and will learn some value out of it. Irrationally Passionate is a highly personal, authentic, open and complete account of a young entrepreneur's life. Brimming with practical advice and philosophical insights will force readers to reflect on how they perceive life, work, family and spirituality by giving them a fresh perspective.

irrationally-passionate-jason-kothari

My Review

Irrationally Passionate walks you through Jason's life right from where everything started, It is basically the behind-the-scenes of his life, starting from the early childhood days, to schooling abroad, comic book trades, college days in the US, struggle with wrong habits,  facing racism, bullying, breakdown and turnaround, this book covers everything. It takes you through the failures, struggles, difficulties and all the hard work which the author went through before tasting success. To be honest, I didn't know who Jason Kothari was before I came across this book, so I was a bit skeptical to go ahead with it. After reading the synopsis on the inner-back cover, I was quite impressed by the feats achieved by this man (Jason Kothari), this made me commence reading. After each passing chapter, I was so hooked that I wanted to learn more and more until I realized that I'm done reading the whole freaking book. After I was done, I had kind of mixed feelings (mostly positive) and a lot of motivation. There were some really exciting parts, while some were meh. Overall my experience was good and I enjoyed reading it.

I really liked reading about the author's stint at martial arts training -Muay Thai. I personally am a fan of Muay Thai, and reading about the author's experience at the training camp in Thailand was pure gold. The martial arts training taught the author a lot more than how to execute an elbow thrust or an uppercut, a lot of the leanings were also applicable in real-life situations. I enjoyed reading that part of the book. Other than that, there were some more instances where the author talked about his wrong habits and directionless state during the initial college days, and how he fought his inner demons and brought his life back on track, these parts of the book were also quite inspiring and will definitely motivate the readers in tackling their own such habits.

Coming to the writing style, the book is well written and uses easy-to-understand everyday English, with some business terms used here & there throughout, I'll give that to the author since this book is based on the life of a business personality, so that much is normal, other than that, the book can be read by mostly anyone, no business background/knowledge is required, however people with corporate/business knowledge will be able to understand the book better since there are talks about company formation, bankruptcy, legal procedures, documentations and other phases of corporate life. This book will prove very helpful for new entrepreneurs & start-ups.

So far Irrationally Passionate was one of the best biographies I've read in a while, a lot of you might argue on that but this book by Jason Kothari connected with me and motivated me differently as compared to many good biographies which I have read before. This journey of the author, in many ways, was so relatable to me and I'm sure it will be to most of us. The hurdles, difficulties, and problems which came in the way of his dreams are something which happens to most of us in our lives, yes, the situations might vary but often we find ourselves in the same place where we have to make some hard decisions which will have an impact on our career or life, this book takes you through a roller-coaster ride where at many instances the odds are not in the favor of the author, and shows you how with sheer determination the author tackles them and solves his problems one at a time, leading to his dream.

Final Words

Irrationally Passionate inspired me to follow my dreams, to have faith and to work hard for it. It gave wings to my inner entrepreneur and by the time I was done with the book, the desire to do something meaningful for my life rose to a great extent. This book is a must-read for all the people who dream of being entrepreneurs or are already there, who want to do something meaningful, who want to achieve their dreams or even those who want to excel in their jobs. This book will motivate you in so many ways and will help you defeat your inner demons and turnaround your life. Even if you're not interested in entrepreneurship, still it is a pretty good read, you'll definitely enjoy.

Some wise words by well-known personalities;
‘One of the most riveting, raw, authentic and insightful stories of an entrepreneur I have ever come across. An epic turnaround journey that is a must-read for young readers.’– Karan Johar
Here are some word from one of my favorite authors;
‘I have known Jason for some time and have always been impressed with his drive, clarity and vision. This biography has helped me appreciate him even more. From the time he handles a tough negotiation for a chess set as a child, to his turnaround brilliance in the corporate world, there is a lot that entrepreneurs can learn from him; not just bookish, theoretical knowledge, but actual real-life lessons learnt from the School of Hard Knocks. This book is a must-read if you are an entrepreneur!’ – Amish Tripathi, best-selling author of The Shiva Trilogy

I hope this review was helpful, if you liked it then please let me know in the comments. Also please share it with people who would be interested. You can purchase the book from our affiliate links given below, this will definitely help us in bringing you more reviews in the future.

Buy  Irrationally Passionate by Jason Kothari

Available in Hardcover & Kindle Formats.

Irrationally Passionate: My Turnaround from Rebel to Entrepreneur by Jason Kothari - Book Review Irrationally Passionate: My Turnaround from Rebel to Entrepreneur by Jason Kothari - Book Review Reviewed by Jimmie Luthra on 2:21 PM Rating: 5

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