A review by almondcookies
What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World by Tina Seelig

2.0

I bought this book in 2015 and it's been sitting on my shelf since. Since it's been almost a decade, I decided it's time to read it in fear of the advice expiring just like day old milk.

Seelig is obviously a very established university professor, and it shows, because this book reads like an undergraduate class. It's full of examples - in fact, for a single point, there's an overwhelming amount of tldc examples that haven't been fleshed out. Reading this book at times felt like we were playing the number game. How many examples can I chock in here to prove that my point is valid? One. Just one is sufficient as long as it is properly explained.

Another disadvantage of giving so many 'contemporary' business examples is that it doesn't age well. The examples, whilst relevant, no longer work well as examples because they aren't brands that are on the forefront of people's minds anymore. This edition was first published in 2009, if I had read it then, maybe this wouldn't be a problem (although I'd still be a teenager hence introducing another problem), but in 2022, most of these brands are either no longer in existence, or 20 year olds have never heard of them. Context clues are very helpful but the impact has been lost.

This book reads like an undergraduate class but I was after a masters thesis. However, Seelig makes good points, and as I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20, I fully agree these are some good points every entrepreneurial young person needs to know.