Dr. Jeff Cornwall, at Belmont University reviews Bounce! What I love about Belmont is that it teaches the business of music. It is located in Nashville, of course.

“Barry’s gift is that he uses humor to offer lessons that all entrepreneurs can learn from. During his last visit to Belmont, Barry offered some glimpses of what he planned to explore in his new book. Just like with his first book You Need to be a Little Crazy, this book is a must read for entrepreneurs at any stage of their development.”

Okay, so maybe Mr. Sondheim had the title first in 2003 with his musical, Bounce!, but someone sent me the obvious tie ins with songs like:

“Opportunity”- Like my DAB- Drive where you want to go, Accept the result you want, and Build the life you want

“What is your rush?”- Strive for minimal achievement and set patient interim goals

“Gold”- and Money, need I say more?

“Get Out of My Life”- I need to figure out what will make me Happily Successful.

I met Serge, The Concierge along time ago on the first book tour in New Jersey. We have stayed in touch ever since. He reviews my new book, Bounce! on his site:

Success can be intoxicating and failures crushing. Resilience is key. Rather than going from feeling like a “Master of the Universe” to “I am a Loser Baby”, with his second book, Bounce, Barry Moltz wants to help us stay grounded and look at these different phases in a sane way.

I watched a wonderful documentary last night recommended by Susan Landa in Portland, OR who I met at a Capital One event. The Real Dirt on Farmer John is about John Peterson’s rollercoaster ride trying to work and hold on to the land that has been in his family for generations. I admire him because through all of his failures and successes, he was constantly pulled back to the farm where he grew up and the connection to the land. After decades of “Bouncing”, he was finally able to make it work with a cooperative organic farm. Turns out, my wife also went to school with the director, Taggart Siegel and remembers “the farm” with her days at Beloit College in Wisconsin.

Scott Allen interviewd me over IM a few days ago about the new book, Bounce! It was my first time I had done this type of interactive interview which was not by phone. I enjoyed it because while it gave me more time to think, but it still was very spontaneous. Read it here!

Scott asks some interesting questions:

• What’s the “867-5309” of the entrepreneurial world?
• But you also say in the book that you only need one great success to be remembered — that they remember you for your success, not your failures.
• You say a few things in the book that flaunt conventional wisdom, for example, “Having too much will make you stupid.”
• The book is an obvious must-read for someone who’s recently experienced a business failure. Why should someone riding the wave of success read it?

I met Ramon Ray a few years back at a Fast Company event through Marshall Makstein, at Eslide. I like to think I know something about technology, but Ramon blows me away. Many times I feel like I am falling behind by the day. Ramon has a great technology report that can keep you up to date. He reviews my new book, Bounce! in the latest issue.I am one of the keynote speakers at the Third Annual Small Business Summit in New York on February 11th. This is actually the launch of the new speech on Bounce! It promises to be a high energy conference so join us. 

Via Eric Melin,  “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health,friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four Balls - family, health, friends and spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same….” I am not sure about the part where things bounce back, because they do not always, but I am sure  about the bouncing part. We all have to keep alot of things in the air at one time. I am not one for balance. I think we need to figure out how to merge all the balls, personal and professional into one big ball to live one complete and fulfilling life.

Jay who now runs The Carnival of Capitalists just received the book, Bounce! I love what he says:

“How can you miss with a book that invokes Underdog on page 7? There’s no need to Fear! Barry Moltz is here!”

I grew up watching Underdog on TV. It personifies (or is that Dogifies?) American’s love that even a dog can be a superhero!

News item: Bobby Fischer, great chess champion, died yesterday in Iceland at age 64. He had been a grand master since he was 15.

I grew up loving chess. When I was 12, Fischer beat Boris Spassky for the title. It was a source of great American pride. Then Fischer got weird with his actions. He became increasingly Anti-Semitic (although he was Jewish) and Anti-American. He became very reclusive.

What sticks in my mind is not Fischer himself, but the 1993 movie, Searching For Bobby Fischer. It is about a boy who is incredible at chess. I vividly remember a line in the movie where the father, played by Joe Mantegna, is pushing his son to be the best with despite what perhaps his son really wants. He says, “My son is better at chess than I have ever been at anything”. For me, this shows the hope that all parents have for our children to be better than we are. And the pride that we take in it. And unfortunately, sometimes, as the father in this story does, how we push our children too hard to achieve for our own selfish ego gratification.

I talk about in Bounce! how we are addicted to achievement. This goes not only for ourselves but for our children. Let us each follow our own dream and passion but let’s make sure it is our own. Let’s make sure that we do not push our hopes and dreams on our children….at least not too hard.

Bounce! is finally available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles.  It will be available at your favorite local bookseller by month end. I have a special offer if you buy Bounce! now.

For each book you buy it before Jan 31, you will also receive one of the following:

Free audio version of Bounce! due to be released in March 2008 OR

A copy of the audio to my first book, “You Need to Be A Little Crazy: The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Own Business” for the discounted price of $12. (40% off)

Buy more than one book, you will also receive the following additional free offers:

Buy 5 books for you, your company and your friends, receive an official orange Bounce! rubber band ball plus the offer above (Free or discounted audio).

Buy 10 books, and you will receive a copy of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Business Plans” by Gwen Moran and Sue Johnson. This is the book where I wrote the preface and stated that “Business plans are meaningless!”. You will also receive the offers above.

Buy 15 books, The Attractor Factor by Joe Vitale. I met and heard Joe speak this past summer in San Diego and he is amazing. He is featured in The Secret, and he has a new TV show, Expect Miracles. He provides a great blurb for the book on the front cover! You will also receive the offers above.

Buy 25 Books, and you will receive a one hour consulting phone call with me. You will also receive the offers above.

Just email me at barry at moltz dot com or fax me your receipt at 773 345 0522 and your free gifts will be on their way!