Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

Top positive review

a must read!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 14, 2021

This book is a must read for anyone, whether they're in business or just navigating through life.

There's a takeaway for everyone.

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k.campbell

Book conditions

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 11, 2023

I haven’t read the book. However it’s hard to get past the fact that I purchased this thinking it was new and turns out it’s used. Super disappointing. Someone wrote their name in it and then used white out to cover it.

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114 total ratings, 23 with reviews

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Farnoosh Brock

Good concepts about networking but the never eat alone business .... hmmmm

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 22, 2013

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In the eyes of Keith Ferrazzi, success - in our careers and in life - is all about relationships. Everything in our universe is related to everything else through a relationship. We must develop, establish and nurture our relationships in life. We live in a fast paced life and a connected age, where the day's minutes would be hard pressed to be further packed with communication and staying in touch.

Ferrazzi lives and breathes the fast pace of life. Living at the same fast space, he shares here an authentic approach to networking and building life's relationships, one at a time.

The essence of Ferrazzi's success is not just networking. It is a 3-fold approach:
(1) network to build trust first
(2) help people before asking for favors
(3) do it all with sincerity

Okay that's all great but does that mean we do that at every single meal? Hmmm. Not so practical. Or even scaleable. Or even desirable!

Now I did like this a lot: The author's sincere interest in helping others before thinking of his own success, and in fact, that may be the secret to his success. To be truly interested in making yourself useful to others first, even if there is no return for your favors immediately, is his philosophy.

Ferrazzi's approach to networking in "Never Eat Alone" is original and effective but very hard to get on board with in the level of intensity that he preaches.

Much of the challenge with networking is the misconceptions - it is exactly everything you want it to be. It is as real or as fake, as fun or as boring, as effective or as big a waste of time as you make it out to be - but do not blame networking and building relationships when you have poor results. It is the approach and intent that needs to be revisited and perhaps that can be the best takeaway, but still, giving it just a very high 3 stars.

3 people found this helpful

Jaewoo Kim

An unwanted autobiography in disguise

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 17, 2008

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The book starts off great by cogently convicing the reader that business is primarily about relationships. It is teamwork, not individualistic achievements, which creates and enables great things. Here is an exerpt from the first chapter:

"I came to realize that first semester at business school that Harvard's hypercompetitive, individualistic students had it all wrong. Success in any field, but especially in 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."

OK great start.

The author, unfortunately, never stops talking about himself, his personal achievements, and his company. I would say approximately 25%-30% of the book is dedicated to the author, his life, and his company. At the end of the book, a reader could put together his resume. This would make some sense if the author was a well known public figure. But he isn't.

The author provides some good examples and knowhow on how to focus on the most important thing in business. His methods of networking and connecting with people seems to be have some validity. I think the author's emphasis on relationships and its importance, which is often neglected in business education, is probably enough to justify paying and reading this book. Too bad it could have been far better than an unwanted autobiography in disguise.

5 people found this helpful

Melanie Louise Mellick

Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 28, 2013

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The author claims he does not schmooze famous/rich people in order to get some of what they have to rub off onto him. I feel that is exactly what he is doing. On the positive side he is also advocating schmoozing all people he come into contact with. I have a hard time reading about how he met so and so and took such and such to lunch. But the fact that he uses those contacts to his advantage may be helpful If handled properly. The key is 1) not to use people til they are tired of you and 2) consider the value of those that may not fall into the "ritzy" catagory. It reminds me of a song I learned many years ago in Girl Scouts, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." To sum it up, I would not have read this book unless it was required for a college class but find there are a few gems buried inside.

5 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Not Bad Once You Wade Through the Self Promotion and Ego

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 6, 2011

Verified Purchase

While this book did give me some decent ideas on how to become a better networker, after a while it became difficult to slog through yet another story of Ferrazzi's self-proclaimed genius at networking. I have read quite a few books about developing your career and most of them are chock full of examples of leading professionals, and how they embody whatever elements of leadership the author is discussing. In this book, 95% of the examples are from Ferrazzi's own career. I didn't so much learn about networking as I did the life and times of Keith Ferrazzi. The irony for me is that Ferrazzi claims that one of the pitfalls people can make in networking is selling yourself too hard, yet that is what he does through most of the book. I think his shameless self-promotion, which is contrary to the networking philosophy he supposedly espouses, really calls into question the credibility of his suggested techniques. If it's annoying in print, I can't imagine how much worse it would be in person.

4 people found this helpful

Ivo

Not worth my time (and yours probably too)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

Not impressed by this writing. It is a mix of snippets and marketing materials from Ferrazzi's motivational speech business. It reeks of not-so-subtle self-promotion and poorly disguised narcissism. The message boils down to: "See how great I did. Admire and do like me if you can."

The book deals with the ultra complex question of being a successful networker. There are never any simple answers to complex questions such as this. Any narrative attempting to present a simple solution is basically a fake. My overall take is that this is a generic and largely useless self-help book. I give it 3 stars out of respect for the people who recommended it to me.

6 people found this helpful

Siva Sankar

No clarity with hints of self promotion

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on December 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

No clarity on the methods to improve networking. Just anecdotes and author’s life story in broken pieces. I personally found ‘ The Go Giver’ as a beautiful alternative to this one and its 1/4th of the pages of this book too.

Sharon A.

Recommended for people who lead scientists

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 6, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have been in pharmaceutical R&D for 30 yrs. I worked my way from entry bench chemist up to Chief Scientific Officer. I have a PhD and an MAN but the toughest challenge I have faced is leading a large organization with empathy. In my field you are trained to think, challenge and question not to care. I learned that the skills that got me to the top were no longer good enough to succeed. I had to learn how to reach out and connect. This book is helpful in stating how this can be done. It does not state anything earth shattering but it does put into plain English why making others feel valued and important matters if you need to lead them.

Kevin Mackie

A great read for everybody, and good advice for extroverts

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 11, 2005

Verified Purchase

This was a very enjoyable read. The manner in which the author tells his story is very engaging and imparts some useful techniques to the reader.

The type-A's out there may be able to use many of the techniques the author talks about. The rest of us, however, will be left wondering if all these things could have possible happened to one person.

Truth be told I haven't read the last fifty pages. My dog decided he wanted to taste the author's work, and frankly, not being an extrovert, I did not feel compelled to pick up another copy for the last few chapters.

7 people found this helpful

Harry

Not really for me

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

I just finished reading this book and although I can see that it would have some value for some people, I was doubting whether I would finish it or not. I just felt that it was very similar throughout and that it could have been condensed a bit. Some good points to get you thinking, but there are much better books you can read I think.

2 people found this helpful

Rebel Book Club

Felt like an extended blog post at times but glad I ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

Felt like an extended blog post at times but glad I persevered - great social media tips. The Rebel Book Club crew loved it

2 people found this helpful

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